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Sherwin Williams Shiitake is the Smooth Beige Wall Color You’ve Been Dreaming of (Plus Dupes!)

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake is a mushroom beige paint color that you can use anywhere or everywhere! This is one of my new favorite neutrals, and I can’t wait to show you why!

    Swatch of Sherwin Williams Shiitake over a background of many mushrooms

    Let’s take a look at Shiitake in a color palette, wander through real homes, and get sneaky little color matches from other brands!

    This post may contain affiliate links. Should you choose to make a purchase through one of my links, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. I only recommend products that I use.

    What Color is Sherwin Williams Shiitake (SW 9173)

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake is a warm mushroom color with very subtle taupe or gray undertones. It’s like a beige with a hint of gray, rather than a true half-and-half greige.

    Swatch of Sherwin Williams Shiitake beside a box of mushrooms.

    LRV and RBG of Sherwin Williams Shiitake

    The LRV of Shiitake is 51.

    What does that tell us?

    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.

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake marked at 51 on an LRV chart from 100 (pure white) to 0 (true black) over a background of a wood countertop with a shiitake mushroom on it.

    At 51, Shiitake reflects just a hair more light than it absorbs. The LRV range that you will find most whole-home paint colors is about 45 to 65, so Shiitake is right in there.

    Sherwin Williams provides the RGB of Shiitake as: Red 200, Green 188, and Blue 171.

    The hex code for SW Shiitake is #C8BCAB.

    Graphic reads "Nail down your neutral color scheme in 60 minutes or less" with an image of the foolproof neutrals ebook. Button below reads "Show me how!"

    What Are the Undertones of Shiitake

    Shiitake can have undertones ranging from warm peach to cooler taupe. Here is a great example of both extremes:

    Shiitake on a kitchen island with both a warm peach undertone on the left side and cool taupe undertone on the right side.
    Photos by: @btbuilderstx

    I think it most often looks somewhere in the middle, like a warm beige with very quiet taupe undertones. That being said, most of the photos that I have for you tend to be on the warmer side.

    Is Shiitake Warm or Cool

    Shiitake is a warm beige paint color. Even when it looks more gray, it does not ever look like a cool paint color.

    The Shiitake Color Strip from Sherwin Williams

    Sherwin Williams was not kind enough to give us a traditional light to dark color strip for Shiitake. Instead they grouped it with similar beige and greige paint colors.

    Here is that collection:

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake color strip features Sherwin Williams colors Shiitake, loggia, Stone Lion, Taupe Tone, Sanderling, Tavern Taupe, and Foothills over a background of dried Shiitake mushrooms

    The colors on this strip are:

    • Shiitake (SW 9173)
    • Loggia (SW 7506)
    • Stone Lion (SW 7507)
    • Taupe Tone (SW 7633)
    • Sanderling (SW 7513)
    • Tavern Taupe (SW 7508)
    • Foothills (SW 7514)

    I did the grunt work to try and place Shiitake on a traditional color strip as best as I could. This is what I came up with:

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake color strip from light to dark features White Flour, Aesthetic White, Taupe of the Morning, Shiitake, Stone Lion, Tavern Taupe, and Foothills over a background of a little wood box of mushrooms.

    Lighter Version of Shiitake

    For Shiitake on a lighter scale, you might like the color Taupe of the Morning.

    Darker Version of Shiitake

    Skipping over Loggia on the SW color strip, I do think that Stone Lion is a pretty good darker version of Shiitake. The tone is pretty similar.

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake in a Color Palette

    Here is a neutral and natural color palette featuring SW Shiitake:

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake color palette features Shiitake, Succulent, Aesthetic White, Urban Jungle, and Urbane Bronze, all on paint lids over a white wood background with a row of mushrooms down the right hand side of the frame.

    Coordinating Colors for Shiitake

    Sherwin Williams themselves recommend Urban Jungle and Aesthetic White as coordinating colors with Shiitake. I swapped their recommended chocolate brown for the oh-so versatile Urbane Bronze, and added a beautiful green for color.

    Sherwin Williams Aesthetic White

    Aesthetic White is an off-white with equal parts cream and gray. It does have quite a warm undertone which balances Shiitake nicely.

    Paint dot of Sherwin WIlliams Shiitake beside the same of Sherwin Williams Aesthetic White

    Sherwin Williams Urban Jungle

    Urban Jungle is a darker and more serious beige than Shiitake. It works well in partnership in a natural and monochromatic color scheme.

    Paint dot of Sherwin WIlliams Shiitake beside the same of Sherwin Williams Urban Jungle

    Sherwin Williams Succulent

    I just love the gray green of Succulent, and a mushroom like Shiitake would be perfect neutral sprinkle on top!

    Paint dot of Sherwin WIlliams Shiitake beside the same of Sherwin Williams Succulent

    Check out Succulent here: Don’t Use Sherwin Williams Succulent (Unless You Want Everyone to Copy You!)

    Sherwin Williams Urbane Bronze

    Urbane Bronze is neutral bronzey gray-brown. This color would be perfect on trim, shutters, or accents, with Shiitake as the main course.

    Paint dot of Sherwin WIlliams Shiitake beside the same of Sherwin Williams Urbane Bronze

    See more Urbane Bronze here: Urbane Bronze Review and Dupes (It Goes With Literally Everything!)

    Complementary Color for Sherwin Williams Shiitake

    The “official” complementary color for Shiitake (aka the shade directly across the color wheel) is a medium powder blue. Sherwin Williams Windy Blue is a very close match. For a darker alternative, try out Sherwin Williams Naval.

    Paint dot of Sherwin Williams Shiitake with paint dots of complementary colors windy blue and Naval

    What Trim Colors Go With Sherwin Williams Shiitake?

    Here is an example of how Shiitake will look with a few of Sherwin Williams most popular white paint colors for trim:

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake background with trim colors Snowbound, Greek Villa, Alabaster, and Pure White

    White Paint that Goes with Shiitake

    Choosing a coordinating trim color for Shiitake depends very much on your goal. If you want Shiitake to look more neutral and gray, use a warm white like Sherwin Williams Greek Villa or Alabaster for your trim, to cancel out some of the warm undertone in Shiitake.

    To emphasize the warm tones in Shiitake, try a slightly more neutral white like Sherwin Williams Snowbound or Pure White. (Both are still not cool or stark.)

    Don’t Forget Your Supplies!

    This little brush might look funny, but it’s my absolute ride or die!

    Rollers like these hold the most paint and make the job faster. Get a metal roller cage for easy on and off.

    DryDex is the fastest (and funnest!) way to make chips and dents disappear. (Make sure you get a small spackling tool that actually fits in the container, and a sanding sponge.)

    This tool will save your back and limit time on a ladder.

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake for Your Home’s Interior

    Let’s take a look at Shiitake in real life homes!

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake on Kitchen Cabinets

    For all neutral beige and gray paint colors, most people want to know how they will look on cabinets. Let’s take a peek at Shiitake:

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake on an island in a kitchen with Shiitake walls and off white perimeter cabinets
    Photo Credit: @capstone_built

    The color on both the walls and island in this kitchen by Capstone Design & Build (@capstone_built) is Sherwin Williams Shiitake.

    You can see that it definitely looks its warmest and most beige in these photos:

    Wider shot of Sherwin Williams Shiitake on an island in a kitchen with Shiitake walls and off white perimeter cabinets
    Photo Credit: @capstone_built

    They didn’t get back to me about the off-white on the rest of the cabinets in time, but it looks like either SW Aesthetic White or Sherwin Williams Shoji White to me:

    Side view of a kitchen with Sherwin Williams Shiitake walls and off-white perimeter cabinets
    Photo Credit: @capstone_built

    Here is the much cooler photo that we peeped earlier:

    Creamy off white perimeter cabinets behind a sherwin Williams Shiitake island
    Photo Credit: @capstone_built

    Everything looks much more taupe there!

    Next I have just one photo from a kitchen by BT Builders (@btbuilderstx):

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake on upper cabinets on either side of a SW Cast Iron hood vent behind an island also in cast iron.
    Photo Credit: @btbuilderstx

    Shiitake was used on the wall cabinets (both upper and lower) and SW Cast Iron on the island and range hood.

    Speaking of islands, Mara (@homeonportsmouth) used Shiitake on her kitchen island, while leaving the rest of the cabinets white:

    Sherwin williams Shiitake on an island and pantry door in a cozy kitchen
    Photo Credit: @homeonportsmouth

    She also painted the pantry door to match!

