Benjamin Moore Apollo Blue (CW-645) took this brick home from clunky to charming. We specified it for the siding, with Sherwin-Williams Pearly White (SW 7009) on the trim and Sherwin-Williams Cyberspace (SW 7076) on the front door, shutters, and garage doors. The finished exterior looks elegant, classic, and timeless.
Apollo Blue wasn’t the original plan. The homeowners fell in love with Sherwin-Williams Portsmouth (SW 9644), a Designer Color Collection shade that at the time was sold only in interior paint and trim enamel. It’s available in an exterior paint today. Apollo Blue is about as close as two colors from different brands get, so it was a great alternative.
The siding color was only one piece of the palette. We also painted over the previous white belly band that wrapped around the house. Removing this white stripe made the home look bigger and far less chopped up. Below is the full palette, where each color went, and why BM Apollo Blue works against warm, reddish brick.
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Benjamin Moore Apollo Blue Tips and Tricks
- Use with: earthy, reddish brick, warm stained concrete, a gray roof, and a crisp white that is not stark. Its earthiness is what lets it flow with muted masonry instead of fighting it.
- Don’t use with: a contrasting belly band. On our project, a white band around the middle of the house chopped it in half. Painting it Apollo Blue made the house look bigger, calmer, and more elevated.
- For exteriors: Apollo Blue reads as a muted blue-green outside, and its LRV of 23.7 is lower than you would expect from a light blue. Against a gray roof it holds as a soft, grounded color rather than going bright. Expect it to look lighter and more colorful on the house than on a chip — paint colors saturated by sunshine look much lighter outside than on the page or in the shade.
- Best trim color (satin): Sherwin-Williams Pearly White (SW 7009), LRV 77 — crisp without going stark
- Best front porch ceiling color (flat): Sherwin-Williams Pearly White (SW 7009) on the front porch ceiling, which brightened the entry
- Best paint matches: Sherwin-Williams Portsmouth (SW 9644), LRV 22 — close to identical, and a touch darker than Apollo Blue at 23.7
What Color is Benjamin Moore Apollo Blue?
Benjamin Moore Apollo Blue is a medium blue-green paint color. It is very muted, with lots of gray tones, so it’s an excellent option for exteriors, where the sunlight can make brighter colors appear too stark or bright. It’s also very earthy, which is part of what makes it so great with brick and other warm exterior finishes.
BM Apollo has an LRV of 23.7, which means it absorbs more light than it reflects. LRV stands for Light Reflectance Value, and it’s a measurement of how dark or light a color is. Learn more about LRV in our post: “LRV of Paint Colors: What Light Reflectance Value Really Tells You”.
What are the BM Apollo Blue undertones?
Apollo Blue has strong green undertones, which are especially visible when used outdoors. While Apollo Blue is a blue paint color, the undertones keep this hue beautifully warm.
Does BM Apollo Blue go with brick?
Yes, because it’s a warm and muted paint color, it works really well with red brick and other warm stone. On our client’s house pictured today, it contrasts nicely with the brick and allows both the siding and the stone to shine.
What is the closest Sherwin-Williams alternative to BM Apollo?
Sherwin-Williams Portsmouth is nearly identical to Benjamin Moore Apollo Blue. In fact, when we were working with our client on their exterior color palette, SW Portsmouth was the color they fell in love with.
Unfortunately, Portsmouth is part of Sherwin-Williams’ Designer Collection and was not available in exterior paint as it is today. So, we did something we rarely do, and we chose paint colors from different brands.
We usually don’t like to specify colors from two different companies because it’s an operational hassle for the painters and it’s kind of a recipe for things to go wrong. In this case, however, it worked, and was a much better option than trying to color match SW Portsmouth in an exterior paint line. (Read more about why paint matching is never a good idea.)
Real Project Spotlight: Benjamin Moore Apollo Blue Exterior Color Palette
This client’s property was already beautiful, with warm red brick and a gorgeous yard with lots of greenery and flowers. But the home’s exterior color palette didn’t add anything to the look of the home. But with Benjamin Moore Apollo Blue siding, this home truly came to life.
The home’s original color palette was a muted green hue that didn’t stand out against the surrounding trees and looked dull against the red brick and faded brown roof. The garage doors matched the siding, creating a look without enough contrast, and a white belly band, or racing stripe, trim around the front and back of the house visually split the house in two.
With the updated color palette, we not only changed the paint colors, we also suggested a dark gray roof that better aligned with the palette and used paint to help the home’s belly band trim recede into the home.
Here’s the full palette. Keep reading for a detailed breakdown.
| Paint color | Where we used it |
|---|---|
| Benjamin Moore Apollo Blue (CW-645) LRV 23.7 |
Siding, the belly band all the way around the house, and downspouts over both the siding and the brick |
| Sherwin-Williams Pearly White (SW 7009) LRV 77 |
Trim, fascia, gutters, soffits, frieze board, door trim, window trim, garage door trim, front and back railings, front and back deck fascia, and the front porch ceiling |
| Sherwin-Williams Cyberspace (SW 7076) LRV 6 |
Front door, sidelights, shutters, and garage doors |
Benjamin Moore Apollo Blue Siding
Apollo Blue is easily one of my favorite blue exterior paint colors. It’s dark enough to not look washed out or electric in the bright sun, but light enough that it doesn’t feel heavy or dark. It’s colorful and warm but still feels classic and timeless, especially when paired with earthy brick or stone.
We painted most of the home’s racing-stripe trim the same color as the siding, which helped it blend into the rest of the siding and made the entire palette flow better. The only parts we left white were the trim pieces right below the home’s windows on the front gable. You can see how the siding looks cohesive above compared to the before photo below.
