Colors that go with Sage Green for curtains
Sage Green · #9CAF88
Sage Green (#9CAF88) — a soft, grey-tinged green — pairs best with muted red, terracotta & clay, ochre & gold, and teal. For curtains, choose muted red, drawn from 8 historically-grounded combinations below.
Curtains frame a room and filter its light, so the partners that work read cleanly against both the wall behind them and the daylight through them.
About sage green
Sage Green is a soft, grey-tinged green — a nearly neutral, balanced colour that reads as mid-toned. As a balanced tone it looks most resolved next to both warmer and cooler neighbours, and it needs both lighter and deeper shades nearby for the value contrast the eye reads as finished. That balance is what makes it feel refined in curtains.
- HEX
- #9CAF88
- RGB
- 156, 175, 136
- HSL
- 89°, 20%, 61%
- CMYK
- 11, 0, 22, 31
Accessibility: put light text on sage green for below AA (decorative use) legibility (contrast 2.3:1 against off-white).
Why sage green pairs with muted red, terracotta & clay, ochre & gold, and teal
Across the 8 historical combinations below, sage green sits most often beside muted red, terracotta & clay, ochre & gold, and teal. That tracks with colour theory: a balanced, mid-toned tone like this one wants both warmer and cooler neighbours so the scheme feels intentional rather than flat, and both lighter and deeper partners supply the light-to-dark range the eye needs. Curtains frame a room and filter its light, so the partners that work read cleanly against both the wall behind them and the daylight through them.
- muted red
- terracotta & clay
- ochre & gold
- teal
Using sage green in curtains
For curtains, choose muted red and terracotta & clay. Because sage green is mid-toned, it can cover larger surfaces, with teal added for depth.
8 combinations with sage green, from the 1933 Dictionary
Corinthian Pink & Pale Lemon Yellow +1
Plate 169 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Corinthian Pink, Pale Lemon Yellow, Warm Gray.
#a1a39a #f8b6ba #ffefae
Ochraceous Salmon & Cotinga Purple +1
Plate 238 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Ochraceous Salmon, Cotinga Purple, Warm Gray.
#a1a39a #d8a37b #501345
Red & Pale Lemon Yellow +2
Plate 261 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Red, Pale Lemon Yellow, Calamine BLue, Warm Gray.
#a1a39a #a72144 #ffefae #78cdd0
Cherry Blossom & Young Bamboo
The softest pink of cherry blossoms set beside young bamboo green — spring, captured.
#A3C293 #F9D5E0 #F8F4E9 #4C5D3F
Old Rose & Rainette Green +1
Plate 162 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Old Rose, Rainette Green, Lilac.
#8fa071 #d46d7a #b984af
Spectrum Red & Ivory Buff +2
Plate 266 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Spectrum Red, Ivory Buff, Rainette Green, Benzol Green.
#8fa071 #e31f26 #ebd3a2 #00978d
Spectrum Red & Ivory Buff +2
Plate 301 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Spectrum Red, Ivory Buff, Rainette Green, Aconite Violet.
#8fa071 #e31f26 #ebd3a2 #a36aa5
Celadon & Unbleached
Celadon pottery green beside the unbleached warmth of raw silk.
#8DB6A5 #F3EBDA #6E7B6A
Sage Green in other settings
Other colors
From the archive
Support the archive The full catalog, on your disk, as a thank-you.
- All 378 palettes (348 Wada + 30 editorial) in five formats
- Figma design tokens (W3C-spec JSON, drag into any file)
- Tailwind v4 + v3 configs — drop into any project
- CSS custom properties — every plate, one stylesheet
- 378 museum SVG plates — print-ready at any size
- Full JSON — colors, names, eras, moods, dominant hues
Launching soon. The free archive stays free, always.
Library
Go deeper on colour
The colour-theory books behind pairings like Sage Green — history, reference and the science of what works together.
Book links are Amazon Associates affiliate links. Your price is unchanged; a small commission supports the archive. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.