Sherwin Williams Light French Gray vs Repose Gray: Let's Compare!

Want to paint your home a light gray paint color? Let's compare Sherwin Williams Light French Gray vs Repose Gray to see if one might be perfect for your home!

Light gray is a super popular paint color that many people love to use in their homes.

And I totally give it. Grays can be totally neutral, but still give your walls a bit of interest and depth.

The right gray paint color stands on its own, but also pairs with a ton of other color schemes and accent colors.

Two of the most popular colors in this category are Sherwin Williams Light French Gray and Repose Gray.

Read my full review of Light French Gray

Read my full review of Repose Gray

Let's compare these two popular paint colors head to head to see which might be best for your home!

Light French Gray vs Repose Gray

Light French Gray and Repose Gray are both popular gray paint colors by Sherwin Williams. They seem similar at a glance, but when you get them next to each other their differences quickly become obvious!

What is similar about Light French Gray vs Repose Gray?

These two gray paint colors are both mid-toned gray paint colors. They are both also fairly neutral

What is different about Light French Gray vs Repose Gray?

	Light French Gray	Repose Gray
LRV	53	58
RBG	R: 194 G: 192 B: 187	R:201 G:201 B:192
Undertones	purple, cool	green, blue

Light Reflectance Value

Light Reflective Value is the measurement of how much light a color bounces around. This is on a scale of 0 to 100 with 0 being pure black and 100 being pure white.

With an LRV of 58, Repose Gray is slightly brighter and lighter when compared to Light French Gray (LRV 53).

LRVs in the 50s are generally considered mid-toned colors, though in well lit rooms they will look lighter. They can look quite dark and even dingy in poorly lit spaces!

Undertones

The difference in undertones is the other significant difference between these two shades of gray.

Light French Gray has definite purple undertones, giving it almost the look of elephant skin. It's a very distinct shade that can read as fairly cool.

On the other hand, repose gray is more greige, with brown and green undertones. It is not super warm on it's own, but is definitely much warmer than Light French Gray.

How do I decide between these two colors?

The biggest difference here is in undertones, so you need to think about your existing fixtures and the undertones that they have, as well as how that tone will play with each of these.

You are really going to need to test these two gray colors to see how the very different undertones look and feel in your space.

Thanks for reading!