Sherwin Williams River’s Edge 7517: Paint Color Review
Need a versatile beige? Check this out…
With warmer paint trends showing up on Pinterest, Instagram, and in Design magazines, you may’ve found yourself searching high and low for the perfect beige paint color.
Had any luck so far? If not, consider this your lucky day, as I’ve got a buttload of beautiful beiges for you, in particular, Sherwin Williams River’s Edge.
With some tweaked undertones and a great LRV, River’s Edge has a lot to offer homes, especially those from the early 2000s/Tuscan trend. So, let’s see what it has up its colorful little sleeves in its color review.
WHAT TYPE OF COLOR IS RIVER’S EDGE?
Rivers Edge is a light beige paint color with mild, but purposeful undertones (which we’ll discuss shortly).
With paint trends shifting towards warmer colors over the past few years, there’s more demand for flexible, warm neutrals like this. However, not every beige can handle a wide range of exposures – let’s see how River’s Edge does…
- If you have a room with north-facing light, morning western, or afternoon eastern light, Rivers Edge’s warm, but not overbearing, temperature can help balance these cool or flat-looking rooms.
- On the other hand, if you have a south-facing room or an afternoon west-facing room, Rivers Edge doesn’t flash overly warm (although that can be open to perception), as it’s not as committed to its warmth as more golden beiges.
WHAT’S THE LRV OF RIVER’S EDGE?
Rivers Edge has an LRV of 63, making it a light depth paint color.
- If you have a DARK room, Rivers Edge could look a bit dingy or flat without the right interior lighting.
- If you have a very bright room, a color this depth can wash out to some degree, but it holds up better than those with higher LRVs.
Generally speaking, Rivers Edge is an awesome depth for the ‘average’ room.
Not sure what LRV is? It could save your paint-lovin’ life – read all about it HERE.
WHAT ARE THE UNDERTONES OF RIVER’S EDGE?
Every warm paint color has undertones of either yellow, orange, or red (pink). The key to picking the best paint color for your home is to align the undertones of your paint color with those of your interior finishes!
Remember how I mentioned earlier how River’s Edge has ‘subtle but purposeful’ undertones?
Rivers Edge centers on an orange undertone—an orange that leans into pink. While this might sound scary (pink being a four-letter word), this makes Rivers Edge an interesting choice, especially for homes built in the early 2000s with their beige-inspired carpets and tiles. This is what makes River’s Edge so purposeful, as some finishes DEMAND this particular blend.
Here’s your Peel & Stick sample of River’s Edge…
WHAT’S THE BEST WHITE TRIM COLOR WITH RIVER’S EDGE?
Rivers Edge is tricky because of its orange-pink undertone.
Why?
Most warm whites lean on a yellow undertone. For this reason, I like Benjamin Moore White Dove with Rivers Edge as it has warmth, but it’s a bit toned down.
Sherwin Williams Alabaster is okay, but you will see more yellow in it compared to the orange-pink of Rivers Edge. Sherwin Williams White Flour can also be an interesting choice, but it’s tougher to live with on a larger scale as it doesn’t accommodate many other paint colors.
The 4 Best White Paint Colors from Sherwin Williams
IS RIVER’S EDGE A GOOD EXTERIOR PAINT COLOR?
If you’re thinking about it – sample it. River’s Edge can work really well with a range of stone exteriors and roofs. Often, people choose beiges with too much yellow in them, whereas River’s Edge can nod towards finishes that need a touch of orange-pink.
5 Tips for Choosing an Exterior Paint Color
IS RIVER’S EDGE A GOOD CABINET COLOR?
While not many people will go for it, thanks to its undertone blend, it can be a wickedly pretty choice for painted kitchen cabinets…
River’s Edge with Iron Ore kitchen island
While there are trendier beiges and tans, not every home can handle ‘today’s hot beige’ and needs the approach of a color like River’s Edge.
