I LOVE dark green paint colors! I can’t even describe it, they just give me all the feels. They’re cozy and regal at the same time.
To be honest, I avoided writing this for a little while, because I knew it was going to be super time consuming to narrow down my favorites to just 9 for a color card.
I was right, and also unsuccessful! So these are my top 9 dark green paint colors…but we will cover several more!
This is tricky to organize, but I have decided to first go through a few choices from each of the major paint brands (Sherwin Williams, Benjamin Moore, Behr, and Valspar) and highlight their darkest greens. After that, we will peruse a few different palettes, and finish with some real home inspiration!
But first:
Is Dark Green Paint in Style for 2026?
Dark green paint is absolutely still in style for 2026, and if anything, is a trendy choice! Sage greens and dark greens have taken over from charcoal, black, and dark blue, especially for cabinets and exteriors. For 2026 specifically, I have seen a lot more interest in bold teal colors.
A few years ago, every major paint brand came out with a shade of green as their color of the year, including Sherwin Williams with Evergreen Fog, which is a fairly dark green. This year Behr and Valspar went green again, with Hidden Gem and Warm Eucalyptus. The color of the year usually predicts trends well into the future, so we should have a good 5 to 7 years at least, on this statement.
(Plus it’s paint, which is the easiest and cheapest thing to change!)
What is the LRV of Dark Colors?
The LRV (Light Reflectance Value) of a color indicates on a scale of 0 – 100 how much light a color reflects (or doesn’t reflect). True black has an LRV of 0 and pure white has an LRV of 100.
In the paint world, we are working in a range of about 3 – 93 because no paint color is purely black or completely white.
Any color with an LRV lower than a 50 will absorb more light, but in my opinion, truly dark colors range from about 3 – 10.
Dark Green Paint Colors by Sherwin Williams
Here is a pretty good selection of dark green paint colors by Sherwin Williams:
We have one true deep green, one warmer olivey green, one black green – aptly named “Greenblack,” and a deep teal green.
Sherwin Williams Vogue Green
Vogue Green is about as true a dark green as you can get! It’s warmer than Cascades, but it’s not really warm enough to be olive. I would describe it as an ever so slightly muted emerald green.
I think Vogue Green is one of those colors that nobody will find offensive!
Here it is on an accent wall:
Isn’t it calming?
The LRV of Vogue Green is 9, so it is on the lighter end of dark green, and the lightest Sherwin Williams color that I have included. If you like this color, you will also like Sherwin Williams Rock Garden.
Sherwin Williams Ripe Olive
First and foremost, olive green is a hard thing to get right! Nobody wants to end up on the wrong side of yellow and be dealing with…baby poop?
(Or at least I don’t think anybody does.)
Ripe Olive is a beautiful true olive color. Not the warm, murky, medium green color you may be thinking of, the color of an actual Ripe Olive.
Here it is in a kitchen as an accent with Sherwin Williams Alabaster:
I actually asked to use Bria’s (@ladyslipperinteriors) photo before I even knew what I was going to use it for! I just love this room!
Ripe Olive with Alabaster is such a beautiful color combo. I used to not be a huge fan of Alabaster, but I’m melting somewhat.
The LRV of Ripe Olive is a 6, so it’s right in the middle of my 3 – 10 range for dark paint colors. It’s a good one if you don’t want to be bordering on black.
Sherwin Williams Cascades
I can’t go down the road of saying which dark green paint color is my favorite. I’ve tried to do it before in my Warm Green Paint Colors post, and by the end I think I had claimed that they all were. (Don’t hate the player!)
Cascades however, does give me a feeling. It’s such a rich, deep green, and while it is very dark, but there is nothing depressing about it!
I love that Hannah (@thenewlywedwards) took the leap and painted the ceiling in Cascades as well! It is a super bold choice, but it makes everything else pop. (If you like this look, you will love my post about color drenching.)
Cascades has an LRV of 4, so it is getting down to the very darkest of colors.
In a well lit room, Cascades is still definitely green, but in a poorly lit room, like a small powder room, Cascades could look nearly black.
