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7 Coordinating Colors to Love with Benjamin Moore Dark Harbor (See this Tempting Teal!)

    Dark Harbor is a beautiful moody teal color with a luxurious feel. Not too bright and not too dark, this may just be the perfect color you’ve been looking to drench with!

    Dark harbor over a teal painted background surrounded by the coordinating colors from the article.

    Here we will chat Dark Harbor undertones, see the color in real life, and go over gorgeous coordinating colors.

    What Are the Undertones of Benjamin Moore Dark Harbor?

    I would describe Dark Harbor as a deep, true, peacock color. It most often looks like a perfect teal, resting beautifully between emerald and navy, but it can also lean to either side of that spectrum.

    Benjamin Moore Dark Harbor on kitchen cabinets with zoomed in swatches of the different undertones of the color. On the left the color looks more emerald and on the right it is more blue.

    Even at it’s most blue and most green, this color does still read “teal” in my opinion, but I do think it leans green a little more often than blue.

    The LRV of Dark Harbor is 7.72, so it is quite a dark color. (Truly dark colors typically have an LRV of 10 or less.)

    Benjamin Moore Dark Harbor marked at an LRV of 8 on a scale from 0 (black) to 100 (pure white) over a background of a dark harbor in front of an old city and a large mosque.

    Here is a look at the color strip from Benjamin Moore:

    The official Benjamin Moore color strip for Dark Harbor features shades from light to dark: Silken Blue, Province Blue, Blue Dusk, Fair Isle Blue, Olympus Green, and Dark Harbor. Background is Dark Harbor on kitchen cabinets.
    Background photo: @oakstorydesign

    This color strip was actually hodge-podged together by the brand, and doesn’t actually feature sequential colors from light to dark.

    I thought that some of these looked too much like outliers (Blue Heather and Blue Dusk in particular look a little too blue), so I took my own crack at it:

    A light to dark color strip for Dark Harbor with Benjamin Moore colors: Constellation, Ocean City Blue, St John Blue, Baltic Sea, Fair Isle Blue, Stained Glass, and Dark Harbor, over a background of that color on kitchen cabinets.
    Background photo: @oakstorydesign

    I can see why they struggled in the mid-tones! It’s hard to find perfect lighter versions of Dark Harbor without getting too bright or leaving teal entirely.

    Here’s a cleaner look at both versions:

    Two teal color strips side-by-side from Benjamin Moore. One is the official color strip for Dark Harbor and the other is a color strip that I put together.

    If you were to travel across brands, Dark Harbor would actually slot quite nicely into the color strip of Sherwin Williams Debonair:

    Two teal color strips side-by-side. One is the color strip for Dark Harbor and the other is the color strip for Sherwin Williams Moscow Midnight.

    While that color strip is a little more gray, Dark Harbor is actually pretty similar to the last color: Moscow Midnight.

    Polaroid swatch of Sherwin Williams Moscow Midnight over a background of the deep teal on a wood geometric design feature wall.
    Background photo: @wood_visions

    Anyways, this was a side quest I went on for reasons known only to the Creator.

    If you do happen to want Dark Harbor in another brand, check out my post: Dupes and Alternatives for Benjamin Moore Dark Harbor (From Sherwin Williams and More!)

    Dark Harbor on Kitchen Cabinets

    Unfortunately I don’t have a lot of images of Dark Harbor to share, but I do have a kitchen by the team at @oakstorydesign.

    Benjamin Moore Dark Harbor swatched as a polaroid over a photo of a kitchen with cabinets in Dark Harbor
    Background photo by: @oak.story.design

    You may have seen this one in my post: 9 Tantalizing Teal Paint Colors for Kitchen Cabinets (#5 is Controversial)

    Swatch of Benjamin Moore Dark Harbor below a photo of that same teal color on kitchen cabinets.
    Photo credit: @oakstorydesign

    As I pointed out in undertones, you can really see both the emerald and blue sides of Dark Harbor in this one picture.

    Here it is looking its most uniform teal color:

    Benjamin Moore Dark Harbor on lower kitchen cabinets and island in a white kitchen with light wood beam and pendant lights.
    Photo credit: @oakstorydesign

    In that last shot, the color reminds me a lot of Sherwin Williams Cascades.

    Benjamin Moore Dark Harbor in a Color Palette

    Here are my coordinating color picks to use with Dark Harbor:

    Benjamin Moore Dark Harbor in a color palette with coordinating colors Annapolis Gray, Tissue Pink, and Venetian Marble, all swatched on paint lids over a wooden dock with a rope and anchor, while mist swirls around.

    Try Dark Harbor with Benjamin Moore Tissue Pink

    Pink and purple are coming back into fashion, and Tissue Pink is the perfect, almost-neutral way, to dip your toes into the trend.

    Paint dot of Benjamin Moore Dark Harbor swatched beside a paint dot of Tissue Pink over a wardrobe painted in Tissue Pink.
    Photo by: @basicbluehouse

    The “official” complementary color for Dark Harbor would be a burgundy color, so Tissue Pink is like a super light alternative.

    Benjamin Moore Dark Harbor swatched beside coordinating color Tissue Pink

    Coordinating White Paint Color for Dark Harbor

    Sticking with complementary undertones, I chose the Benjamin Moore white called Venetian Marble for this color palette.

    Benjamin Moore Dark Harbor swatched beside coordinating color Venetian Marble

    Venetian Marble is actually the Benjamin Moore dupe for the uber popular Sherwin Williams Snowbound. Like Snowbound, this under-used white can have a whiff of a pink undertone, so I would not suggest pairing it with other white paint colors. In most cases however, it will look like a true white.

    With Dark Harbor, Venetian Marble is a perfect complementary white.

    Neutral Paint Color to Use with Dark Harbor

    For a neutral paint color that pulls the whole look together, I recommend Annapolis Gray.

    Benjamin Moore Dark Harbor swatched beside coordinating color Annapolis Gray

    This “gray” is actually more of a greige chameleon with taupey undertones. It’s a nice alternative to a very warm beige and it is hugely underrated! I think a sandy gray color is the perfect neutral for a nautical teal like Dark Harbor.

    If you like this color, you will probably also like Sherwin Williams Accessible Beige.

    Benjamin Moore Dark Harbor in a color palette with coordinating colors Annapolis Gray, Tissue Pink, and Venetian Marble, all swatched on paint lids over a white woven cloth background with a bowl of fruit, silk scarf, and two vintage books in complementing colors around the paint lids.

    Benjamin Moore Recommends These Coordinating Colors

    Now on to the color palette that Benjamin Moore suggests for Dark Harbor:

    Benjamin Moore's recommended coordinating colors for Dark Harbor swatched on paint lids alongside a bigger swatch of that color over a background of gray fabric with a large embroidered fern leaf. Colors are: Sylvan Mist, Porch Swing, Cloud cover, and salisbury green.

    At first glance, I feel annoyed, because from a bird’s eye view…maybe(?) this looks better than mine!

    Use Dark Harbor with Benjamin Moore Sylvan Mist

    Sylvan Mist is my favorite of the Benjamin Moore recommendations in this color palette. I think it has a very similar vibe to Dark Harbor and you could use these two together seamlessly.

    Benjamin Moore Dark Harbor swatched beside coordinating color recommended by Benjamin Moore: Sylvan Mist

    Sylvan Mist could also be an alternative to a more traditional neutral color for your whole home. It will work with most whites, off-whites, neutrals, and darker blues, as well as the majority of wood tones.

    For something similar but a little more neutral, you might like Sherwin Williams Sea Salt.

    Pair Dark Harbor and Benjamin Moore Porch Swing

    I have to be honest: I prefer how these two look together in the palette over how they look side by side here:

    Benjamin Moore Dark Harbor swatched beside coordinating color recommended by Benjamin Moore: Porch Swing

    Benjamin Moore Porch Swing is a truly beautiful cool sage color. I don’t think that I would use these two together personally, because each of them want to be the star.

    Benjamin Moore Porch Swing on a wall with two occassional chairs

    You could use them in adjoining rooms, rather than directly beside each other in the same room.

    Pair Cloud Cover and Dark Harbor

    Benjamin Moore Cloud Cover is a creamy white that sits right on the edge of white and off-white. It can range in appearance from fairly neutral to antique white.

    Benjamin Moore Dark Harbor swatched beside coordinating color recommended by Benjamin Moore: Cloud Cover

    While these two do work together, bear in mind that a teal like Dark Harbor is likely to emphasize the underlying yellow in Cloud Cover.

    Try Dark Harbor with Salisbury Green…If You Dare

    I went ahead and saved the worst for last. It’s not that Salisbury Green is a bad color, I just can’t really imagine a scenario where I would use these two together:

    Benjamin Moore Dark Harbor swatched beside coordinating color recommended by Benjamin Moore: Salisbury Green

    While Salisbury Green can look almost mint, which would look nice with teal, it is unlikely to do so next to the much cooler Dark Harbor. It’s my opinion that these clash…but that’s just me.

    Here is another look at all of these coordinating colors:

    Benjamin Moore Dark Harbor on a paint lid in a color palette with coordinating colors from the article swatched on smaller paint lids around the larger swatch of Dark Harbor. Background is a shiny woven fabric in a cream color.

    Thank you so much for being here and for reading until the end! That really helps my blog.

    I hope this helped you decide if Dark Harbor is the moody move for you!

    Still not sure? You might like one of these alternatives:

    Sherwin Williams Blue Peacock on a Victorian home
    Graphic Reads "Teal Paint Colors" with swatches of Aegean Teal, Rocky River, Grays Harbor, Black Forest Green, Dark Harbor, Deep Sea Dive, Cascades, Intense Teal, and Blue Peacock, over a background of a teal and gold swirling pattern.
    Sherwin Williams Endless Sea color strip features similar colors from light to dark: Moonmist, Sleepy Hollow, Faded Flaxflower, Smoky Azurite, Inky Blue, and Endless Sea, over a background of the color on a wall with framed botanical prints.