Dark Lime
What Dark Lime Actually Looks Like
Dark Lime is exactly what the name promises: a deep, vivid yellow-green that reads like a ripe lime rind. It is not a soft sage or a muted olive. This is a high-chroma, assertive color with real pigment density. It sits confidently in the middle of the value range, so it is neither a pale accent nor a near-black statement, but something boldly in between. In bright natural light it glows with an almost electric quality. In lower light or on north-facing walls it settles into something richer and more grounded, losing some of that electric edge without going muddy.
Dark Lime Undertones
The color is built on a yellow-green base. Yellow is the dominant driver, and the green component keeps it from reading as a straight chartreuse. There is no significant blue, gray, or brown in it. Because yellow is so present, it can pull warm in incandescent lighting and feel cooler and more purely green under daylight-balanced bulbs. The saturation is high enough that undertone drift is less of a surprise than the overall intensity of the color in a real room.
Where Dark Lime Works Best
Dark Lime is an interior color, and it works best when you commit to it rather than hedge. A single accent wall, a front door painted interior-side, a mudroom, a home gym, a playroom, or a bold kitchen island cabinet are all contexts where this kind of saturation earns its place. It is a difficult choice for a full four-wall treatment in a small room because the chroma can feel relentless up close. Large rooms with generous daylight handle it more easily. Pairing it with a lot of natural wood, white trim, or black hardware keeps it from feeling chaotic.
Where to put Dark Lime
Use it on a single run of lower cabinets or an island against white uppers and white subway tile. The contrast keeps the yellow-green energized rather than overwhelming, and natural light from a kitchen window brings out the color's best quality.
Small utility rooms are one of the best places to try a color this saturated. The space is transitional, traffic moves through it quickly, and the boldness reads as intentional rather than jarring.
High-energy colors have a real purpose in a workout space. Dark Lime on all four walls works here in a way it might not in a living room, especially under bright overhead lighting.
Children's spaces tolerate, even benefit from, saturated color. Paired with white trim and natural wood toy storage, Dark Lime reads cheerful and purposeful rather than overwhelming.
What to Pair With Dark Lime
No coordinating colors are listed in our database for this color, so the pairing guidance below draws on color theory and the color's own makeup.
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Colors that clash with Dark Lime
If an adjoining room is painted a cool blue-gray, the transition into Dark Lime will feel abrupt and discordant. The warm yellow in Dark Lime fights the blue in cool grays.
Purple sits opposite yellow-green on the color wheel, and at this saturation level the contrast becomes visually aggressive rather than pleasantly complementary.
Deep reddish-brown floors can pull out the yellow in Dark Lime and create a clash that feels dated rather than intentional.
Common questions
The LRV is 37.3, which places it in the medium range, not dark but not light either. In a room with limited natural light, that medium value combined with the high chroma will make the space feel intense and potentially smaller. If low light is a factor, reserve this color for an accent application rather than a full room treatment.
An eggshell finish is the most practical choice for walls. It is easy to wipe down and it diffuses light gently, which softens the color's intensity slightly compared to a flat finish. Avoid a high gloss on large wall surfaces because the sheen will amplify how saturated the color already is.
Benjamin Moore lists this color for interior use only. For exterior applications, check with your Benjamin Moore retailer about whether a comparable exterior formula is available, or consider a color from Benjamin Moore's dedicated exterior lines.
A crisp warm white on trim is the most reliable pairing. It gives the yellow-green a clean boundary and keeps the overall look intentional. Bright cool whites can fight the warmth in the color, so lean toward whites with a slightly creamy or neutral base rather than a stark blue-white.