Benjamin Moore Gray Cashmere
Gray Cashmere is simply beautiful–it’s light, airy, a beautiful combination of gray, green and blue, and just an all around pretty color to work with.
Don’t let the name fool you though, Gray Cashmere is sometimes anything BUT gray. Considering this color for your next project? Find out if it’s right for you with my expert review.
What are the undertones in Benjamin Moore Gray Cashmere?
By itself, Gray Cashmere looks like just any normal light gray color, but compare it with other colors, and you’ll quickly see that it has very notable undertones of both blue and green.
No gray paint color is free of undertones–you’ll find blue, green, purple and sometimes a combo of these. And while there are certainly a fair share of blue grays and blue green grays, Gray Cashmere might be the most blue green gray I’ve come across.
Identifying undertones in a paint color is important, as you must make sure they correspond with your surroundings, and we’ll go over what this means in depth below.
Gray Cashmere most closely resembles Wickham Gray (another gray with blue/green undertones) but when compared side by side, you can see that Gray Cashmere has definitely more blue and green. This cheery hue also reminds me of Sherwin Williams Sea Salt with the blue green saturation, too.
Is Gray Cashmere warm or cool?
Those cooler undertones make Gray Cashmere a cool paint color.
Tips for using Gray Cashmere in your space
Gray Cashmere is tricky, thanks to its strong undertones. Make sure to follow these three tips.
Take note of the undertones in your home
Here’s the deal–Gray Cashmere’s undertones are pretty loud. And although I always recommend making sure the undertones in the paint color you’re picking match your fixed elements, I’m really, really recommending you pay attention to your undertones first before you commit to Gray Cashmere.
Gray Cashmere is exactly the type of gray paint color that people will email me about and say something like “The paint color turned blue or the paint color turned green and looks awful with my furniture.”
Go around your home. What undertones do you see in your furniture? What about your rug, your floors, carpet or in the kitchen? Anything that can’t be replaced is a fixed element and needs to be considered up against Gray Cashmere.
If you wanted more of a putty type of grey, Gray Cashmere is not your color. You need to look to grays with green undertones only, not grays with blue/green undertones.
Grays with blue/green look good when paired with cooler blue or green tones. So, for example, If your couch is brown, this gray isn’t going to be my top choice for you. If your countertops are more of a beige undertone, I’m also not going to select this color for you.
Let’s unpack this quick little mood board I threw together for Gray Cashmere, just so you can get a visual feel for what I’ve just explained above:
I always like to start with a rug when deciding on a room design. Now, typically I design the room and then pick the paint color. But in this case, since we’re reviewing this particular gray, we’ll pretend the room is already painted.
I chose this rug because of the blue/green undertones as my starting point. I’ve paired it with a fairly sold couch that’s a mix of blue/green and accentuated with pillows in that same color family.
I also paired it with a coffee table that has a marble top (marble has blue undertones and must be paired with paint in the blue or blue/green family) and a black base.
Black typically works with everything, but sometimes (just like black paint colors) black furniture has undertones! I love accentuating with black when I’m working with blue.
I’ve chose Chantilly Lace as my trim color (more on that decision below) and Aegean Teal as an accent color, as it is a blue/green hue and works beautifully with Gray Cashmere.
Bottom line: Grays with blue/green undertones are simply divine, if you have the furnishings/fixed elements to complement them. Otherwise, they end up looking super cold and out of place.
Observe your light
Colors that have two undertones will show one over the other depending on your lighting situation. Knowing this, you must test out your paint color and observe how it looks throughout the day.
Test it out
Don’t miss this step! Paint a sample on a white poster board leaving a white border or get those peel and stick samples and place them in front of a poster board like the photo below. This is how you should test a wall color.
If you want to see how your fabrics correspond to your paint color, take the sample over to them and compare.
Which trim color should I pair with Gray Cashmere?
Gray Cashmere is a bit finicky when it comes to trim. I’ve tested it with soft whites (or I call them off-whites) and with true whites that are free of undertones, and the verdict is in: True white pairs best with Gray Cashmere.
I love the combination of Chantilly Lace and Gray Cashmere. Chantilly Lace doesn’t have the blue undertones like ultra bright whites, and lacks the yellow undertones found in soft whites. It’s a white free of undertones and it absolutely makes Gray Cashmere shine (like it should!) Chantilly Lace is used in the mood board above.
If you simply want a softer white, go with White Dove. It’s creamy, but has less yellow than a lot of off whites and has a slight gray tinge. White Dove would be my choice for pairing Gray Cashmere with a soft white.
Gray Cashmere vs. Sea Salt
Gray Cashmere and Sea Salt are very similar, but whereas Gray Cashmere is a gray with a green blue undertone, Sea Salt has no gray, it’s just a blue/green paint color.
Gray Cashmere vs. Wickham Gray
If you love the idea of a soft gray with blue/green undertones but think Gray Cashmere is just a bit too much, you’ll love Wickham Gray. Wickham Gray has those beautiful emerald undertones but it’s more reserved.
Like a cooler gray but don’t want the green in it? Here is a master list of the best gray paint colors for every decor situation.