DOES RIVER’S EDGE GO WITH WOOD FINISHES?
While it can depend on the undertone of your wood’s stain, River’s Edge works well with a wide range of wood cabinets, trims, and flooring.
In particular, check it out with orange-red wood stains, but be cautious with yellow-stained woods.
WHAT COLORS ARE SIMILAR TO RIVER’S EDGE?
Ooooo, I’ve got some badass, beautiful beiges for you to sample and compare, starting with…
RIVER’S EDGE VS SHERWIN WILLIAMS NATURAL LINEN
River’s Edge and Natural Linen are very comparable, both being beige. And while I personally love (and prefer) Natural Linen, it doesn’t always have that extra wink o’ pink that some finishes demand.
This is because Natural Linen is a bit more balanced on its beige-orange butt. While it can humor some finicky orange finishes, if yours isn’t connecting, you might need the tweak that River’s Edge offers.
As for depth, River’s Edge (by the way, its old name is China Doll), with an LRV of 63, is slightly darker than Natural Linen’s LRV of 66; however, both are nicely within the light range.
Learn ALL ABOUT Natural Linen in its paint color review!
RIVER’S EDGE VS. SHERWIN WILLIAMS ACCESSIBLE BEIGE
With these two being so close in the fan deck, it’s no wonder they get compared! However, when you sample these similar shades, you’ll see they’re only similar…ish.
Both are beige paint colors, offering a soft, gentle warmth. However, whereas River’s Edge has a cleaner, warmer look, Accessible Beige has a bit of gray that calms it down and takes away some of its warm edge, making it look ‘dirtier’.
Accessible Beige is more popular on exteriors.
Of the two, Accessible Beige is far less likely to go with beige interior finishes like travertine tile and beige carpets. However, many find Accessible Beige to be a more ‘modern’ warm neutral.
As for depth, there’s a good dose of difference between these colors, with Accessible Beige’s LRV of 58 making it a chunk darker than River’s Edge’s 63 (‘chunk’ being a technical term).
Learn all about Accessible Beige in its color review!
Here are a few more gorgeous colors to sample and compare (we’ve already talked about Natural Linen and Accessible Beige)…
SW Malabar | SW Kilim Beige
DOES BENJAMIN MOORE HAVE A SIMILAR COLOR?
If you’re looking for an alternative to River’s Edge in Benjamin Moore paint, nothing will be the same – even if they try to color-match it, it won’t be 100% (no matter what they tell you).
- Coming in with a bit more orange and a touch of yellow compared to River’s Edge, Benjamin Moore Muslin is a gorgeous alternative (quite timeless, too).
- I also love the lighter, gentler look of Benjamin Moore Maritime White. It’s a step different from River’s Edge, but dang gorgeous.
Benjamin Moore Muslin with wood doors and trims
The soft, gentle look of Maritime White
The Best WHOLE HOME Warm Paint Colors
WHAT COLORS GO WITH RIVER’S EDGE?
While it depends on what you need these colors for (adjoining walls, rooms, accent walls, etc), Designers and Color Consultants like me are currently pairing River’s Edge with some of the following shades…
- lighter beiges with comparable undertones
- soft taupe paint colors that are darker than Rivers Edge (LRVs starting around 55 or lower)
- greiges paint colors that are darker than R.Edge. You can also do darker greiges as accent colors.
- A range of green-grays can be dead sexy.
READ MORE
The Most Timeless Beige Paint Colors
Paint Color Review: Sherwin Williams Natural Tan
Get the best paint color advice…
Check out my Online Paint Color Consulting – I’d love to help!
I painted every room in my house China Doll. I really like it. My house is a small manufactured home, done in warm neutrals.
I read your article about cream cabinets and how tough they are to paint around. How do you see Rivers Edge with cream cabinets? Thank you!
Oooo, that probably won’t work as River’s Edge has quite the pink undertone.
