Our Review of Oyster Bay by Sherwin Williams

By:

If you’ve been hunting for a neutral paint color to use on your exterior but aren’t quite satisfied with grays and beiges, Oyster Bay by Sherwin Williams might be the solution you need. It’s a neutral, grayish-green color that has blue undertones to boot. This serene shade is as versatile as it is beautiful. Read on to learn more about its technical specs, ideal color pairings, and more.

Searching for the right paint color for your home’s exterior? Or maybe you’re wondering what your home would look like with the addition of a front porch or some hardscaping. We can help you visualize these updates and more. Learn all about our virtual exterior design services.  

grayish green house with white trim

Sherwin Williams’ Oyster Bay: The Specs

Oyster Bay by Sherwin Williams is a grayish-green paint color with a touch of blue and an LRV of 44. (Not sure what LRV means? We break down everything you need to know, including why it’s important to consider LRV when selecting a paint color for your home, here.) Overall, it’s a cool green shade — even the undertones are cool, reading as a strong slate blue.

If your home doesn’t get a lot of natural light, Oyster Bay might appear darker and lean in to its gray undertones. Contrastingly, if your exterior is in a sunnier environment, the gray-green hue will give off a warmer appearance.

grayish green house with stone and white trim

Recommended Applications for Oyster Bay

Oyster Bay’s unique tone translates across any style of home, from traditional to modern. We especially love Oyster Bay on coastal homes, where water brings out its blue undertones and any greenery in the surrounding landscaping complements its base green hue. Its subdued-yet-earthy hue meshes well with other textures and elements, like the stone used on the design above.

limewash brick house with grayish green shutters and wood accents

While we often use it as the main exterior paint color, usually on siding or stucco, Oyster Bay also works well on shutters and other accents. In everything from the wood accents to the cultured stone, open walkway, and landscaping, the design above embraces nature. To accentuate the limewashed brick and enhance this exterior’s earthy vibe, our designers used Oyster Bay for the shutters.

modern coastal home with greenish gray and cream siding

Oyster Bay Paint Color Pairings

This coastal home is architecturally interesting. Our designers used Oyster Bay to highlight its unique structure, adding it to the set-back portions of the home to accentuate its layers. We used Sherwin Williams’ Moderne White for the siding on the face of the home and added Oyster Bay to the shutters and screen to tie the design together.

modern house with black siding on lower level and gray-green siding on upper half

While the white trim on this modern home brings warmth to the exterior, the bottom level — which is rendered in Sherwin Williams’ Bohemian Black  — brings more contrast to the design. The juxtaposition of the dark and light tones creates visual interest and dimension. 

ranch home with grayish green stucco

Pros & Cons of Sherwin Williams’ Oyster Bay

PROS:

  • Its versatility works on any style of home
  • It has a muted, earthy tone that pairs nicely with natural elements
  • Because it is a neutral hue, it works with dark or light accent colors

CONS:

  • While it is considered a neutral, Oyster Bay does read as quite distinctly green, so if that’s not something you’re into, you may want to keep exploring our posts on exterior paint colors
  • It’s considered a ‘gray-green’ but its blue undertones are notable
  • Not necessarily a negative, however keep in mind that Oyster Bay can read warm or cool depending on the natural lighting
We always recommend sampling and testing paint colors before committing. Factors such as natural lighting, undertones, and your property’s fixed elements will have a significant impact on how a color will appear on your exterior. Our friends at Samplize offer extra-large 9 x 14.75 inch peel-and-stick paint samples of the colors we love for exteriors. Order your ‘Real Paint, No Mess’ samples from Samplize here.

Oyster Bay Alternatives

Oyster Bay is a beautiful gray-meets-green with a dash of blue. Because it has such strong undertones, though, it might not work for every home. Check out some alternatives to consider below.

grayish green house with black trim

Sherwin Williams’ Evergreen Fog

This gray-green paint color not only makes our list for the best Sherwin Williams paint colors for 2023, it was also named the color of the year for 2022 by Sherwin Williams. Like Oyster Bay, Evergreen Fog has slight blue undertones — but with an LRV of 30, it is more saturated. 

sage green cottage home

Sherwin Williams’ Dried Thyme

Dried Thyme by Sherwin Williams is one of our favorite green paint colors. If you want something deeper and greener than Oyster Bay, this shade should be on your radar.

gray house with wood garage doors

Benjamin Moore’s Fieldstone

If Oyster Bay isn’t quite gray enough for you, Benjamin Moore’s Fieldstone might do the trick. As one of our favorite Benjamin Moore paint colors for 2023, Fieldstone is a lovely neutral with green undertones. 

small house with grayish green stucco

The Bottom Line on Sherwin Williams’ Oyster Bay

If you’re looking for a nature-inspired neutral shade with dynamic undertones and solid versatility, Oyster Bay by Sherwin Williams might be the ideal color for you. Whether you use it as the main color of your exterior or as an accent shade, its serene, subdued hue is hard to beat.

Looking for the perfect paint color for your home? Instead of committing to a shade on a hunch, partner with us to visualize what paint colors will look like on your home before making costly decisions. We’ll help you pick the perfect shade and visualize any other updates you have in mind, from landscaping to accents. Get started on your exterior design project today.

Author

brick&batten Contributor

Mackenzie has been writing for brick&batten for three years, and most of her exterior design knowledge comes from renovating her own home. She purchased a log home that was stuck in the '90s and the previous owners were unable to keep up with exterior maintenance. From reimagining the landscaping and hardscaping to revamping the porch and logs, Mackenzie and her family approached the entire project DIY-style. In her free time, Mackenzie enjoys cooking and spending time with her family of six on their farm, which includes cows, chickens, rabbits, dogs, and cats. She has been writing for 12 years and has explored a variety of materials from food writing to lifestyle pieces and, of course, virtual exterior design.