Benjamin Moore Wrought Iron & Cheating Heart: LRV, Undertones & a Little More

Looking for a STRIKING, dark, navy blue-inspired paint color? I’ve got two of the best for you – Benjamin Moore’s Wrought Iron and Cheating Heart.

In order to show you RELATEABLE & REAL homes, I ONLY use photos from my Online Color Consulting clients. This means I don’t always have the quality pics I need (hence the ‘QUICK Review’), but DEFINITELY have some SUPER helpful info to help you on your way!

What type of paint colors are Benjamin Moore’s Wrought Iron & Cheating Heart? Are they gray, black or navy blue?

Wrought Iron and Cheating Heart are navy blue INSPIRED colors. Why ‘inspired’? Well, they’re SO dark and so diluted; the navy blue almost takes a backseat to the neutral base in these wild and wicked paint colors.

Benjamin Moore Cheating Heart with Sherwin Williams Pure White

If you have a dark room, both Wrought Iron and Cheating Heart WILL look blackish – they need light to come to life. However, if you give them even a moderate hit of light, you’ll see their color rise up. This increase in color happens more so in Cheating Heart than in Wrought Iron.

North, East, South, West – Which Paint Color is the Best?

What are the LRVs of Wrought Iron and Cheating Heart?

Wrought Iron has an LRV of 6.16, and Cheating Heart has an LRV of 6.89, putting them BOTH in the DARK end of the dark range! Remember, the closer we are to 0, the closer we are to true black.

UPDATE: Benjamin Moore has recently changed these numbers to Cheating Heart – 8.79 and Wrought Iron – 8.17. I’ve sent them an email asking why the change was and am awaiting a reply.

Benjamin Moore Wrought Iron with pink-toned brick

Not sure what LRV is? It could save your paint-lovin’ life – read all about it HERE.

What are the undertones of Wrought Iron and Cheating Heart? Will they look navy blue?

If you have some natural or artificial light, BOTH of these colors have the potential to look like muted navy blues. They aren’t as strong as colors like Sherwin Williams Cyberspace and Benjamin Moore Hale Navy, but they do pick up whispers of navy blue for sure.

Benjamin Moore’s Cheating Heart

As for UNDERTONES, Wrought Iron is like the DARKEST gray paint color (or a soft black) with a navy blue undertone, whereas Cheating Heart is more of an even balance of gray-blue-black.

What’s the best way to sample paint colors?

Like with every paint color, I highly recommend using SAMPLIZE. Samplize is a peel & stick paint sample that you can easily move around your room for over HALF THE COST of traditional sample pots – and they deliver right to your front door!

Learn all about Samplize HERE

If I’m painting my walls Wrought Iron or Cheating Heart, what’s the best white paint color for my trim?

When it comes to navy blue paint colors, there aren’t many whites you CAN’T do, but I wouldn’t go too creamy-yellow. The yellow in a warm white can look that bit stronger up against the blue of these paint colors, whereas a more modest or clean white will create a cleaner, crisper contrast, colors such as…

• Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace
• Sherwin Williams High Reflective White
• Benjamin Moore Oxford White

The 8 Best Benjamin Moore White Paint Colors

Would Wrought Iron or Cheating Heart be good exterior paint colors? 

As far as shutters and doors go, Wrought Iron and Cheating Heart can be STUNNING choices for the exterior of your home.

Before, the yellow and black weren’t doing anything for the gorgeous brick on this home’s exterior…

After, everything looks updated with a fresh new trim color and Wrought Iron shutters via my E-Design…

As for the siding on your home, if you’re going for a STRONG, striking look, Wrought Iron and Cheating Heart can look awesome, keeping in mind that dark colors do absorb more sun and can fade out faster than lighter colors. Also note that the navy blue can show up a wink more on an exterior.

This next home was a hodge-podge of greens and textures…

After an Online Paint Color Consultation, including Cheating Heart on the shutters and front door, it’s like a WHOLE NEW HOME! Notice HOW MUCH DARKER Cheating Heart looks compared to Wrought Iron on the previous home – goes to show what natural lighting can do!

5 Tips to Choosing an Exterior Paint Color

Is Wrought Iron or Cheating Heart a good choice for my kitchen cabinets, island or built-ins?

HECK TO THE YES! I mean, yes, it could be, as long as the rest of the finishes in your kitchen can visually support it. Navy blue can be TOUGH in a kitchen unless it makes sense with the countertop, backsplash and other interior finishes.

Benjamin Moore Cheating Heart

What Sherwin Williams paint colors are the same as or similar to Wrought Iron and Cheating Heart?

While we’d ALL love the perfect match, every color has its own particular nuances, and you can get close, but you WILL see shifts in undertones, temperature and depths. To get even CLOSE in Sherwin Williams, I had to move into a black family, and the only one even remotely close was…

• Sherwin Williams Iron Ore – although it’s a soft black that leans slightly green rather than blue

And if you’re thinking of color matching between brands (i.e., getting BM to make an SW paint color), you might want to read THIS first.

What type of paint colors look good with Wrought Iron or Cheating Heart?

You won’t find many limits when looking to partner with Wrought Iron or Cheating Heart with other paint colors, for example…

• Light soft grays with a purple undertone
• Some greige paint colors
• Muted cream-greige paint colors
• Some blue-gray blends

And SO much more.

Not sure if these colors are right for you? I’ve got more!

BENJAMIN MOORE HALE NAVY

Read more: Paint Color Review of Benjamin Moore Hale Navy

SHERWIN WILLIAMS CYBERSPACE

Read more: Paint Color Review of Sherwin Williams Cyberspace

THE BEST PAINT COLORS FOR KITCHEN ISLANDS

Read more: The 4 Best Paint Colors for Kitchen Islands

Not sure which paint color is best for YOUR home?

Check out my Online Paint Color Consulting – I’d love to help!