Fresh Greens
With jolts of acid green and cool lime, designers are jazzing up nature's favorite color.

By Jeffrey Osborne and Gail Ravgiala
It's easy being green this season. Noted for its soothing qualities (there's a reason Mother Nature uses it so generously), green is bringing a sense of cool calm to chic interiors. Long a symbol of new life, green conveys an instant sense of renewal to a room. In ancient Egypt, where it was considered a sacred color, green represented the joy of spring. In Celtic and other ancient myths, the green man was the god of the woodlands. Despite its reputation as the color of envy, green has been credited with creating more harmony than jealousy, and there are even claims that introducing green to the workplace reduces employee stomachaches.

This season, designers are going green with everything from Gucci stiletto sandals to iPod's newest metallic finish. However, they are veering away from the safe mossy hues of grass and trees instead making bold statements with electric shades of acid green. At Nightingale restaurant in Boston's South End, for example, owner Kevin Sheehan painted the walls a vibrant lemony green. The effect is as soothing as a lime Popsicle on a hot summer night.

If you are not quite ready to paint your living room the same color as the "On" light on your laptop computer, you can ease into green with accessories such as pillows, curtains, tableware, and linens. At this year's Junior League of Boston Decorators' Show House, several designers added splashes of tropical green to the Commandant's House at the Charlestown Navy Yard. There, designer Juliette Reid of Brookline punctuated the bright-yellow palette of the sunroom with slipper chairs upholstered in lime-green textured silk. "It is a very fresh and vibrant color that compliments the yellow walls," she says. "I wanted to bring the outdoors in, and this green is a color that works when the room is filled with sunlight or when we are having one of our typical gray New England spring days. It is the color of the season."

Indeed, when the gala grand opening party welcomed show house decorators and supporters last month, one savvy designer noted, "A lot of women were wearing green."