🌿 Lime Grove

A Visual Studio Code theme family with fourteen variants — five Light, seven Dark, and two High Contrast — sharing the same perceptually distinct syntax palette across all.

Designed for long coding sessions where readability matters: each syntactic category uses a distinct color family so your eye instantly navigates code structure without conscious effort.

Variants

Variant	Background	Style
Lime Grove	`#F5F8EC` — soft lime-tinted white	Light, low contrast, easy on the eyes
Lime Amber Grove	`#FDF8EB` — warm cream with amber tint	Light, golden/amber chrome
Lime Fog Grove	`#F7F8F8` — neutral gray-white, no green tint	Light, cold slate chrome, teal accent
Lime Birch Grove	`#FAF7F2` — warm cream with birch tone	Light, dark brown chrome, amber accent
Lime Grove Dark	`#1E2220` — gray charcoal with green tint	Dark, carbon-style
Lime Midnight Grove	`#111614` — near-black with subtle green tint	Dark, maximum contrast, electric lime accent
Lime Dusk Grove	`#1C1A14` — warm dark brown	Dark, amber-gold chrome, cozy low-light feel
Lime Slate Grove	`#0F1420` — deep blue-slate	Dark, cool blue tone, lime accent (Tokyo Night feel)
Lime OLED Grove	`#000000` — pure black	Dark, true black for OLED / battery saving
Lime Soft Grove	`#1E1E2A` — muted slate-purple	Dark, low-saturation pastel palette
Lime Vivid Grove	`#14181C` — neutral dark	Dark, colorblind-safe (deuteran/protan) palette
Lime Sepia Grove	`#F4ECD8` — warm sepia paper	Light, soft low contrast for long reading
Lime Grove High Contrast	`#000000` — pure black	High contrast, WCAG-AAA, accessibility
Lime Grove High Contrast Light	`#FFFFFF` — pure white	High contrast, WCAG-AAA, accessibility

All variants share the same 6 color families for syntax, adjusted in brightness and saturation for their respective backgrounds.

Syntax palette

Role	Light	Dark
Keywords / control flow 🟣	`#7B4FBE` Violet	`#9B6FE8` Violet (brighter)
Types / classes / XML tags 🔵	`#1A6FAF` Blue	`#4A9FD4` Blue (brighter)
Functions / methods 🟠	`#C05A10` Orange	`#E07030` Orange (brighter)
Strings 🟢	`#3A8A0A` Lime green	`#7EC820` Lime (brighter)
Numbers / `true` / `false` / `null` 🔴	`#B5420A` Red-brown	`#E07060` Red (brighter)
Operators / punctuation ⚫	`#5A6A72` Gray	`#8A9A9C` Gray (lighter)
Comments 🌿	`#6E8C58` / `#8A7848` Sage/Khaki	`#6A8A58` Sage
Variables / base text ⚪	`#2D3320` / `#2D2810` Olive	`#D4DEC8` Cream
Regex / links 🩵	`#1A7A60` Teal	`#2AC890` Teal (brighter)
Decorators / attributes 🟡	`#A06000` Amber	`#C89030` Amber (brighter)

The dark variant uses the same hue families as the light variant — violet stays violet, orange stays orange — but each color is shifted brighter and more saturated to maintain the same perceptual weight against a dark background.

Color philosophy

Most themes fail readability not because they have too many colors, but because their colors come from the same family. If keywords, types, strings, and variables are all shades of blue or green, the eye can't distinguish them without reading the text.