Here in the Bronze Cottage when we are looking towards the window, it does look almost black:
This is another deep green paired with Alabaster by the way, and again, it looks beautiful. I like how it’s used as an accent with a good amount of white still.
Cascades is a cool-toned blue-green. I think it usually looks a little more green than blue, but you could just as easily call this color a dark teal.
What is the Darkest Green from Sherwin Williams?
If you are looking for the absolute darkest green you can get from Sherwin Williams, Greenblack is the one!
Sherwin Williams Greenblack (6994)
Greenblack has an LRV of 4, so it is actually the same as Cascades, but it looks closer to black due to being more gray.
Greenblack is like a true black with just a hint of green and blue.
Isn’t Jake and Candi’s (@bridlewoodacres) kitchen gorgeous? The cabinets are painted in Greenblack with Sherwin Williams Pure White.
A lot of people who use Greenblack, do so in place of a true black, because the green makes it look just a little richer, but they don’t see the color.
I do see the hint of green, but many do not. Just be aware that you should try a pretty big swatch of this color if you want to figure out how it will look in your room (or outside).
This cabinet is also painted in Greenblack, and still in the same home, but it looks totally black here:
Except in some cases with trim, this is the only picture that I’ve seen where Greenblack looks black, and only black.
I know I’m not labelling favorites, but…Greenblack is one of my favorites!
You could use this one in place of a true black like Sherwin Williams Tricorn Black, because it never looks smoky or gray, which is the problem with a lot of other “blacks.”
Dark Green Paint Colors by Benjamin Moore
Benjamin Moore does dark greens so well! Here is a selection that run the full range from olivey-sage to black:
I only had room on my “best dark greens” color card for three of these colors, just to be somewhat fair to the other brands!
Tarrytown Green, Vintage Vogue, and Salamander are all on the “best of” color palette, but Miramichi, Black Forest Green, and Essex Green deserve a mention.
Benjamin Moore Vintage Vogue
*Since I first wrote this post, the LRV of Vintage Vogue has been adjusted from 10 to 11.86. Whomp whomp.
Vintage Vogue is a beautiful warm green color that is super versatile. It only looks really olivey or brown on the swatch, or next to cooler blue greens. In real life it reads green.
Don’t you wish you were as cool as Allie? Living her best off-grid life in her cozy cabin with chic green cabinets. Thanks for the photo @alliejcurtin!
Vintage Vogue is what I picture when I think of a “sophisticated” color. It works really well with a lot of other colors too. Here it is in a living room off of a Worldly Gray hallway:
Benjamin Moore Tarrytown Green
Tarrytown Green is a perfect dark emerald green:
You can see that Tarrytown is a very rich deep green color, but it doesn’t ever look black.
The LRV of Tarrytown Green is 7.65 (Benjamin Moore gets ultra specific with their LRVs!) so it is right in the middle range of dark greens.
Benjamin Moore Salamander
Salamander is one of the darkest greens that Benjamin Moore makes. This color is just gorgeous, and it really makes metallics like brass and gold pop!
While Salamander is quite dark, I would say that it does usually read dark green or teal, and not black:
Liz (@adventuringathome) created this amazing feature wall using Salamander:
Can you believe that she hand-painted that terrazzo??
Here Salamander used in a smaller area next to the lighter colors, does look quite close to black. This is about the darkest that I have seen it though.
The LRV of Salamander is 5.72.
Benjamin Moore Salamander vs Sherwin Williams Cascades
I was going to say that Cascades and Salamander look pretty similar at first glance, but honestly they look pretty similar at second and third glance too:
The LRV of Cascades is 4, which makes it just a touch darker than Salamander. I’m not even sure how accurate that is, because Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore no longer measure LRV the same.
The only difference between Cascades and Salamander, is that Salamander is closer to gray, where Cascades is a more saturated blue-green. They are in the exact same family on the color wheel.
The easiest way to choose? If you want a color that is a little more jewel-toned, choose Cascades. For a color that is more neutral, but still not black, choose Salamander.
What is the Darkest Green from Benjamin Moore?
Benjamin Moore Black Forest Green
The darkest green that Benjamin Moore makes (as of writing this) is Black Forest Green.
