Green Living Room Ideas
A green living room works best when you match the depth of green to the light you have and balance it with warm materials: wood, leather, brass or a rust-coloured sofa. Choose art with a lighter background or a warm accent so it stands out from the wall rather than blending in.
Below: light, grey-green and dark green schemes, sofa and rug pairings, ideas for a green TV wall, and how to choose art for green walls.
Prints for this look
The colour palette
Light, grey-green or deep green?
- Light green, such as mint, pistachio or pale sage, keeps a small or north-facing living room bright. Pair it with cream and pale oak.
- Grey green is the quiet all-rounder. It feels calm and modern, and suits both warm and cool furnishings.
- Deep green, such as forest, bottle or racing green, makes a living room feel enclosed and cosy, especially in the evening. It needs good lamps and warm accents.
Warm greens lean yellow and suit oak, brass and terracotta. Cool greens lean blue or grey and suit white, black metal and marble. Keep the art and textiles on the same side as the paint.
Sofas, rugs and colours that go with green
Green walls are generous with sofa colours. Cream, oatmeal and stone sofas keep a light green room soft. Rust, burnt orange and caramel leather are the boldest match, because orange sits opposite green and makes it look richer. Navy and charcoal sofas suit grey-green and deep green rooms.
For rugs, choose something with a little of the wall green woven through a warm base: jute, faded red, ochre or cream. Brass lamps, walnut side tables and plenty of plants finish the look.
As a rough split, follow the 60-30-10 rule: 60% green, 30% wood and neutrals, 10% warm accent. Our decorating rules page explains it in more detail.
A green TV wall or feature wall
If painting the whole room feels like too much, paint the wall behind the TV in a deep green. Dark colours make a black screen less dominant, and a pair of A2 prints or a row of A3 prints either side of the TV keeps the wall from looking empty. Line the tops of the frames up with the top of the screen for a tidy finish.
Art for green walls
On a deep green wall, art with cream, sand or warm orange backgrounds stands out best. On light and grey-green walls, you can use prints with stronger greens, as well as botanicals, landscapes and soft abstracts. Don't try to match the sofa exactly; repeat one accent colour from it instead.
Above the sofa, aim for art about two thirds of the sofa's width. On a 200 cm sofa that means roughly 130 cm of art, hung 15 to 25 cm above the sofa back. Browse our green wall art or add warmth with burnt orange prints.
Sizes at a glance
| Size | Centimetres | Inches | Works for |
|---|---|---|---|
| A4 | 21 x 29.7 | 8.3 x 11.7 | Shelves, desks, small gaps, sets of 3 |
| A3 | 29.7 x 42 | 11.7 x 16.5 | Hallways, side walls, pairs |
| A2 | 42 x 59.4 | 16.5 x 23.4 | Above a sideboard or small sofa, the anchor of a gallery wall |
| A1 | 59.4 x 84.1 | 23.4 x 33.1 | Above a standard sofa or bed |
| A0 | 84.1 x 118.9 | 33.1 x 46.8 | Large walls, open-plan rooms, statement pieces |
All our A sizes fit standard off-the-shelf frames, and every print is made to order on museum-grade matte paper.
