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!

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

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.

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.

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:

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:

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:

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:

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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:

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:

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:

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:

Here is the much cooler photo that we peeped earlier:

Everything looks much more taupe there!
Next I have just one photo from a kitchen by BT Builders (@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:

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:

Here we see it at the entrance:

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

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:

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

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

Love a contrasting door? Check out this post:
Sherwin Williams Shiitake in a Laundry Room
Back to the Capstone build, we see Shiitake in this luxurious laundry room:

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:

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.

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:

Then we level up into bathroom #2:

And finally the stateliness of bathroom #3:

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

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

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.

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:

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.

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.

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:

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.

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 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).

The LRV of Sandbar is 53.
Here is a visual on all of these beiges and greiges.

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:

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.

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:

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:

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:

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!