Besides the name making me hungry for my favorite cake, Black Forest Green is delicious to look at.
The very first time I looked, the LRV for Black Forest Green was listed as 2.72. To put that in perspective, Tricorn Black by Sherwin Williams is widely considered to be the “blackest black” on the market, and it has an LRV of 3. So Black Forest Green would be even darker!
They have since adjusted the LRV to 4.85 which seems more accurate. Black Forest Green is very dark but in good lighting it reveals a strong teal undertone:
(Which is why I have it on my list of 9 Tantalizing Teal Paint Colors for Kitchen Cabinets!)
Bonus: Benjamin Moore Essex Green
With an LRV of 5.64, Essex Green is another very dark green option from Benjamin Moore.
I would be hard pressed to choose between all of these colors, because I think they are all beautiful!
Essex Green can look almost black, but it is a more true green than Salamander, which is a blue green. Here it is on an accent wall with good lighting:
Lighting definitely matters with Essex Green! You can see that it looks green in that last picture, but here it is looking black:
These pictures are both in the beautiful home of Alishya from @greenpaintandlove, so you know they are the exact same color!
The white is Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace. (My personal favorite white!)
Bonus: Benjamin Moore Miramichi
Another color that didn’t make the final cut is Benjamin Moore Miramichi.
I really like Miramichi! It is a rich, smoky, emerald-teal, that can also look something like a peacock color in bright lighting. It is quite similar to Salamander but a bit bolder. It’s not very popular, so I left it off of my final 9 for best dark green paint colors.
Because it isn’t super popular it was hard to find photos, but here is Miramichi in a powder room:
The LRV for Miramichi is 5.3, so it’s still one of the darker paint colors on the list. It is also a touch more blue than green, but I think it generally looks pretty green.
(If you like Miramichi, definitely check out Aegean Teal!)
Now seems like a good time to refresh your memory on the top 9 dark green paint colors:
Dark Green Paint Colors by Behr (Home Depot)
Behr Vine Leaf
With an LRV of 10, Behr’s Vine Leaf is one of the lightest colors on my list.
Vine Leaf could almost not be considered a dark green. It has a brightness that makes it read lighter.
Here is Vine Leaf on a shiplap accent wall:
Here is Vine Leaf in a smaller room, where it does look quite dark:
I would say that Vine Leaf is a mid to deep emerald green. It doesn’t really have any blue to it, so it will never lean towards teal.
Vine Leaf was a Behr recommended coordinating color for their former color of the year, Blank Canvas.
What is the Darkest Green from Behr?
Behr Black Evergreen
Black Evergreen is in my top 9, and I believe it is the darkest green that Behr currently offers.
Unlike other brands that have blacks in all different tones – including green – I couldn’t find a green black in Behr. Behr also makes it incredibly hard to browse their full range of colors, so I could be wrong too!
Black Evergreen has an LRV of 8, so it is still on the lighter end of dark greens.
First of all, doesn’t Tim’s den look amazing? Super creative with the gold accents.
Second, I find the official Behr swatch to be super deceptive. You can see from Tim’s photo that Black Evergreen is like a deep green-teal. Where on paper it looks like a dark gray green.
Here is the color where it does look more green:
Black Evergreen may shift between a very dark green and a more pigmented teal, but I wouldn’t say that it ever looks very gray.
Dark Green Paint Colors by Valspar (Lowe’s)
I didn’t add any Valspar dark greens to my top 9, not because they aren’t deserving, but because they were harder to track down. By the time I found these amazing Vaslpar Greens, I didn’t want to part with any of my other “best of” colors.
These are the best two dark greens that I found from Valspar:
Valspar Shady Lane
Shady Lane is actually a Valspar UK color, and I wasn’t able to find the US equivalent, but hopefully you could find out in store. Valspar UK also doesn’t provide their hex codes or RGB, so we will have to rely on the one from Encycolorpedia.
According to Encycolorpedia the LRV of Shady Lane is 9, and the hex code is #4f5547.
