Sherwin-Williams Celery – The Soft Green Color of the Year for 2027

Sherwin-Williams has named Celery SW 6421 its Color of the Year for 2027, and it is quite a departure from the deeper, moodier colors we have seen dominating interiors recently. Instead of another dark olive, brown or dramatic neutral, Celery is light, fresh and distinctly botanical.

Sherwin-Williams describes it as an airy herbal green with subtle yellow undertones, sitting somewhere between a soft pastel and a more grounded herbal shade. The company has chosen it around ideas of restoration, optimism, wellness and creating homes that feel more connected to nature.

At first glance, Celery might look like another sage green, but look a little closer, though, and it is quite different.

There is noticeably less gray here. Celery has a clearer, warmer quality that gives it more life than many of the dusty sage greens we have been decorating with for the last few years.

So, is this pale yellow-green going to be easy to live with? And does it deserve to be Sherwin-Williams’ Color of the Year?

Let’s take a closer look.

What Color Is Sherwin-Williams Celery SW 6421?

Celery is a light, muted yellow-green.

Sherwin-Williams calls it an airy herbal green and specifically notes its subtle yellow undertones. The brand says it balances the lightness of a pastel with the more natural quality of an herbal green.

That is actually a very good description of it. It isn’t mint green or olive and it isn’t quite the familiar gray-green we normally associate with sage. Instead, imagine the color of soft spring foliage after it has been slightly muted.

There is enough yellow underneath to make it feel warm and cheerful, but the color is softened enough that it doesn’t head into lime or chartreuse territory.

That warmth is one of the things that makes Celery feel noticeably different from the cooler sage greens that have been everywhere over the last few years.

Sherwin-Williams Celery SW 6421 at a Glance

Here are the useful numbers:

• Color: Sherwin-Williams Celery
• Number: SW 6421
• Color family: Green
• Undertone: Warm yellow
• LRV: 71
• RGB: 224, 221, 189
• HEX: #E0DDBD
• 2027 status: Sherwin-Williams Color of the Year

Sherwin-Williams’ color data gives Celery an LRV of 71, putting it firmly into the lighter end of the paint spectrum. Its published digital values are RGB 224, 221, 189 and HEX #E0DDBD

Of course, digital values are useful for understanding the color, but they aren’t a substitute for an actual paint sample. Sherwin-Williams itself warns that on-screen representations can vary from the physical paint.

What Does an LRV of 71 Mean?

LRV stands for Light Reflectance Value and runs on a scale from 0 to 100. The higher the number, the more light a paint color reflects.

With an LRV of 71, Celery is a fairly light paint color. That is important because it means you are getting a recognizable green without necessarily making a room feel significantly darker.

Celery should still bounce a good amount of light around a space, but I wouldn’t mistake it for an off-white. There is definitely color here.

On a tiny paint chip it can look very pale, but once it covers four walls, you are going to know you have painted the room green. And personally, I think that is a good thing.

If you’re going to choose a green, it is nice to actually see it.

Is Sherwin-Williams Celery Warm or Cool?

Celery is a warm green. Sherwin-Williams specifically identifies a warm yellow undertone in the color.

That doesn’t mean the room is suddenly going to look yellow. Instead, the yellow underneath the green gives Celery its softness and stops it from feeling blue, icy or particularly gray.

This should also make it quite sympathetic to the warmer materials being used in interiors right now. Think oak, walnut, terracotta, linen, aged brass, cream and warm natural stone.

I’m saving the full color-pairing discussion for my article on how to decorate with Celery, but the undertone alone tells us this isn’t a green that needs everything around it to be cool and crisp.

Quite the opposite.

Is Celery the New Sage Green?

I don’t think so; I also don’t think sage is disappearing. What we may be seeing instead is green branching out.

For several years, the default fashionable green was sage. Most versions had a generous amount of gray mixed into them, creating those soft eucalyptus and silvery greens that worked so well as alternatives to gray.

Celery feels like the next step. It still has that muted, livable quality, but it has less of the gray cast.

It feels fresher and a little sunnier and perhaps slightly more nostalgic too.

There is something about yellow-green that reminds me of older kitchens, painted furniture, botanical fabrics and traditional country interiors. That could make Celery particularly interesting if you like vintage, cottage or traditional decorating rather than very sleek contemporary interiors.

Does Sherwin-Williams Celery Look Yellow?

This will probably be the big question people have about Celery. Yes, there is yellow in it.

Sherwin-Williams explicitly identifies a yellow undertone. But there is a difference between a green having a yellow undertone and a green actually looking yellow.

Most of the time, Celery should still clearly register as green. However, lighting is going to matter.

