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Home decoration

True Sage Green

26 replies

NotMrsHinch · 20/03/2023 21:36

Hello Mumsnetters

We are planning to decorate throughout downstairs for the first time in a long time and have agreed that Dulux Timeless will be the primary colour throughout but I really want a restful complementary colour in the alcoves on either side of the fireplace in the living room, and then used in small but visible areas in the other rooms for coherent flow if that makes sense.

So I've been looking for a true soft sage paint or wallpaper (plain or patterned) but can't seen to find anything suitable. Have ordered samples and bought test pots but so far the 'sage' has looked either too minty or too dark like olive. Now feeling desperate and hoping someone here can point me in the right direction. As I said, main colour throughout including woodwork / radiators will be Dulux Timeless.

Hopefully someone can help. Thanks.

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determinedtomakethiswork · 20/03/2023 21:51

Have you looked at farrow and ball? What about this one?

www.farrow-ball.com/paint-colours/calke-green

NotMrsHinch · 24/03/2023 00:37

@determinedtomakethiswork Sorry it took me a while to reply, worked away from home this week. Thanks for the link! That particular shade looks a little too dark for what I'm after but I have seen some others on that site (and different colours too!) that would work in my planned scheme, so appreciate the link.

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MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 24/03/2023 00:38

Dulux Overtly Olive?

NotMrsHinch · 24/03/2023 01:03

@MrsPelligrinoPetrichor I've been looking at that one for a while. DH going to pick up tester pots of F&B Calke Green, Dulux Overtly Olive and Dulux Tranquil Dawn tomorrow and I'll use them on some card so we can move them around at different times of day.

Who would have thought it would be so difficult choosing paint!? I get so overwhelmed by all the different shades I just end up either going off to do other shopping or leaving the store with nothing. I just want a nice paint for my walls 🙄

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Drifta · 24/03/2023 01:25

The darkness of colours is so different on a sample patch than when you do a whole wall. Once the last bit of the wall is painted your brain kind of shifts the colour and stops comparing it with the while around, so the colour "lifts".
I was convinced Overtly Olive would be far too dark but after a LOT of tester patches I decided to just follow the crowd. It was one of Dulux's most popular shades so I reckoned it must work for a lot of people. I had loads of compliments about our new sage walls. Your idea of sage may be different of course, but I found Overtly Olive very pleasant and easy to live with. It was a few years ago but I think sage kitchens if anything have had a revival since.

Little Greene always look good for greens. Dunelm Lilypad is being served up to me by Google but I'm sure you're finding the same.

NoDrinksForMe · 24/03/2023 04:39

Try F and B 'Bone'. It's described as a greeny/grey, but in our north facing room it looks perfectly sage green. It's a beautiful colour.

NothankyouNigel · 24/03/2023 08:02

I’ve just got this LG Windmill Lane - although I haven’t opened it yet so can’t attest to its true sageiness.

Furries · 24/03/2023 13:37

Little Greene’s Normandy Grey (weird name, it’s not grey! They do some lovely wallpaper too.

mogtheexcellent · 03/04/2023 21:04

I went through 8 testers before settling on Dulux Heritage Sage Green. IWhen looking at the testers I thought it may be too dark for a small north facing bedroom/study but I was running out of time. Room looks fab and it feels warm. I found Tranquil Dawn a little too cold and only looked good in certain light.

GCAcademic · 03/04/2023 21:05

Furries · 24/03/2023 13:37

Little Greene’s Normandy Grey (weird name, it’s not grey! They do some lovely wallpaper too.

I was going to suggest this. It’s definitely green, rather than grey.

loobylou10 · 03/04/2023 21:12

Overtly olive is lovely. A proper sage green, we have it all over!

tothesea · 03/04/2023 21:21

Crown Mellow Sage is a lovely soft proper sage green IMO

Housenoob · 03/04/2023 21:48

Dunelm has one that is literally called Sage Green, we've only got the tester swatch so far but it's really lovely. Have heard good things about Overtly Olive too though.

NotMrsHinch · 04/04/2023 01:38

Thanks to all who replied. I now address my DH as 'Sulking Room Funk' due to the fact that he has now decided he doesn't even like green - in any shade - and prefers LG's 'Scree' with 'Slaked Lime' based on an image in their Inspiration gallery. So complete change of plan and colour scheme! I planned to use whichever scheme we chose in every room downstairs in varying degrees and am a bit worried this scheme may look and feel somewhat cold but the advisor assures us it will feel 'cosy'...

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GCAcademic · 04/04/2023 14:03

Hmm. I share your reservations, OP.

Paddingtonthebear · 05/04/2023 23:03

Just used Crown Mellow Sage and was pleasantly surprised

AlltheFs · 05/04/2023 23:12

We’ve bought a house covered in slaked lime. It’s not a colour I’m enjoying! Proceed with caution. It’s alright but I am finding it cold.

NotMrsHinch · 06/04/2023 01:27

Thanks again to those who posted after my last one. I really appreciate your comments and observations, particularly from @AlltheFs for sharing your personal experience of one of the shades SRF (Sulking Room Funk!) seems to prefer. It does look cold to me, and the Scree just looks miserable.

A friend of mine told me last night that when she found herelf in a similar situation - i.e. her DH suddenly changed his mind on their previously agreed colour scheme, and she really didn't like the one he was opting for, she just went ahead with the original anyway whilst he was at work and when he came home and saw it he just shrugged and said it looked fine and was probably for the best as he had been wondering if he'd been too heavy handed 'laying down the law' when they had to share the space and had come to their agreement after weeks of discussion, visiting places that sold paint/wallpaper, looking at and buying samples etc. She told him that was exactly her thought which was why she went ahead as she didn't consider it fair that he changed his mind so suddenly and hadn't discussed it with her, just announced that that they were going to have his new preferred scheme. He apologised and hasn't complained since.

Methinks I must take the plunge and get our decorating done whilst 'D'H is at work, using the same reasoning! I really don't like the look of Scree with Slaked Lime. In fact, I don't even like the names of either of those shades, they just sound horrible.

For any interested parties, I have the main (I suppose, feature) wall with alcoves either side. Question is, do I use wallpaper just on the main and short 'return' sides into the alcoves, or wallpaper the whole main wall and alcoves, and use the Dulux Timeless as the complementary shade on the opposite walls which also happen to host our radiators and would enable them to be painted in DT so that they 'disappear'? Our LR is a long open plan space, not that wide, with large windows at each end so we do get a lot of natual light and we use the 'far' end of the room as a dining area as its literally just off the kitchen.

I wish we could afford an interior designer as I'm not naturally gifted with vision related to stuff like this so always feel quite anxious, but it's not an option. I do see designs and schemes I like in magazines or if I do 'net searches sometimes, but then I get the testers and the shades just never look the same in my rooms.

I have a downstairs toilet that also needs doing but currently paralysed over that because I've seen so many articles etc about going bold with wallpapers/paint colours and designs, and then others saying be careful how you decorate as small spaces can easily be overwhelmed by dark colours or opulent designs. Like I said...wish I could afford an ID and could just tell him or her I like this or that, but can't stand this or that, so just make it nice for me please. Anyone else find it all utterly exhausting???

Sorry for the long post :-(

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Housenoob · 06/04/2023 09:15

I'd wallpaper just the alcoves personally, I always think that looks lovely. Is it a bold printed type of wallpaper?

Downstairs loo I'd go bold and throw caution to the wind because how much time does anyone really spend in there? So even if you think the dark colour is overwhelming it doesn't really matter because no one will spend more than a few minutes in there a day. It would be different if it was a main bedroom or living room.

I do get what you mean though, choosing designs and colours is exhausting. I find it even harder choosing soft furnishings like curtains, cushions etc after the paint!

EvelynBeatrice · 06/04/2023 09:16

Farrow and Ball: Ball green

mewkins · 06/04/2023 09:17

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 24/03/2023 00:38

Dulux Overtly Olive?

I've used that in my dd's room and it looks lovely

Furries · 06/04/2023 10:11

Would you be willing to post a photo of your fireplace with the alcoves? It would make it easier to give suggestions (for me!). Also, what direction do the windows face - as the direction of light can make a big difference as to how a colour looks. I’ve made the mistake of just buying a colour I really liked and it looked awful in its intended place!

crumpet · 06/04/2023 10:12

NoDrinksForMe · 24/03/2023 04:39

Try F and B 'Bone'. It's described as a greeny/grey, but in our north facing room it looks perfectly sage green. It's a beautiful colour.

I always recommend this. It’s a lovely understated colour

AlltheFs · 06/04/2023 10:57

We have Gregory’s Den and Sapling from Earthborn on our shortlist. Currently have samples on the wall. And Sunday Stroll and Grassy but they are too dark. Gregory’s Den is a bit like F&B Mizzle and Tracery II from Little Greene I think. I do like it but can’t decide if too greyish. Sapling is greener.

We have to have paint suitable for lime plaster though so limited on type. So Dulux etc not allowed.

NotMrsHinch · 07/04/2023 03:40

As I said earlier, ours is a long double aspect open plan Living/Dining Room. We use the left side up to the far edge of the fireplace wall as our general living area - this is SE facing with a huge picture window pretty much covering the width of the room. The kitchen opens directly into the right side of the room (the right alcove area really) so we use this as our dining room – this is NW facing with sliding doors leading out onto the main patio of the garden. We’ve toyed with the idea of actually separating the two areas by erecting a wall with central door(s) but we really love the open plan aspect and all the light we get from both front and back of house so that’s not an option we’d even want to consider again.

Found an image online which represents the layout of the room. I do plan to have some kind of storage added to the alcoves during the renovation, either by having bespoke units made by a joiner or buying free-standing units and asking joiner to secure them for us in some way – our walls are breezeblock and not actual brick so its been difficult fitting shelving for instance.

But anyway, hopefully this representation shows what I’m working with and I agree that wallpapering just the alcoves would be the better option. I found this wallpaper in a shade I like and think would work, as everything else would be plain and there’s enough natural light in the room to balance it out. I’d try to use similar shades/tones in soft furnishings, too, with maybe an Ochre and use brass metalwork for lamps etc to add warmth…

True Sage Green
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