Here in the gorgeous kitchen of @thatchcottagereno, the color looks fairly olivey in the warm light, but just wait…
It looks a little less olive here, and I’m fairly certain these photos were taken at the same time. (The white used in this kitchen is Valspar UK Tidy White – a close match to Valspar US & Canada Atmospheric.)
I was curious to know the difference between Valspar Shady Lane and Sherwin Williams Ripe Olive, and they are pretty similar!
Ripe Olive is a tiny bit warmer, and a tiny bit darker than Shady Lane.
What is the Darkest Green from Valspar?
The darkest green that I could find from Valspar is Nocturnal Green.
Valspar Nocturnal Green 5011-1
Nocturnal Green is like Sherwin Williams Greenblack or Benjamin Moore Black Forest Green, it is pretty close to black with a hint of green.
In my opinion, Nocturnal Green is kind of like the baby of Cascades and Salamander. It is blue-green like Cascades, and not quite as gray as Salamander, but it is just a tad darker than both.
Sean from @kabinettandkammer has quite a few great photos of Nocturnal Green in his shop.
If I was to guess, I think that first photo is probably the most accurate representation of this color.
Here it is looking completely black:
It looks so gorgeous and velvety, doesn’t it? If you like that inspo photo, you will love my Dark Academia Color Palette.
I really had a hard time believing this could all be the same wall, because Nocturnal Green still has one more face to show us:
The good thing is that it looks amazing in all three photos!
If you’re afraid of black, don’t pick Nocturnal Green.
Nocturnal Green seems super versatile! Sean is always changing up the vignettes in his shop, and you can see that this color looks great with anything he throws at it.
I will say that on exteriors, Nocturnal Green definitely looks way more blue.
Dark Green Complementary and Coordinating Colors
Depending on where your favorite dark green sits on the color wheel, your complementary colors will shift a little. The most blue colors will favor red tones, and the more yellowy-green colors will look good with mauve and other purple tones.
Here are a few palettes of tried and true dark green color schemes:
Dark Green and Gold Color Palette
Green and gold isn’t just reserved for a million sports teams! With the right colors, you can make it look sophisticated in your home.
I guess mustard and gold colors are having a moment away from the sun right now, because it was pretty hard to find anyone using them on the walls.
Of course accessories are another story! I love this golden chair at Liz’s house. It goes great with her wall color: Salamander.
Here are all the colors from left to right:
Sherwin Williams – White Flour
White Flour is a warm white, but still a nice bright one. Check out my full post about White Flour.
Sherwin Williams – Naturel
I haven’t seen a lot of people using Naturel, but it seems like a really soft tan color that would work well with a lot of other colors. I like that it gives a subtle golden vibe.
Valspar – Honey Tangerine
Honey Tangerine is the perfect mustard color. It’s bright but not too bright, and mustard without being dull. It maintains it’s golden tone and doesn’t ever go olivey.
Benjamin Moore – Palace Green
I’ve talked about Palace Green before, here. Palace Green is a nice mid-green. It’s close to a true pea green, which doesn’t sound nice, but it is!
And of course, two colors from this article:
Benjamin Moore – Salamander
Benjamin Moore – Black Forest Green
At this point, you probably can’t convince me that Black Forest Green isn’t the black to use everywhere.
Speaking of dark green and gold, here’s another picture of Tim’s cozy green and gold room for inspo:
Dark Green and Pink Color Palette
Thank you so much to Angela from @theadventuresofastolat for the inspiration photo!
Even though the wall color in the photo is Green Smoke by Farrow & Ball, I thought I would still make this palette using my very own favorite dark greens.
Here are all the colors from left to right:
Sherwin Williams – Eider White
I plant to finally cover Eider White very soon! In the meantime, you can read a little about it on my post about Snowbound, and in my post about Pure White. I compare a ton of whites in both of those posts!
Eider White is a beautiful neutral off white with a greigey undertone.
Benjamin Moore – Monticello Rose
Monticello Rose is such a soft pretty color. I like it because it’s definitely not beige, but it isn’t in-your-face pink either.
Here is a pink exterior using Monticello Rose. The dark green front door is Tarrytown Green. This isn’t your granny’s living room pink!
