I feel like you can almost smell Sherwin Williams Cascades. (In a good way!) If you could, it would smell like the fresh mist from a waterfall, deep in the forest.
Cascades is a truly original paint color. There are not a lot of other shades like it, and I definitely think that adds to the appeal!
Here we will put Cascades in a color palette, try and place it on a color strip, wander through some real homes, and finally, take a look at some alternatives from other brands.
Let’s hop to it!
What Color is Sherwin Williams Cascades (SW 7623)
Cascades by Sherwin Williams, is a very deep green that verges on a teal or turquoise color. It’s pretty saturated, so even though it’s technically as dark as some black paint colors, it doesn’t ever look truly black.
When we get to real homes, I will be sure to point out to you where it looks it’s absolute darkest.
LRV of Sherwin Williams Cascades
As I mentioned, Cascades is technically as dark as some black paint colors.
What does that even mean if it doesn’t look black??
Well, I’ll tell you!
The LRV of Cascades is 4.
The LRV 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.
Basically, at 4, Cascades is nearly as “dark” (or non-reflective) as paint colors get. The reason it doesn’t look quite that dark, is because it’s a pretty bright color.
(Bright, not light!)
It has a lot of color in it, verses completely grayed out and desaturated black paint colors.
Undertones: Is Cascades Warm or Cool
SW Cascades has cool blue-green undertones. In real life, it is definitely more blue than it appears on the color chip. It is not warm at all.
(Although you may feel warm and cozy when you’re looking at it!)
A lot of people think that cool colors are stark and uninviting. This is not the case! Cool tones are just an area on the color wheel, and nothing more. (Although with whites you do have to be more careful!)
Cool toned colors are actually preferred colors for bedrooms and spas, because they are relaxing.
Cascades Color Strip
I seem to always be caught out with colors lately that don’t have a traditional color strip!
Once again, Cascades is one of those Sherwin Williams colors that are part of a collection, and NOT on a typical light-to-dark color strip.
Oh joy.
Here are the colors from the actual Sherwin Williams color strip for Cascades:
You can see that it doesn’t really follow a trend. All very pretty oceanic colors though! (But all pretty dark.)
Official Sherwin Williams Cascades Color Strip:
Gale Force (SW 7605)
LRV 6
Santorini Blue (SW 7607)
LRV 14
Deep Sea Dive (SW 7618)
LRV 10
Seaworthy (SW 7620)
LRV 7
Cascades (SW 7623)
LRV 4
Mount Etna (SW 7625)
LRV 6 – 7 Coordinating Colors to Make Sherwin Williams Mount Etna Live Up to Its Potential!
Marea Baja (SW 9185)
LRV 8
Lighter Version of Cascades
I didn’t want to leave you hanging, so here are a couple of lighter and darker alternatives to Cascades:
Lagoon (SW 6480)
Lagoon is a fair bit lighter than Cascades, with an LRV of 20, but it’s still a darker mid-toned color.
Deep Sea Dive (SW 7618)
Deep Sea Dive is from the official SW color strip. It seems like a pretty good lighter option, but it is still fairly dark.
Darker Version of Cascades
Greenblack (SW 6994)
If you want a color “darker” than Cascades (meaning more black) Greenblack would be the perfect blue-green-black alternative.
You can see more from Greenblack in my post: The Better Black: Sherwin Williams Greenblack (Plus Dupes!)
Another dark alternative would be Benjamin Moore Black Forest Green.
Sherwin Williams Cascades in a Color Palette
Here are some coordinating colors that I think work well with Cascades:
Cascades Complementary & Coordinating Colors
Let’s take a look at each of these colors with Cascades:
Sherwin Williams Coral Clay
Coral Clay comes pretty close to a lightened version of the “official” complementary color (the shade directly across the color wheel) for Cascades.
Technically the complementary color is a very dark purple-burgundy, but it’s hard to put ultra dark colors together like that.
Sherwin Williams suggests a bright rusty orange called “Hearty Orange.”
Hearty Orange SW 6622
For a compromise in this region, choose your perfect color from this post: The Best Terracotta Colors to Paint Your Walls
Benjamin Moore Palladian Blue
Palladian Blue had a HUGE cult following about 7 or 8 years ago, and now you don’t see it quite as often.
It was popular because it’s a gorgeous shade, and that hasn’t changed! Palladian is beautiful with Cascades.
For a similar option, you might like Sherwin Williams Sea Salt or Behr Light French Gray.
Sherwin Williams Nuance
Nuance is a greigey off-white that works well with almost any other color. It can range in appearance from silvery pale gray to quite white with a hint of a neutral warm undertone.
As far as greige goes, this one is definitely on the cool side, but it does have a bit of neutral beige in it. I like the idea of an off-white with Cascades because it will help keep the teal looking a little lighter and brighter by lowering the contrast.