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake in the Living Room 

    The team at Capstone actually used Shiitake for all of the walls in this home, including the open plan kitchen/living room/dining room:

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake on living room and dining room walls in an open plan home with neutral wood floors
    Photo Credit: @capstone_built

    Here we see it at the entrance:

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake on the walls in a foyer with a funky pendant light and a black interior door
    Photo Credit: @capstone_built

    Not really sure how to classify this next photo, so here is Shiitake on the walls of what @1907homerenovation calls a “mud room” :

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake on walls in a mudroom with large windows, white trim, and wood floors.
    Photo Credit: @1907homerenovation

    I’m a bit more familiar with the concept of a mudroom when it is windowless and connected to a garage, so it feels a bit…wrong to shame this room in that way.

    Not so much Shiitake in a living room as it is “living room adjacent,” here is Shiitake on more doors at Mara’s place:

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake on double doors in a hallway with Benjamin Moore Classic Gray walls and white trim
    Photo credit: @homeonportsmouth

    She loved this concept so much that she carried it throughout her home, and rightly so! :

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake on interior doors in an upstairs landing with Benjamin Moore classic gray walls and white trim
    Photo Credit: @homeonportsmouth

    The rest of her walls are Benjamin Moore Classic Gray. (Which you can see looks classic, but it not especially gray.)

    Hallway painted in Benjamin Moore Classic Gray with white trim and Sherwin Williams Shiitake on a door.
    Photo Credit: @homeonportsmouth

    Love a contrasting door? Check out this post:

    Graphic reads Spicy Black Interior Doors over a white kitchen with black pantry door

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake in a Laundry Room

    Back to the Capstone build, we see Shiitake in this luxurious laundry room:

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake on laundry room walls with dark walnut cabinets
    Photo Credit: @capstone_built

    They went with darker cabinets in here rather than the off-white of the kitchen.

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake in a Dining Room

    Besides the open plan kitchen/diner from Capstone, I wasn’t able to find Shiitake on dining room walls, but here we see it on another door:

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake on a French door with Alabaster walls and white trim
    Photo Credit: @thisoldbrickhouse

    Jenna and Grant from @thisoldbrickhouse, chose Shiitake to accent their Alabaster walls.

    The trim white is straight from the can of Sherwin Williams trim paint.

    Shiitake door in a creamy Alabaster dining room with standard white trim
    Photo credit: @thisoldbrickhouse

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake in the Bathroom

    Back to the Capstone build once more, we have the luxury of seeing Shiitake used in three different bathrooms!

    Here is bathroom #1:

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake on the walls in a bathroom with a round backlit mirror hanging above an oak vanity.
    Photo Credit: @capstone_built

    Then we level up into bathroom #2:

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake on the walls in a bathroom with a long hexagon mirror hanging above an oak vanity with two pendant lights hanging from the ceiling.
    Photo Credit: @capstone_built

    And finally the stateliness of bathroom #3:

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake on the walls in a bathroom with a tall rectangle mirror hanging above an oak vanity with two sconce lights on either side of the mirror.
    Photo Credit: @capstone_built

    The closet in the main bedroom also sports Shiitake, just like the rest of the house:

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake on walk in pantry walls
    Photo Credit: @capstone_built

    BT Builders also used Shiitake in a bathroom, but this time on the vanity:

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake on a bathroom vanity.
    Photo Credit: @btbuilderstx

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake on an Exterior

    This first photo is cheating a bit, because it’s a Shiitake color match, but it still gives you a great idea of how the color will look outside.

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake colored vinyl siding on the exterior of a home with a white back door and plants around a wood step.
    Photo credit: @homeonportsmouth

    This is back at Mara’s place, where she used Shiitake outside as well as in.

    She also opted to use Shiitake for the trim around the front door on her beautiful brick home:

    Brick home with black color matched door and Sherwin Williams Shiitake trim and archway around it.
    Photo Credit: @homeonportsmouth

    The black was color matched to the garage door, but it looks somewhere between SW Iron Ore and a true black.

    The shutters are a dark brown. You could get the same look with SW Foothills (from the Shiitake color strip) or the slightly darker Urbane Bronze.

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake on trim around a black front door on a two storey brick house
    Photo Credit: @homeonportsmouth

    Shiitake Compared to Other Beige and Greige Paint Colors

    So you want to use Shiitake? JK, you’re probably still undecided. Here is how this one stacks up against some other popular colors.

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake vs Accessible Beige

    Accessible Beige is a little bit cooler, lighter, and more gray than Shiitake.

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake on half of a wall with Accessible Beige on the other half behind a bed with lots of white overstuffed bedding.

    The LRV of Accessible Beige is 58.

    You can read the full review of this color here: The Ultimate Sherwin Williams Accessible Beige Review (Plus Dupes!)

