Shiitake
Behr's mushroom-gray neutral, reviewed honestly: the mid-depth warmth that outperforms its marketing budget, the light that flattens it, and where it actually earns a spot on the wall.
Jessica has spec'd whites and neutrals for more than 300 rooms and keeps a sample wall of painted drawdowns in her studio. Every color review is checked against real reader rooms in the comments and re-tested when a formula changes. About the testing process →
- 1Anonymous20
- 2Bison Beige27
- 3Shiitake32
- 4Revere Pewter55
- 5Agreeable Gray60
The Fast Verdict
Shiitake is the color you get when a paint company names something after a mushroom instead of a mood board. It's a true warm gray — equal parts red and green with the blue pulled back — mid-depth at LRV 34, closer to a gray-taupe wall than a bright neutral. It has never had a Color of the Year moment and it isn't chasing one, but on a set of exterior siding, a kitchen island, or a den that wants some weight, it does exactly what the fan deck promises.
Exterior siding with white trim · kitchen cabinets and islands next to warm wood · dens and home offices that want gravity without going dark · anyone who wants a gray that photographs warm, not clinical
You want a light, airy neutral (this reads mid-depth, not pale) · your room runs on cool white LEDs with no lamps · you're ordering online and typing just "Shiitake" without checking the brand · your floors and trim are already heavy and dark
- A genuine warm gray — never drifts pink or blue
- Mid-depth (LRV 34) enough to anchor a room or an exterior without washing out
- Flatters white trim, brass, and warm wood without a fight
- Reads current without chasing a specific trend
- No marketing hype means no marketing price — a dependable, ordinary purchase
- Not a light, airy neutral — surprises buyers who expect pale gray
- Cool LEDs flatten the warmth into flat, institutional gray
- Shares its name with a completely different Sherwin-Williams color
- Thin track record — very few real owner reviews to check yours against
What Color Is Shiitake, Really?
Behr classifies Shiitake as one of its earthy neutrals, and for once the mushroom name is more literal than most paint names get: dried shiitake really does run this exact grayed olive-tan. The deck numbers back it up — equal amounts of red and green with the blue pulled back a step, which is the formula for a true warm gray rather than a pink or purple one. It reads less like a designer greige and more like fieldstone or a dried herb: quiet, a little dusty, unmistakably warm the moment you set it next to a cool gray.
At LRV 34 it sits noticeably deeper than the famous whole-house greiges everyone already knows — Agreeable Gray (LRV 60) and Repose Gray (LRV 58) are both close to twice as reflective. Shiitake is doing a different job: it's a mid-depth anchor color, in the same neighborhood as Sherwin-Williams Jasper Stone (LRV 32) or Behr's own Battleship Gray (LRV 33), not a light-and-bright wall color. That depth is what lets it carry an exterior or a run of cabinets without washing out — but it also means a small, dim room will feel it as weight, not air.
Undertone in one line: warm gray-olive, never pink, never blue. One genuinely useful thing to know before you order online: Sherwin-Williams also sells a color called Shiitake (SW 9173), and it is a completely different paint — a much lighter, pinker greige at LRV 51. Same mushroom, two different brands' idea of what color it is. Confirm the SKU on your sample says N220-4, not SW 9173, before you match it to anything.
Where It Shines
Give it a real exterior or a run of cabinets and it earns its keep quietly. Full daylight on siding reads it as a soft, current gray-taupe that plays well with white trim and a dark door without the stark modern-farmhouse cliché. Indoors, on an island or across a den's four walls with a warm lamp on, it has enough depth to feel intentional and enough warmth to avoid the cold, corporate read that plain cool grays get.
Where It Fails
There isn't a long trail of one-star reviews behind Shiitake — it's too quiet a color to attract that kind of attention — but the regrets that do surface follow one of three predictable scripts.
Pull the warmth out with 4000K-plus bulbs and no lamps, and the olive-tan drains into a flat, slightly institutional gray — the same thing that happens to every warm neutral under cold light, but Shiitake's mid-depth makes it more noticeable than it would be on a pale wall. Swap the bulbs before you swap the paint.
LRV 34 sounds unremarkable on a chip, but on four walls it reads like a real gray-taupe, not the pale, bright neutral most people picture when they hear "gray." If you're chasing the light, airy look, this depth will surprise you — go up to something in the 50s or 60s LRV range instead.
