The Benjamin Moore (and Behr) Equivalent of Rosemary

Sherwin-Williams Rosemary is a deep, grounded sage green with a gray heart, and once people fall for it they often want it 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 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 Behr options, the numbers behind each one, 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); Rosemary sits at 12, a genuinely dark, light-absorbing green. Undertone is the secondary cast underneath the main color, the gray, the green, or the warmth that decides whether two deep sages feel like siblings or strangers. The table below ranks each candidate on both, measured against Rosemary 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: Rainy Afternoon is the closest color by the numbers, sitting within a couple of points of Rosemary's depth, so it is the safest one-can swap; the small gap is that it reads a hair lighter and leans a touch cooler, so the gray shows a little more and the faint warmth shows a little less. Backwoods is the pick when you want to protect Rosemary's depth and warmth, because it lands at almost the same LRV, though it trades a little of the gray for a cleaner, more clearly green read. Cypress Vine is the Behr option and the closest that line gets, matching the depth almost exactly while leaning a bit more olive, so plan to confirm it against your Sherwin-Williams reference before you buy a gallon.

Why there is no exact Rosemary equivalent

Every brand builds color on its own set of tint bases and colorants, then fine-tunes each shade for its own fan deck. Rosemary's particular balance of green, gray, and a whisper of warmth comes from the Sherwin-Williams formula. Another company can get 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, and it matters more with a dark color than a light one. A match can share nearly the same LRV and still lean a little greener, grayer, or warmer once it is on the wall. Light amplifies that drift: north light cools a deep sage and pushes it toward gray, while warm evening lamplight pulls the green and the warmth forward. So two colors that look like twins on a chip can read differently across a whole room, and at LRV 12 the swing in apparent depth is dramatic. Treat every number in the table as a starting point, not a guarantee.

Sheen adds one more variable. The same match in a flat finish will look softer and grayer than it does in an eggshell or satin, which bounce more light and lift the green forward. If your Sherwin-Williams reference is in one sheen and your Benjamin Moore or Behr sample is in another, you are not comparing the colors fairly. Match the sheen first, then compare large samples rather than a fingernail of dried paint on a can lid.

When the Benjamin Moore match works (and when to stay Sherwin-Williams)

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 pair the color with trim and accents from the same deck.
• Stay with Sherwin-Williams Rosemary if you have existing SW 6187 walls to blend into, or if the exact deep gray-green you fell for is non-negotiable. A re-mix in another base is a close cousin, not the same color.
• Choose Rainy Afternoon when you want the smallest color distance and can accept a slightly cooler, grayer read; choose Backwoods when protecting Rosemary's depth and warmth matters more. The full breakdown of Rosemary undertones and best rooms is worth a look before you decide.
• Whatever you pick, put the two candidates next to each other and judge them the way you would compare any two paint colors: same wall, same light, same time of day.

Related matches

Matching a deep sage or gray-green from Sherwin-Williams to Benjamin Moore is a common project, and Rosemary sits in a crowded family. If you are weighing the whole neighborhood, see the Benjamin Moore match for Sherwin-Williams Dried Thyme, the lighter sage one step up the same strip, and the closest Benjamin Moore version of Cascade Green. The method is the same every time: find the closest published match, then prove it on your wall.

Frequently asked questions