Lime Grove assigns each syntactic role to a different color family:

🟣 Violet → keywords stand out most — if, for, return, class, using
🔵 Blue → types anchor structure — string, int, MyClass, IService, XML tags
🟠 Orange → functions are callable — GetUser(), console.log(), Calculate()
🟢 Lime → strings are literal text — the theme's signature color
🔴 Red-brown → numbers and booleans are values — 42, 3.14f, true, null
⚫ Gray → operators and punctuation fade back — +, =>, {, }
🌿 Sage → comments are present but quiet — italic, low contrast intentionally

Editor chrome palette

Lime Grove (Light)

Zone	Background	Text / Icons
Activity bar	`#3a5c10`	`#e8f5c8` active · `#8aaa60` inactive
Title bar	`#3a5c10`	`#e8f5c8`
Status bar (normal)	`#3D8A0A`	`#F5F8EC`
Status bar (debug)	`#D06818`	`#F5F8EC`
Tab bar	`#E4EDD4`	active border `#5CA016`
Side bar	`#ECF2DC`	`#2D3320`
Panel / terminal	`#EDF2DC`	`#2D3320`
Cursor	—	`#5CA016`
Selection	—	`#C8E89080`

Lime Amber Grove

Zone	Background	Text / Icons
Activity bar	`#6B4800`	`#F8ECC8` active · `#C09860` inactive
Title bar	`#6B4800`	`#F8ECC8`
Status bar (normal)	`#B07800`	`#FDF8EB`
Status bar (debug)	`#D06818`	`#FDF8EB`
Tab bar	`#EDE4CC`	active border `#C89000`
Side bar	`#F5EDD8`	`#2D2810`
Panel / terminal	`#F5EDD8`	`#2D2810`
Cursor	—	`#C89000`
Selection	—	`#E8C85080`

Lime Fog Grove

Zone	Background	Text / Icons
Activity bar	`#1E2535`	`#C8DCE8` active · `#5A7090` inactive
Title bar	`#1E2535`	`#C8DCE8`
Status bar (normal)	`#2A7A90`	`#F0F8FC`
Status bar (debug)	`#C07820`	`#F0F8FC`
Tab bar	`#DEE1EA`	active border `#2A8AA0`
Side bar	`#EAECF2`	`#2C3038`
Panel / terminal	`#EAECF2`	`#2C3038`
Cursor	—	`#2A8AA0`
Selection	—	`#80C0D870`

Lime Birch Grove

Zone	Background	Text / Icons
Activity bar	`#3A2A18`	`#F0E8D0` active · `#7A6048` inactive
Title bar	`#3A2A18`	`#F0E8D0`
Status bar (normal)	`#A06018`	`#FFF5E8`
Status bar (debug)	`#CC2200`	`#FFF5E8`
Tab bar	`#E8E0D4`	active border `#C07A10`
Side bar	`#F0E9DE`	`#2D2418`
Panel / terminal	`#F0E9DE`	`#2D2418`
Cursor	—	`#C07A10`
Selection	—	`#C8A86070`

Lime Grove Dark

Zone	Background	Text / Icons
Activity bar	`#161C19`	`#A8D880` active · `#4A6A48` inactive
Title bar	`#161C19`	`#A8D880`
Status bar (normal)	`#2A4A28`	`#A8D880`
Status bar (debug)	`#C05A10`	`#F0EAD8`
Tab bar	`#161C19`	active border `#7EC820`
Side bar	`#1A1E1C`	`#A8C8A0`
Panel / terminal	`#1A1E1C`	`#D4DEC8`
Cursor	—	`#7EC820`
Selection	—	`#4A7A3040`

Lime Midnight Grove

Zone	Background	Text / Icons
Activity bar	`#0A0E0C`	`#90D060` active · `#305030` inactive
Title bar	`#0A0E0C`	`#90D060`
Status bar (normal)	`#183018`	`#90D060`
Status bar (debug)	`#F09040`	`#F0EAD8`
Tab bar	`#0A0E0C`	active border `#A0E020`
Side bar	`#0E1210`	`#90C880`
Panel / terminal	`#0E1210`	`#DCF0D0`
Cursor	—	`#A0E020`
Selection	—	`#50A03050`