Sherwin-Williams has its own, unrelated color also named Shiitake (SW 9173) — lighter, pinker, LRV 51. Search results and pin boards mix the two constantly. Confirm N220-4 on the can before you buy, especially if you're matching a sample photo you found online.
Room by Room
Full sun reads it as a soft, current warm gray-taupe. White trim keeps the edges crisp, and a dark front door supplies the one deep note the scheme needs. Walk the house at different times of day — the shaded side reads noticeably flatter than the sunny side.
Butcher block, honey oak counters and brass hardware all sit comfortably against the gray-olive undertone. Use a satin cabinet-grade enamel — flat and eggshell won't survive daily handling around the pulls.
Low, warm light is where the depth turns from heavy to cozy. Leather, walnut shelving and a single warm lamp are its natural company; eggshell for durability where a desk chair scuffs the baseboard.
With real daylight and warm wood furniture it anchors an open room nicely. In a north-facing or heavily shaded living room, expect it to read flatter and cooler than the chip suggested — sample a large board before committing.
Under 2700K bulbs it settles into a calm, grounded gray-taupe at night. A dim, cool-lit bedroom with no lamps is the one place this color disappoints most often.
Works well on a single vanity under a warm-toned mirror light. A full bathroom in this depth, especially without a window, reads dim rather than moody — save the whole-room commitment for a space with real light.
Your Light Is the Risk
Direct sun on siding or a south-facing wall shows the true warm gray-olive — this is the color at its best, and the light it was clearly formulated for.
4000K-plus bulbs with no warm light source drain the olive out and leave a flat, slightly institutional gray. Test under your actual bulbs before committing a whole exterior or kitchen to it.
Warmer and more olive at the sun hours, cooler and quieter the rest of the day — a gentle shift, not a dramatic one.
2700K lamps bring the warmth forward and make it feel like a proper taupe. Cool LEDs push it toward plain gray — swap the bulbs, not the paint.
Most complaints about Shiitake 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 N220-4 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 | Sticks & StonesSW 7503 · Sherwin-Williams | 1.0 | 31 | Color page → |
| Benjamin Moore | Waynesboro Taupe1544 · Benjamin Moore | 1.1 | 33 | Color page → |
| Valspar | Tornado Watch6002-2A · Valspar | 3.2 | 33 | Color page → |
| PPG / Glidden | Earl GrayPPG1020-5 · PPG / Glidden | 1.3 | 32 | Color page → |
| Glidden | Earl GrayPPG1020-5 · Glidden | 1.3 | 32 | Color page → |
| Dutch Boy | Dusky Gray439-3DB · Dutch Boy | 2.9 | 32 | Color page → |
Similar Behr Colors
The nearest shades to Shiitake 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.
Shiitake vs the Colors You're Also Considering
Every Shiitake sample board has the same rivals on it. The numbers show the real lightness gap — then it comes down to which risk you would rather live with.
Pick this for the warmer, more olive-tan version with the same understated attitude.
Sherwin-Williams SW 9133 · LRV 32Jasper StonePick this if you want the same mid-depth quiet neutral with a cooler, more blue-green cast — Jasper Stone never went viral either, and doesn't need to.
Pick this for the warmer, less green reading if you want gray-taupe instead of gray-sage.
Behr N360-4 · LRV 33Battleship GrayPick this for a greener Behr sage-gray at nearly the same depth — the name promises more steel than the color actually delivers.
Warm Stone BXC-10 (#A1A18E, LRV 35) is the closest sibling, a hair lighter with a touch more yellow-green, so it reads slightly more sage. Chic Taupe N230-4 (#A59C8C, LRV 34) shares the LRV but swaps the green for red, so it lands as taupe instead of mushroom. Fossil Stone PMD-57 (#A59E89, LRV 34) is more clearly khaki, and Fashion Gray PPU18-15 (#A29C95, LRV 34) is the most neutral of the group, with almost no green at all.
Across brands, C2 Paint Mercurial C2-955 (LRV 34) is the same color for practical purposes. Valspar Sprig of Sage 8004-28D (LRV 36), Benjamin Moore Oilcloth CSP-760 (LRV 35), and Glidden Smoky Slate PPG1028-4 (LRV 35) are visually identical in normal room light. Farrow and Ball Pigeon No. 25 (LRV 34) and Sherwin-Williams Rushing River SW 7746 (LRV 34) are very close, so sample first. Backdrop Carry the Two (LRV 33) is close but visibly warmer and browner side by side.
