Benjamin Moore Aegean Teal 2136-40: Undertones

The first time I cut in a corner of Benjamin Moore Aegean Teal (2136-40) for a client, she stood in the doorway of her north-facing dining room and went quiet for a good ten seconds. Then: "Is that blue or green?" That is the whole story of this color in one question. Aegean Teal was Benjamin Moore's 2023 Color of the Year, a muted blue-green that refuses to sit still, and three years on it is still one of the most requested moody neutrals I get asked to put on a wall. Here is how it behaves indoors, undertones and all, before you commit a gallon.

Quick orientation before the deep dive. Aegean Teal carries a published LRV of roughly 24 and a hex approximation of #5E7A75 (RGB 94, 122, 117). That is a medium-depth teal: dark enough to feel enveloping, light enough that it never reads black in a decent room. It is a true balance of blue and green with a soft gray dampening it down, which is what keeps it sophisticated rather than loud. This profile is one stop in our wider Benjamin Moore interior paint colors guide, and it sits alongside our broader look at teal paint colors for interiors: that one surveys the whole teal family, while this one stays fixed on Aegean Teal itself, its rooms, its undertones, and what to pair it with.

Aegean Teal 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:

Sources: Benjamin Moore 2136-40 Aegean Teal color data 2026; Benjamin Moore 2023 Color of the Year release; designer field reports compiled by FacadeColorizer.

The takeaway from those numbers: Aegean Teal is a genuine teal, not a navy pretending and not a sage in disguise. At LRV 24 it reads as a saturated mid-tone, deep enough to wrap a room but with enough light bouncing back to stay legible. The gray in the mix is the secret ingredient. It is what separates Aegean Teal paint from a candy-bright peacock and keeps it in heirloom, lived-in territory.

Is Aegean Teal blue or green? The undertone, decoded

Aegean Teal is, almost stubbornly, both. That is the point of a true teal, and it is why people argue about it. But the balance is not fixed; it tips with the light and with whatever you set beside it.

Underneath, three things fight for the surface: a blue note, a green note, and a gray that mutes both. In warm light the green steps forward and Aegean Teal looks earthier, closer to deep sea-glass. In cool, indirect light the blue and gray take over and it reads moodier, almost slate. Set warm wood or brass nearby and you pull the green out; set chrome and cool gray nearby and you push it blue. These are not flaws. They are levers, and once you know the Aegean Teal undertones respond this way, you can aim the color where you want it.

Watch out for one quirk. Aegean Teal photographs brighter and more uniformly blue than it lives. A phone camera flattens the gray and saturates the blue, so the real wall almost always lands quieter, greener, and a touch deeper than the Instagram shot promised. If you are choosing from photos alone, assume the in-person result will be more grounded.

Sources: Benjamin Moore 2136-40 color data 2026; The Spruce paint undertone coverage; designer field reports compiled by FacadeColorizer.

Best rooms for Aegean Teal

A mid-depth teal is not a whole-home color, and it is not trying to be. It is a statement tone that rewards rooms where you want atmosphere over airiness. Here are the spaces where the best rooms for Aegean Teal consistently show up:

Dining rooms

This is Aegean Teal's strongest case. A dining room is used mostly in the evening, often under warm bulbs, and a deep enveloping color makes the space feel intimate and a little theatrical, exactly what you want over dinner. With brass fixtures, wood, and a warm-white ceiling, the green note glows. For more schemes built around dramatic mid-tones, see our roundup of top dining room paint colors for 2026.

Home offices and studies

Teal is a focus color: calming like a blue but grounded like a green, so it reads serious without feeling cold. Wrapping a small study in Aegean Teal, walls and trim alike, makes a backdrop that flatters bookshelves and looks sharp on a video call. The LRV 24 depth that would overwhelm a big bright room is an asset in a snug work nook.

Powder rooms and accent walls

A windowless powder room is the one place darkness is a feature, not a problem, and Aegean Teal makes a jewel-box of one. It is also a top-tier accent wall behind a bed or a fireplace, where a single plane of teal anchors a room without committing all four walls. Pair it back to the rest of the palette with the help of our guide to colors that go with teal.

Where to think twice

Small, dim, north-facing rooms with no warm light source and no warm decor are where Aegean Teal can tip cold and read as flat gray-slate, losing the green that makes it special. It also fights with cool-toned gray flooring, which drags it further blue and drab. There, a warm bulb (2700K), a wood element, or stepping to a lighter green-teal like Acacia Haze rescues the room.

Trim, ceiling, and decor pairings

A saturated teal lives or dies on what frames it. Get the white right and Aegean Teal looks like a designer chose it; get it wrong and it can read either cold and corporate or muddy and dark.

• Warm trim (most harmonious): White Dove (OC-17) is the designer default against Aegean Teal. Its soft warm-white bias keeps the contrast gentle and stops the teal from skewing cold. This is the safe, cohesive pick for most rooms.
• Cream trim (cozier still): a creamier white like Cloud White warms the pairing further and leans the teal toward its green side, good for traditional and farmhouse rooms.
• Avoid: a stark blue-white like Chantilly Lace or Super White directly beside Aegean Teal. The cold contrast amplifies the blue-gray and can leave the teal looking heavy and clinical.
• Ceilings: a warm white ceiling (or the trim color) keeps the room from feeling like a cave. A bright cool-white ceiling over a deep teal exaggerates the depth and the contrast.
• Floors and decor: warm oak, walnut, brass, rattan, terracotta, and unlacquered hardware all pull the green out and make Aegean Teal sing. Cool gray-washed floors and chrome do the opposite and push it blue and flat.

For a tonal, layered look, Aegean Teal pairs naturally with a deeper navy on adjacent built-ins. If you want the darker, bluer end of that spectrum, our Benjamin Moore Hale Navy HC-154 review covers the obvious partner; for a softer, grayer green companion in the same family, see our Benjamin Moore Acacia Haze review.

Aegean Teal vs the colors people confuse it with

Almost every Aegean Teal search ends in a comparison. The three that matter most indoors:

In short: choose Aegean Teal when you want a teal that genuinely balances blue and green and stays sophisticated rather than bright. Drop to Hale Navy if you want dark blue with no green; step up to Acacia Haze if LRV 24 feels too heavy and you want air and more sage. Spelling note: aegean teal benjamin moore, BM aegean teal 2136-40, and aegean teal paint color all point to this same 2136-40.

How to test Aegean Teal before you commit

A 3-inch fan-deck chip is the number-one reason people pick a teal that disappoints: at this depth the chip exaggerates the blue and cannot show how far the green swings across a day. Two better methods:

• Paint a large swatch: roll a 12-by-12-inch 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 the slate-gray flatness in any dim corner, that is where Aegean Teal can lose its green.
• Preview it digitally first: upload a real photo of your room and apply Aegean Teal (plus a lighter green-teal and a deeper navy) before you buy any samples, narrowing three contenders to 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, Aegean Teal (2136-40), White Dove (OC-17), Cloud White, Chantilly Lace, Super White, Hale Navy (HC-154), Acacia Haze (1488), and Beau Green (2054-20) 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 2136-40 Aegean Teal color data 2026, Benjamin Moore 2023 Color of the Year release, Benjamin Moore OC-17 White Dove and 1488 Acacia Haze color data 2026, The Spruce paint undertone coverage, designer field reports compiled by FacadeColorizer.