Color spec
| Brand | Sherwin-Williams |
| Name | Rainwashed |
| SKU | SW 6211 |
| Hex | #A6BAB5 |
| RGB | 166, 186, 181 |
| HSL | 165°, 13%, 69% |
| LRV | 47 |
| Undertone | cool blue-green tone |
| Sheens | walls eggshell · bathrooms satin · cabinets satin enamel · trim semi-gloss |
| Family | Teal |
Rainwashed is the soft blue-green that turned into Sherwin-Williams' default spa color, and in a bathroom with a real window it deserves the reputation. The catch is that it is not the clean aqua the chip promises: it carries enough gray and green that in plenty of rooms it lands closer to a soft sage. Give it daylight and warm bulbs and it is calm and expensive-looking. Give it a windowless bathroom and cool LEDs and it turns flat, gray and slightly clinical.
What Color Is Rainwashed, Really?
A soft green-blue with a gray base — and the gray is the part people miss. On the chip Rainwashed reads like watery aqua, so buyers expect a spa blue. On a wall it splits the difference between blue and green, and which side wins is decided by your room, not by the can. Warm floors, warm bulbs and south or west sun pull the green forward until it reads as a pale sage. Cool north light and cool bulbs push it back toward blue. This is the single most common surprise with this color, and it is not a mixing error.
At LRV 59 it reflects a good amount of light, so it brightens a room without going pale. That number is the honest separator from Sea Salt (LRV 63), the color it is most often compared with: Sea Salt is lighter, grayer and behaves almost like a neutral, while Rainwashed has enough color left in it that you always know the walls are painted something. Next to a bright white trim like Pure White (SW 7005) the difference is obvious — Rainwashed shows body, Sea Salt nearly disappears.
Undertone in one line: cool green-blue over a gray base — never a true blue, never a true sage, and it will not sit still between rooms.
Where It Shines
It is at its best in the small, wet, daylit rooms it made its name in — bathrooms, powder rooms, laundries — and in bedrooms where you want quiet color instead of another gray. On cabinets it behaves like a gentle neutral rather than a statement.
Where It Fails — the Honest Part
The bad Rainwashed stories are consistent, and all three come down to the same thing: the gray-green base showing up when you were expecting the aqua. If your room matches one of these, no number of coats will fix it.
You wanted spa blue and got sage. The most common complaint by far. With warm bulbs, warm wood floors or afternoon west sun, the green side takes over and the walls read soft sage instead of watery blue. If blue is the whole point, use Watery (SW 6478) or Palladian Blue (BM HC-144), both of which stay blue when the light warms up.
A windowless bathroom under cool LED bulbs. With no daylight and 4000K or 5000K bulbs, the gray base takes over and the color goes flat and slightly hospital-like. Swap to 2700K bulbs first — that alone rescues most of these rooms. If the bathroom is genuinely dark, Sea Salt (SW 6204) at LRV 63 stays airy where Rainwashed grays out.
Against honey oak or gold-toned tile. Builder oak cabinets, gold travertine and beige-pink tile sit at the opposite temperature. Rainwashed makes them look more orange, and they make Rainwashed look dingy and cold. With warm existing tile, go to Comfort Gray (SW 6205) — the same family with more gray and less blue, so it stops fighting.
Room by Room
Bathroom — its best room
This is where it earns the spa reputation, as long as there is a window. Satin finish for the moisture, Pure White (SW 7005) on trim and vanity, and 2700K bulbs so it stays soft instead of clinical.
Bedroom — yes, and calmer than gray
It gives a bedroom color without waking it up, and it flatters white bedding and natural wood. Eggshell on walls. If the room is dim all day, expect a grayer, sager version than the chip.
Laundry & mudroom — a quiet win
Small hardworking rooms are where this color is most forgiving, and it looks great with white and black tile. Use satin so you can wipe it. Alabaster (SW 7008) on the built-ins keeps it warm.
Kitchen cabinets — soft, not loud
On cabinets it reads as a gentle color rather than a color statement, which is why it survives longer than trendier greens. Use a satin cabinet enamel, white counters, and brushed nickel or matte black pulls.
