Has anyone picked up the latest issue of House Beautiful? It's the "Spring Color Issue" and it's "All About Green." I got mine a couple of days ago and I have to say, I was pretty surprised. In a good way.

See, I've been decorating our place like a mad woman for the past couple of months. And painting. And I've been using lots of green.

As a designer, it's always nice to see the colors I am gravitating towards at any particular time be highlighted in a big name shelter magazine. It's kind of a validation. Of what, precisely, I'm not sure. But something about it feels kinda cool.

Check out this green dresser in a room designed by Meg Braff.

I also have a green dresser - which I love. Granted, my walls are currently a deeply saturated shade of pink, so the overall feel is a bit different. But it's a similar idea. The dresser is painted in Benjamin Moore's Bunker Hill Green.

And here's my new home office. The walls are in New Glarus by Pratt and Lambert. I was searching for the perfect shade of "jade" green, and I think I found it.

But this one's the real kicker. Here are two separate rooms featured in the March issue. The first room, designed by Stephen Sills, is painted in Donald Kaufman's DKC 103.

And the second room, designed by Amelia Handegan, is bathed in Benjamin Moore's Acorn Squash.

And here's my new living room, painted in Dragonwell by Benjamin Moore.

I'm not trying to say "Look at me, I'm so awesome." I was just pretty flabbergasted to see such a similar wall color in House Beautiful. Dragonwell is not your typical green. It's a funky brown-ish, brassy, olive-y color. Definitely not for everyone. And it wasn't a color I found any images of before I painted. It was inspired by some vintage pillows and a wine bottle. I think it's so cool that I'm not the only one using this color. Perhaps that's the validation? That this funky color that seemed kind of risky is actually worthy of hitting the pages of a major shelter magazine.

So thanks, House Beautiful, for sharing some great spaces in great shades of green. And for showing that using funky, unconventional hues is exactly what creates unique, inspirational spaces.