Green Smoke is a deep, slightly grey-blue green that turns moody in low light and softens beautifully in the sun. The trick with a colour like this is to treat it generously and pair it with warmth, not cleanliness.
My first piece of advice: drench the room. Walls, woodwork and ceiling all in Green Smoke, just varied in finish — dead flat on the walls, eggshell or mid-sheen on the trim. It reads far more sophisticated than the usual white-skirting-against-dark-walls approach, which can look like the colour stops halfway up the room.
If you do want contrasting woodwork, do not reach for a brilliant white. It'll make the green look cold and dirty. Go for a warm putty white instead — F&B Shaded White is the classic choice. For a softer, lighter companion in connecting rooms, Farrow & Ball Au Lait (LRV 80) or Paper III from Paint & Paper Library (LRV 75.3) both keep that creamy warmth without going stark.
For accents, this is where Green Smoke really sings. Reach for deep plum and ink blue in the soft furnishings — a velvet armchair, a throw — for that proper old-world richness. Fancy one modern jolt instead? Dulux Fuchsia Falls 2 (LRV 29.8) is a bright, cool magenta-pink that reads brilliantly against the green's smoky depth in small doses — a cushion or a lampshade, not a wall. And Mylands Cigar BH.20 (LRV 11.8), a deep warm tobacco brown, is a cracking grounding tone for leather, a console table or joinery.
The most common mistake I see? People panic that the room's too dark and chuck in a cool grey or a crisp white to "lift" it. That kills it. Green Smoke wants company that's warm and earthy — plaster, putty, plum, cigar brown — not anything cold.
Practical tip: this is a colour that genuinely changes through the day, so paint a large sample board and live with it for 48 hours, north-facing and south-facing both. In a dim north room it'll lean almost charcoal-green; in evening lamplight it glows. Both are gorgeous — just know which you're getting.