Living room — only with daylight
In a bright room it works, especially with white trim and natural wood. In a low-light living room it drifts gray-green and the whole room can read cold. Test a big sample on the darkest wall first.
Exterior & front door — coastal yes
Full sun washes it lighter and cleaner than it looks indoors, which suits cottage and beach houses. Pair the body with Alabaster (SW 7008) trim, or use it as the door color against a white house. Details in the exterior section below.
The Scorecard
What it gets right
- +Real color on the wall without any bold commitment
- +The calm, spa-like bathroom look people actually want
- +At LRV 59 it brightens a small room instead of shrinking it
- +Behaves well on cabinets — soft rather than trendy
- +Coastal exteriors and front doors both work
Where it struggles
- −Reads green far more often than buyers expect
- −Goes flat gray and clinical in dim rooms and under cool bulbs
- −Fights honey oak, gold travertine and beige-pink tile
- −Changes noticeably from room to room, so whole-house use is unpredictable
Light by Light
Most complaints about Rainwashed 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.
TEST IT IN YOUR LIGHT →Rainwashed vs the Colors You're Also Considering
Every Rainwashed 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.
Rainwashed is easy to confuse with its neighbors on the SW rack. Quietude (SW 6212, LRV 48) sits right beside it and reads a hair greener and grayer, with less of the blue Rainwashed shows. If you want the same softness but leaning more toward sage, Quietude is the pick; for a clearer watery aqua, choose Rainwashed.
Comfort Gray (SW 6205, LRV 47) shares the same LRV but is more of a muted gray-green with less blue, so it feels more grounded and less coastal on the wall.
Sea Salt (SW 6204) is the famous comparison. At LRV 63 it is noticeably lighter and greener, almost a soft gray in dim rooms, while Rainwashed is deeper and clearly more blue. Pick Sea Salt for a barely-there tint that acts like a neutral, and Rainwashed when you want the aqua to actually show.
Need It From Another Brand?
Any paint counter can custom-tint Sherwin-Williams SW 6211 directly — but if you would rather stay in one brand's own deck, these are the closest stock matches:
Similar Sherwin-Williams colors
closest in the Sherwin-Williams deckThe nearest shades to Rainwashed within Sherwin-Williams's own range, ranked by perceptual color distance — useful when you want the same look a touch lighter, darker, or warmer.
Rainwashed Coordinating Colors
The rule with Rainwashed is to give it one warm friend and one dark anchor. On its own with white trim it can feel cool and a little bare; a warm neutral on the adjoining walls fixes that instantly, and a deep navy or bronze on a door, vanity or island gives your eye somewhere to land. Avoid pairing it with a cold, blue-based gray — two cool colors in one room is where people end up calling the house chilly.
These are the partners that come up again and again in real Rainwashed houses:
Rainwashed in Bathrooms
Bathrooms are the reason this color sells, so it deserves its own honest note. The version people fall in love with online is nearly always a bathroom with a window, white trim and warm bulbs — three things doing a lot of quiet work. Take any one away and the color changes character: no window and it grays, cool bulbs and it turns slightly hospital, dark trim and it loses its freshness.
Practical rules. Use satin, not flat, so steam and splashes wipe off. Put 2700K bulbs in the vanity fixture and check the color at night before you judge it, because bathroom lighting is usually the deciding factor, not the paint. Keep the tile cool or neutral — white, soft gray, marble-look — and it sings. Warm gold travertine is the one combination to walk away from.
Rainwashed on Cabinets and Exteriors
On cabinets Rainwashed does something most colored cabinets fail at: it stays quiet. Because the base is grayed, it reads as a soft neutral with a hint of sea in it rather than a green kitchen, which is why these kitchens still look calm five years later. Spray or brush a urethane cabinet enamel in satin, keep the counters light, and let one dark element — an island, a range, the hardware — do the contrast work.