The downspouts over the siding and brick were also painted with Apollo Blue to help them blend into the home.
Sherwin-Williams Cyberspace Accents
Sherwin-Williams Cyberspace is one of our favorite dark exterior paint colors. Indoors, it can look almost black, but it’s actually a very dark blue. Outside, the color’s blue tones and colorful warmth are much clearer, but it still functions as a neutral.
On this home, we used SW Cyberspace for the shutters, garage doors, and front door. It provides a gorgeous pop of color while still looking classic.
Sherwin-Williams Pearly White Trim
When we specify a “white” exterior trim for many homes we work on, it’s very rarely a bright crisp white. In this case, we went with Sherwin-Williams Pearly White, a warm and muted complex cream paint color that is really a very light beige but looks white outdoors in the bright sun. A brighter white would have looked obnoxious with the muted brick and siding color.
Pearly White has similar green undertones to Benjamin Moore Apollo Blue and Sherwin-Williams Cyberspace, so it complements both hues really well.
We used Pearly White for all of the exterior trim, soffits, fascia, and railings. We also painted the portion of the home’s racing stripe directly under the windows in Pearly White, which made the windows look larger. This window was missing formal trim with the belly band under the window. You can see (if you look close) that we cut in the sides of the bottom window trim to create a trim piece.
For the home’s front entry, we painted the porch ceiling with Pearly White, which made the whole space feel brighter and more welcoming and balanced well with the SW Cyberspace front door.
Shop This BM Apollo Blue Exterior Color Palette
| Paint color | Peel-and-stick sample |
|---|---|
| 1. Benjamin Moore Apollo Blue (CW-645) | Sample Apollo Blue |
| 2. Sherwin-Williams Pearly White (SW 7009) | Sample Pearly White |
| 3. Sherwin-Williams Cyberspace (SW 7076) | Sample Cyberspace |
Benjamin Moore Apollo Blue works because of the green in it — that earthiness is what lets a light blue sit beside reddish brick without turning electric. How much of it you see depends on your brick, your roof, and your light, so test it on the actual siding before you commit. New to peel-and-stick samples? Samplize sends real manufacturer paint, two coats, in a 9” x 14” sheet, delivered overnight. I use them on every consultation. More on our method here: how to test paint colors.
Benjamin Moore Apollo Blue FAQ
Is Benjamin Moore Apollo Blue the same as Sherwin-Williams Portsmouth?
Benjamin Moore Apollo Blue (CW-645) and Sherwin-Williams Portsmouth (SW 9644) are not the same color, but they are very close. Apollo Blue has an LRV of 23.7 and Portsmouth 22, so Apollo Blue is a touch lighter. Both read as a muted, earthy blue-green. We used Apollo Blue on a client’s siding because Portsmouth had no exterior formula.
Can you use Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore colors on the same house?
Yes, but we avoid it when we can. Specifying Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore on one exterior sends painters to two paint stores, which adds hassle and room for mistakes, and some painters will color-match one brand into the other instead. It worked out on our Apollo Blue project, but mixing brands should be a deliberate choice.
Should you paint a belly band the same color as the siding?
Usually, yes. A belly band in a contrasting color runs around the middle of the house and visually chops it in half. On our Benjamin Moore Apollo Blue project, we painted the stretch under the windows as window trim, with a crisp false line at each end, then painted the rest of the band the siding color.
Key Learning Points
Benjamin Moore Apollo Blue (CW-645) does its best work on a brick home that wants a light blue with enough earth in it to sit beside warm, reddish masonry.
- Mixing paint brands can work, but plan for it. We normally avoid specifying Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore on one house, because it sends painters to two stores and invites mistakes. Here the homeowners loved Sherwin-Williams Portsmouth, which is sold only in interior paint and trim enamel, so its near-twin Apollo Blue stood in.
- Paint out a contrasting belly band. Taking the white band around the middle of the house to Apollo Blue made the house look bigger and more elevated. It no longer reads as two halves stacked on top of each other.
- Choose the body color around what you can’t change. Apollo Blue was chosen to flow with earthy red brick, a stained reddish-orange driveway, and a gray roof, with Sherwin-Williams Pearly White (SW 7009, LRV 77) as a crisp white that doesn’t go stark against that brick.
Remember: NEVER, EVER use paint matches from a different brand than the one specified. Results are poor and there are no standards for the sheens. Even though your painter may truly believe it can be done, don’t do it. See results in our paint matching guide.
No matter what, always test your paint colors. It’s a standard best practice. Whenever I test my paint colors, they are perfect, and when I don’t test they turn out wrong. Learn how to test your paint colors like a pro.
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Related Posts:
- Best Blue Exterior Paint Colors
- Sherwin-Williams Pearly White Color Review
- Sherwin-Williams Cyberspace Color Review
- Best Sherwin-Williams Exterior Color Palettes
- Best White Exterior Trim Colors
About the Author
Hi, I’m Michelle Marceny, founder, owner, and Principal Color Designer at The Color Concierge. I believe a fresh coat of paint can completely transform a space. The Color Concierge was born out of my drive to help clients fall back in love with their homes. My clients trust me to help them find the perfect paint color — whether that’s a whole-house color scheme or ideas for a single room.
Since founding The Color Concierge in 2017, my team and I have completed 1,000s of color consultations, online and in person. I’m a Certified Color Expert with nine years of experience creating interior and exterior color palettes throughout North America.
Every color review on this site comes from colors we’ve specified in real homes and photographed on location during our own consultations — not from a fan deck or a manufacturer’s website.
We love your comments! Please note that the blog is meant as general advice, and it is not possible to give out specific answers to your paint questions. If you want more specific advice, our Online Color Consultations will help you pick your paint colors. Thank you for your understanding.
