Home & Garden

A Mess of Southern Green Paints

Five southern tastemakers share their favorite shades

Photo: Peter Frank Edwards


From the vibrant hue of Mount Vernon’s dining room to Charleston Green, the deep hue found on shutters and doors throughout the Lowcountry, there are dozens of familiar and beautiful shades of green on display across the region. With spring in lush full swing and summer on the way, we’ve polled some of our favorite stylish sources for green paint hues that evoke Southern land, gardens, and history.


Color: Dakota Shadow 448, Benjamin Moore

“Green is one of those colors that plays well with others. You can mix it with every color in the color wheel and it works. I don’t know if it’s the pretty waxy shine on a magnolia leaf or the memory-evoking fragrance of its blooms, but this green always stops me in my tracks. It says, come in, sit a while and rest. I have old warehouse lights being wired for my new design studio and they are this shade.” —Erika Powell, Urban Grace Interiors


Color: Ball Green, Farrow & Ball

“This is a moody green that changes color throughout the day and reminds me of quieter rooms in old Southern houses.” —Lauren Liess, Lauren Liess Interior Design


Color: Lounge Green #6444, Sherwin-Williams

“I love and use this color all the time. It evokes the gardens at the late Bunny Mellon’s Virginia property, especially the color of her iconic greenhouse.” —Mark D. Sikes, Mark D. Sikes, Inc.


Color: Green Smoke, Farrow & Ball

“This is a green that riffs off the traditional green palette of shutters and doors found on Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina, and the hues of the island’s maritime forest, which pairs so well with the traditionally white washed bungalows. It’s like a sun-faded Charleston Green.” —Hunter Kennedy, Kennedy Design Studio


Color: Calke green, Farrow & Ball

“I painted my husband’s study at our house in Georgia this saturated green because I wanted a color that would reflect what was seen out of each of the windows in the room. With our pale, white washed pine floors, the green seems to drape us in color without being too heavy and dark.” —Susan Hable, Hable Construction


More Southern Paints:
>Front doors
>Porch ceilings
>Every room of the house


Haskell Harris is the founding style director at Garden & Gun. She joined the title in 2008 and covers all things design-focused for the magazine. The House Romantic: Curating Memorable Interiors for a Meaningful Life is her first book. Follow @haskellharris on Instagram.


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