Benjamin Moore Cinnamon Slate: Color Review (2025 Color of the Year)
The Best Purple Since Sliced Eggplants
Do you smell that? No, it’s not the smell of freshly fallen leaves; it’s the smell of fresh paint.
That’s right, it’s ‘Color of the Year’ time, and this lil’ Ginger is darn excited. While last year’s choice, Benjamin Moore Blue Nova, is beautiful, unlike October Mist, which was the COTY for 2022 (and is still popular), we won’t see much more of Blue Nova.
But why am I SO EXCITED?
1. I’ve put Bailey’s in my coffee as this is a big day in my colorful little world!
2. Cinnamon Slate is wicked pretty, and I’m so pumped they chose it. It has my heart beating a thousand miles a minute (again, it could be the Bailey’s and coffee).
Now, when I consider colors of the year and whether they’re amazeballs or not, they should satisfy a few important points…
- They don’t need to suit EVERYONE, but they need to have potential
- They should be usable on more than one surface
- They should get people EXCITED to paint!
And whether Benjamin Moore Cinnamon Slate is a color YOU love remains to be seen. But if you ask me, it should have reasonable appeal for the average homeowner.
So, without further ado, let’s see what Cinnamon Slate can do.
WHAT TYPE OF COLOR IS CINNAMON SLATE?
Cinnamon Slate is a glorious shade of purple (also known as violet). But this ain’t no ‘Barney’ purple; this shade is an earth-toned, well-balanced, flexible color that will be much more popular than the ill-fated purple dinosaur from the mid-90s.
Now, if the word ‘purple’ gets your knickers in a knot, you might want to unclench those cheeks, as Cinnamon Slate isn’t a traditional shade by any stretch of the imagination.
I’m so excited my client chose Cinnamon Slate for their ‘soon to be’ pantry.
By the way, I don’t have many images of Cinnamon Slate in action as I haven’t had an Online Color Consulting client use it. So, to give you an introductory look at this color, I’ve used Benjamin Moore’s visualizer for most of the images in this blog post.
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WHAT’S BENJAMIN MOORE CINNAMON SLATE’S LRV?
Cinnamon Slate has an LRV of 19.71, making it a medium-depth paint color. However, it’s on the very dark, low end of this range, winking at the world of medium-dark.
If you have a dark space, a color like Cinnamon Slate won’t be shown to its best advantage, but thanks to its degree of color (also known as chroma), it will still show up to the party, not falling as dingy as some darker taupes can (taupe being neutral with purple undertones).
If you have a space with average or better lighting, Cinnamon Slate is an awesome paint color for an accent wall, or even an entire room, as its depth wraps you in luxurious comfort without excess saturation (saturation is a combo of depth AND degree of color)
Not sure what LRV is? It could save your paint-lovin’ life – read all about it HERE.
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Here’s your Peel & Stick sample of Cinnamon Slate…
WHAT WHITE TRIM COLOR GOES WITH CINNAMON SLATE?
Cinnamon Slate is reasonably flexible regarding its white trim or cabinet color partners. This said, I have a few favorites…
- Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace offers a reasonably clean, simple contrast with Cinnamon Slate.
- Benjamin Moore Simply White is a bright, warm white with a cleaner contrast than White Dove, but a bit more softness than Chantilly Lace.
- Benjamin Moore White Dove is one of my favorite trim or cabinet colors with a color like Cinnamon Slate.
- Sherwin Williams Pure White is a good moderate approach to white.
WHERE DOES CINNAMON SLATE LOOK GOOD?
Just because we love a color doesn’t mean it’s suitable for every purpose. Let’s see where Cinnamon Slate does some of its best work…
AS AN EXTERIOR PAINT COLOR
While some colors suit the average home, others suit very few homes. Cinnamon Slate leans toward the latter but will have its place, depending on your roof (assuming it has some purple in it) and your brick or stone, some of which love purple.
Purple is often best used as an accent on front doors or shutters, more so than on entire exteriors.
The most potent purple I’ve used on an exterior (via my Online Color Consulting) is Sherwin Williams Polished Concrete, a medium-toned gray with a solid purple hue. Here’s the before-and-after of it (these aren’t via Benjamin Moore’s visualizer, obviously)…
Long story short, make sure your home suits purple.
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CINNAMON SLATE ON KITCHEN CABINETS
If you want purple cabinets, Cinnamon Slate could be pretty. However, in my 10,000+ consults, zero clients have asked for a color like this…just sayin’.
While I’ve had a few dozen clients request a purple island, it’s more often in the darker end of purple, not this more moderate depth (moderate as it relates to kitchen islands and bathroom vanities).
This isn’t to say it won’t work for you, but it sure as heck better coordinate with your countertop and any surrounding tile.
