Valspar Cottage Door is the 2027 Color of the Year! (And It Looks Familiar?)

It’s really hard to believe that it is already 2027 Color of the Year season, but here we are! Valspar was the first to announce their pick with the shade Cottage Door.

Cottage Door is a fabulous color in my book, because it’s about as neutral as a blue paint color can get!

What Color Valspar Cottage Door is, and Why it’s Perfect for 2026

Valspar Cottage Door is mid-toned blue gray with a hint of green in its undertone. It is almost like a darker, smokier version of french blue.

Cottage Door is a great choice for “Color of the Year” in my opinion, for a couple of reasons!

• I have been seeing a lot of interest in VERY similar blues, and
• Most of the expert picks that have been trending for the past couple of years are warm tones, so this is something different!

The LRV of Cottage Door is 26, which puts it at the darker end of mid-toned, but not truly dark.

The LRV (Light Reflectance Value) of a color indicates on a scale of 0 – 100 how much light a color reflects (or doesn’t reflect). True black has an LRV of 0 and pure white has an LRV of 100.

In the paint world, we are working in a range of about 3 – 93 because no paint color is purely black or completely white.

What Are the Undertones of Valspar Cottage Door?

Valspar Cottage Door is a fairly true blue, but it can have green undertones. I wouldn’t say teal exactly…but something teal-adjacent.

This color is not ever going to look purple or lean periwinkle. Instead it is more “ocean inspired.”

Some may say that it has gray undertones, but since the color is so gray-forward, I would hardly say they are undertones.

Cottage Door in the Valspar Color Strip

Here is the Valspar collection where we find Cottage Door:

The other colors in this collection are:

• Ghost Ship
• Annabelle
• Cat’s Meow
• Shale Blue
• Cottage Door
• Flannel Gray
• Cadet Song

Valspar Cottage Door in a Color Palette

Here are the coordinating colors that Valspar recommends with Cottage Door!

Coordinating White Paint Color for Cottage Door

Valspar Summer Gray

Valspar recommends using the color Summer Gray with Cottage Door:

I do like this color with Cottage Door! It is super neutral.

With an LRV of 80, Summer Gray is actually an off-white. If you like the look of this color, you will also love Benjamin Moore Classic Gray.

Valspar Swiss Coffee

For a true white paint color, try the Valspar version of Swiss Coffee:

This is one of my favorite takes on Swiss Coffee, so that’s why I am shamelessly promoting it. Its undertone also happens to be complementary to Cottage Door!

Try Cottage Door with Valspar Blue Fescue

Valspar Blue Fescue is generally a cool sage green, but you should expect it to look its most green and its warmest against the true blue of Cottage Door.

If you like this color, you will also love Sherwin Williams Acacia Haze!

Neutral Paint Color to Use with Cottage Door

Valspar didn’t offer up a neutral beige or greige to use with Cottage Door, instead going for the blue charcoal of Slate Court:

This color is quite similar to Benjamin Moore Soot.

If you do want a more traditional neutral to pair with Cottage Door, try Valspar Soft Pelican.

This shade is the closest Valspar color to a number of popular neutrals including Accessible Beige, Shiitake, and High Sierra, so you could say it does it all!

What Does Cottage Door Actually Look Like?

Cottage Door is actually a pretty hard color to find, but I will show you some good examples.

I have actually talked about Cottage Door on here before! It is the closest Valspar option to Sherwin Williams Whirlpool, so it only makes sense that the effect is mutual!

This is a very good example of how the color looks. 10/10 no notes!

Here is an example (also using Whirlpool) of Cottage Door at its darkest and most green-leaning:

My first thought when I saw Cottage Door, was actually that it reminded me of Debonair, which is quite a popular Sherwin Williams color:

You can see that Debonair is lighter, but the tone is very similar, as is the real-life look.

Just imagine the color here a tiiiny bit darker, and you have the more blue look of Cottage Door.

Dupes for Cottage Door from Other Brands

Speaking of colors that look like Cottage Door, let’s get into some dupes and alternatives from other brands!

Cottage Door in Sherwin Williams

As you may have expected, Whirlpool is the best Sherwin Williams version of Cottage Door.

I did really try to get closer, but in the end it was the most similar overall. You can see that the color is a bit lighter, but the actual color is bang on!

The Best Benjamin Moore Color Match for Cottage Door

Benjamin Moore has the best all around dupe for Cottage Door with their color Wild Blue Yonder:

You might be able to tell, but Wild Blue Yonder has a little bit less of the green undertone than Cottage Door does.

Cottage Door Behr Equivalent

Over at Home Depot, the best color match for Cottage Door is Rainy Season.

Again, Rainy Season is lighter than Cottage Door, but the actual color family is almost identical. Rainy Season is also a hair more gray than Cottage Door.

Here is another look at each of these options!