Is this color considered a dated color or timeless? Do many people still use it today? Reason being is my whole house is painted this color. It was like this when I purchased it 20 plus years ago. Anytime I have to touch up or refresh I continue to use it. My home is considered a traditional brick exterior with a mixed interior style of classic, modern farmhouse, boho vibe. I recently had my hardwood floors refinished. Went from that golden brown to a more brownish gray color. It seems to work but often struggle finding the right color of lighting to pare with it. Please help.
It’s a tough one. I would say it’s SLIGHTLY dated because it has a bit more orange-pink than the average beige. However, trends are definitely leaning warmer. And YES, it can be a tough one to partner colours with because of the pink in it; that’s probably its biggest downfall. Depending on the trim, something like SW Moderate White and BM Maritime White have a ‘similar’ approach, but they’re lighter and a bit more modern AND flexible :).
Hey Kylie, I think this is the color of the trim ALL over my house, built in 2005. Its not confirmed, but we used one of the color matching tools, and this is what it presented. I am trying to find a good neutral color to paint next to it that will update it, without me needing to repaint the trim all over my house. I was planning on doing Evergreen Fog as an accent color, but do you know of any of the whites that would ok next to it? SW recommends Aesthetic White, but wanting to know if you have any too. Thank you! Love your Blog, I use it all the time for other paint recs!
Hey Stephanie! Personally, I would tready carefully! China Doll has a reasonable amount of pink undertone, making it a tough sell with many of the whites. Aesthetic White is more of an off-white and a bit dingy for River’s Edge. Your best bet could be to play with it a bit. Ask the paint store to lighten it by 75% and see what that looks like. The undertones could change too much, or you could end up with too much orange or pink, but I’ve done this successfully with other colors!
Hi, Kylie! I love your blogs and videos, and have read and watched tons of them, trying to pick out paint colors for my home remodel. I have a lot of dark and cherry colored and orange toned wood furniture, and my new cabinets will be a darker stained red oak, flooring a lighter warm toned wood laminate. I have picked Rivers Edge because I think it will match nicely with these things. I don’t care too much about trends. I like earth tones. Where I am stumped is with what trim color to use. I like the look of pure white, but I’m concerned that it’s too stark with the dark furniture and cabinets. I don’t like the yellow undertone of alabaster. Do you have a recommendation? I’d really appreciate your input! Thanks!
Ahhh yes, trims can be tough with some of these beiges! The best whites are stark and bright or have yellow in them. If you don’t love Pure White/Alabaster, what about shifting over to BM White Dove as a happy medium?
Thanks for getting back to me! Unfortunately, I have to stick with Sherwin Williams because that’s what my painter uses. Is Pure White just too bright with my darker things? Or would it look fine on doors and trim? Thank you so much for your input!
Hello.
I’ve done a deep dive into cabinet whites (with the help of your site, so thank you). I do not need a consult as I’m pretty good at knowing what I like and what I don’t like, however, I’ve been know to repaint an entire room (many actually) because of a fraction of a shade that is off as the shades I lean to are in a very narrow window. I have one shot at my cabinets (horrible golden oak to white). I will pay you for an answer to my question – I just don’t want you to send me back down the same rabbit holes I’ve just worked my way out of and I cannot find a way to contact you other than a paid consult or this “comment” option. Please let me know the best way to move forward with an answer to the following question. I have China Doll / Rivers Edge throughout my home with no interested in repainting in it’s entirety right now. I am painting my cabinets white and absolutely do not like the pairing of a creamy white (Alabaster) with my Rivers Edge. I like Pure White (SW) and Chantilly Lace (BM) but you say these are a hard no for “tuscan” inspired colors. Does this apply to Rivers Edge? If so, is there another, crisp white you’d recommend? Thank you.
Hey Kim! I’d probably settle with Pure White, but check out SW White Snow which is one of their NEWER whites – bright like Chantilly Lace, but a touch warmer ;).