8 Of The Best LXDE Themes

The LXDE desktop is a desktop environment based around the X11 desktop environment. It’s mission is to make a Linux desktop environment that runs on less than 265 megabytes of ram, and use very minimal CPU usage. Since LXDE is a simplistic desktop environment, many people think that there aren’t any good themes out there for it. They’d be wrong. There are many great GTK2 themes for the LXDE desktop. In this article, we’ll go over some of the best LXDE themes to download, where to get them and what’s great about them.

Note: To install any of the themes on this list, read the description on the page of each theme. Theme creators often write out how to install their themes, the prerequisites to run the theme, etc.

Additionally, Addictivetips has covered how to install themes in detail, for all major desktop environments. Go here to learn more.

1. Absolute

Absolute is a simple, grey, GTK theme that works very well. This makes the theme perfect for LXDE, as it’s a desktop environment that relies on simplicity. Though, just because it is grey, doesn’t mean it doesn’t look good. For those looking for something easy on the eyes and not too complex, check this one out.

2. BSM Simple

BSM Simple is another theme along the same vein. It tries to look good, but stay simple. Again, perfect for users of the LXDE desktop. This theme has a few different types: dark, light, and a theme that takes the best from the dark theme and the light theme and combines them.

3. Blue

Have you ever wanted a theme for your desktop that’s just one color? If so, maybe give the Blue theme a shot. It turns everything blue. Though, just because everything is blue, doesn’t mean it looks terrible. Instead, the theme applies a cool shade of blue to the window manager, panel and window controls that look really nice.

If you’d like to spruce up your LXDE setup with a nice shade of blue, go here.

4. Shiki Colors

Shiki Colors is a great GTK theme pack filled with different color variations on a black theme. The theme pack comes with 7 different colors: Orange, Blue, Green, Purple, Red, Chocolate, and Pink.

5. Carbonit

There can never be enough Mac-like themes on Linux. Introducing Carbonit, it’s a simplistic, OSX inspired theme that keeps everything fairly simple.

This makes it perfect for those using LXDE and like the way the Mac looks, yet don’t have the resources to use something like Pantheon, or another Mac-like desktop. With Carbonit, it’s possible to create a nice Mac-like experience that is very light on resources. Along with this theme, just install a lightweight panel like Docky or Tint2, and use this theme for a great experience!

6. Candido

When it comes to LXDE, you can never have enough simple GTK themes. This isn’t to say that LXDE doesn’t handle modern themes like Arc and Numix (they do). However, LXDE is at its best with themes that are easy on the eyes, aren’t too complex, or require theming engines to run well.

That’s where Candido comes in: it’s a smooth, fast theme based on Gray Mint. Like most simple themes, it’s nice to look at and doesn’t try too hard. Get it here.

7. Trollwut Pink Dark

Flat themes are awesome, but they’re hardly created for GTK2 desktop environments anymore. This is because most desktops that rely on GTK are moving over to the GTK3 side of things. Fortunately, there’s Trollwut Pink Dark. As far as flat themes go, it’s really well done. As a dark theme, Trollwut does a good job too. Overall, it’s well designed, and a great looking flat theme centered around the color pink.

If you’ve been looking for a decent dark, flat theme for LXDE, do check out Trollwut Pink Dark.

8. Simply Basic

Simply Basic is a dark-ish theme with Mac OSX inspired window buttons, and based upon the Ubuntu Radiance theme. On the surface, this theme doesn’t have a lot to offer, considering it’s a hybrid of another theme that everyone is familiar with. However, there’s a reason that it’s featured on this list: it’s a terrific dark theme. To be frank, there are a lot of terrible dark themes on Linux. Generally, they all fail at how they manage colors and everything else. Everything is just too dark.

Simply Basic, as a dark theme for LXDE is a breath of fresh air. Everything is easy to read, and the colors look great! If you’re trying to find a decent dark GTK2 theme, try this one on for size.

Conclusion

Finding good LXDE themes can prove to be challenging. This is because as a lightweight desktop environment, not many developers focus on it. Even though LXDE has little developer focus, the desktop environment makes heavy use of GTK2, and as a result can use any theme made for Gnome, XFCE and Mate. Aside from this list, there are some great GTK2 themes at Gnome-look.org.

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