Is Benjamin Moore Dry Sage a Muddy Brown or Muted Sage? (Explained!)

On paper, Benjamin Moore Dry Sage looks a big too olive drab to be considered a sage green, but this color will surprise you! This smooth and sophisticated color reads beautiful and sage no matter how it is used.

Benjamin moore Dry Sage swatched over a background of dry sage leaves spilling out of a bowl.

Let’s take a look at Dry Sage in real homes, use it in a color palette, and see some dupes that you can use instead.

What Color is Benjamin Moore Dry Sage (2142-40)?

Benjamin Moore Dry Sage is a warm gray green color that is pretty consistent in it’s look. It is a slightly darker mid-toned color that always reads pretty “sage” and not olive or mint.

Swatch of Benjamin Moore Dry Sage beside a wooden scoop full of dried sage.

LRV and RBG of Benjamin Moore Dry Sage

The LRV of Dry Sage is 34.63. (Let’s say 35.)

What does that mean?

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.

Dry Sage marked at 34.6 on an LRV chart from 100 (pure white) to 0 (true black) over a background of various green herbs

At 35, Dry Sage is on the darker side of mid-toned colors, but it isn’t dark yet. I usually say anything with an LRV of 10 or less reads truly dark.

Most whole home neutrals have LRV’s in the 45 to 60 range, so it is darker than all of those.

Benjamin Moore doesn’t provide their Hex codes or RBG, but we can get a close guesstimate from Converting Colors. They provide the hex value as: A4A085.

The RGB of Dry Sage is approximately Red 164, Green 160, and Blue 133.

What Are the Undertones of Dry Sage?

Dry Sage has warm olivey-beige undertones. Judging by the swatch, you would barely expect any green from this color (or maybe that’s just me):

Hex chart for Benjamin Moore Dry Sage beside a paint dot of the sage green over a background of sage leaves

Is Dry Sage Warm or Cool?

Dry Sage is a warm sage green, but you can use it like a neutral. Not only are its undertones very neutral, greens are between cool and warm colors on the color wheel.

The Benjamin Moore Dry Sage Color Strip

Here are all of the colors from this color strip:

Benjamin Moore Dry Sage color strip features colors from light to dark: Icicle, November Rain, Gray Mirage, Dry Sage, Mountain Moss, Turtle Green, and Mediterranean Olive

Benjamin Moore Icicle (2142-70) LRV 82.04
Benjamin Moore November Rain (2142-60 or OC-50) LRV 71.03
Benjamin Moore Gray Mirage (2142-50) LRV 53.78
Benjamin Moore Dry Sage (2142-40) LRV 34.63
Benjamin Moore Mountain Moss (2142-30) LRV 17.64
Benjamin Moore Turtle Green (2142-20) LRV 12.88
Benjamin Moore Mediterranean Olive (2142-10) LRV 11.05

Benjamin Moore Dry Sage in a Color Palette

Here is a beautiful neutral color palette, featuring Dry Sage:

Color palette for Benjamin Moore Dry Sage features Dry Sage, Dragon's Breath, Cracked Pepper, Classic Gray, and Vanilla Milkshake, all on paint lids over a background of white roses

Coordinating Colors to Use with Benjamin Moore Dry Sage

Here are all of the coordinating colors that I chose for Dry Sage:

Dragon’s Breath and Dry Sage

Dragon’s Breath is actually the Benjamin Moore dupe for the hit Sherwin Williams fave, Urbane Bronze.

Paint dot of Benjamin Moore Dry Sage beside coordinating color Dragon's Breath

This color is equal parts brown and gray, which creates a beautiful warm charcoal that goes great with the earthy sage tones of Dry Sage.

Dry Sage and Cracked Pepper

Paint dot of Benjamin Moore Dry Sage beside coordinating color Behr Cracked Pepper

If you wanted to go a bit cooler with your coordinating colors, a true charcoal will also look great with Dry Sage. Why not try out the Behr Color of the Year from 2024: Cracked Pepper?

You might also like Benjamin Moore Soot (it’s more blue-forward).

Classic Gray and Dry Sage

Classic Gray is a tried and tested light neutral that goes with pretty much anything – including Dry Sage!

Paint dot of Benjamin Moore Dry Sage beside coordinating color Classic Gray

Dry Sage and Vanilla Milkshake

I truly think Dry Sage can be used as a neutral, which means you can use any white with it, but I like it with the creamy neutral of Vanilla Milkshake.

Paint dot of Benjamin Moore Dry Sage beside coordinating color Vanilla Milkshake

You might also like Sherwin Williams Pure White.

Complementary Color for Benjamin Moore Dry Sage

Using the color wheel, the shade directly across from Dry Sage would be a slightly purple leaning blue.

Paint dot of Benjamin Moore Dry Sage beside complementary color Blue Nova

Benjamin Moore’s 2024 Color of the Year Blue Nova, happens to be a very close match. For a lighter alternative, Sherwin Williams 2024 choice Upward, is in the same color family.

What Trim Colors Go With Benjamin Moore Dry Sage?

As I mentioned earlier, you can really use any white with this color. I don’t think there is a white that will clash.

Here are some popular Benjamin Moore options:

Benjamin Moore Dry Sage background with various white trim colors including Chantilly Lace, Simply White, White Dove, and Icicle.

White Paint that Goes with Dry Sage

Chantilly Lace is a totally clean and neutral green-based white that is soft but still bright. Because it’s in the same color family, I do often like to pair this one with green paint colors.

Simply White would have been in my color palette, but I just feel like I’ve grabbed it too many times recently! This bright white is as creamy as you can get without reading yellowy. I think a warm white is a good move with Dry Sage.

White Dove is a creamy white that is a little darker and has a nice beige undertone. It’s a softer choice for pairing with Dry Sage.

You might recognize Icicle from the color strip! This creamy white is the lightest shade from the Dry Sage collection, and it does very much read white. This could be a very complementary route for trim.

Benjamin Moore Dry Sage for Your Home’s Interior

Let’s take a look at how Dry Sage looks in real life!

Benjamin Moore Dry Sage on Kitchen Cabinets

Kitchen cabinets are probably the most popular place to use sage green right now. So popular that I have a whole post about Sage Green Kitchen Cabinets!

Lucky for us, I have some great examples of Benjamin Moore Dry Sage on kitchen cabinets, thanks to the team at Sharp Paint & Renovation.

Benjamin Moore Dry Sage on kitchen cabinets with granite countertops and a composite sink — Photo Credit: Sharp Paint & Renovation

These cabinets were refinished from their original dated wood appearance, to this soft sage green:

Benjamin Moore Dry Sage in warmer light, beside a photo of the original wood cabinet. — Photo Credit: Sharp Paint & Renovation

This is the perfect project to show you all the faces of Dry Sage! In these first two photos you can see that it looks quite warm.

Here is a cooler look to this color:

Side by side photo of dated wood cabinets refinished in Benjamin Moore Dry Sage — Photo Credit: Sharp Paint & Renovation

It also looks a bit cooler in this picture of the full kitchen:

Benjamin Moore Dry Sage on all of the cabinets in a bright kitchen with warm granite countertops — Photo Credit: Sharp Paint & Renovation

This next picture is something in between:

Benjamin Moore Dry Sage on lower cabinets with warm wood floors and warm stone countertops — Photo Credit: Sharp Paint & Renovation

And here is one last one, because I know you can never really see too many photos of a color before you decide!

a kitchen refurbishing project halfway through. Cabinets painted in Benjamin Moore Dry Sage are being re-hung. — Photo Credit: Sharp Paint & Renovation

I will say that the variations in this color are pretty subtle. It isn’t one where you need to worry about it looking vastly different depending on light and finishes.

If you have warmer toned floors, you can expect this color to lean a bit cooler and more gray, and vice versa with cool toned flooring.

Benjamin Moore Dry Sage in the Living Room

For the next two highly requested spaces I had to add a real photo of Dry Sage behind the appropriate furniture, just to give you an idea of how it will look.

Here is how the color will look in a living room:

Living Room with Benjamin Moore Dry Sage on the back wall.

I chose a warmer toned image of Dry Sage for this example.

Benjamin Moore Dry Sage in a Bedroom

In this bedroom we used Dry Sage where it looks a bit cooler:

Benjamin Moore dry Sage on a bedroom wall behind a wood framed bed with white linens and a bookshelf

The images aren’t perfect, but hopefully that helps you visualize somewhat!

I also found a photo of a bedroom that is a color very very similar to Dry Sage:

Dry Sage color match in a bedroom with warm lighting and a large wooden bed.

Benjamin Moore Dry Sage on an Exterior

For an idea of how Dry Sage will look on an exterior, the best I have is Benjamin Moore Gettysburg Gray. This color is more gray than Dry Sage:

Benjamin Moore Dry Sage on half of a wall with Gettysburg Gray on the other half behind a casual chair and side table.

Try to visualize this exterior by Word of Mouth Painting just a little bit greener and “brighter” than it looks here:

Small bungalow painted in a Color similar to Benjamin Moore Dry Sage on exterior siding with white trim. The color is Benjamin Moore Gettysburg Gray — Photo Credit: @word_of_mouth_painting

Here the color already looks a bit warmer and greener in the sun, so you can get a pretty good idea of how Dry Sage will look:

Close up of a sage green house with red door. Color is very similar to Benjamin Moore Dry Sage — Photo Credit: @word_of_mouth_painting

One more for good measure:

Benjamin Moore dry sage lookalike Gettysburg Gray on exterior siding of a small bungalow with a red door. — Photo Credit: @word_of_mouth_painting

Dry Sage Compared to Other Sage and Gray Green Paint Colors

I know you like to play the field, so here are some other smart sages that you might be considering!

Benjamin Moore Dry Sage vs October Mist

October Mist is lighter, cooler, and a bit more gray than Dry Sage.

Benjamin Moore Dry Sage on half of a wall behind an overstuffed bed, compared to October Mist on the other half.

You can see more from this color in my post: Should You Still Use October Mist by Benjamin Moore?

Benjamin Moore Dry Sage vs Sherwin Williams Svelte Sage

As soon as I saw Dry Sage I KNEW it reminded me of another color, and that color is Sherwin Williams Svelte Sage.

Sherwin Williams Svelte Sage on half of a wall with Benjamin Moore Dry Sage on the other half, behind a black and white gallery.

Svelte Sage is a bit warmer than Dry Sage, but mostly lighter. If I hadn’t found a slightly closer match, these would have been solid dupes for each other.

Dupes for Benjamin Moore Dry Sage

Here are the closest alternatives for Dry Sage from other brands:

Benjamin Moore Dry Sage paint dot, swatched beside paint dots of Dusty Olive, Sage Wisdom, and Green Sprout over a background of sage bundles and crystals

Sherwin Williams Dry Sage Equivalent

While I do think that you might want to consider Svelte Sage, Sherwin Williams Green Sprout is the actual closest color match for Dry Sage.

Sherwin Williams Green Sprout (SW 7728)

Ready for a solid dupe?

A white brick wall with a large canvas hanging on it, painted half in Dry Sage and half in Sherwin Williams Green Sprout.

You can see the subtle difference, but it’s hard to put your finger on it!

Green Sprout is a hair darker, a smidge cooler, and a whiff less gray than Dry Sage.

Valspar (Lowe’s) Equivalent to Dry Sage

From Valspar the closest match for Dry Sage is the shade Dusty Olive.

Valspar Dusty Olive (6005-4A)

Dry Sage on half of a wall and Valspar dupe Dusty Olive on the other half.

You can see that Dusty Olive does indeed look slightly more olive than Dry Sage. The main difference here, is actually that Dusty Olive is more saturated (less gray) than Dry Sage.

Dry Sage Behr Equivalent (Home Depot)

From Behr, the best match for Dry Sage, is their color Sage Wisdom.

Behr Sage Wisdom (MQ6-27)

Sage Wisdom is a little bit cooler and lighter than Dry Sage. It’s not quite as close of a match as I would have liked, but all of the other Behr options were reading a little too “acid.”

Behr alternative to Dry Sage - Sage Wisdom - on half of a wall and Benjamin Moore Dry Sage on the other half behind a gray leather sofa.

*Important!* Don’t confuse Behr Sage Wisdom with Benjamin Moore’s Sage Wisdom. I actually wrote a post about that color without realizing Behr had a color of the same name.