Ruskin Room Green

Saturated enough that everything else in the room answers to it. Sherwin-Williams files it as SW 0042.

Chroma 20.3 is high enough to dominate a room's palette rather than join it. Best reserved for rooms you pass through or visit rather than ones you spend hours in - the intensity that makes a strong first impression can tire the eye over a full day.

A warm bulb is the easiest fix if this reads colder than expected once it is on the wall. LRV 35.7 puts it in the middle of the scale, but saturation, not lightness, is what you will react to.

If the room already has blues and cool greys in the floor, a rug, or the furniture, this color will fight it rather than sit well beside it - the two sit at opposite ends of the color spectrum, which is exactly why they clash instead of blend.

Anything pale placed against this wall will look paler than it is; anything warm-metal will look warmer. Neither is an illusion the color plays deliberately - it is simple contrast, but worth planning rather than discovering. A natural scheme here moves in three clear steps: this color on the main wall, a noticeably lighter mid-tone for a second wall or built-in, and a near-white on the ceiling. Each jump should be obvious at a glance, not something you have to squint to tell apart (roughly 35.7, 60 and 85 on the light-reflectance scale, for reference).

For a secondary wall, PPG Moon Lily gives a natural step up in brightness without feeling like a mismatch (roughly 43.3 LRV points apart). If the wall needs to be washable, eggshell is the highest sheen worth considering before the color starts looking artificial under light.

Switching brands, PPG Woolen Vest (1112-5) is the closest equivalent at delta-E 1.64, near enough for most rooms. This is a relatively uncrowded spot in the spectrum - just 1 color from other brands come this close.

It is lighter than 46 percent of the Sherwin-Williams range. This is a crowded part of the scale - 478 colors measure within a point of 35.7 - so most brands will have something close. Sherwin-Williams lists it in the 0000 series, alongside 79 other colors.