Truly Taupe (SW 6038)
Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
Truly Taupe (SW 6038) is a deep, warm greige from Sherwin-Williams: LRV 35, so it reflects about 35 percent of the light that hits it.
Colors that go with Truly Taupe
Four Sherwin-Williams colors picked for Truly Taupe by this site's color math: a trim white, a deeper greige, a quiet contrast from another family, a dark accent. Sherwin-Williams did not choose these pairings.
Closest match in every other brand
Each brand's closest color to Truly Taupe, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benjamin Moore | Creekbed | 1006 | 33.3 | 3.2 | noticeably different |
| Behr | Smoked Mauve | PPU17-12 | 34.3 | 1.3 | very close |
| Valspar | Wool Coat | 1002-10A | 35 | 1.9 | very close |
| PPG Paints | Winter's Nap | 1018-4 | 35 | 2.2 | very close |
Lighter and darker in Sherwin-Williams
The Sherwin-Williams greige colors nearest to Truly Taupe (LRV 35) by LRV.
Lighter than Truly Taupe
Darker than Truly Taupe
Color data
| Brand | Sherwin-Williams |
|---|---|
| Color code | SW 6038 |
| Hex | #AC9E97 |
| RGB | 172, 158, 151 |
| HSL | 20°, 11%, 63% |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 35 |
| Lab L*, a*, b* | 66.1, 3.9, 5.5 |
| Undertone | Warm |
| Temperature | warm |
| Color family | Greige |
Same paint, two kinds of light
Truly Taupe (SW 6038), published as #AC9E97
#9C9495
#BDA897
These swatches and the rooms above are a simulation, not a measurement. How the visualizer works
Similar shades from Sherwin-Williams
More from Sherwin-Williams
Common questions
- What is the LRV of Truly Taupe (SW 6038)?
- Truly Taupe has an LRV of 35. LRV runs from 0 (black) to 100 (pure white) and measures the share of light a surface reflects, so Truly Taupe is a deep color.
- What is the closest match to Truly Taupe in another brand?
- Smoked Mauve (Behr PPU17-12) from Behr, at a deltaE of 1.3 (very close).
- Is Truly Taupe warm or cool?
- Sherwin-Williams lists Truly Taupe as warm, with a Warm undertone. Its Lab b* value is 5.5; 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.