Ashland Slate (BM 1608)

Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
Ashland Slate (BM 1608) is a very deep, neutral gray from Benjamin Moore: LRV 16.1, so it reflects about 16 percent of the light that hits it.
Colors that go with Ashland Slate
Four Benjamin Moore colors picked for Ashland Slate by this site's color math: a trim white, a deeper gray, a quiet contrast from another family, a dark accent. Benjamin Moore did not choose these pairings.
Closest match in every other brand
Each brand's closest color to Ashland Slate, ranked by CIEDE2000 (deltaE): under 1.0 is indistinguishable, 1.0 to 2.3 very close, 2.3 to 5 noticeably different, over 5 clearly different.
| Brand | Closest color | Code | LRV | deltaE | How close |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sherwin-Williams | Night Out | SW 9560 | 14 | 1.6 | very close |
| Behr | Platinum Gray | PPF-49 | 15.1 | 1.7 | very close |
| Valspar | High-Speed Steel | 4005-2B | 15 | 1.2 | very close |
| PPG Paints | Improbable | 1011-5 | 17 | 2.6 | noticeably different |
Lighter and darker in Benjamin Moore
The Benjamin Moore gray colors nearest to Ashland Slate (LRV 16.1) by LRV.
Lighter than Ashland Slate
Darker than Ashland Slate
Color data
| Brand | Benjamin Moore |
|---|---|
| Color code | 1608 |
| Hex | #696D72 |
| RGB | 105, 109, 114 |
| HSL | 213°, 4%, 43% |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 16.1 |
| Lab L*, a*, b* | 45.9, -0.5, -3.3 |
| Undertone | Cool |
| Temperature | neutral |
| Color family | Gray |
Same paint, two kinds of light
Ashland Slate (BM 1608), published as #696D72
#596470
#7A7672
These swatches and the rooms above are a simulation, not a measurement. How the visualizer works
Similar shades from Benjamin Moore
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Common questions
- What is the LRV of Ashland Slate (BM 1608)?
- Ashland Slate has an LRV of 16.1. LRV runs from 0 (black) to 100 (pure white) and measures the share of light a surface reflects, so Ashland Slate is a very deep color.
- What is the closest match to Ashland Slate in another brand?
- High-Speed Steel (Valspar 4005-2B) from Valspar, at a deltaE of 1.2 (very close).
- Is Ashland Slate warm or cool?
- Benjamin Moore lists Ashland Slate as neutral, with a Cool undertone. Its Lab b* value is -3.3; a higher b* is warmer and yellower, a lower one cooler and bluer.
Sources: LRV and hex as published by the manufacturer, via PaintDB (CC BY 4.0). Color differences are CIEDE2000 values computed by this site from the hex values (data snapshot 2026-10-01). Color names and codes belong to their manufacturers.