Sage green bedroom ideas – designers on the fresh ways to decorate your bedroom with this relaxing color

Sage green bedroom ideas might conjure cozy, cottage spaces, but designers are now getting creative with this popular shade to create contemporary, elevated room designs

a modern sage green bedroom
(Image credit: Ryan Mcdonald. Design: Jen Talbot Design)

If you're looking for sage green bedroom ideas, fortunately you're not likely to find yourself going without. Sage green is an incredibly popular color for bedrooms – and for good reason. It's a restful shade, inspired by nature, that's easy to use and results in a relaxing bedroom design.  

However, it's a bedroom color idea that has become associated with a particular aesthetic that, while undoubtedly stylish, cozy and classic, isn't always the most exciting or forward-thinking. 

Luckily, there are some brilliant interior designers out there doing new and interesting things with sage green offering inspiration as to how to elevate your bedroom design. 

We've rounded up a few of our favorites to showcase how versatile the color sage green really is for a bedroom. 

Sage green bedroom ideas to elevate this on-trend color 

Sage green is as near as an actual color gets to being a neutral, which means that it's a shade of green that doesn't fall out of fashion. But that doesn't also mean that sage green isn't having a moment right now, especially for decorating bedrooms. 

'The green of 2022 leans more toward sage,' explains Chicago-based interior designer Jen Talbot, founder of Jen Talbot Design. 'It's surfacing in particular in bedrooms due to its soothing virtue. Clients are craving spaces that envelope them and the deeper tones meet the need, especially in the bedroom where the majority of their time is spent resting.'

1. Mix sage with an unexpected contrast 

a sage green and rust bedroom color scheme

(Image credit: Humbert & Poyet)

Sage green is a soft, natural and neutral shade, so you'll find that it pairs with lots of tones well, especially any other colors inspired by nature. Yet, while this might give you an easy, relaxing color scheme, there are some colors that go with sage green that bring a fresh dynamic to a bedroom. 

They might say red and green should never be seen (outside of the festive season, anyway), but sage green makes a really interesting pairing with rusty reds. Both smokier, subtler versions of their primary shades, they balance out as warm and cool so when used in the right proportions you can retain the calmness of sage, without creating a bedroom that feels cold. 

This room, designed by French design studio Humbert & Poyet for a wine estate in Provence is a masterclass in how to balance sage with other tones. 

2. Use this soft green with strong black accents 

a green bedroom with black chairs and wardrobe

(Image credit: Lauren Miller. Design: Sabrina Albanese)

Another surprising pairing for sage green in a bedroom is black. You wouldn't necessarily naturally associate sage as a color that goes with black. Sage is delicate and natural, while black is artificial and intense, but that's exactly why it's a pairing that can elevate sage green from its rustic, cozy origins into something more modern and invigorating. 

In this bedroom, designed by Canadian interior designer Sabrina Albanese, black furniture in contemporary, curved forms plays off against the near-pastel sage green walls and window treatments. Once again, it's a question of balance. 

'Sage brings a sort of elegance and airiness to the grounded, moody feel of the black furniture,' says Sabrina.

3. Combine sage as a neutral with other green tones 

a stylish sage green bedroom with a painted ceiling

(Image credit: Ryan Mcdonald. Design: Jen Talbot Design)

Using sage green as a neutral in a bedroom, allows you to go all-in on other shades of green, as interior designer Jen Talbot did with this elegant, yet modern design. 

'This green is more subtle, and has cool undertones,' says Jen. 'A mix with grey, it's a tone that brings a color like green into the updated neutral zone. Ultimately this marriage creates a more neutral base and calming effects to the space it's applied to.' 

In this green bedroom idea, decorative paint effects are used on the walls in a richer green hue, while the ceiling is painted deep, dark forest green. 

4. Paint millwork and trim all in sage 

a bedroom painted in all sage green

(Image credit: Ben Waterhouse. Design: ALL & NXTHING)

Sage green is a great choice for decorating a property with a little more history. 

'We used sage green in this bedroom as the house is a Grade II Listed Georgian townhouse and we definitely wanted something of a heritage color,' explains Stephen Nash, interior designer and founder of ALL & NXTHING. 'As the huge windows overlook some rather beautiful tree's out front and coupled with the nude plaster walls in the master ensuite – as soon as we looked at this color it was very easy to see it was perfect for what we wanted.'

Filled with beautiful period detailing, it's a space that could easily become fussy with the wrong bedroom paint ideas applied. Stephen's approach of painting the built-in bedroom storage, the trim and the door all in the same calm sage green helps to streamline the space, turning decorative details into more of a texture that helps the room not feel too busy. 

5. Experiment with tones of sage green 

a deep sage green bedroom headboard

(Image credit: Veronica Rodriguez. Design: Interior Fox)

Sage green is, probably more than any other shade of green, a catchall color. Any soft green tone with a hint of grey, can be considered a sage green, so when it comes to picking the best green paint for your bedroom, you'll have a variety to consider still. 

In this bedroom, a deep sage green creates a restful backdrop as a headboard and for built-in storage. It's a shade that captures that smoky quality of sage green, but with blue undertones dialed up. 

'A deep sage green is incredibly versatile and can provide the perfect backdrop to an array of colors and finishes,' say interior designer Jen & Mar, the founders of Interior Fox, who designed the scheme. 

6. Use sage for modern bedroom built-ins 

sage green built in wardrobe in a bedroom

(Image credit: Beth Evans. Stylist: Jessica Jung. Design: ALL Design Studio)

By simply changing up the style of your space, sage green can really take on a whole new personality. In this bedroom design, sleek handleless millwork makes this shade of sage green feel fresh and contemporary. 

'We wanted to create a calming and restful feeling to this master bedroom without compromising on color and personality,' explains interior designer Amanda Lyon, of ALL Design Studio. 

'We designed the full height joinery to maximize the bedroom storage ideas along this one wall, and kept the design purposing minimalist in appearance to not overpower the room,' she adds. 'The routed handles detail to the tall door fronts offer a clean and contemporary feel to the joinery. Wrapped inside and out with Mylands smoky green ‘Museum’ in a matt finish, it provides a soft warmth and soothing echo to this inviting bedroom.'

What color bedding goes with sage green?

Sage green is also a popular color for bed linen, but if you're opting for walls in this relaxing shade, you might want to find a contrast when you consider how to style a bed. 

'For a calming effect opt for lighter colours off,' suggest Interior Fox's Jen & Mar, 'or for a more sumptuous scheme choose much darker earthy shades.' 

a sage green bedroom headboard

(Image credit: Kris Piotrowski. Design: Whitstable View Interiors)

White bedding is a failsafe options for sheets, duvets and comforters, but consider adding in complementary colors through throws and cushions. Warm browns, toned-down shades of terracotta and light pinks all work well with sage green to balance out your color palette. 

Hugh Metcalf
Editor of Livingetc.com

Hugh is the  Editor of Livingetc.com. From working on a number of home, design and property publications and websites, including Grand Designs, ICON and specialist kitchen and bathroom magazines, Hugh has developed a passion for modern architecture, impactful interiors and green homes. Whether moonlighting as an interior decorator for private clients or renovating the Victorian terrace in Essex where he lives (DIYing as much of the work as possible), you’ll find that Hugh has an overarching fondness for luxurious minimalism, abstract shapes and all things beige. He’s just finished a kitchen and garden renovation, and has eyes set on a bathroom makeover for 2024.