Aegean Teal

2136-40 · Benjamin Moore

Benjamin Moore

Aegean Teal

2136-40

Hex code

#6F898B

Light reflectance value (LRV)

25.1Medium, moodier in dim rooms

0 black100 white

Undertone

Noticeable blue-leaning green, a cool color

Color family: Blue
Sold for: Interior and exterior

Try it on your walls Get a sample

Benjamin Moore Aegean Teal 2136-40 is a muted mid-depth teal, and it was the brand's Color of the Year for 2021. Its LRV of 25 makes it a real color on a wall: it takes in more light than it gives back, so a room painted in it feels enclosed rather than bright. Our method reads it as a noticeable blue-leaning green, dusty rather than clear, which is why it behaves more like a deep neutral than like a blue.

Is Aegean Teal warm or cool? Undertones by the numbers

leans blue-green

Undertone

Noticeable blue-leaning green

graysaturated

A visible lean you see in daylight.

Measured, Aegean Teal is a green pulled firmly toward blue with enough gray over it that it never looks bright. Against a clean white it reads teal; against a warm cream it drops toward slate. Brass, walnut and unlacquered hardware bring the green side out, while chrome and white marble hold it blue. Blue Echo AF-505 is the same idea a shade softer, and Templeton Gray HC-161 is the same depth with the color taken out. One quirk worth knowing before you commit: it photographs bluer than it looks standing in the room.

Aegean Teal in north, south, east and west light

A north room takes the most out of it: the blue takes over, the green recedes, and a small north bedroom at this depth can end up feeling cold and cave-like. If the room faces north, put the color on cabinets or one wall rather than four. South light is where it matches the chip, warm enough to bring the green back into it. East light gives a soft version in the morning and a harder, bluer one after noon. West rooms stay flat until the afternoon and then come alive. Keep bulbs at 3000K, because 4000K drives it straight to blue.

Watch for

Turns cold and flat in a small north room painted on all four walls
Photographs bluer than it looks in person, so do not judge it from pictures
On satin cabinet doors the window side reads several shades lighter than the shaded side

Best rooms and surfaces for Aegean Teal

Aegean Teal belongs in rooms you want to feel enclosed: a dining room, a study, a bedroom with decent windows. In a bathroom it works on the vanity wall or on the vanity itself, though at this depth a small windowless bathroom will feel smaller still. It is a strong choice for a built-in bookcase or a fireplace wall, where the depth reads as a frame instead of a box. It is not a whole-house color and it is a poor ceiling color, since on a ceiling it pulls the room down and drains the walls beneath it.

Aegean Teal on an exterior

Aegean Teal is sold for exterior use, and it is more forgiving outside than in. Full sun lifts it a long way, so siding painted in it reads as a soft gray-teal rather than the depth on the chip, and only the shaded elevations carry the true color. On shutters and a garage door it stays deep, because those surfaces spend most of the day in shadow. A white trim keeps it crisp; a warm off-white trim makes the whole house read greener.

Try Aegean Teal on your own walls

Upload a photo of your room, or the outside of your house, and TryMyHome renders Aegean Teal onto the walls so you can judge it in your light, with your floors and furniture. Your first five renders are free.

Trusted by 19,897+ happy homeowners

Aegean Teal vs Evergreen Fog, De Nimes, Pewter Green and Dried Thyme

Living room walls rendered in Sherwin-Williams Evergreen Fog SW 9130, white trim, ceiling and wood floor unchanged

Aegean Teal vs Evergreen Fog SW 9130

Aegean Teal is noticeably darker; undertone noticeable blue-leaning green vs subtle yellow-leaning green.

Evergreen Fog SW 9130 is the gray-green people line up against Aegean Teal when they want the same muted depth without the blue in it. It is five points lighter at 30 and leans yellow where Aegean Teal leans blue, so it reads warmer in every exposure. In a north room Evergreen Fog is the safer of the two; in a south room with real sun, Aegean Teal has more to say.

Living room walls rendered in Farrow & Ball De Nimes No. 299, white trim, ceiling and wood floor unchanged

Aegean Teal vs De Nimes No. 299

Aegean Teal is noticeably lighter; undertone noticeable blue-leaning green vs subtle blue-leaning green.

De Nimes No. 299 from Farrow & Ball is the closest color to Aegean Teal in any of the three brands here, four points darker at 21 and a shade bluer. The difference you notice on a wall is texture rather than hue: De Nimes reads chalkier and flatter, Aegean Teal slightly cleaner and more even. Hung on cabinet doors, most people would not separate them.

Living room walls rendered in Sherwin-Williams Pewter Green SW 6208, white trim, ceiling and wood floor unchanged

Aegean Teal vs Pewter Green SW 6208

Aegean Teal is much lighter; undertone noticeable blue-leaning green vs subtle yellow-leaning green.

Pewter Green SW 6208 is much darker at 12 and squarely green, so it does a different job entirely. It reads almost black in a dim room, while Aegean Teal still shows its color there. On kitchen cabinets Pewter Green gives you a dark green kitchen; Aegean Teal gives you a colored one that still bounces light back into the room.

Living room walls rendered in Sherwin-Williams Dried Thyme SW 6186, white trim, ceiling and wood floor unchanged

Aegean Teal vs Dried Thyme SW 6186

Aegean Teal is noticeably lighter; undertone noticeable blue-leaning green vs noticeable yellow-leaning green.

Dried Thyme SW 6186 sits four points darker at 21 and pulls hard toward yellow-green, the opposite side of green from this one. Set beside it, Aegean Teal looks cool and coastal and Dried Thyme looks like a herb garden. Rooms with warm oak and terracotta suit Dried Thyme; rooms with white marble, black metal and pale floors suit Aegean Teal.

Questions about Aegean Teal

Was Aegean Teal a Benjamin Moore Color of the Year?

Yes, for 2021. That is why the color turns up in so many palettes from that year and why it is still stocked and easy to get. Being a Color of the Year says nothing about how it will behave in your room, so sample it anyway.

Does Aegean Teal read blue or green?

Both, and which one wins depends on the light. The measurement puts green first with a strong pull toward blue, so warm afternoon sun brings the green out and cool north light hands the room to the blue. Under 4000K bulbs it reads as a plain dusty blue.

Is Aegean Teal a good color for kitchen cabinets?

It is one of the better mid-depth colors for cabinets, dark enough to look deliberate and light enough that the kitchen does not close in. Expect the doors facing the window to read noticeably lighter than the run in shadow. Brass or unlacquered hardware brings the green out; chrome keeps it blue.

Is Aegean Teal a good front door color?

Yes, and a door is where it is easiest to use. A door is small, usually shaded by a porch and seen against the trim, so the color holds the depth it loses on a full wall of siding. It works against white, cream and pale gray houses, and it clashes with warm tan brick.

What colors go with Aegean Teal?

Benjamin Moore pairs it with Chantilly Lace OC-65 for a clean white, Gray Cashmere 2138-60 as a soft neutral and Muslin OC-12 as the warm one. Away from paint it takes rattan, walnut, brass, terracotta and unglazed pottery, and it sits poorly with orange-toned pine.

What is the Sherwin-Williams version of Aegean Teal?

Moody Blue SW 6221 is the nearest by measurement, clearly related but a touch lighter and greener rather than a straight swap. Blustery Sky SW 9140 is the next closest and runs bluer. There is no exact match at Sherwin-Williams, so order both samples if the color has to be matched.

Get a sample before you paint

Use the visualizer to narrow your shortlist, then confirm the finalist on your actual wall. A peel-and-stick sample of Aegean Teal, checked in morning and evening light, is the last step before a gallon.