Shiitake Coordinating Colors
The rule for coordinating with Shiitake: stay warm and let the depth do the work. It pairs with dependable whites, other mid-depth warm grays, and deeper members of its own olive-gray family — and it stays out of trouble as long as nothing nearby is icy blue or bubblegum pink. These are the partners that keep showing up in rooms and exteriors that work:
Shiitake vs. the Other Shiitake
Two major brands sell a paint called Shiitake, and they are not the same color. Behr's version (N220-4) is the one reviewed here: a mid-depth, LRV 34 warm gray with an olive-tan lean. Sherwin-Williams' Shiitake (SW 9173) is a different formula entirely — lighter, pinker, and reflecting more than half again as much light at LRV 51. If you found a photo online and it looks noticeably lighter or pinker than what's shown on this page, there's a good chance you're looking at the Sherwin-Williams color instead.
The mix-up got worse in 2025: Sherwin-Williams made its Shiitake the May Color of the Month, which put a wave of fresh photos and forum threads online under the same name — several homeowner posts asking about "Shiitake" for a family room are actually discussing the lighter Sherwin-Williams color, not this one. This kind of name collision happens more than people expect in paint decks this large; brands don't coordinate naming, and "mushroom" is a popular enough idea that more than one colorist landed on it independently. The fix is simple: always confirm the SKU, not just the name, before you buy a sample or order a gallon.
Shiitake With Wood Tones and Floors
This is an easy pairing question because the undertone does the work for you: warm gray-olive sits comfortably next to almost any wood that isn't stark white-washed. Honey oak, red oak, walnut and butcher block all read as intentional partners rather than a fight — the shared warmth means neither the floor nor the wall pushes the other toward an unwanted color.
The one floor that needs a sample check first is a very cool, gray-washed or ashy finish. Next to true cool-gray flooring, Shiitake's warmth can look slightly dingy by contrast, the same way any warm neutral looks off against a cold floor. A warm rug closes that gap in most rooms.
Three Ready Palettes Built on Shiitake
A color is never alone on the wall. These are complete combinations in the 60-30-10 pattern, with the reason each one holds together. Every one opens in the visualizer.
All three come from the same Behr deck, so the sheens and formulas match across siding, trim, and door. White trim keeps the gray-olive siding from reading heavy, and the near-black door supplies the one dark note the scheme needs without going full modern-farmhouse black.
Try this palette in your roomWhipped Cream keeps the walls bright enough to carry mid-depth cabinets; Shiitake's warm gray-olive undertone means it never fights honey or walnut wood, and the deep grayed-green island pulls the same olive family one shade darker instead of introducing a new color.
Try this palette in your roomTwo mid-depth warm grays from different brands read as one tonal family when they're this close in undertone; the lighter Dorian Gray built-ins step back from the deeper walls instead of competing with them, and Polar Bear trim keeps the room from feeling like a single gray box.
Try this palette in your roomShiitake FAQ
Is Behr Shiitake warm or cool?
Warm — it's a true gray-olive, with equal amounts of red and green and the blue pulled back, so it never drifts blue or purple. It photographs warmer than most people expect from a color with "gray" energy.
Is Behr Shiitake the same as Sherwin-Williams Shiitake?
No, and this trips people up constantly. Behr's Shiitake is N220-4, a mid-depth warm gray at LRV 34. Sherwin-Williams also has a color called Shiitake (SW 9173), which is a lighter, pinker greige at LRV 51. Different companies, same mushroom, two different colors — check the SKU before you buy.
Is it good for kitchen cabinets?
Yes, especially with warm wood counters or floors and brass hardware — the gray-olive undertone doesn't fight honey tones the way a cooler gray would. Use a satin cabinet-grade enamel; flat and eggshell won't hold up to daily handling.
Does it work on exteriors?
It's one of its strongest jobs. Full sun reads it as a soft, current warm gray, and it pairs cleanly with white trim and a dark door or shutters. Walk the house at different times of day before committing — the shaded side will read noticeably flatter than the sunny side.
What trim white goes with Shiitake?
A dependable, not-too-stark white — Behr Polar Bear or a similar soft white keeps the edge crisp without making the gray-olive walls look dingy by comparison. A bright cool white can make the warmth underneath read muddy.
How many coats does it need?
Two coats over a similar mid-tone color. Going over a much lighter or much darker existing wall, prime first — a warm gray at this depth needs a full, even base coat to avoid patchiness, especially outdoors.
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