Forget Everything You Think You Know About Mint Green – Designers Are Using This Retro Shade in Quieter Ways for 2027

Mint green may once have been dubbed dated, associated with midcentury bathroom suites and Formica kitchen cabinets, but it's making a quieter, more sophisticated comeback in 2027. While the powdery hue has retro connotations, designers are revisiting this fresh but soft shade in more subtle, timeless ways, turning mint green from sickly sweet to endlessly chic.

From pale powdery greens that shift in the light to minty fresh paints infused with blue, there's a reason mint green is becoming one of the biggest color trends of 2027. Here's how designers are using it in their schemes.

While mint green can read a little sweet, beside organic wood tones and bronze hardware, it transforms into a fresh, sophisticated, and surprisingly timeless shade.

'This color was the dominant color in my client's kitchen,' says interior designer Chauncey Booth, 'which is the central room of the house and one that opens up to many different living spaces. It's a color that had to mix well with various different elements. This powdery blue-green pairs beautifully with the rusty orange and saffron hues of the living room and dining room, but also offers a quiet, paler contrast to the mossy greens and petrol blues of the adjacent family room.'

'To me, green is always a neutral and its effect really depends on how you use it,' Chauncey says. 'Mint green, when combined with other pastels or pinks, can read preppy and sometimes childish, but when you pair it with bronzes, browns and olive tones, it becomes a much more sophisticated color. I think recent trends push it in the direction of the latter, which is why you're seeing more successful uses of mint.'

If you admire the grounding powers of sage green, mint is an equally soothing, more unique alternative with a crisper edge. Unlike sage green paints, mint green has a blue undertone that gives it a fresh feel. When applied to cabinetry, it adds a playful, unexpected edge to hardworking spaces that are in need of a little vibrancy.

'This paint color (pictured above) is a lacquered finish of Benjamin Moore's Pleasant Valley,' says interior designer Lindley Arthur. 'The color was inspired by the background of the IKSEL dining wallpaper in the adjoining dining room. We also loved the crisp feel of it against the connecting kitchen, which is classic white with touches of walnut.'

'The shade sits somewhere between green and blue, both of which are heavily used in interior spaces,' Lindley adds. 'Mint is fresh, crisp and unexpected – and grounded enough to not read too sweet.'

Mint green can read almost neutral at times, too. Paler versions of the minty hue are surprisingly subtle and can cocoon a room in gentle saturation that quietly sings in the background.

'I find pale minty green to be an amazingly flexible color, almost like a neutral,' interior designer Brandon Schubert says. 'It can span from one room to the next without feeling overwhelming. And it’s very easy to mix other colors in with it. So for this space (pictured above), we had two connecting rooms. I wanted them to be decorated in the same color, and I didn’t want to use white. I chose to paint the kitchen joinery in the same color to create a feeling of contemporary uniformity in the more traditional interior.'

'This is Farrow & Ball Blue Gray, which is a magical color that shifts from green to blue depending on the light,' Brandon says. 'It’s so easy to work with. It’s fresh and happy while not overwhelming. It’s a color you can really live in. Day after day, without getting tired of it.'

On the other end of the color spectrum lie bold mint greens designed to stand out. Infused with blue tones, Appalachian Trail by Benjamin Moore might be an unexpected living room color choice, but in this modern heritage-style living room, it sings with the antique furniture and natural light.

'Mint green is a refreshing twist that brings real vibrancy into the scheme. While it's not a shade typically used in a traditional living room, it balances out the more classic, vintage details. 'We were drawn to the idea of a paint color that felt both historic and fresh as the backdrop to the collection of antique mahogany furniture that our client sought to incorporate from her family,' says interior designer Sarah Vaile.

'Mint green is naturally beautiful, as the name suggests, and also pairs well with a lot of warm tones. It is steeped in history, with its use dating back to Ancient Greece and Egypt,' she adds.

The Mint Green Edit

While mint green has retro connotations, in 2027, designers are using it to breathe life and freshness into their schemes. In traditional interiors, it provides balance and contrast, and in modern schemes, it brings an all-important dose of freshness and tranquillity.

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