Soft Sage

SW 9647 · Sherwin-Williams

Sherwin-Williams

Soft Sage

SW 9647

Hex code

#BCBCAE

Light reflectance value (LRV)

49.5Light-medium, light with some depth

0 black100 white

Undertone

Subtle yellow-leaning green, a green color

Color family: Neutral
Sold for: Interior and exterior

Try it on your walls Get a sample

Sherwin-Williams Soft Sage SW 9647 is a gray-green from the Designer Color Collection, a gray that admits to a little green rather than a green grayed down. It has an LRV of 50, light enough to keep a bedroom or bathroom open while still reading as a color on the wall. Our method files the temperature as green and the undertone as a subtle yellow-leaning green, so it never drifts blue. It is used in bedrooms, bathrooms, nurseries and on kitchen cabinets.

Updated September 2, 2026

Is Soft Sage warm or cool? Undertones by the numbers

leans yellow-green

Undertone

Subtle yellow-leaning green

graysaturated

A gentle lean, quiet on the wall.

Measured, Soft Sage has a small amount of green and a little more yellow than green. The green is real but quiet, which our method calls subtle. On a wall it reads as a warm gray until something makes it declare itself. Against a crisp white trim or a true gray it shows as sage. Beside warm oak or pine it goes greener, because the wood takes the yellow and leaves the green. Beside a blue-gray it turns yellow and can look khaki. It has no blue in it, so it never does the blue flash Sea Salt SW 6204 is known for. Austere Gray SW 6184 is hard to tell apart from it, and Softened Green SW 6177 is the same depth with clearly more green.

Soft Sage in north, south, east and west light

Soft Sage is at its best in east and south rooms. In a north-facing room it shows more green and less yellow, reads a shade darker than the chip, and can go flat. Warm wood, a warm white trim and 2700K bulbs keep a north bedroom from feeling gray. South rooms soften it toward a true sage by afternoon, and next to warm floors there it can lean yellow. East rooms swing the most: warm sage at breakfast, grayer green by late day. West rooms go gray-green early and warmer, more olive, near sunset. Keep bulbs at 2700K to 3000K; cooler bulbs push it toward a cold gray-green.

Watch for

In a north room it reads greener, flatter and a shade darker than the chip
Beside a blue-gray sofa or tile it turns yellow and reads khaki
Under 4000K bulbs it goes cold gray-green; warm bulbs keep it sage

Best rooms and surfaces for Soft Sage

Soft Sage is a bedroom color first, calm and gray enough to take white, linen and oak without the room reading green. It is a good bathroom color with white tile and brass, and a good nursery color, quieter than most greens. On kitchen cabinets it reads as a gray-green that changes with the light, sage in daylight and gray under lamps. There it wants a white counter, a lighter wall such as Sanctuary SW 9583 and warm hardware. It works in a living room with big windows and warm wood. In a windowless powder room or a dark hallway it turns to a flat gray and loses the point of choosing it. For a whole house it is a lot of green in the dim rooms; keep it to the rooms with light.

Soft Sage on an exterior

Soft Sage is sold for exterior use. On siding, full sun lifts it to a pale gray-green that reads almost gray from the street, while the shaded side keeps a clearer sage. It suits a house with stone, a brown or black roof and white trim, and it sits well next to planting, which is not true of every green. Sherwin-Williams' own accents for it, Willowleaf SW 9649 and Limestone SW 9599, are deeper gray-greens and gray-browns for shutters and doors. A black door works too.

Try Soft Sage on your own walls

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

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Soft Sage vs Clary Sage, Evergreen Fog, Softened Green and Sea Salt

Living room walls rendered in Sherwin-Williams Clary Sage SW 6178, white trim, ceiling and wood floor unchanged

Soft Sage vs Clary Sage SW 6178

Soft Sage is noticeably lighter; undertone subtle yellow-leaning green vs noticeable yellow-leaning green.

Clary Sage SW 6178 is a step darker than Soft Sage, an LRV of 41 against 50, and it carries clearly more green. Our method calls it noticeable where Soft Sage is subtle. They lean the same way, toward yellow, so this is a choice of dose: Clary Sage is a green room, Soft Sage a gray room with green in it. Pick Clary Sage for cabinets or a wall that should read green from the doorway. Pick Soft Sage for a bedroom or bathroom that should feel calm first.

