8 Colors to Use with Sherwin Williams Rock Garden (See it in Real Homes!)

Rock Garden isn’t one of Sherwin Williams most popular deep green paint colors, but this useable emerald should top your short list!

Swatch of Sherwin Williams Rock Garden below a photo of that color on a wall with gold accents — Photo credit: @wood_visions

This sultry shade tends to stay pretty predictable, and could really be used with almost any other color. Here we will see Rock Garden in real homes and get coordinating color ideas.

What Color is Sherwin Williams Rock Garden (6195)?

I would describe Rock Garden as a slightly subdued jungle green. This deep emerald shade can have slightly teal undertones, but for the most part, what you see is what you get!

Rock garden on walls in a small room with wood shelves

The nice thing about green paint colors, is that green is very often found in nature alongside any number of other colors: Both bold and subdued! For that reason, a lot of greens can be used as neutrals.

The LRV of Rock Garden is 8, so it is quite a dark paint color. Typicall truly dark paint colors have LRVs of 10 or less.

The LRV of Sherwin Williams Rock Garden plotted at 8 on a scale of 100 (white) to 0 (black) over a background of purple flowers growing on a rock.

I do find that it can sometimes read mid-toned because it is so saturated that it sometimes looks brighter than you might expect.

Here is the whole color strip for Rock Garden:

The Sherwin Williams Rock Garden color strip features colors from light to dark: Filmy Green, Contented, Coastal Plain, Jade Dragon, Privilege Green, Basil, and Rock Garden, all over a background of rocks in a dreamy looking nature garden.

The other colors in this collection are:

Filmy Green (SW 6190)
Contented (SW 6191)
Coastal Plain (SW 6192)
Jade Dragon (SW 9129)
Privilege Green (SW 6193)
Basil (SW 6194)

Privilege Green is probably the most popular shade from this color strip, and it is very similar to another Sherwin Williams favorite: Retreat.

Sherwin Williams Rock Garden in a Color Palette

If you are planning to use Rock Garden, I think it’s best to allow it to be the star of the show! For that reason, I went pretty toned down with the rest of my color palette, choosing neutrals that elevate rather than compete.

Sherwin Williams Rock Garden displayed on a paint lid in a rock and succulent garden alongside coordinating colors Shiitake, Pure White, Iron Ore, and Ethereal White, also on paint lids.

Coordinating White Paint Color for Rock Garden

For a nice safe white to use with Rock Garden, I went simple with Sherwin Williams Pure White.

Sherwin Williams Rock Garden swatched beside coordinating color Sherwin Williams Pure White

Pure White typically reads like a true white with very little undertone, but with a hint of softness.

This will look fairly crisp against the bold color of Rock Garden. If that’s not the look you’re going for, try Sherwin Williams Alabaster for something a little warmer, or even an off-white like Sherwin Williams Shoji White.

Try Rock Garden with Sherwin Williams Iron Ore

While Iron Ore is also a deep strong color, it is more neutral than Rock Garden and makes a nice backdrop for nearly any other shade.

Sherwin Williams Rock Garden swatched beside coordinating color Sherwin Williams Iron Ore

Iron Ore tends to read like a cool charcoal, which I think will complement Rock Garden well.

Neutral Paint Color to Use with Rock Garden

For an earth inspired neutral to use with Rock Garden, I recommend Sherwin Williams Shiitake.

Sherwin Williams Rock Garden swatched beside coordinating color Sherwin Williams Shiitake.

This mushroomy-beige is warm but neutral. Rock Garden with Shiitake is almost like nature’s version of emerald green and gold!

For a lighter neutral option, you might like Sherwin Williams Ethereal White. This creamy off-white has a slight green undertone that pairs beautifully with Rock Garden.

Sherwin Williams Rock Garden swatched beside coordinating color Sherwin Williams Ethereal White

Use Sherwin Williams Perle Noir as a Complementary Color

The “official” and proper coordinating color for Rock Garden would be an equally deep purple. For something really useable, I recommend Sherwin Williams Perle Noir.

Sherwin Williams Rock Garden swatched beside complementary color Sherwin Williams Perle Noir

This beautiful shade is equal parts charcoal and eggplant, so it isn’t as “specific” in nature.