Lime Dusk Grove

Zone	Background	Text / Icons
Activity bar	`#141008`	`#E8CC80` active · `#504030` inactive
Title bar	`#141008`	`#E8CC80`
Status bar (normal)	`#704A10`	`#F8E8C0`
Status bar (debug)	`#E07868`	`#F8E8C0`
Tab bar	`#141008`	active border `#D09020`
Side bar	`#181610`	`#D0C8A8`
Panel / terminal	`#181610`	`#E0D8C0`
Cursor	—	`#D09020`
Selection	—	`#A0783048`

Lime Slate Grove

Zone	Background	Text / Icons
Activity bar	`#090D16`	`#9EC850` active · `#46506A` inactive
Title bar	`#090D16`	`#9EC850`
Status bar (normal)	`#1A2A44`	`#9ED030`
Status bar (debug)	`#E0944A`	`#0F1420`
Tab bar	`#090D16`	active border `#9ED030`
Side bar	`#161B27`	`#A7B1C4`
Panel / terminal	`#161B27`	`#C8D3E8`
Cursor	—	`#9ED030`
Selection	—	`#5A78B050`

Lime OLED Grove

Zone	Background	Text / Icons
Activity bar	`#000000`	`#90D060` active · `#2A4A2A` inactive
Title bar	`#000000`	`#90D060`
Status bar (normal)	`#0C2A0C`	`#90D060`
Status bar (debug)	`#F09040`	`#000000`
Tab bar	`#000000`	active border `#A0E020`
Side bar	`#080808`	`#B4C5AB`
Panel / terminal	`#080808`	`#DCF0D0`
Cursor	—	`#A0E020`
Selection	—	`#50A03050`

Lime Soft Grove

Zone	Background	Text / Icons
Activity bar	`#181824`	`#B5D89A` active · `#54546A` inactive
Title bar	`#181824`	`#B5D89A`
Status bar (normal)	`#2A2A3A`	`#B5D89A`
Status bar (debug)	`#E8B88A`	`#1E1E2A`
Tab bar	`#181824`	active border `#B5D89A`
Side bar	`#252530`	`#B3B2BF`
Panel / terminal	`#252530`	`#D4D2E0`
Cursor	—	`#B5D89A`
Selection	—	`#7A7AA050`

Lime Vivid Grove (colorblind-safe)

Zone	Background	Text / Icons
Activity bar	`#0D1014`	`#9AD0F0` active · `#4A5A66` inactive
Title bar	`#0D1014`	`#9AD0F0`
Status bar (normal)	`#0072B2`	`#FFFFFF`
Status bar (debug)	`#E69F00`	`#14181C`
Tab bar	`#0D1014`	active border `#56B4E9`
Side bar	`#1B1F23`	`#C2C6CA`
Panel / terminal	`#1B1F23`	`#E8ECF0`
Cursor	—	`#56B4E9`
Selection	—	`#56B4E950`

Lime Sepia Grove

Zone	Background	Text / Icons
Activity bar	`#473828`	`#F0E4CC` active · `#9A8A70` inactive
Title bar	`#473828`	`#F0E4CC`
Status bar (normal)	`#8A5A20`	`#F8EEDC`
Status bar (debug)	`#B0481C`	`#F4ECD8`
Tab bar	`#473828`	active border `#A05A1E`
Side bar	`#EEE6D3`	`#716453`
Panel / terminal	`#EEE6D3`	`#544636`
Cursor	—	`#A05A1E`
Selection	—	`#C8A86A70`

Lime Grove High Contrast (Dark)

Zone	Background	Text / Icons
Activity bar	`#000000`	`#FFFFFF` active · `#9AA89A` inactive
Title bar	`#000000`	`#FFFFFF`
Status bar (normal)	`#1A3A0A`	`#FFFFFF`
Status bar (debug)	`#FF8A2E`	`#000000`
Tab bar	`#000000`	active border `#B6FF2E`
Side bar	`#080808`	`#D1D1D1`
Panel / terminal	`#080808`	`#FFFFFF`
Cursor	—	`#B6FF2E`
Selection	—	`#B6FF2E50`

