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Exploring the Benjamin Moore Version of Sherwin Williams Cascades (Plus other dupes!)

    Cascades by Sherwin Williams is a sumptuous teal that is almost as dark as teal can get. This color is pretty unique, but what if you can’t use Sherwin Williams?

    Sherwin Williams Cascades swatched alongside smaller swatches of dupes from other brands, over background of a clay canyon with turquoise pools of water.

    Here we will look at the closest alternatives from other brands, so that you can dupe Cascades in your preferred paint!

    What are the Undertones of Sherwin Williams Cascades?

    I have a whole post about Cascades, so I won’t go into too much detail here, but let’s recap really quickly, so we know what we’re talking about!

    Swatch of Cascades over a set of bookcases drenched in that color.
    Photo credit: @Mldesignskc

    Cascades is one of those rare colors where what you see is pretty much what you get! This saturated deep teal looks a tiny bit bolder in real life than it does on the swatch, but otherwise it is pretty true to tone.

    On exteriors, Cascades can lean a tiny bit more blue than it does indoors. Here is a more extreme example of that:

    Back of Cascades exterior on a greek revival farmhouse with antique white shutters and trim
    Photo Credit: @elizbatman & @amy_krane_color

    In small spaces or rooms with low light, Cascades can read almost black, due to it’s LRV being allll the way down at 4. (Although never truly black.)

    Now that we know what Cascades looks like, let’s find some colors that serve up the same!

    Dupes for Sherwin Williams Cascades features a swatch of that color above 3 smaller swatches of dupes Deep River Green, Arboretum, and Pacific Sea Teal over a background of a lake in the Cascade Mountains.

    Valspar Color Match for Cascades: Deep River Green

    From Valspar we have a very good color match for Cascades with their shade Deep River Green.

    Sherwin Williams Cascades on half of a wall and Valspar version Deep River Green on the other half, behind a mustard colored sofa and some potted plants.

    Deep River Green is a little bit smokier in appearance than Cascades. This is due to the color being a touch cooler and a hair more muted.

    On the wall this color looks very very similar to Cascades, and it is equally likely to read black in a small or low light space.

    Behr Equivalent for Cascades: Arboretum

    Behr doesn’t always have the greatest selection of dark paint colors, but we get acceptably close to Cascades with their shade Arboretum.

    Sherwin Williams Cascades on half of a wall and Dupe from Behr, Arboretum on the other half behind a white clawfoot tub and soft greige wainscoting.

    As you can see, Arboretum is lighter and more gray than Cascades. This color isn’t very popular, so it is hard to find real life inspo.

    You should expect Arboretum it to look like Cascades minus a little bit of depth and darkness. Think a touch more charcoal and a touch less jewel-toned.

    Benjamin Moore Version of Cascades: Pacific Sea Teal

    Benjamin Moore has the closest dupe for Cascades over all, with their shade Pacific Sea Teal.

    Sherwin Williams Cascades on half of a wall and Benjamin Moore Pacific Sea Teal on the other half behind a white sofa with a wood frame.

    What I like about Pacific Sea Teal, is that even after seeing many many pictures, it’s hard to put your finger on the difference between this color and Cascades.

    While technically Pacific Sea Teal is lighter than Cascades, I’m not convinced of that in real life. I find that they read pretty much the same. I do think that PST is a tiny bit more blue leaning than Cascades.

    Honorable Mention: Benjamin Moore Salamander

    While it isn’t the closest Benjamin Moore color match for Cascades, Salamander is the color most often compared to it!

    This almost-black teal does look pretty similar to Cascades:

    Sherwin Williams Cascades on half of a wall and Benjamin moore Salamander on the other half behind a wood console table and a wood chair with a blue velvet seat back.

    You can see that Salamander is a bit more muted than Cascades. As a result, it does tend to look close to black a little more often.

    Benjamin Moore Salamander on a wall behind wooden shelves with simple white vases.
    Photo Credit: @adventuringathome

    Let’s take another look at all three of the dupes for Cascades:

    Graphic of Cascades colored background with swatches over top of dupes Deep River Green, Pacific Sea Teal, and Arboretum, with a watercolor lake in a forest in between the swwatches and the background for contrast.
    Dupes for Sherwin Williams Cascades features a swatch of that color above 3 smaller swatches of dupes Deep River Green, Arboretum, and Pacific Sea Teal all over a background of Cascades in a color drenched office.

    I hope this post helped you find a solid alternative to Sherwin Williams deep teal Cascades!

    I have covered quite a few teals in recent months, so here are a few more you might be interested in:

    Benjamin Moore Dark Harbor swatched as a polaroid over a photo of a kitchen with cabinets in Dark Harbor
    Graphic Reads "Teal Kitchen Cabinets" with swatches of teal paint colors Aegean Teal, Rocky River, Grays Harbor, Black Forest Green, Dark Harbor, Deep Sea Dive, Cascades, Intense Teal, and Blue Peacock, over a background of teal cabinets in a white kitchen.
    Sherwin Williams Blue Peacock Color Palette features coordinating colors Simply White, Shoji White, Accessible Beige, Sea Salt, Blue Peacock, and Iron Ore.