Why and how to use ‘Invisible Green’ by Edward Bulmer

There are some paint colours that crop up time and again on the pages of House & Garden. They are the timeless, endlessly inviting shades that designers come back to project after project because they are simply that good. Mostly, these tend to be classic neutrals (think Farrow & Ball's ‘Setting Plaster or Edward Bulmer’s ‘Jonquil’) but there is one that bucks the trend: ‘Invisible Green’, from Edward Bulmer Natural Paints. This bright, delicious shade of green is so evocative and it looks tremendous wherever it's used.

It's so good that Rita Konig, when documenting the renovation of her farmhouse said in her House & Garden column, “The first colour I knew I wanted to use was ‘Invisible Green’ by Edward Bulmer in the drawing room. I realised that I’ve never met a bright green room I don’t love, yet I rarely use the colour. This is the green of Babar’s coat – a shade that goes with so much, as it does in nature.” She's spot on, it goes with so much and the name itself is quite hilarious as the tone is anything but ‘invisible’. In fact, it's a bright, bold green that evokes grass on the banks of a riverside, a punnet full of fresh spring peas at a greengrocers and, as Rita notes, that famous elephant's coat.

“History has given us the names we use for our paints,” explains Edward. “Invisible Green was actually a term first used in the 19th century for a dark colour to paint ironwork, in a way that it would not break up the view of a landscape. Of course, grass is actually a bright green and I was interested to see in 18th century garden views and conversation pieces a much brighter ‘grass’ green was used for seats and gates and so I took that colour as my inspiration, but co-opted the later name that described its purpose. Heightening the deception, we are offering it as an interior colour and one that is hardly invisible!”

What is surprising about such an eye-catching paint colour is that it pairs so well with so many other colours, as the examples below can attest to. Edward of course agrees: “a strong colour can still be a good background if the tonality is right.” Susan Deliss has painted walls in ‘Invisible Green’ with woodwork in a dark sky blue; Jane Ormsby Gore used it as a foil for primary colours and rich jewel-toned velvets; Rita herself employed it to work with a plethora of her favourite patterned textiles and colourful art. Perhaps that's where the name stems from, the fact that even though this a colour that in theory shouts loudly, it does in fact let other colours in the room say quite a lot too.

As you can see from the collected examples below, the most common use for ‘Invisible Green’ by Edward Bulmer is in living rooms. Such rooms are the perfect place for it as the colour reacts to natural light in a way that makes it endlessly versatile. In the daytime, ‘Invisible Green’ is a zippy and exciting colour to be amongst, while in the evening by lamplight, it is cosy, cocooning and comfortable. If, like us, you're drawn to this most delicious of green tones, scroll through our gallery below to see how it's been used by top designers.

Edward Bulmer is a member of The List by House & Garden, our essential directory of design professionals. Find his profile here.