Sherwin Williams Recommends These Coordinating Colors

As usual, I did not peek at the recommended coordinating colors that Sherwin Williams went with for Rock Garden before I chose my own, and today we were on a surprisingly similar page!

A rock garden with big stones over small gravel and paint colors scattered around on paint lids. Colors are Rock Garden and coordinating colors Opaline, Jogging Path, Jade Dragon, and complementary color Perle Noir.

Pair Rock Garden and Sherwin Williams Jogging Path

Jogging Path is a really nice greigey neutral that is a great alternative to uber popular shades like Accessible Beige. (Not that there’s anything wrong with Accessible Beige, some of us just like to be different!)

Sherwin Williams Rock Garden swatched beside coordinating color Sherwin Williams Jogging Path

Jogging Path can be a chameleon that lands somewhere between true beige and a green-undertoned taupe. I would expect it to lean warmer and more beige when paired with Rock Garden, because the green is much cooler in comparison.

Use Rock Garden with Opaline

Opaline is another green leaning off-white, but it’s cooler and more gray than my pick Ethereal White.

Sherwin Williams Rock Garden swatched beside coordinating color Sherwin Williams Opaline

It would make a great whole-home color to use with Rock Garden if you prefer something cooler than beige.

Go Monochromatic with Rock Garden and Jade Dragon

You might remember that Jade Dragon is on the same color strip as Rock Garden! Assuming that Rock Garden is too dark to use everywhere, you may like to accent it with this lighter shade.

Sherwin Williams Rock Garden swatched beside coordinating color Sherwin Williams Jade Dragon

Here is another look at all of the coordinating colors:

All of the coordinating colors from the article over a sandy background.

Sherwin Williams Rock Garden in Real Homes

Rock Garden isn’t super popular, but I was able to scrounge up a few real-life examples!

This first room is a very special design by @Wood_Visions, who you will have seen quite a lot around here:

Sherwin Williams on all the walls in a living room with white trim and a metallic gold geometric design on the wall. — Photo credit: @wood_visions

The gold geometric design really pops against the dark green of Rock Garden!

You can see that the color can have a slightly muted quality, but it certainly always looks green and not gray or any other color.

Rock Garden in most of these pictures is somewhere between forest green and emerald.

Sherwin Williams on all the walls in a living room with white trim and a metallic gold geometric design on the wall between two vertical windows. — Photo credit: @wood_visions

Next up we have Rock Garden in a powder room:

Rock Garden on the walls in a powder room with wood shelves and canvas art. — Photo credit: @homefortheweilers

Hailey (@homefortheweilers) chose to use this color on all of the walls in this bathroom, which is really a great place to go wild with a bold color.

Rock Garden on the walls in a powder room with white toilet and pedestal sink, and a white and black light fixture above a small mirror. — Photo credit: @homefortheweilers

Finally we have just a little pop of Rock Garden in the dining room, where Rachel (@prunedandpressed) used it on the french doors into their home office:

Sherwin Williams Rock Garden on french doors in a dining room that leads into a home office. Walls are Alabaster and trim is Pure White.

Here is the finished product:

Sherwin Williams Rock Garden on home office french doors off of a dining room with Alabaster walls and Pure White trim. A gingham tablecloth is on the table surrounded by matching black metal chairs. Two rattan look pendants hang from the ceiling. — Photo credit: @prunedandpressed

The walls in this dining room are Sherwin Williams Alabaster and the trim is Pure White. This happens to be one of the most popular white-on-white color schemes from my post: White Walls with White Trim?

That’s all I have from Rock Garden for now. You can see that across all of these rooms it did tend to look pretty consistent.

Thank you so much for reading until the end of this post! That really helps my blog.

Not sold on this particular green? I have got you covered!

Benjamin Moore Lafayette Green on a paint lid with coordinating neutral colors Jogging Path, Ethereal White, Dolphin Fin, and Snowbound also on paint lids over a white background with watercolor florals.

Graphic reads "Sherwin Williams Pewter Green Kitchen Cabinets" with a swatch of Pewter Green over a background photo of the color on kitchen cabinets with light walls and countertops

Graphic of 9 green circles reads "Dark Green Paint Colors" From top left to bottom right colors are: vogue green, vine leaf, vintage vogue, tarrytown green, black evergreen, ripe olive, cascades, greenblack, and salamander. Background photo is dark green palm fronds.