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

Soft Sage vs Evergreen Fog SW 9130

Soft Sage is much lighter; both have a subtle yellow-leaning green undertone.

Evergreen Fog SW 9130 is much darker, an LRV of 30 against 50, with about the same amount of green. It reads as Soft Sage with the depth turned up. They sit together well, Soft Sage on the walls and Evergreen Fog on the island, the vanity or the front door. Choose Evergreen Fog for one piece or one moody room; choose Soft Sage for the walls of a room you spend the day in.

Living room walls rendered in Sherwin-Williams Softened Green SW 6177, white trim, ceiling and wood floor unchanged

Soft Sage vs Softened Green SW 6177

Soft Sage is a touch lighter; undertone subtle yellow-leaning green vs noticeable yellow-leaning green.

Softened Green SW 6177 is the same depth as Soft Sage, an LRV of 49 against 50, so the whole difference is how much green shows. Softened Green measures noticeable and reads as a light sage in any light. Soft Sage measures subtle and reads gray until the light or the trim brings the green out. Pick Softened Green if you want to see green every hour of the day. Pick Soft Sage if you want a gray that only sometimes lets on.

Living room walls rendered in Sherwin-Williams Sea Salt SW 6204, white trim, ceiling and wood floor unchanged

Soft Sage vs Sea Salt SW 6204

Soft Sage is much darker; undertone subtle yellow-leaning green vs subtle green.

Sea Salt SW 6204 is noticeably lighter, an LRV of 63 against 50, and its green leans blue where Soft Sage's leans yellow. That is the practical difference: Sea Salt can flash blue in a north bathroom and Soft Sage cannot, though it can go khaki beside blue-gray. Pick Sea Salt for a light, coastal bathroom or a small room that needs lift. Pick Soft Sage for a bedroom or a bathroom with warm wood, where the walls should read gray-green rather than pale aqua.

Questions about Soft Sage

What colors go with Soft Sage?

Sherwin-Williams pairs it with Sanctuary SW 9583, a warm white, for trim and ceilings. Its named accents are Willowleaf SW 9649, a deeper gray-green, and Limestone SW 9599, a gray-brown. In practice it sits well with white oak, walnut, cream, terracotta, black and brass. Blue-grays beside it make it look yellow, so keep those out.

Is Soft Sage good for kitchen cabinets?

Yes, as a gray-green that reads sage in daylight and closer to gray under lamps. It works with a white quartz counter, brass or black hardware, a white or cream backsplash and a lighter wall such as Sanctuary SW 9583. Under cool LED strip lights it turns cold, so fit warm bulbs. Beside pink-veined marble it looks greener; beside gray-veined stone it looks grayer.

Is Soft Sage a good bedroom or nursery color?

Yes, and bedrooms are where it is used most. It is calm, gray enough to take white or linen bedding without the room reading green, and soft under lamps at night. In a nursery it is quieter than most greens and works with oak, white and cream. In a north bedroom it goes flatter and greener, so use a warm white trim and warm bulbs there.

Is Soft Sage good for a bathroom?

Yes, in a bathroom with a window or a skylight. It reads as a soft sage against white tile and brass, and it never flashes blue the way some light greens do. In a windowless bathroom under cool bulbs it turns to a flat gray, and beside blue-gray tile it looks yellow. Pair it with white or cream tile and warm bulbs.

Does Soft Sage look gray or green?

Gray most of the day, green on cue. Measured, its green is small and leans yellow, so on its own the wall reads as a warm gray. The green shows beside a crisp white trim, a true gray, or warm oak, and in north light. It never reads blue. If you want a wall that reads green all day, Clary Sage SW 6178 is the stronger version.

What is one shade darker than Soft Sage?

Soft Sage is not on a fan-deck strip, so the answer comes from its closest matches by measurement. Sensible Hue SW 6198 is a touch darker and grayer, and Oyster Bay SW 6206 is a step darker with a bluer green. Lighter, Austere Gray SW 6184 is nearly the same color and Contented SW 6191 is a touch lighter and a touch greener.

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 Soft Sage, checked in morning and evening light, is the last step before a gallon.