Benjamin Moore Louisburg Green HC-113: Sage Review

Benjamin Moore Louisburg Green (HC-113) is one of the Historical Collection greens that looks almost neutral on the chip and then surprises people once it covers a wall. Benjamin Moore's own description is short: "Gray undertones give this medium green a cool, muted quality." People search for it expecting a soft, safe sage and discover something with more weight than they bargained for. That is not a flaw. It is the entire reason to use it. The trick is knowing where that earthy depth flatters a room and where it quietly swallows the light. Here is exactly how Louisburg Green behaves on real interior walls.

Quick orientation before the deep dive. The Benjamin Moore Louisburg Green HC-113 color page gives an LRV of 33.79 and a screen value of #9C9E87 (RGB 156, 158, 135). That puts it in medium-depth territory: not a pale wash and not a deep forest, but a confident medium green-gray that reads as a real color on the wall. The undertone is gray, and the maker calls the result cool and muted, which is what gives it that aged, historic quality rather than a fresh garden green. This profile is one stop in our wider Benjamin Moore interior paint colors guide, and it sits next to the lighter sages covered in our best interior green paint shades guide. This page stays on Louisburg specifically: its undertone, light behavior, best rooms, and the near-twins it gets confused with.

Louisburg Green at a glance: the numbers that matter

Before opinions, here are the verifiable specs straight from the Benjamin Moore color library. These are the values you can take to a paint counter:

The takeaway from those numbers: at LRV 33.79, Louisburg Green is meaningfully darker than the sages most people picture when they hear the word. For context, the popular sage October Mist sits at LRV 46.54, and Louisburg lands about thirteen points lower. That single fact explains most Louisburg surprises. It will not keep a small, dim room feeling airy the way a pale sage does. Instead it builds an enveloping, grounded, historic atmosphere. Used in the right room that depth is its strength; used in the wrong one it reads heavy. The gray undertone is the second half of the story: it is the reason Louisburg looks muted and architectural rather than bright and herbal.

Is Louisburg Green too gray, too dark, or too olive? The undertone, decoded

Louisburg Green is a grayed green first and a sage second. The gray is what tames it, keeping it from looking like a fresh garden or a child's mint, and Benjamin Moore is explicit that this gray makes it cool and muted. The screen value shows the same balance: green barely above red and blue lowest, the signature of a dusty, grayed green rather than a saturated one. In practice that means Louisburg leans quiet and cool; it is the room around it (wood, brass, warm bulbs) that brings the warmth.

The medium LRV changes how the undertone behaves compared to a pale sage. Because Louisburg holds so much pigment, light does not wash it out; instead, light reveals different facets of it. In strong, warm daylight the green comes forward and the wall reads as a soft, sunlit sage with real life in it. In flat, cool, or low light the gray takes over and Louisburg settles into a quiet gray-green that can verge on drab if the room is starved of light. In a dim corner it can lose its green and read as a heavy gray. The depth that makes it handsome in a sunny library is exactly what makes it risky in a windowless one.

Watch out for one quirk specific to mid-tone greens. On a 2-inch chip Louisburg looks far lighter and friendlier than it does as a finished, rolled wall under real lamps. A medium green darkens visually as it spreads across a large surface and as the second coat builds, so the finished room usually lands a half-step deeper and moodier than the fan deck suggested. Plan for that, and you will not be startled the day the painter cleans up.

Source for the color data: Benjamin Moore, Louisburg Green HC-113. The light-by-light readings are general behavior for a muted medium green at this LRV, not measurements.

Best rooms for Louisburg Green

Louisburg Green is a depth color, not an everywhere color. It rewards rooms where you want enclosure, atmosphere, and a sense of history rather than bright openness. Used with intent, it is one of the most flattering greens Benjamin Moore makes. Here is where it consistently earns its keep:

Dining rooms and formal spaces

This is Louisburg's home turf. A dining room is one place where a darker, enveloping color is an asset: it makes the room feel intimate by candlelight and frames a table beautifully. The muted gray-green flatters wood furniture, brass, and warm metals, and against crisp white wainscoting or chair rail it looks distinctly colonial and considered. If green is on your dining room shortlist, see how it compares to other picks in our green dining room paint ideas guide.

Libraries, studies, and dens

A study or den is where Louisburg Green earns its keep most reliably. The grayed depth makes a room feel like a retreat, and it pairs naturally with bookcases, leather, and antique wood. On full-height paneling or built-ins the color reads architectural and expensive, the look of a well-aged old-money library rather than a fresh repaint.

Bedrooms wanting cocoon, not airy

In a bedroom Louisburg trades the bright-and-fresh sage look for something cocooning and restful. With warm 2700K lamps and natural linen it is deeply calming. It is the right green if you want a bedroom that feels grounded and enveloping; it is the wrong green if you want light and airy. Browse the lighter, brighter alternatives in our green bedroom paint ideas guide if cocoon is not your goal.