If you like the look of Nuance but want a warmer off white, you would probably also like Sherwin Williams Shoji White.
Sherwin Williams Agreeable Gray
If you aren’t familiar with Agreeable Gray, I would bet that you only just started shopping for paint colors!
Agreeable Gray ranges in appearance from fairly beige to a cool taupey-gray, but it never looks super warm. This comforting color is a Sherwin Williams classic, and it really does coordinate with anything!
I like Agreeable Gray with Cascades because I think teal and mushroom were meant to be together in a deep dreamy forest.
Hop over here if you want to read more about this classic Sherwin Williams color: Accessible Beige vs Agreeable Gray (How to Choose!)
What Trim Colors Go With Sherwin Williams Cascades?
Let’s take a look at how different trim colors will look with Cascades!
White Paint that Goes with Cascades
High Reflective White is the whitest white that Sherwin Williams offers. This would be a high-contrast option and it will make Cascades look its very darkest.
Snowbound is a trim color I really like because it sits between bright white and overly creamy shades.
Alabaster is every gal’s favorite white (…except mine! That would be Chantilly Lace, because I’m stubborn.) It’s a creamier “farmhouse white.”
Wood Trim
Take a quick peak at that mock-up and decide what you think before I continue.
This is the first time I am ever saying this about a green: I don’t know that I’m a fan of Cascades with wood trim.
Typically I always think that green loves wood tones, but I am getting serious 90’s vibes from this combo, and not in a good way.
This is just my opinion. If you are even a little younger than me, you won’t remember the teal/forest green and burgundy craze. Blessings, young friends.
A color scheme like this was usually accompanied by a collection of ceramic chickens or pigs.
Is a dark moody green like Cascades also a historic color that could be used with wood trim? Probably yes.
For me: It’s a no.
Sherwin Williams Cascades for Your Home Interior
Kick off your shoes and bra, because the wait is over!
Here is Cascades in real life homes:
Sherwin Williams Cascades in the Living Room
First I would like to take you to Lindsey’s house (@houseon172), for a clinic on shiplap feature walls:
That’s it. That’s the clinic.
Just do whatever Lindsey does!
Speaking of what Lindsey does: How much do we love her curated collection of inspiring wall art?
I’m actually pretty sure she made those herself, but I will get back to you on that!
Sherwin Williams Cascades in a Dining Room
Cascades is often used on an accent wall, because it is such a bold color.
At the @bronzecottage, Cascade green walls are tempered with a good amount of creamy white to keep the dining room from getting too dark.
Despite the natural light and white accents (or possibly because of them) this is about the darkest that Cascades ever looks.
The color scheme is complemented with lots of natural toned accesories:
Such a soothing room!
(To be honest, now that I have spent some time staring at it, I think this might actually be an office, but I’m leaving it in the dining room category because the chandelier and wood table fooled me. You still get the picture!)
Sherwin Williams Cascades in the Bedroom
Cascades isn’t in a lot of bedrooms, which is a bit of a surprise, because generally that’s a good place to experiment with color!
Here it is in the main bedroom of Hannah’s house (@thenewlywedwards):
I do like Cascades with this light natural wood, despite my anti-wood trim rant earlier. It’s a bit fresher!
Cascades on Walls and Ceiling
Often with bold colors we are faced with a choice: To paint the ceiling, or to not paint the ceiling.
I find that a dark ceiling with light walls tends to raise the ceiling. Here’s an example, using Sherwin Williams Cyberspace:
In my opinion, dark ceilings with dark walls tend to bring down the ceiling for a cozier feel.
Here we can see that featuring SW Cascades:
This is the entryway at Hannah’s house. She used Cascades on the wood ceiling as well as the walls, but kept the trim and doors a crisp white. It’s almost a color drench, but not quite. Sort of drench adjacent.
I love how jewel-y this room looks!
Hannah used a terracotta shade as a coordinating color, just like we talked about when we were looking at color palettes! She chose Sherwin Williams Brandywine.
This next room is the brain child of the team at ML Designs (@mldesignskc):
“This gorgeous reading room was just what this client asked for. She wanted a beautiful space to display and read her books. I love the bold color Marci and Keely chose to wrap the walls and ceiling with. It gives the space a cozy and inviting feel.” – ML Designs
This time Cascades is not only on the walls and ceiling, but on the doors and trim too! A true color drench.
The reason that I say “in my opinion” the ceilings feel lower and cozier, is because we all have eyes and different perceptions. ML Designs shared this office/study on their Instagram, and at least one person commented that the ceilings look higher.
Because ML Designs themselves said that they were going for a cozy feel, I tend to think more people perceive it this way, but it was worth mentioning.
