Rosemary
SW 6187 · Sherwin-Williams
Sherwin-Williams
Rosemary
SW 6187
Noticeable yellow-leaning green, a green color
- Color family
- Green
- Sold for
- Interior and exterior
Sherwin-Williams Rosemary SW 6187 is a deep olive green, closer to the herb's dried leaves than its fresh ones. With an LRV of 14 it is dark, a statement on four walls and a natural color for cabinets, doors and siding. Our method reads it as a noticeable yellow-leaning green: it carries enough color to stay green in light where Pewter Green SW 6208 falls to charcoal. People ask about it most for exteriors and kitchen cabinets.
Updated
Is Rosemary warm or cool? Undertones by the numbers
leans yellow-green
Undertone
Noticeable yellow-leaning green
A visible lean you see in daylight.
Rosemary is a green first, with a noticeable yellow lean and enough color that the green does not vanish in an ordinary room. That is the difference from its closest match, Pewter Green SW 6208, a subtle green that reads charcoal in dim light while Rosemary still reads olive. Basil SW 6194, a touch lighter, is a green without the yellow lean, so beside it Rosemary looks warmer and browner. Beside Cast Iron SW 6202 it looks cleaner and greener. White trim makes it read as a deep green. Warm oak, brass and leather pull the yellow forward and it goes olive-brown. Cool gray tile and steel pull it toward a slate green, but it never reads blue.
Rosemary in north, south, east and west light
Rosemary holds its green in dim light better than Pewter Green SW 6208 or Retreat SW 6207, and the light changes its warmth more than its color. In a south room it reads as a warm olive all day, and next to warm floors it can go brownish by afternoon. A north room turns it a cooler, grayer green, closer to a pine, but it stays plainly green where a subtler color would go charcoal. East rooms give olive in the morning and gray-green later; west rooms are gray-green until the evening sun warms them. Warm bulbs at 2700K keep the olive, and bulbs at 4000K make it a cool forest green.
Watch for
- Slides toward olive-brown next to honey oak or brass in a sunny room
- Reads as a cool pine green in a north room, still green but with the warmth gone
- Looks brown beside Basil SW 6194 and bright green beside Cast Iron SW 6202 or a charcoal
- Looks blacker on a small chip than on a wall; sample a large patch
Best rooms and surfaces for Rosemary
Cabinets, exteriors and front doors are what people ask about, and all three suit it. On kitchen cabinets Rosemary reads as a warm dark green that sits with white counters, brass and wood, and it is a good island color against white uppers. On four walls it suits a study, a dining room or a bedroom with a big window, where it makes the room feel enclosed and warm rather than cold. A bathroom takes it on a vanity or a single wall; four walls of a windowless bath go heavy. It is too dark for a hallway, for every wall of a kitchen or for a whole house. It pairs with cream, terracotta and brown leather, and it is at its muddiest against pink-beige tile.
Rosemary on an exterior
Exterior is the top use people search for Rosemary, and it is a good body color for a house with white or cream trim. Full sun lifts it to a mid olive and shows the yellow, while the shaded side stays a deep pine, so a house in it reads as two related greens. It also works as a door or shutter color on white, cream, gray or brick. Ethereal White SW 6182 or Extra White SW 7006 on the trim keeps it crisp. Deep Forest Brown SW 9175, one of its listed accents, suits a door against Rosemary siding.
Try Rosemary on your own walls
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Rosemary vs Dried Thyme, Pewter Green, Basil and Shade-Grown
Dried ThymeRosemaryRosemary vs Dried Thyme SW 6186
Rosemary is noticeably darker; both have a noticeable yellow-leaning green undertone.
Dried Thyme SW 6186 is one step up the strip and noticeably lighter, LRV 21 against 14, with the same noticeable yellow lean. The tint is nearly identical and the difference is depth. Dried Thyme reads as an olive you can put on four walls of a normal room. Rosemary reads as a deep green that wants a window or a smaller surface. Pick Dried Thyme for walls; pick Rosemary for cabinets, doors and siding.