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake vs Agreeable Gray

    Like Accessible Beige, Agreeable Gray is also cooler, lighter, and more gray than Shiitake, but you can see that it is significantly more gray:

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake on half of a wall with Agreeable Gray on the other half behind some natural wood furniture.

    The LRV of Agreeable Gray is 60.

    See more on the Accessible vs Agreeable conversation here: Accessible Beige vs Agreeable Gray (How to Choose!)

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake vs Balanced Beige

    Balanced Beige is a little bit warmer, darker, and less gray than Shiitake.

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake on half of a wall behind a plant shelf, with Balanced Beige on the other half.

    The LRV of Balanced Beige is 46.

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake vs Loggia

    Loggia is on the same color strip as Shiitake but it is just barely darker, with an LRV of 48.

    Loggia is also a hair less gray than Shiitake, but the slightly darker tone is the main difference.

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake on one half of a wall with Loggia on the other half behind a low coffee table and a blue chair.

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake vs Sandbar

    Sandbar is a hair lighter, a smidge less gray, and a dash cooler than Shiitake. The differences are all very small, but the result is visible (although subtle).

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake on half of a wall with Sherwin Williams Sandbar on the other half with a light blue sofa in front.

    The LRV of Sandbar is 53.

    Here is a visual on all of these beiges and greiges.

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake swatched beside similar Sherwin Williams colors Accessible Beige, Agreeable Gray, Balanced Beige, Loggia, Sandbar, and Jogging Path.

    You might also want to consider Sherwin Williams Jogging Path if you are on the hunt for the perfect greige.

    Dupes for Sherwin Williams Shiitake

    Want to get the Shiitake look from another brand?

    Here are all of the best dupes from Benjamin Moore, Valspar, and Behr:

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake paint dot, with paint dots of dupes Ashen Tan, Soft Pelican, and Creamy Mushroom over a background of mushrooms in a wood dish.

    Benjamin Moore Shiitake Equivalent

    From Benjamin Moore, the closest color match to Shiitake is the shade Ashen Tan. (Actually the shade of many names.)

    Benjamin Moore Ashen Tan (996) aka Dufferin Terrace (CC-456) aka Annapolis Gray (HC-176)

    Benjamin Moore loves a rebrand, so this color has actually gone by a few different names, but Ashen Tan is the most well known.

    Ashen Tan is in the exact same spot on the color wheel as Shiitake, but it is a tiny bit more gray.

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake with Benjamin Moore dupes Ashen Tan on the other half behind a black and copper light fixture.

    Valspar (Lowe’s) Equivalent to Shiitake

    From Valspar, the best color match for Shiitake is the shade Soft Pelican.

    Valspar Soft Pelican (8005-5B)

    Soft Pelican is just a hair cooler and a little bit lighter than Shiitake:

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake on one half of a wall with Valspar dupe Soft Pelican on the other half, behind a turquoise sideboard

    This color was also my closest Valspar dupe for Accessible Beige, so you should definitely take a second look at this one if you like both Shiitake and Accessible. This one is like the best of both!

    Shiitake Behr Equivalent (Home Depot)

    From Behr, the closest match to Shiitake is the shade Creamy Mushroom.

    Behr Creamy Mushroom (PPU5-13)

    Creamy Mushroom is actually a popular Behr color all on its own, but it happens to be nearly identical to Shiitake:

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake on one half of a wall with Behr dupe Creamy Mushroom on the other half behind a gray bed and wood panelling.

    Creamy Mushroom is a hair warmer than Shiitake, which makes it slightly more likely to have that taupey undertone. It is also a whiff lighter.

    Here are all the dupes compared over Shiitake:

    Sherwin Williams Shiitake background with swatches of dupes Ashen Tan, Soft Pelican, and Creamy Mushroom over a background of a sketch of mushrooms.

    Shiitake Pros & Cons

    Here are a few pros and cons to Shiitake to wrap things up:

    Pros

    • Goes with almost any other paint color (including trim whites)
    • A perfect creamy “natural” color (it’s like a woven basket – goes with everything!)
    • A really soft and warm base color

    Cons

    • A wider range in its appearance than other greiges. It can look very warm beige or almost taupe.
    • Slightly darker than other whole home neutrals

    Not the one? Say no more!

    Accessible beige on hallway walls looking into a bathroom with a paint dot of the color over top of the photo
    Dove Wing dollop in front of a background of feathers
    Swatch of Sherwin Williams Jogging Path over a background of Jogging Path on kitchen cabinets