Within this beautiful library, designer Elinor Jones kept the focus on the richly comprehensive mantel and built-in bookcases by choosing the softest shade of sage green for the walls, then replicating the color in a darker tone on the side seat upholstery.

Perfect Balance Giving a household kitchen a look that suited the wife's penchant for cottage charm and the husband's preference for colorful contemporary spaces introduced an enjoyable challenge for designer Mark Williams. To delight both clients, he kept the look in the space clean and simple, painting cabinets, shelves, and wall in a soft blue-based green and incorporating a mixture of refined-rustic components--like the French country dining chairs--and accessories and furnishings with simple lines and neutral colors, such as the armless sofa. The outcome is a contemporary mix that's just right for the entire family.

Timeless Option If you love the fashionable look of gray cabinets but do not want your kitchen to look just like everybody else's frameless railing . consider choosing a muted color of green, rather. Like gray, sage works with a vast array of decorating styles, mixes beautifully with timber tones, stainless steel, and rock, and will not appear outdated anytime soon. In this kitchen, white and black tiles at a Moroccan-inspired pattern add a picture edge to the country-style cabinets.

Natural Beauty Within this eclectic bath, designer Mary Jo Fiorella used sage green in an accent wall to make a colorful counterpoint to the makeup of neutrals in the remainder of the area. Reclaimed wood panels behind the dressing table mirrors, a pebbled bath wall, and a stone vanity countertop work amazing with the leafy green to give the room an all-natural appearance.

Leafy Accents In this sophisticated living room, a mostly neutral color palette gains energy and interest out of layers of rich texture, from the woven poufs into the velvet upholstery, and pops of leafy green. The shades of green used in this space are more extreme than the soft colors of the Urban Oasis living room, but the effect of pairing green with taupe, black, and white is comparable: A look that is grounded, but cool.

Focal Point To provide this airy living room a grounding centre, designer Amy Lutz picked an oversized sage green sofa to balance the big television-screen-topped mantel. The color of this sofa is a bit of a surprise at the taupe and white space, but it will help add warmth and coziness, making an inviting setting that's ideal for entertaining or simply hanging out.

Traditional Elegance Within this beautiful library, designer Elinor Jones kept the focus on the richly comprehensive mantel and built-in bookcases by choosing the softest shade of sage green for the walls, then replicating the color in a darker tone on the side seat upholstery. White painted studs and a black slate fireplace surround add crisp definition.

Spring Fling The greens which make up the palette of this bright living room are a bit more on the yellow end of the spectrum than the sage used in the Urban Oasis living room, but the effect is similarly fresh, if slightly more lively. Lots of white through the slipcovers, coffee table, lampshade, and walls helps produce a cool, clean look.

Light as Air This transitional master bath suite includes floating cabinetry in the double-vanity area flanked by tall closets on either side for a couple's use. The generously sized walk-in shower comprises a rain shower head and dual plumbing fixtures which allows simultaneous showering. The light, silvery-green walls and wide-open expanses of light-reflecting marble maintain the look cool, clean, and illuminating.

Winning Combination To provide a cook's kitchen a appearance of old-world elegance, designer Shane Inman selected a mixture of finishes for the cabinets: silent cream to your kitchen's perimeters and a silvery blossom to highlight the center island and ventilation hood. A line of sage-colored accent tiles on the backsplash adds subtle rep, without overwhelming the space with color.

Room With a View Using its palette of greens and tans with a few black accents, this luxurious bedroom feels like an expansion of the pure splendor visible from its own glass wall. The choice of colours was, in fact, inspired by the surrounding Southwestern landscape, such as the tones of the desert sage.

Fresh Approach Sage green walls create a bright background in a room with soaring ceilings but small windows. To heat up what could be an overly cool effect, the designers in Sherwin-Williams paints incorporated plenty of pure feel with woven shades and area rug, a slatted coffee table, and a wire side table. Neutral gray upholstery gives a quiet foundation for richly patterned cushions in a variety of earthy greens. White accents--the ceiling, trim, accessories, and image frames--lend lightness.

Fun and Functional At a boy's bedroom designer Brian Patrick Flynn took care to mix the essentials--a desk for prep sessions, such as--with lighthearted accents such as a swinging hammock seat. The sage green walls are an attractive alternative to the customary blue, and would work just too in a woman's room. Plenty of white trim and silvery metallic surfaces create a crisp, tailored look that will endure the test of time.

Light Effects In a sun-drenched family space, designer Jillian Harris of HGTV's Love It List It maintained the emphasis on the broad, spacious vistas by restricting the palette to gray, white, and a few warm neutrals. Sage green comes as an accent to the geometric pattern of the window panels, which work almost like artwork in the simple space, providing a focal point and breaking up the long wall of glass.

Tone-on-Tone Intensity Although high contrast is a favorite designer tool for creating drama, a monochromatic palette can be equally as powerful. Case in point: This luxe dining room from designer Brian Patrick Flynn. Choosing subtle variants on sage green to the area's walls, window treatments, upholstery, and area rug made a look that's restful but undeniably rich. A mixture of wood tones plus natural accents such as the fiddle-leaf fig tree finish the elegant effect.

Perfect Symmetry Creating a sense of elegance in a more compact space is a designer specialization. Here, designer Leah Atkins used a symmetrical furniture strategy--repeating the same components, right down into the mirrors, on each side of a small living area--to create the illusion of a grander expanse. A barely-there colour palette of warm green on the walls, white on the couches, cut, and rug, and gray on the stools, makes a little pop from the brighter blues and greens of the sofa pillows and art.

Wash of Color Pale blue is frequently the go-to for producing spa style in a tub, but sage green functions just as well--or better still, because the colour is less anticipated. Here, architect Hugh Jefferson Randolph used the color on subway tiles to line the inside of a open shower in a contemporary bath; the other side of the shower wall supports a vanity, mirror, and crystal clear glass sconces. Dark hardwood flooring warm up the slick space.

Inside and Out For a vacation house with stunning beachfront views, the group at Martha's Vineyard Interior Design used a colour palette of spring-y green and watery blue to recreate the outside vistas inside. White trimming, creamy linen slipcovers, and plenty of warm wood impart a balanced mix of warmth and freshness.

Splash of Sage A classic subway tile backsplash gains personality from a gray-green colorway that is a deeper version of this green on the walls over. Dark granite countertops, white cabinets and trim, sheer cafe curtains, and glistening nickel fittings finish the clean, traditional look.

Going With the Flow In a modern space with a spacious, flowing design, designer Antonio Martins used area rugs in rich shades of gray to differentiate the dining room and seating locations. A pair of sculptural side seats upholstered in a soft shade of green give the dwelling area its own identity and supply some relief to the starkly neutral color scheme and minimalist architecture.