No, the deep teal doesn’t soften the room. It defines it. Everything nearby starts to answer to that green-blue background, and the gold branches pull warm light back out of it. Put it up and a plain wall stops being a gap and becomes the thing people look at first. It works best where you walk past or sit close: a hallway, a bedroom wall, the corner of a living room with a low chair. Pair it with dark wood, brass or gold fittings, cream linen and a couple of plain green or cream ceramics. Don’t crowd it with other patterned pieces, and skip busy florals on the same wall the peonies and blossom already do that job. As a canvas the teal reads a touch softer and more painterly, with no reflection to fight.