Lime Grove High Contrast Light

Zone	Background	Text / Icons
Activity bar	`#1B2E08`	`#FFFFFF` active · `#A8C080` inactive
Title bar	`#1B2E08`	`#FFFFFF`
Status bar (normal)	`#2A5A00`	`#FFFFFF`
Status bar (debug)	`#B04000`	`#FFFFFF`
Tab bar	`#1B2E08`	active border `#3A7A00`
Side bar	`#F9F9F9`	`#363636`
Panel / terminal	`#F9F9F9`	`#0A0A0A`
Cursor	—	`#3A7A00`
Selection	—	`#3A7A0070`

Language support

Syntax highlighting is tuned for both variants across:

C# — types, interfaces, attributes ([HttpGet], [Serializable]), LINQ, generics, built-in types (int, string, bool, void)
JavaScript / TypeScript — arrow functions, template literals, decorators, JSX, optional chaining, nullish coalescing
XML / HTML — tag names in blue, attribute names in amber, values in lime, namespaces in violet, CDATA in lime
CSS / SCSS — selectors, property names, values, units, pseudo-classes (:hover, ::before) each with distinct colors
JSON — keys in amber bold, string values in lime, numbers and booleans in red-brown
Markdown — headings in violet, bold in orange, italic in blue, code in teal, blockquotes in sage
All other languages via generic TextMate scopes

Semantic highlighting is enabled ("semanticHighlighting": true) for richer accuracy in languages with a Language Server (C#, TypeScript, Rust, Go, Python).

Installation

From the Marketplace

Search for Lime Grove in the Extensions panel (Ctrl+Shift+X) or install from the command line:

code --install-extension ppcode.lime-grove

After installing, select the variant:

Ctrl+Shift+P → Preferences: Color Theme → Lime Grove
Ctrl+Shift+P → Preferences: Color Theme → Lime Amber Grove
Ctrl+Shift+P → Preferences: Color Theme → Lime Fog Grove
Ctrl+Shift+P → Preferences: Color Theme → Lime Birch Grove
Ctrl+Shift+P → Preferences: Color Theme → Lime Grove Dark
Ctrl+Shift+P → Preferences: Color Theme → Lime Midnight Grove
Ctrl+Shift+P → Preferences: Color Theme → Lime Dusk Grove
Ctrl+Shift+P → Preferences: Color Theme → Lime Slate Grove
Ctrl+Shift+P → Preferences: Color Theme → Lime OLED Grove
Ctrl+Shift+P → Preferences: Color Theme → Lime Soft Grove
Ctrl+Shift+P → Preferences: Color Theme → Lime Vivid Grove
Ctrl+Shift+P → Preferences: Color Theme → Lime Sepia Grove
Ctrl+Shift+P → Preferences: Color Theme → Lime Grove High Contrast
Ctrl+Shift+P → Preferences: Color Theme → Lime Grove High Contrast Light

From source

Clone or download this repository.
Copy the themes/ folder and package.json into your VS Code extensions folder:
- macOS / Linux: ~/.vscode/extensions/lime-grove/
- Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.vscode\extensions\lime-grove\
Restart VS Code.
Open the Command Palette and run Preferences: Color Theme.

Recommended settings

These settings complement both variants:

{
  "editor.fontFamily": "'Cascadia Code', 'Fira Code', Consolas, monospace",
  "editor.fontLigatures": true,
  "editor.fontSize": 14,
  "editor.lineHeight": 1.6,
  "editor.renderWhitespace": "boundary",
  "editor.bracketPairColorization.enabled": false
}

Bracket pair colorization is best left off — the theme's punctuation color handles bracket visibility without the rainbow effect.

Feedback and contributing

Found a token that doesn't look right in either variant? Open an issue with:

The variant (Light or Dark).
The language and file type.
A short code snippet showing the problem.
A screenshot if possible.

Pull requests are welcome.

Enjoy! 🌿

Lime Grove

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