Rare Gray (SW 6199)
Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
Rare Gray (SW 6199) is a deep, warm gray from Sherwin-Williams: LRV 38, so it reflects about 38 percent of the light that hits it.
Colors that go with Rare Gray
Four Sherwin-Williams colors picked for Rare Gray by this site's color math: a trim white, a deeper gray, 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 Rare Gray, 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 | Sabre Gray | 1482 | 38.2 | 1.6 | very close |
| Behr | Old Celadon | PPU25-05 | 38.8 | 0.6 | indistinguishable |
| Valspar | Wet Pavement | 5006-2A | 38 | 1.9 | very close |
| PPG Paints | Hot Stone | 1007-4 | 39 | 1.9 | very close |
Lighter and darker in Sherwin-Williams
The Sherwin-Williams gray colors nearest to Rare Gray (LRV 38) by LRV.
Lighter than Rare Gray
Darker than Rare Gray
Color data
| Brand | Sherwin-Williams |
|---|---|
| Color code | SW 6199 |
| Hex | #A6A69B |
| RGB | 166, 166, 155 |
| HSL | 60°, 6%, 63% |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 38 |
| Lab L*, a*, b* | 67.8, -2.0, 5.7 |
| Undertone | Neutral |
| Temperature | warm |
| Color family | Gray |
Same paint, two kinds of light
Rare Gray (SW 6199), published as #A6A69B
#959C99
#B7B09B
These swatches and the rooms above are a simulation, not a measurement. How the visualizer works
Similar shades from Sherwin-Williams
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Common questions
- What is the LRV of Rare Gray (SW 6199)?
- Rare Gray has an LRV of 38. LRV runs from 0 (black) to 100 (pure white) and measures the share of light a surface reflects, so Rare Gray is a deep color.
- What is the closest match to Rare Gray in another brand?
- Old Celadon (Behr PPU25-05) from Behr, at a deltaE of 0.6 (indistinguishable).
- Is Rare Gray warm or cool?
- Sherwin-Williams lists Rare Gray as warm, with a Neutral undertone. Its Lab b* value is 5.7; 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.