Farrow & Ball – Sulking Room Pink
Sulking Room Pink is a super hip color that looks great with almost every dark green! It’s bordering on mauve, and it’s a nice middle ground in terms of lightness.
The next three colors are all covered in this article:
Behr – Vine Leaf
Valspar – Nocturnal Green
Sherwin Williams – Greenblack
Dark Green and White Color Palette
Alishya’s cabinets are up there with my all time favorites! She paired her Essex Green cabinets with Chantilly Lace, so I included both of those and a few other colors in my dark green and white palette.
Colors from left to right are:
Benjamin Moore – Chantilly Lace
AKA the best white ever! Chantilly Lace is known as the OG white that has a hint of softness but no real undertones.
Sherwin Williams – Pure White
Here is Pure White with Greenblack back in Jake and Candi’s kitchen:
This is like Sherwin Williams version of a super neutral white with a hint of softness, but it is warmer and a bit darker than Chantilly Lace.
Sherwin Williams – Eider White
And of course, three colors from this article:
Benjamin Moore – Tarrytown Green
Benjamin Moore – Essex Green
Benjamin Moore – Black Forest Green
I wanted to include this Vintage Vogue bathroom in the dark green and white inspo:
I love how Jenna (@jenna.rachelle) used black and white wallpaper in her bathroom! Notice how there is enough white in the room with the fixtures and finishes that she didn’t even need to paint anything white to get the contrast? I honestly love everything about this bathroom!
Dark Green and Terracotta Color Palette
I’m repurposing a color palette from my “Best Terracotta” post because I still really like it!
I did change the colors a bit, because they weren’t really dark greens before.
Colors from top to bottom are:
Benjamin Moore – Baked Terracotta
Baked Terracotta is a beautiful clay color with a slightly more pink-leaning undertone, rather than a super rusty or orange one.
Benjamin Moore – Chantilly Lace
Sorry y’all, it’s her again!
Benjamin Moore – Sage Wisdom
Sage Wisdom is a really soft true sage color. It looks nice with a lot of other colors.
Plus, two dark greens we already talked about:
Valspar – Shady Lane
Benjamin Moore – Black Forest Green
For this palette I had chosen slightly cooler sage colors, so I also wanted to make a warm one:
Here are the colors from top to bottom:
Sherwin Williams – White Flour
Benjamin Moore – Manchester Tan
Manchester Tan is a very light neutral beige color with a sunny undertone. It has the perfect amount of gray in it to stop it from becoming a very warm beige, but it doesn’t ever look gray or greige.
From this article:
Sherwin Williams – Ripe Olive
From my terracotta post:
Sherwin Williams – Cavern Clay
Benjamin Moore – Warm Brownie
Dark Green Paint Colors in the Living Room
Here is a little living room inspiration for you from Liz again!
Salamander makes a great dark green accent wall, and there are punches of peach and terracotta all over, so this room is ticking alllll the boxes.
Dark Green on Your Exterior
The darkest green colors that we talked about here: Greenblack, Black Forest, and Nocturnal Green, all look amazing on exteriors!
I will say that Nocturnal Green does seem to look more blue than green when outside, so maybe that one is out.
The next few photos are all from Allie of @thenottinghome. Her and her husband Josh have done some amazing renovations to their home, and they used a LOT of Greenblack! If you want to see more, check out her Instagram.
Here is Greenblack on their barn exterior:
You know I’m obsessed with showing colors in different lights, so here you go! :
I love how Greenblack looks on the wood siding! If you do too, you will also love Sherwin Williams Jasper.
Allie also used Greenblack for the trim on their main house:
For trim you can see that a dark green will just look black. The rest of their house is Sherwin Williams White Flour, which you may remember was in a couple of my dark green color palettes.
Dark Green on Your Front Door
I already showed you Tarrytown Green on a front door, but the Nottinghome also has a dark green door:
The warm wood with the copper downspouts is also doing a sort of dark green and terracotta thing isn’t it? Love it!
Best Dark Greens – Final Thoughts
That’s all I have for today. If you read until the end, thank you so much! If I missed your favorite dark green, I am so sorry!
I couldn’t possibly cover every dark green that I love in just one post, but here are some more posts about greens that you might like:
