Dulux Egyptian Cotton is the Perfect Linen Color for Your Whole Home (See the Sherwin Williams Version!)

It’s not very often that an international Dulux paint color gains popularity in North America, but Dulux Egyptian Cotton is just that good!

Today we will talk about Egyptian Cotton’s undertones, see it in real life, and get you some alternatives from familiar brands like Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore.

What Color is Dulux Egyptian Cotton?

I would describe Egyptian Cotton is a neutral linen color that can lean a little gray. You could also call it a lighter mid-toned greige.

Egyptian Cotton LRV

What’s an LRV anyway?

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.

Dulux doesn’t share their LRVs with us, but comparing it to other popular colors we can guess that the LRV is 65.

At 65, Egyptian Cotton is darker than off-white, but it is still on the lighter end of neutral whole-home wall colors.

What Are the Undertones of Dulux Egyptian Cotton?

I find that Egyptian Cotton most often looks like a linen color. That can range from a warmer true linen, to a more muted gray linen, but typically some variety of linen.

When it does have less expected undertones, they are usually silver. At it’s most gray, Egyptian Cotton can have a hint of subtle blue or purple undertones.

On occasion, Egyptian Cotton can have a hint of a green undertone. This isn’t super common, but is most likely to happen when used with more pink leaning beige or white colors. (For example, don’t use Egyptian Cotton with Sherwin Williams Snowbound, unless you like a green undertone.)

Theoretically, Egyptian Cotton could also have pink undertones, because that is quite common with twin color Sherwin Williams Taupe of the Morning (more on that in just a moment) but I haven’t personally seen it.

As far as greige colors go, Egyptian Cotton is pretty predictable. (At least in my opinion.)

Egyptian Cotton in a Color Strip

I had a really hard time finding lighter and darker Dulux options that seemed related to Egyptian Cotton, but I was able to find a few:

Dulux White Chiffon is a white paint color right on the line of white and off-white. It is incredibly similar to Sherwin Williams Alabaster.

Ancient Artefact and Roasted Coffee are pretty good darker versions of Egyptian Cotton, but with pretty big jumps in between.

You could slot Egyptian Cotton pretty nicely into the Accessible Beige color strip, if you were looking for more options and don’t need to stick with Dulux, although the colors are a hair more beige-forward.

Dulux Egyptian Cotton in a Color Palette

Of course a light greige can be paired with a LOT of other colors, but here are a few coordinating color options that I like with Egyptian Cotton.

Coordinating White Paint Color for Egyptian Cotton

Sherwin Williams Greek Villa is a creamy white paint color with a beige undertone, and it looks great with Egyptian Cotton!

Try Egyptian Cotton with Benjamin Moore Misted Green

Misted Green is a soft sage from Benjamin Moore that works great with most colors, including Egyptian Cotton!

You can see a little bit of Misted Green in my post: The 22 Best Sage Green Paint Colors That Nobody is Talking About

Neutral Paint Color to Use with Egyptian Cotton

For a darker neutral paint color to use with Egyptian Cotton, you might like Sherwin Williams Shiitake:

Shiitake is similar to a darker version of Egyptian Cotton and it has a similar range of undertones, but it is a little warmer.

Complementary Color for Egyptian Cotton

Because most beige colors are in the orange color family, blue is the complementary color.

I find that Egyptian Cotton looks better with a indigo leaning blue rather than a green one, so for this reason I chose Sherwin Williams Granite Peak.

This not-quite-navy is still a little bit gray, and it looks beautiful with Egyptian Cotton! You might also like Sherwin Williams Cyberspace.

Just in case you wanted to stick with Dulux, here is a similar palette using all Dulux colors:

Dulux Egyptian Cotton for Your Home’s Interior

Let’s start with a standard look for Egyptian Cotton, which is neither too beige nor too gray, and it doesn’t have any strong undertones:

Thankfully Sofie and Josh (@sjhomeatnumber4) allowed me to share their photos, because they have the most perfect Egyptian Cotton space that we could ask for!

Here is a look at Egyptian Cotton where it looks the most gray:

For Egyptian Cotton on cabinets, we can get an idea from their living room built ins:

Here is one more look:

If that’s not quite enough for your imagination, here is the Sherwin Williams dupe Taupe of the Morning on kitchen cabinets, where it looks very much like Egyptian Cotton:

More on how these two colors compare in just a minute!

Egyptian Cotton on an Exterior

When it comes to Egyptian Cotton on an exterior, we will again have to use our imaginations a little bit! Here is Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter where it looks quite similar to how Egyptian Cotton will look outside:

You should picture something just a hair lighter than this, because Revere Pewter is darker and a touch cooler than Egyptian Cotton, however in the photo I think the tone is pretty good.

Here is one more from the same house:

Dulux Egyptian Cotton vs Farrow & Ball Skimming Stone

Egyptian Cotton is often being compared to the very similar Farrow & Ball color Skimming Stone:

Skimming Stone is very close to a slightly lighter version of Egyptian Cotton, but it is also a hair cooler. This makes Skimming Stone a tiny bit more likely to have a green undertone, and it may look gray a little more often.

These two would be very hard to tell apart if they are not side by side.

Dupes for Dulux Egyptian Cotton from Other Brands

Speaking of similar colors, here are some great options to get the Egyptian Cotton look from other paint manufacturers!

Egyptian Cotton in Sherwin Williams

Let’s start with the best all around dupe for Egyptian Cotton, and the one that we talked about a little bit already: Sherwin Williams Taupe of the Morning!

Taupe of the Morning is a very good dupe for Egyptian Cotton, and it runs mostly the same range of undertones.

Taupe of the Morning is more likely to look pink/violet, where Egyptian Cotton does not. It also very rarely looks all the way gray, but Egyptian Cotton does occasionally.

Benjamin Moore Version of Egyptian Cotton

The best dupe for Egyptian Cotton from Benjamin Moore, is the shade Cedar Key:

Cedar Key is a hair darker and warmer than Egyptian Cotton, but overall these colors are very very similar.

I do find that Cedar Key is just a touch more likely to have a classic taupey violet/pink undertone, and I haven’t seen that from Egyptian Cotton. (Although in theory it is possible.)

Egyptian Cotton Equivalent in Valspar (Lowe’s)

The closest dupe for Egyptian Cotton from Valspar is their shade Warm Putty.

Warm Putty is virtually the same color as Egyptian Cotton, but a little more saturated (less gray).

Best Behr Color Match for Egyptian Cotton (Home Depot)

The best Behr dupe for Egyptian Cotton is the color Sandstone Cove:

Sandstone Cove is a little lighter and more saturated than Egyptian Cotton. It is a bit further to the beige side of greige than Egyptian Cotton is.

Here is another look at each of these dupes: