Recently I sat down to eat in a restaurant that was decorated in Mid-Century Modern décor and saw a color I fell in love with. Of course, it was green….. Anyone who knows me, knows that I’m a green girl. Phone cases, pens, bags, and even clothes are almost always a shade of green. I wanted to recreate this color, and I whipped it up a few days later. It was a simple color to mix and came out perfect on the first try. However, naming it was much harder.
Since the color has a distinct mid-century feel, I wondered off to Google-land to find a city that is noted for the resurgence in popularity of this current trend or was a leader back in the fifties. Nothing I found felt right for this color, though. I researched, Googled more, and asked some friends for the name of cities and towns that they thought of when they thought of when thinking of the Mid Century Mod era. Palm Springs, Austin, Dallas, Palo Alto, San Mateo, Clearwater, West Palm, San Francisco, New York City, and Chicago were all suggested. The color Indio Green was suggested. I researched (again) all of the suggestions, but still none were “speaking” to me. (I know you listen for your furniture to speak to you, before painting.)
Picture Credit: www.madformidcentury.com
Time for a different strategy: This WAS going to be a Mixology Monday© color. I loved it too much to put it aside for later. I decided to Google Mid Century Modern colors. Somewhere in my journey down the research rabbit hole, I came across Linden Green. All the images of the color “Linden Green” that I found were “it”—a bright green with strong yellow undertones. Finally, we were getting somewhere!
I knew there was a Linden, New Jersey. I did not know there were quite a few other towns named Linden. There are Lindens in Texas, Arizona, Michigan, Missouri, Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Maryland, Wisconsin, Colorado, Utah, and California. Columbus, Georgia and Columbus, Ohio have encompassed communities of Linden during their growth. North Dakota has three Lindens: Linden Township, Linden Hills and Linden Grove. It seems that our dear Canadian neighbors are not as found of the name “Linden.” I only found Lindens in Nova Scotia and Alberta. Did I miss any Lindens?
So, why all the Lindens? The Linden tree is the answer. The Linden tree is known as the Tilia, the Teil, the Basswood and the Lime tree. Not the citrus Lime, but the linden Lime. Lime is the name the genus goes by in England. I think ‘lime’ is a great name for the tree and the beautiful citrus-y color of the leaves. However that is not how the name evolved. It originated from the Middle English lind and the 16th century line. Linden was the adjective that meant, “made from lime-wood.”
I think this Linden Green is a perfect color for a statement piece in your home, especially if it IS a mid-century modern piece. However, it would work on anything that needs a bit of brightening up!
Linden Green is 3 Parts Spring Hill Green : 1 part Middleton Mustard
Peace,
CeCe