Sherwin Williams Cascades Laundry Room
This photo is taken in artifical light, so it looks warmer and darker than I’m sure it looks in real life, but I still wanted to share Lindey’s laundry room:
So fun!
Sherwin Williams Cascades on Kitchen Cabinets
You knew I wouldn’t leave you without pictures of Cascades on cabinets!
Here are Cascades double islands in a roomy two toned kitchen also by ML Designs:
Not to be outdone, our friend Lindsey has also used Cascades in her kitchen:
She paired her deep teal island with Sherwin Williams Dover White on the wall cabinets.
Love that white choice! (Although you should know that Dover White typically looks much warmer than this.)
For more inspiration like this, check out my post: 9 Tantalizing Teal Paint Colors for Kitchen Cabinets (#5 is Controversial)
Sherwin Williams Cascades on a House Exterior
We really lucked out today, and I get to show you Cascades in allll kind of exterior lights and angles. Typically with bold colors we are lucky to find one or two photos.
This first exterior belongs to Liz (@elizbatman), but Amy (@amy_krane_color) was the mastermind behind the color choices: Cascades and SW Antique White.
Pretty, right?
I think Amy was right to choose a soft white for the trim and shutters. It suits this older farmhouse style so well!
I will say that this color looks more blue in some of these photos than I expected.
Funny enough, the new color scheme is close to a reversal of the original color scheme:
After:
Garage before:
After – Cascades and Antique White:
I love the solid creamy white of the garage doors against the deep green of Cascades.
Here is the other Cascades exterior, this time at Claudia’s house (@laurelwoodhome).
Claudia also chose a creamy color for her trim, this time it’s Sherwin Williams Wool Skein. It looks almost like an off-white when it’s outdoors and next to a dark color like Cascades, but it’s actually closer to beige.
Wool Skein is on the same color strip as darker favorites Anonymous, Porpoise, and Urbane Bronze.
And an evening shot for drama, because why not?
Cascades on a Front Door
The paint color photo fairy ran out of good deeds by the time I got to looking for a Cascades front door, but I do have something similar.
Sherwin Williams Greenblack was the darker option I showed you on a color strip earlier, and I do have that on a front door:
Greenblack is more gray than Cascades, so essentially Cascades would look brighter or more “colorful” than this door does, but the general tone is the same.
You can see more of this exterior in my post: Sherwin Williams White Flour (Review, Comparisons, and Dupes!)
Dupes for Cascades from Other Brands
**Update! I recently revisited this section and gave it a dedicated post with new and better alternatives: Exploring the Benjamin Moore Version of Sherwin Williams Cascades (Plus other dupes!) The information in this section may not be up to date, but it still gets a lot of interest and photo shares, so I am going to leave it in its original form here.
I have one really good dupe for you from Benjamin Moore, and the rest are not as close as I would typically like to be.
Let’s take a look:
Benjamin Moore Cascades Equivalent
The closest dupe for Cascades from any brand, is Benjamin Moore Salamander.
Benjamin Moore Salamander (2050-10)
Benjamin Moore Salamander is almost the exact same color as Sherwin Williams Cascades, the difference is that it is a little more gray.
The LRV of Salamander is 5.72.
Here it is in real life:
On the wall these two would be difficult to tell apart!
Valspar (Lowe’s) Equivalent to Cascades
I have a couple of Valspar Cascades alternatives to show you, but unfortunately “dupe” might be a bit of a stretch.
The closest that I could get to Cascades are Royal Pine and Deep River Green.
Valspar Royal Pine (5011-5)
Royal Pine is lighter and brighter than than Cascades, but not too bad in the “spirit” of the color.
Valspar Deep River Green (5010-3)
Deep River Green is deeper and darker than Royal Pine, so it is closer to Cascades in that sense, but you can see that it is quite a lot grayer.
Cascades Behr Equivalent (Home Depot)
We didn’t fare a whole lot better in Behr colors. The closest color match that Behr carries (outside of getting an actual color match) is their shade Abysse.
Behr Abysse (PPU12-01)
Abysse has an LRV of 9, and you can see that it is a good bit lighter than Cascades:
In terms of where it is on the color wheel, it’s pretty close to right.
I actually think the lack of perfect matches could be one of the reasons that Cascades is so popular! It’s surprising to me that there can be sooo many paint colors, and yet original shades are still out there.
Kudos to Sherwin Williams!
Don’t forget about my update! This section didn’t age badly…just not flawlessly.
Cascades Final Moody Musings
Shall we take a quick walk through Cascades to recap?
- Cascades is a deep moody green with hints of blue and aqua. Cascades is not a muted or grayed out color like so many popular dark shades
- Use Cascades with terracotta for a bold complementary color scheme, or with neutrals for a classic look
- Definitely consider Cascades for a poppin’ exterior statement
I have been around the block a time or two with green paint colors! Feast your eyes on some of these alternatives:
