Sherwin Williams Oyster Bay {Review}

Add a subtle coastal feel to your home with Sherwin Williams Oyster Bay. This mild gray green color gives the home a spa-like feel yet remains extremely versatile thanks to the gray and sophisticated blue undertones.

In my recent dining room makeover, I really stepped out of my comfort zone. I went with a totally different style than my last home, opting to create a traditional feel centered around my grandmother’s dining room set.

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The room was going to be a showstopper, which meant I had to choose the perfect colors to honor this family gift. Originally, I had the walls painted as Kendall Charcoal, but once I redecorated the room, everything changed.

The painted walls became wallpaper while the board and batten on the bottom third of the wall and the crown molding donned Sherwin Williams Oyster Bay. Going for a blue and green color scheme, I wanted something that would contrast against the off-white wallpaper background and the red furniture.

And I’m just delighted with how it turned out!

Undertones of Sherwin Williams Oyster Bay

Oyster Bay paint is a light-medium green color on the surface, but there’s a lot more going on that comes out depending on what you pair with it. In reality, it’s considered a medium tone, but I wouldn’t call it dark in the slightest.

The gray undertones in the paint help to dim down the intensity of the green. This makes it a very soothing color that people use to help replicate the serenity you might find at a spa.

Besides the green and the gray, there are also faint blue undertones that you can bring out of the paint by pairing them with more blue and cool tones.

As you can tell, there’s a lot going on under the surface of SW Oyster Bay. This is what makes it such a versatile and nuanced color!

Is Sherwin Williams Oyster Bay warm or cool?

Due to the green, gray, and blue undertones at play, Oyster Bay by Sherwin Williams is a cool color. Cool colors help to make rooms feel calm and airy.

However, the green gives the paint a very earthy feel. Because of this, you can still pair it with naturally warm colors like tan or beige. This secretly makes it a neutral color!

I love relying on natural shades because coinciding with nature never goes out of style.

Light reflectance value of Oyster Bay

Sherwin Williams Oyster Bay has a light reflectance value (LRV) of 44. But what does that mean, and why should we care? LRV is one of the main things to consider before buying paint for your home. On a scale of 1 to 100, 1 represents the darkest, while 100 represents the lightest.

At 44, SW Oyster Bay is going to absorb more light than it will reflect light. At first glance, it doesn’t appear like a dark color in the slightest, but this is why we can use LRV to help us determine when to use it.

Since Oyster Bay by Sherwin Williams is a medium tone, you’re less likely to use it as a main wall color unless paired with lots of white. More often, people use it in the home as an accent, for cabinets, and repainted furniture.

Oyster Bay paint belongs to the same family as the wildly popular SW Sea Salt. While the two are often compared, Sea Salt has an LRV of 63, making it a lighter, more popular choice when painting entire rooms.

What colors go with Oyster Bay?

While it’s similar to SW Sea Salt, you can still pair Oyster Bay with Sea Salt since it has a little more color and depth. It works as a minor accent but still provides that minimal, monochrome look if that’s what you’re after.

Personally, I’m excited to have Oyster Bay on the walls in my dining room next to my kitchen painted in SW Comfort Gray. Similar but slightly different, they flow into each other while still being their own distinct rooms.

Thanks to its versatility, you can pair it with blues, greens, and greige colors like the ever-popular Accessible Beige or Edgecomb Gray.

While it’s not a bold color by any means, it’s still going to add some green color to your room. Because of the cool undertones, you want to pair it with a warm white for things like trim, ceilings, doors, etc. This will give it a cleaner look.

Sherwin Williams Oyster Bay in the home

Enough talk about the technical aspects of Oyster Bay by Sherwin Williams, let’s see it in some homes! Sometimes, you just need to see how others used and styled it to truly picture it in your own home.

Dining room

Of course, I must show off some more of my dining room! I’ll be honest and say I wasn’t totally sure about using SW Oyster Bay in my dining room at first, but the result turned out beautifully. It looks amazing alongside the wallpaper, offering a pop of color but still letting the wallpaper shine the most.

While green is the opposite of red on the color wheel, I was surprised how much the paint reduced the red in the furniture. Sometimes, these things are just something you can’t imagine until the walls have been painted.

Bathroom

Remember how I mentioned how calm and cozy this color could be? This makes it a great paint color for spaces like powder rooms and main bathrooms. You’ll just want to light some candles and soak in the tub when you see it!

However, you do have to be mindful when using Sherwin Williams Oyster Bay in small and congested rooms. Due to its low LRV, it either needs lots of natural light or to be paired with bright white trim or off whites to keep it nice and bright.

Bedroom

The calm and relaxing nature also makes Oyster Bay paint a great choice for a bedroom. I’m an advocate for mild and soothing colors in the bedroom to help you unwind at the end of a long day.

Your bedroom should always reflect your personality as it’s a room just for your enjoyment. The versatility of the paint color allows you to pair it with many styles and personal items like your curtains, bedspread, blankets, etc.

Cabinets

Sherwin Williams Oyster Bay is at its best when it’s in a large room. It doesn’t fight to be the center of attention, and you can include more bold accents alongside it. You can incorporate other large elements and colors into the room.

As a cabinet paint, you can add some color while letting things like floors, walls, and tile do their own thing. It looks amazing combined with other natural textures like wood butcher block or gold hardware.

Exterior Doors

I could easily see this being an amazing color in an entranceway that receives loads of light. Colorful front doors are a great way to not only make your home stand out but also add a little cheer when welcoming others to your home.

Thanks to its sneaky neutral tendencies, it could mix well with what’s on the inside of the door as well as what’s on the outside.

Interior Doors

Or, add a pop of color throughout your home, like this beautiful painted door option.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, there are plenty of possibilities when it comes to incorporating Sherwin Williams Oyster Bay into the home. I’m so glad I used it in my dining room, and I know it could work in your home too!

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