Where to think twice

A small, dim, north-facing room with only cool LED light is where Louisburg Green can tip from historic to drab. There the green recedes, the gray dominates, and the space can feel closed and heavy. It is also a lot of color for a tiny windowless powder room unless you genuinely want a dark jewel-box effect. If you love the sage idea but need brightness, a much lighter pick like October Mist or a true light sage will serve a dim room far better.

Trim, ceiling, and coordinating colors

A grayed mid-tone green lives or dies on what sits next to it. Get the trim right and Louisburg Green looks historic and intentional; get it wrong and it can read military or muddy. These are the Benjamin Moore pairings that consistently work:

• Soft white trim (most balanced): BM White Dove (OC-17, LRV 83.16) is a common choice for Louisburg. Benjamin Moore calls it a clean and classic white; it sits about fifty points above the wall, a clear line that still reads soft and historic rather than stark. Detail in our White Dove OC-17 review.
• Clean bright trim (more contrast): BM Simply White (OC-117, LRV 89.52) gives a crisper, brighter line that pops the green and reads a touch more modern; good if you want the wainscoting to feel fresh against the depth.
• Use with care: a stark, blue-leaning white against Louisburg. Next to a cool, muted green it makes the hardest possible line and can look clinical; a soft white keeps the historic feel.
• Ceilings: a soft white (often the trim color) keeps the room from feeling top-heavy. A stark blue-white ceiling over a muted green can look disconnected.
• Coordinating colors and decor: warm walnut and oak, brass and aged bronze, oxblood and terracotta accents, cream upholstery, and natural jute add the warmth that Louisburg's cool, muted green leaves out. A deep navy or near-black makes a handsome contrast on a door or built-in.

If you want a full palette built around the green rather than just trim, our guide to colors that go with sage green maps the warm and cool companions that work with a grayed sage like this one.

Louisburg Green vs the greens people confuse it with

Almost every Louisburg Green search ends in a side-by-side. The three comparisons that matter most indoors, with the differences spelled out clearly:

• vs BM Hollingsworth Green (HC-141): a historic sibling that is often assumed to be a deeper version of Louisburg; the published numbers say the opposite. Hollingsworth sits at LRV 63.25 and Benjamin Moore calls it "feather-light", almost thirty points lighter than Louisburg (33.79). Choose Hollingsworth when you want a light, airy historic green; choose Louisburg when you want depth and a muted, grounded green.
• vs BM Soft Fern (2144-40): Soft Fern (LRV 56.67) is "a pleasing pale green misted with gray tones" in Benjamin Moore's words, about twenty-three points lighter than Louisburg, so it reads light and fresh where Louisburg reads grounded and aged. Pick Soft Fern for a light, lively kitchen or kid's room; pick Louisburg for atmosphere and history.
• vs BM October Mist (1495): the airiness comparison. October Mist (LRV 46.54) is a gently shaded sage that keeps a room brighter; Louisburg is about thirteen LRV points darker and reads as a full, committed color. They are not interchangeable at all: October Mist is for soft and light, Louisburg is for grounded and deep. See the lighter option in our October Mist 1495 review.

Spelling and search note: louisburg green benjamin moore, BM Louisburg Green, Louisburg Green HC-113, and the occasional misspelling lewisburg green all point to this same Historical Color HC-113.

How to test Louisburg Green before you commit

A 2-inch fan-deck chip is the number-one reason people pick a mid-tone green that disappoints: it shows Louisburg far lighter and friendlier than the finished wall, and it cannot reveal how much the gray takes over in your darker corners. Two better methods:

• Paint a large swatch: roll a 2-by-2-foot sample (or a peel-and-stick sample) on two different walls and check it mid-morning, mid-afternoon, and at night under your normal bulbs. Watch specifically for how gray and how dark it goes in your shadiest corner; that corner tells you the truth about whether the room has enough light for it.
• Preview it digitally first: upload a real photo of your room and apply Louisburg Green (plus two lighter alternatives such as October Mist and Hollingsworth Green) before you buy any samples, narrowing three contenders to the one worth painting. Pricing context for the full repaint is in our interior house painting cost guide for 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Disclaimer: Benjamin Moore, Louisburg Green (HC-113), Hollingsworth Green (HC-141), Soft Fern (2144-40), October Mist (1495), White Dove (OC-17), and Simply White (OC-117) are trademarks of Benjamin Moore & Co. FacadeColorizer is an independent paint visualization service and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Benjamin Moore. Color reproduction on screens approximates the manufacturer's chip; always confirm with a manufacturer sample under your own light before purchase. Sources: Benjamin Moore color pages for Louisburg Green HC-113, Hollingsworth Green HC-141, Soft Fern 2144-40, October Mist 1495, White Dove OC-17 and Simply White OC-117, read in October 2026.