The Best Paint Neutral Colors for Kitchen Islands & Bathroom Vanities
Here’s Benjamin Moore’s gorgeous image of Cinnamon Slate on walls and trims – MAD LOVE…
WITH CREAM CABINETS & TRIMS…
While a lot of colors are a stretch with cream cabinets and trims, Cinnamon Slate has a reasonable shot at fitting in.
Thanks to its modest degree of color, depth, and the fact that purple and yellow (the undertone of cream) can play well together, it’s worth sampling.
The Best Paint Colors to Update Cream Cabinets & Trims
WHERE CAN YOU USE A COLOR LIKE CINNAMON SLATE?
While Cinnamon Slate isn’t as versatile as some previous colors of the year, it has several uses…
- interior of the front door (or a main secondary door)
- exterior of the front door
- as an accent wall in a luxurious matte finish (I love Benjamin Moore Aura paint for this approach)
- all of the walls in a room
- painted furniture (satin or pearl finish)
WHAT COLORS ARE SIMILAR TO CINNAMON SLATE?
Of course, nothing compares, but colors with similar intentions include…
- Sherwin Williams Enigma. This shade of purple is a bit lighter (LRV 21) and more muted than Cinnamon Slate.
- Sherwin Williams Patchwork Plum. This purple has an LRV of 16, so it’s about 25% darker than Cinnamon Slate but has a similar color profile overall.
- Sherwin Williams Socialite is most similar to Cinnamon Slate in depth, thanks to its LRV of 20. However, if you want a bit more of a plum-inspired warmth, Socialite could be a better fit.
DOES CINNAMON SLATE SATISFY KYLIE M FOR A ‘COLOR OF THE YEAR’?
1. While it might not suit everyone, does it have the potential to appeal to a lot of people? Yes, to a reasonable degree.
2. Is it usable on more than one surface? You bet your booty it is!
3. Will it get some people EXCITED to paint? Yes, I do believe it will. Maybe not as much as Benjamin Moore’s 2022 color, October Mist, but it’s still a gooder.
WHICH PAINT COLORS GO WITH CINNAMON SLATE?
With Cinnamon Slate’s glorious earth tone, a reasonably wide range of colors looks great in a color palette. While it depends on what you need this color for (main walls/adjoining room/accents/etc), here are some colors to get you started…
- Warm, soft shades of white.
- SO many medium to dark shades of moody green
- Some blue-green blends (darker), such as Benjamin Moore Mediterranean Teal and Sherwin Williams Still Water
- A range of muted, warm, off-white, and neutral paint colors
READ MORE
Sherwin Williams Color of the Year 2025
The 14 Best Beige & Tan Paint Colors for 2025
The Best Burgundy Paint Colors
Need Kylie’s help?
Check out my Online Paint Color Consulting – I’d love to help!
I was looking for a moody color to paint my office. It was painted in City Loft (SW) and it was fine. I ended up painting the walls and ceiling Cinnamon Slate (matte). I love it. the color really does change depending on the color through out the day–sometimes brown, cinnamon, gray and purple. My accents are creams, gold, yellow, rust/orange, greens and whites. My built-in desk is a speckled granite of black, white and gray (bleh). But it works! As you suggested, I will be painting the trim White Dove, eventually painting all the trim Cinnamon Slate. Thank you!
ooo, that sounds GORGEOUS, I’d so love to see it!
Looking for a sumptous new colour to repaint in our south facing bedroom (it’s been Edgecomb Gray for YEARS) and this may be it. We have purple taupe gray flooring (no green tint) and other taupe upholstery that leans towards purple, not green. Would this colour look good beside an ensuite painted in Balboa Mist?
Yup, they could definitely be neighbors!
Hi Kylie!
I am in love with this color. I have a Ralph Lauren duvet called Payge. It has a dark blue background. Will dark blue go with Cinnamon Slate? The duvet has tans, greens and purples in it as well. I just love the color so much and I have HUGE windows in my room that flood the space with natural light, so I can get away with painting the whole room. What do you think?
Hi Kylie,
I just discovered your website. You are absolutely right, this colour does make me excited to paint!! Huge purple fan over here! I am thinking of putting it in our small windowless powder room above the half-wall of vertical shiplap (simply white). I want to better compliment our cute little hexagon black and white floor tiles and our brass hardware. I am also considering wet concrete for a similar effect but slightly lighter, given that the room is dark. Thoughts welcome 🙂 Thank you for creating this helpful information-packed website.
Awwww, thanks for such a great comment! I’m so excited you want to try this, which reminds me, I think I have an image of Cinnamon Slate in a small room to add to this post (it has a window, but you’ll get the idea). Of the two colors, ooooo, it depends on the finishes in your space, but my HEART automatically goes to Cinnamon Slate (check this blog post to see if the new photo is added – I’m doing it right now!).