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Benjamin Moore Spanish Olive

Benjamin Moore Spanish Olive is a soft gray green paint color that’s perfect for interiors. And with more and more homeowners going green with their paint selections, Spanish Olive should be a paint color to consider.

Thinking of painting a room or piece of furniture with this pretty hue? Here’s my full paint color review.

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What color is Spanish Olive?

Technically speaking, Spanish Olive is a fairly light green hue. Closer to sage green or olive green (hence the name) than a typical green, this hue is more of a gray green than a true green.

What undertones does Benjamin Moore Spanish Olive have?

By itself Spanish Olive looks like a pale green, but when compared with other tones, you can easily see that this color has a gray undertone to it. I’d classify this color as a pretty, greenish grey hue.

Order a large peel and stick sample of Spanish Olive.

Compared with other hues in this category, Spanish Olive is darker than Gray Mist, but significantly lighter than Evergreen Fog.

What colors go with Spanish Olive?

Lighter and darker greens, blues, soft and crisp whites and terra cotta paint colors will all pair well with Spanish Olive.

A word about pairing colors with Spanish Olive:

Spanish Olive is what I’d classify as a “dirty” paint color, meaning it’s far from a true green color. We’d call a green that is right on the mark a “clean” paint color, while this olive hue is a “dirty” paint color.

Keep this in mind when you pair Spanish Olive with other colors, (and this goes for decor, too). You don’t want to put Spanish Olive in a room with true blues or true greens, as it will just clash. Rather, look for colors that are also “dirty,” for the best result.

For example, if you are looking at navy paint colors, go with something like hale navy, rather than a cleaner blue.

You can’t go wrong with pairing Spanish Olive with a terra cotta color, as those are all on the “dirty” side.

You could also pair Spanish olive with a blue green color, if you’re planning to decorate with both blues and greens.

What trim color pairs best with Spanish Olive?

Spanish Olive is a pretty easy one when it comes to trim colors, and my two favorite options here are pairing it with a soft white like that doesn’t go too yellow like Benjamin Moore White Dove or if you want a crisp pop between trim and the wall color, go with Chantilly Lace.

What colors are similar to Benjamin Moore Spanish Olive?

I always recommend ordering several paint colors in a hue family so that you can make the right decision. Comparing colors to other colors is really the only way you can see the undertones, which colors are clean vs dirty, and how light or dark the color is.

If you like Spanish Olive, I also recommend you order November Rain, Analytical Gray, Liveable Green, Svelte Sage and Saybrook Sage.

I love getting my paint samples from Samplize, as they have large 12×12 peel and stick samples of real paint, which makes it so easy to choose the right color the first time!

Three tips for deciding if Spanish Olive is right for your home

You can’t make a paint color mistake if you follow these three simple tips for getting the paint color right the first time.

Pay attention to your decor

Spanish Olive is a silvery sage hue, and will look best on the walls when the room has the same or similar hues used to decorate throughout. Ideally, you want to choose 2-3 colors (besides your neutral color) and repeat those around the room in various sizes/textures.

Spanish Olive looks really great when decorated with more muted hues, and remember to pay attention to the clean vs. dirty issue when deciding on fabrics and other elements to decorate a room painted in Spanish Olive.

Look at your light

Spanish Olive’s LRV is 52. LRV is a way to classify how light or dark a color is and colors over 50 reflect more light, while colors 0-49 absorb more light. Now, Spanish Olive isn’t the lightest color and certainly isn’t as light as some pale grays or beiges, but I wouldn’t classify it as a dark color either.

Now here’s the important thing you need to keep in mind with paint colors and the amount of light you have coming in your home. More natural light will lighten paint colors and less light will make them darker.

I’d be careful adding Spanish Olive to a room that didn’t get too much light. Perhaps you want to use this color in your office but your office has a small window that sits opposite the sun most of the day. Unfortunately in this scenario, Spanish Olive is going to appear “muddy,” as it needs a good bit of light to look best.

Likewise, if you have too much natural light, you might find you need to go a bit darker so that the color isn’t washed out. If this is the case, I’d try Svelte Sage or even Analytical Gray (a gray with a green undertone, but looks similar to Spanish Olive).

Test out Spanish Olive on your walls

Here’s where you’ll go wrong. Perhaps you see a paint color online or hear a friend recommend a paint color and just go with it, without testing it out for yourself. You might get lucky and love the color, but chances are, you won’t.

Testing out multiple colors at once allows you to see how the color compares to other similar colors, how the color works with your decor/fixed elements and how the color looks in relation to the amount of light coming in your room.

Not convinced Spanish Olive is for you or want to check out other similar colors? Make sure you check out my list of green grey options.

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