The Benjamin Moore (and Sherwin-Williams) Equivalent of Behr Muted Sage

Behr Muted Sage is one of those grounded, warm gray-sages people fall for at Home Depot and then want in another brand's can. The honest answer up front: there is no official equivalent. Paint companies do not cross-reference each other, and each one mixes its own tint bases, so a match is really just the closest color from another line. Below are the closest widely recommended Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams options, the numbers behind them, and a quick note on how cross-brand paint matching works.

The closest matches, side by side

Two numbers do most of the work in a color match. LRV (light reflectance value) tells you how light or dark a color reads, on a scale from 0 (black) to 100 (white); Muted Sage sits at 28, a real mid-tone with body on the wall, not a tinted white. Undertone is the secondary cast underneath the main color, the gray, the green, or the soft khaki warmth that decides whether two sages feel like siblings or strangers. The table below ranks each candidate on both, measured against Behr Muted Sage N350-5 as the reference.

LRV figures are approximate, drawn from each brand's published data, and small variation between sources and batches is normal. The color swatches and any hex or RGB values here are approximate digital renderings and will shift on your screen. A physical paint chip, viewed in your own light, is the only authoritative reference.

What this means in practice: Copley Gray is the safest one-can swap, because it holds the same warm gray-green character as Muted Sage and stays within about three points of its depth; the small gap is that it reads a hair deeper and leans a touch browner, with slightly less of the green pushing forward. Carolina Gull is the alternative to reach for when depth matters most, since at LRV 27 it is nearly a dead ringer for Muted Sage's 28, though it trades that precision for a cooler, greener cast. Zeus is the Sherwin-Williams pick and, on paper, the tightest number in the group: its LRV matches Muted Sage almost exactly and its hex sits right beside it, with only a slightly warmer red thread setting the two apart.

Why there is no exact Behr Muted Sage equivalent

Every brand builds color on its own set of tint bases and colorants, then fine-tunes each shade for its own fan deck. Muted Sage's particular balance of gray, muted green, and a thread of khaki warmth comes out of the Behr formula. Another company can get very close, but it cannot land on the exact same coordinates, because it is starting from different pigments in a different base. That is why the best anyone can honestly promise is the closest published match, not a duplicate. The practical result is undertone drift: a match can share nearly the same LRV and still lean a little greener, grayer, or warmer once it is on the wall.

Light and sheen amplify that drift. North light cools a warm sage and can pull it toward gray, while warm evening light lifts the khaki and green forward, so two colors that look like twins on a chip can read differently across a whole room. Sheen does the same: the same match in a flat finish looks softer and grayer than it does in an eggshell or satin, which bounce more light and lift the green. If your Behr reference is in one sheen and your Benjamin Moore or Sherwin-Williams sample is in another, you are not comparing the colors fairly. Match the sheen first, compare large samples rather than a fingernail of dried paint on a can lid, and treat every number in the table as a starting point.

When the Benjamin Moore match works (and when to stay Behr)

A close match is a tool, not a trophy. The right call depends on what you are trying to do, so here is a quick decision guide.

• Go with the Benjamin Moore match if you already buy Benjamin Moore, trust a local store's tinting, or want to pull trim and accent colors from the same fan deck.
• Stay with Behr Muted Sage if you have existing N350-5 walls to blend into, or if the exact warm gray-sage you fell for is non-negotiable. A re-mix in another base is a close cousin, not the same color.
• Choose Copley Gray when you want to keep Muted Sage's warm character, and Carolina Gull when matching the exact depth matters more than the warmth. See the full breakdown of Behr Muted Sage undertones and best rooms before you decide.
• Whatever you pick, put the two candidates side by side and judge them the way you would compare any two paint colors: same wall, same light, same time of day.

Related matches

Matching a warm gray-sage or greige from Behr to Benjamin Moore is a common project, and the method is the same every time. If you are weighing similar Behr neutrals, see the Benjamin Moore match for Behr Dove and the closest Benjamin Moore version of Behr Dolphin Fin. Find the closest published match, then prove it on your own wall.

Frequently asked questions