Outside it is a coastal color and behaves like one. Sunlight lifts it noticeably, so the exterior version reads lighter and cleaner than your interior sample, and it looks best on cottages, bungalows and beach houses rather than on brick or heavy stone. White or off-white trim keeps it fresh; a bronze or charcoal door and dark window frames give the facade its edge. Check the shaded side of the house at midday, because that is where it goes greenest and grayest at the same time.
Three Ready Palettes Built on Rainwashed
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.
Rainwashed takes the 60 percent, Pure White frames it cleanly so the aqua stays crisp instead of muddy, and the navy vanity gives the room its one dark note. The navy also drags Rainwashed back toward blue, which is exactly what most people wanted from it.
TRY THIS PALETTE →Cool walls need a warm anchor or the room reads chilly, and Accessible Beige is the warm neutral that holds hands with this green-blue without turning muddy. Alabaster is the warmer trim white here on purpose — bright white would make the bedroom feel like a bathroom.
TRY THIS PALETTE →Cabinets carry the color and the walls stay quiet, which is the right way round with a green-blue — on the walls it can feel like a lot of kitchen. Iron Ore on the island supplies the weight that a soft cabinet color always needs, and it works with both nickel and matte black.
TRY THIS PALETTE →Accessibility (WCAG contrast)
WCAG 2.1: AA = 4.5:1 normal text · AA Large = 3:1 large text · AAA = 7:1 normal text.
The Questions Everyone Asks
Is Rainwashed blue or green?
Genuinely both, and your room decides. Warm bulbs, warm floors and afternoon sun bring the green out until it looks like a soft sage. Cool north light and cool bulbs push it back to blue. If you need it to stay blue, Watery (SW 6478) is the safer buy.
Rainwashed or Sea Salt for a north-facing bathroom?
Sea Salt in a dark north bathroom, Rainwashed in one with a decent window. At LRV 63 Sea Salt stays airy when the light is poor, while Rainwashed at 59 has more color in it and can gray down. In a bright north bathroom Rainwashed is the prettier of the two, and it will read slightly bluer than it does in a south room.
What white trim goes with Rainwashed?
Pure White (SW 7005) at LRV 84 is the standard answer and keeps the aqua looking clean and fresh. Alabaster (SW 7008) at LRV 82 is warmer and softer, which suits bedrooms and cottage-style rooms better. Avoid a stark bright white in a bathroom unless you want a crisp, slightly clinical look.
The kitchen is Rainwashed — what goes in the living room?
A warm neutral, not another color. Accessible Beige (SW 7036, LRV 58) or Agreeable Gray (SW 7029, LRV 60) both sit close enough in lightness that the handoff is smooth, and the warmth stops the house feeling cold. If you want the rooms to flow tonally instead, Sea Salt (SW 6204) is the lighter cousin.
Is Rainwashed good on kitchen or bathroom cabinets?
Yes, and it is one of its strongest uses. It reads as a gentle color rather than a bold one, so it dates far slower than a saturated green or blue. Use a urethane cabinet enamel in satin, keep the counters white or light, and pair with brushed nickel or matte black hardware.
Does Rainwashed look dated?
Not on its own — a muted green-blue is a permanent color, not a trend. What dates it is the 2010s spa package around it: gold travertine tile, tumbled stone and oil-rubbed bronze everything. Put it with white subway tile, simple hardware and natural wood and it reads current.
Can I use Rainwashed on the outside of my house?
Yes, on cottage and coastal homes. Full sun washes it lighter and cleaner than it looks inside, so expect a paler, fresher version than your interior sample. Pair it with Alabaster (SW 7008) trim and a darker door, and always check the shaded north side of the house before you commit.
Will It Work in YOUR Room?
No page can promise how Rainwashed behaves in your light. Upload a photo and see it on your own walls in seconds — before you spend a cent on samples.
TRY RAINWASHED ON YOUR ROOM →Ask a Question
Not sure about Rainwashed in your room?
Ask Jessica below — every question gets a real reply, usually within a day. Painted Rainwashed — or sampled it and backed out? Tell us the room, which way it faces, and whether it went blue or green on you. Real rooms help the next reader more than any chip.