Cypress Vine
N390-7 · #5E6552 · LRV 12 — cool green tone, dark — high drama, needs strong daylight or warm bulbs.
- 1Black Emerald1
- 2Essex Green6
- 3Cypress Vine12
- 4Sage Green22
- 5Evergreen Fog30
What Color Is Cypress Vine, Really?
Cypress Vine N390-7 is a deep, forest-weight green. Its hex value is #496441 and its LRV is 11, which puts it near the dark end of the scale. A color that reflects that little light will not brighten a room; it absorbs light and gives back depth instead. The hue sits at 106 degrees with about 21 percent saturation, so it is clearly green with a quiet olive lean, not a black that happens to have color in it.
People choose it when they want a room to feel enclosed and calm rather than open and airy. Dark greens read as natural and restful in a way dark blues and grays do not, and at this depth the color behaves almost like a neutral once your eye adjusts. On cabinets and doors it gives weight without the hardness of black.
The catch is light. At LRV 11 Cypress Vine needs either strong daylight or good lamps to stay green. In a dim north room, or in a hallway with one small fixture, it can flatten into something closer to very dark gray-green, and the olive character you sampled for disappears. Check it at night under your own bulbs before you commit a whole room.
Cypress Vine is built on a hue of 106 degrees, which sits just past yellow-green on the way to true green. Saturation is around 21 percent. That is enough color to read plainly as green rather than as a dark neutral, but not enough to look vivid or jewel-toned. What hides inside it is a soft olive cast, sitting on a base dark enough to look nearly black in shadow.
The olive shows most in direct daylight, where the yellow side of the hue comes forward and the color reads more like moss than deep forest. In dim corners the same wall flattens and looks grayer and colder.
Neighboring colors tip it too. Next to a warm cream it looks richer and more olive. Next to teal or a blue-green it suddenly reads yellow. Against oak or walnut it settles down and behaves like an earthy, natural dark. Sample it beside your flooring and your trim white at the same time, since the two pull it in opposite directions.
Best Rooms and Uses for Cypress Vine
Cypress Vine suits rooms you want to feel smaller and more enclosed. Dining rooms, studies, libraries, powder rooms, and bedrooms all take it well, because in those spaces low reflectance reads as intimacy rather than gloom. In a bright open-plan living room it can work as a single wall or on built-ins, where it grounds the space without swallowing it.
Cabinetry is one of its strongest uses. On lower kitchen cabinets or a kitchen island it gives depth under a lighter counter and lighter upper cabinets. On a bathroom vanity it does the same job in a smaller dose. It also works on interior doors and on library shelving.
Outdoors it holds up well as a front door, shutter, or trim color against a light body, and it sits naturally next to stone, brick, and planting. Behr paint is sold at The Home Depot, so exterior formulas are easy to get in the same color. What it will not do is brighten anything, so keep ceilings and trim in a separate lighter color unless you want a fully enveloped room.
How Lighting Changes Cypress Vine
An LRV of 11 means Cypress Vine returns very little light, so every room it goes into will look darker than the swatch suggests. In north-facing rooms the cool, flat daylight strips out the yellow side of the hue, and the color drifts toward a dense gray-green. That can be exactly the mood you want in a study or dining room, but it is not the mossy green you saw on the chip.
South and west light do the opposite. Strong warm sun lifts the 106 degree hue and the green becomes obvious and alive, especially on the wall facing the window. East rooms look greener in the morning and heavier by late afternoon.
Bulbs carry a lot of the load here. Warm 2700K lamps keep the color rich and slightly olive. Cooler 4000K bulbs push it gray and can make it feel cold. Because a color this dark shows every pool of light and every dim corner, plan lamp placement before you plan the paint.
Most complaints about Cypress Vine are a light mismatch. Upload a photo of your actual room and see it on your walls — then ask for the same wall in north light or evening lamps before you buy a single sample.
Need It From Another Brand?
Any paint counter can custom-tint Behr N390-7 directly. If you would rather stay in one brand's own deck, these are the closest stock matches, measured as ΔE2000. Under 2 is a difference you will not see on the wall.
| Brand | Closest color | ΔE | LRV | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sherwin-Williams | Pewter GreenSW 6208 · Sherwin-Williams | 4.8 | 12 | Color page → |
| Benjamin Moore | Jade Romanesque476 · Benjamin Moore | 2.0 | 12 | Color page → |
| PPG / Glidden | Winning TicketPPG1127-6 · PPG / Glidden | 2.2 | 13 | Color page → |
| Glidden | Winning TicketPPG1127-6 · Glidden | 2.0 | 13 | Color page → |
| Dutch Boy | Tuscan Olive324-7DB · Dutch Boy | 2.1 | 13 | Color page → |
| HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams | Woodland LichenHGSW 3282 · HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams | 4.8 | 12 | Color page → |
Similar Behr Colors
The nearest shades to Cypress Vine within Behr's own range, ranked by perceptual color distance — useful when you want the same look a touch lighter, darker, or warmer.
