Sherwin Williams Dried Thyme: An Honest Review (SW 6186)

Sherwin Williams Dried Thyme is the color I point people to when they tell me they want green but they’re scared of green.

It’s herby, it’s gray enough to behave like a neutral, and on a kitchen island it looks like it has been there for decades. In the best way. I grew up around paint, and this is one of a handful of greens I recommend without a single hesitation.

That said, it has one habit that catches people off guard, and I want you to know about it before you buy a gallon. So here’s the full honest review: what Dried Thyme actually looks like, where it works, where it doesn’t, and the nearly identical Benjamin Moore twin nobody talks about.

What Color Is Dried Thyme?

Dried Thyme (SW 6186) is a muted, gray-green with an herbal, earthy undertone. Sherwin Williams files it in the green family, but on the wall it acts more like a deep neutral that happens to be green.

The numbers, for my fellow paint nerds:

Spec	Value
Color code	SW 6186
LRV	20.8
Hex	#7B8070
Undertone	Gray-green, herbal
Family	Muted greens

That LRV of 20.8 matters. It puts Dried Thyme firmly in medium dark territory, which means it absorbs a good amount of light. It’s a color with real presence, not a tint of green. Keep that number in mind, because it explains almost everything else in this review.

Where I’d use it: kitchen islands, bathroom vanities, mudroom built-ins, interior doors, and painted furniture. Anywhere you want a piece to look loved and settled rather than brand new.

Dried Thyme on Kitchen Islands and Cabinets

This is where Dried Thyme earns its reputation. On an island or lower cabinets, it reads as that collected, English kitchen green that fills half the farmhouse kitchen boards on Pinterest.

It pairs beautifully with warm whites on the walls, butcher block or wood counters, and brass hardware. If you’re planning a bigger kitchen refresh around it, my best colors for a farmhouse kitchen roundup shows the wall colors that flatter it most, and my farmhouse kitchen island ideas post covers the island styling side.

The Recipe

• Island or lower cabinets: Dried Thyme SW 6186, satin
• Walls: Alabaster SW 7008, eggshell
• Trim: Greek Villa SW 7551, semi-gloss
• Hardware: unlacquered brass or aged bronze

One quart usually covers a standard island with two coats. If you’ve never painted cabinetry before, a foam roller kit for cabinets gives you the smoothest finish without a sprayer.

Budget note: you don’t need to commit to full cabinets to get the look. Paint the island only. One quart, one weekend, and the whole kitchen changes character.

Dried Thyme in Bathrooms and Small Spaces

Small rooms are where medium-dark colors either shine or sulk, and Dried Thyme mostly shines. On a bathroom vanity it looks custom. On powder room walls it turns the smallest room in the house into the one guests comment on.

The trick in small spaces is committing. Paint the vanity and keep everything else light, or wrap the walls and lean into the coziness. Halfway measures read as hesitation.

My tip: in a windowless powder room, use satin instead of matte. The slight sheen bounces the little light you have and keeps the green alive instead of flat.

Dried Thyme in Mudrooms and Entries

Mudroom built-ins and lockers might be my single favorite use for this color. It hides scuffs the way a white never will, it makes inexpensive builds look bespoke, and it plays perfectly with brick, slate, and woven baskets.

No built-ins? Paint a freestanding cabinet or a bench wall of shiplap, add a row of iron wall hooks, and you’ve built the pin for a fraction of a carpenter’s quote.

What to Pair With Dried Thyme

Dried Thyme wants warm company. Here’s what consistently works:

• Warm whites: Alabaster SW 7008 or Greek Villa SW 7551. Avoid stark, blue leaning whites, which make the green look sickly.
• Wood tones: white oak, walnut, and anything reclaimed.
• Metals: unlacquered brass, aged bronze, black iron. Chrome fights it.
• Textiles: oatmeal linen, wool, jute. A natural jute rug under a Dried Thyme island area is about as farmhouse as it gets.
• Accents: terracotta and clay tones wake it up beautifully.

This exact pairing logic is how I built my whole house palette. Dried Thyme is the hero green in my Rustic Farmhouse Paint Palette guide, where it sits alongside the 15 other colors chosen to live with it, each with its Sherwin Williams code and Benjamin Moore match.

The Light Problem Nobody Warns You About

Here’s the honest part of the honest review.

The mistake to avoid: putting Dried Thyme in a dark, north facing room and expecting the sage to show up. In low light, that gray undertone takes over and the color goes nearly gray-brown. It isn’t ugly, but it isn’t the green you fell for on Pinterest either.

In bright south or west light, the herbal warmth comes forward and it reads distinctly green. Same paint, two different personalities.

So sample it properly. Two walls, the brightest and the darkest in the room, checked in the morning and again after dinner with your lamps on. Peel and stick paint samples make this painless. Three days of looking beats three years of regret.

The Benjamin Moore Twin: Galápagos Green

If you live closer to a Benjamin Moore store, don’t convert anything. Galápagos Green (BM 475) is one of the closest cross brand matches I have ever put side by side.

Spec	Dried Thyme	Galápagos Green
Code	SW 6186	BM 475
LRV	20.8	21.5
Hex	#7B8070	#7B8068

The hex values differ by a whisper. The LRVs sit within a point of each other. Buy whichever brand is closer to your house; you will not see the difference on the wall.

FAQs About Dried Thyme

Is Dried Thyme green or gray?
Both, depending on your light. In bright natural light it’s a muted herbal green. In dim or north facing light the gray takes over. That flexibility is exactly why it works as a whole house accent color.

What white goes best with Dried Thyme?
Warm whites. Alabaster SW 7008 is my first pick for walls, with Greek Villa SW 7551 on trim. Stark bright whites make it look off.

Is Dried Thyme too dark for a whole room?
With an LRV of 20.8 it’s a commitment on four walls. In a bright room it can be gorgeous and enveloping. In a dim room, keep it to cabinetry, built-ins, or one wall.

What is the Benjamin Moore equivalent of Dried Thyme?
Galápagos Green (BM 475). The two are nearly identical in both depth and undertone.

What sheen should I use?
Matte or eggshell on walls, satin on cabinets and built-ins, semi-gloss on doors.

Final Verdict

Dried Thyme is the rare trendy color that won’t feel trendy in five years, because it never shouts to begin with. It makes new things look settled and inexpensive things look considered. Just respect the light rule, pair it warm, and start with the island if you’re nervous.

If you want the colors around it already chosen, the Rustic Farmhouse Paint Palette guide gives you all 16, in both brands, with the exact room recipes.

And if you’re still building your green courage, start smaller with my farmhouse kitchen decor ideas or see how greens behave outdoors in my modern farmhouse exterior paint colors guide.