Pewter GreenRosemaryRosemary vs Pewter Green SW 6208
Rosemary is a touch lighter; undertone noticeable yellow-leaning green vs subtle yellow-leaning green.
Pewter Green SW 6208 is a touch darker, LRV 12 against 14, and the closest color to Rosemary by measurement, but its green is subtle where Rosemary's is noticeable. On a wall Pewter Green reads as a gray-green that goes charcoal in dim light; Rosemary stays an olive green. Pick Pewter Green for a near-neutral dark that hides its color. Pick Rosemary when the green should be seen.
Rosemary vs Basil SW 6194
Rosemary is a touch darker; undertone noticeable yellow-leaning green vs noticeable green.
Basil SW 6194 is a touch lighter, LRV 15 against 14, and a noticeable green with no yellow lean, so it reads cleaner and cooler, nearer a true green. Rosemary beside it looks warmer, browner and more olive. Pick Basil for a room with gray tile or cool light where an olive would go muddy. Pick Rosemary for warm wood, brass and cream.
Shade-GrownRosemaryRosemary vs Shade-Grown SW 6188
Rosemary is noticeably lighter; undertone noticeable yellow-leaning green vs subtle yellow-leaning green.
Shade-Grown SW 6188 is the last color on the strip, noticeably darker at LRV 8, with a subtle yellow lean against Rosemary's noticeable one. It reads as a near-black with a green cast; Rosemary reads as a green. Pick Shade-Grown for a door, an island or an exterior that should read almost black from a distance. Pick Rosemary when the green should be obvious across the room.
Questions about Rosemary
Is Rosemary a green or an olive?
Both names fit. By measurement Rosemary is a green with a noticeable yellow lean, and that lean is what people mean by olive. In daylight and beside white it reads as a deep green. Beside warm wood, brass or cream, and under warm bulbs, the yellow comes forward and it reads olive. It does not read gray or blue in any normal light.
What colors go with Rosemary?
Sherwin-Williams lists Ethereal White SW 6182 on the trim and Oyster White SW 7637 and Deep Forest Brown SW 9175 as accents. In practice it likes warm company: cream, camel, terracotta, brown leather, brass and mid-tone oak. A paler green from the same strip, Escape Gray SW 6185 or Evergreen Fog SW 9130, works on the walls around Rosemary cabinets.
What is one shade lighter than Rosemary?
Dried Thyme SW 6186 is the next step up the strip, noticeably lighter at LRV 21, and Evergreen Fog SW 9130 is the step above that at 30. Down the strip, Shade-Grown SW 6188 at 8 is the only darker sibling. Among the closest matches, Basil SW 6194 and Thunderous SW 6201 are each a touch lighter.
Is Rosemary a good cabinet color?
Yes, and it is one of the warmer dark greens for a kitchen, which matters because kitchens are full of warm things: wood, brass, bread. It sits well with white or cream quartz and with butcher block. Use a satin finish, and put a warm white such as Oyster White SW 7637 on the walls; a cold gray wall makes the doors look muddy.
Is Rosemary a good front door color?
It is a good one, dark enough to read as a deliberate color and green enough not to be mistaken for black. On a white, cream, light gray or red-brick house it reads as a warm green; on a dark gray house it disappears. Semi-gloss brings out the color, and brass hardware suits its warmth better than chrome.
Is Rosemary a good bedroom color?
Yes, provided the room has a proper window. Four walls of Rosemary make a bedroom feel enclosed and warm, and it takes cream bedding and wood furniture well. Keep the ceiling in Ethereal White SW 6182 and use warm bulbs at night. Under cool bulbs it turns a cold forest green that fights the cozy effect you painted it for.
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 Rosemary, checked in morning and evening light, is the last step before a gallon.
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