WCAG 2.1: AA is 4.5 : 1 for normal text, 3 : 1 for large text, AAA is 7 : 1.
Cypress Vine vs Similar Colors
Inside the Behr line, Amazon Foliage BXC-06 at LRV 11 and hex #4A6441 is close enough to Cypress Vine that most people would not separate them on a wall. Pasture Green BXC-60 at LRV 11 and Equestrian Green S410-7 at LRV 11 are both a touch cleaner and less olive. Groundcover 400F-7 at LRV 10 and Russian Olive N350-7 at LRV 10 go the other way, pushing further toward yellow-olive and reading slightly drabber.
Across brands, Sherwin-Williams Olivetone SW 9670 at LRV 11 has a deltaE of 1.74, and Glidden Mountain Forest PPG1130-7 at LRV 11 is 1.83. Both are visually identical in normal room light. Valspar Friendly Fairway P099 at LRV 10.2, deltaE 3.01, is very close but worth sampling first, since it reads a shade cleaner and greener.
Benjamin Moore Martha's Vineyard 630 at LRV 12, deltaE 4.82, is the real outlier. It is close but visibly different side by side, sitting grayer and slightly softer than Cypress Vine.
Colors That Go With Cypress Vine
Trim is the first decision. A clean white gives crisp separation and makes the green look deliberate, while a warm off-white softens the edge and keeps the room from feeling graphic. Either works; the difference is how much contrast you want against an LRV of 11.
Wood is the easiest partner. Oak, white oak, and walnut all flatter the olive lean, and unlacquered brass or aged bronze hardware sits better against it than bright chrome, which can look cold. Natural stone, terracotta, and leather browns also pair well.
If you want a tonal scheme rather than contrast, Behr's own neighbors give you small shifts inside the same depth. Medieval Forest 460F-6 at LRV 11 reads slightly cooler and bluer, Groundcover 400F-7 at LRV 10 leans more olive, and Russian Olive N350-7 at LRV 10 is the most yellow-green of the group. Used on adjacent millwork or a ceiling, any of those reads as the same color with a mood change rather than a second color in the room.
Coordinated palette
Generated by hue-rotating #5E6552 in HSL space. Pair Cypress Vine with one accent and one neutral — the swatches below are starting points, not final picks.
Cypress Vine FAQ
Is Cypress Vine warm or cool?
Cypress Vine is described as a cool green tone, but its hue of 106 degrees carries a yellow-olive lean that keeps it from feeling icy. In warm light the olive side comes forward and it reads earthy. In cool north light the yellow drops away and it looks distinctly cooler and grayer.
What LRV is Cypress Vine?
Cypress Vine N390-7 has an LRV of 11 on a scale where 0 is black and 100 is pure white. That is a dark color, so it reflects very little light back into the room. Expect it to add depth and enclosure rather than brightness, and expect it to look darker on a wall than it does on a small chip.
Does Cypress Vine work in a dark room?
It can, but only if you accept the result. At LRV 11 it will not lift a dim room, and in weak north light the green flattens toward dark gray-green. If you want a cocooning study or powder room, that is fine. If you need the room to feel open, this is the wrong depth of color.
What white trim goes with Cypress Vine?
Both crisp and warm whites work, and the choice is about contrast. A clean white against an LRV of 11 gives sharp, graphic separation on baseboards and casing. A warm off-white softens the line and suits the olive lean in the green. Sample both against the actual wall color, since the gap in lightness is large either way.
Is Cypress Vine good for exteriors or cabinets?
Yes to both. On lower cabinets, an island, or a bathroom vanity it adds depth under lighter counters without the hardness of black. Outdoors it works as a front door, shutter, or accent color against a light body and sits naturally with stone and brick. Behr is sold at The Home Depot, so exterior formulas are easy to match.
How is Cypress Vine different from Sherwin-Williams Olivetone?
Olivetone SW 9670 has an LRV of 11 and a hex of #4E6342, against Cypress Vine at LRV 11 and #496441. The measured difference is a deltaE of 1.74, which means the two are visually identical in normal room light. If you already have one on the wall, there is no practical reason to repaint for the other.
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