In very warm afternoon sunlight or beneath warm artificial bulbs, I would expect that yellow side to become more noticeable. Place it beside a cool blue-gray, and it could also suddenly look much warmer.

Pair it with natural wood, cream or another warm neutral and that yellowness is likely to feel much more intentional. This is definitely one I would sample on a large area rather than choosing from the little color chip.

How Will Celery Look in Different Light?

Like every paint color, Celery won’t look exactly the same from morning until night.

North-facing rooms

Cool northern light may mute Celery slightly.

That could make it feel softer and more subdued than it does on the swatch, which may actually appeal to anyone worried about the yellow undertone becoming too strong.

South-facing rooms

Lots of warm natural light should make Celery appear lighter, warmer and potentially more yellow-green. This is where I would definitely sample it before committing.

East-facing rooms

Morning sunlight is likely to bring out the fresher, brighter side of Celery, while the room may feel quieter and more muted later in the day.

West-facing rooms

Celery could become considerably warmer during late afternoon and evening when the light naturally becomes golden.

None of these changes are necessarily bad. They are simply worth knowing before you paint an entire room.

Is Celery a Pastel?

Sort of.

Sherwin-Williams itself says the shade sits between an airy pastel and a grounded herbal hue, and I think that distinction matters. Celery has the lightness we associate with pastel colors, but it doesn’t feel sugary or childish.

The muted quality keeps it grounded.

I wouldn’t put it in the same category as mint green, baby blue or traditional pastel pink. It feels more botanical than confectionery.

Why Did Sherwin-Williams Choose Celery for 2027?

Sherwin-Williams says Celery was influenced by a growing interest in wellness, storytelling and belonging, alongside the desire for interiors that feel personal, restorative and connected to nature. That fits into a much larger 2027 paint trend.

As we’ve already seen from the other Colors of the Year, companies are moving heavily toward nature-inspired shades.

• Behr has chosen an earthy olive.
• Dulux has selected sage.
• Other brands are giving us smoky blue, clay and earthy pink.

And now Sherwin-Williams has chosen a much fresher green.

There is a fairly clear message emerging. We may still want calming interiors, but we don’t necessarily want them to be colorless.

Where Could Celery Work?

I’ll go into this properly in the next article, but one of the strongest things about Celery is its versatility. Sherwin-Williams specifically shows and recommends the color in spaces including bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen cabinetry, living rooms and reading nooks.

I can also see it working particularly well in:

• traditional kitchens
• cottage interiors
• bedrooms
• small bathrooms
• entryways
• utility rooms
• sunrooms
• painted furniture
• built-in cabinetry

It feels like a color that can cover four walls, but it is also light enough to be introduced in smaller doses.

What Are the Downsides of Celery?

No paint color works everywhere. The biggest potential issue with Celery is probably the same thing that makes it interesting: that yellow undertone.

If your home is filled with cool blue-gray flooring, icy white surfaces and cool artificial lighting, Celery may feel slightly disconnected from everything around it. Likewise, anyone hoping for a muted gray-green might find Celery considerably brighter and warmer than expected.

I would also be cautious about choosing it purely because it has been named Color of the Year.

Paint trends come and go, you still have to like green.

Thankfully, Celery doesn’t strike me as a particularly gimmicky shade. Yellow-green has been part of traditional decorating for a very long time, which gives it more longevity than the “2027 Color of the Year” label might suggest.

Is Sherwin-Williams Celery a Good Color?

I think Celery is one of those colors that becomes more interesting the longer you look at it. My first reaction was that it felt very pale and I wasn’t keen.

But the more I see it alongside wood, cream, brown and deeper greens, the more sense it makes. It feels like an antidote to the gray-green shades we’ve been seeing for years without abandoning green altogether.

It is warm without being beige, colorful without being overwhelming, light without becoming another near-white.

And perhaps most importantly, it feels surprisingly easy to imagine in an ordinary home.

Will everyone love it? Definitely not.

Anyone who prefers deep olive, forest green or moody interiors might find it too light. And if you’re particularly sensitive to yellow undertones, you’ll want to sample it carefully.

But as a signal of where interiors are heading in 2027, I think Celery is fascinating.

We’re moving away from gray, but we aren’t necessarily moving toward brighter color. We’re moving toward softer colors borrowed from nature.

Celery fits that idea almost perfectly.

In my next blog, I’ll be looking at exactly how to use Sherwin-Williams Celery SW 6421 in your home, including the best coordinating colors, warm whites, wood tones and room ideas.

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Digital paint colors are for reference only. Always sample paint in your own space before choosing. I also use Artificial Intelligence Image generators to create some of my images. These are to show you examples of my ideas and inspiration when I cannot produce the real images myself.