Honest Blue (SW 6520)
Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
Honest Blue (SW 6520) is a medium, cool blue from Sherwin-Williams: LRV 55, so it reflects about 55 percent of the light that hits it.
Colors that go with Honest Blue
Four Sherwin-Williams colors picked for Honest Blue by this site's color math: a trim white, a deeper blue, 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 Honest Blue, 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 | Sea View | 836 | 54.7 | 1.3 | very close |
| Behr | Opal Waters | MQ5-50 | 54.3 | 0.5 | indistinguishable |
| Valspar | Sailboat | 4005-5B | 56 | 1.6 | very close |
| PPG Paints | Twinkle | 1154-4 | 54 | 1.3 | very close |
Lighter and darker in Sherwin-Williams
The Sherwin-Williams blue colors nearest to Honest Blue (LRV 55) by LRV.
Lighter than Honest Blue
Darker than Honest Blue
Color data
| Brand | Sherwin-Williams |
|---|---|
| Color code | SW 6520 |
| Hex | #B2C7D3 |
| RGB | 178, 199, 211 |
| HSL | 202°, 27%, 76% |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 55 |
| Lab L*, a*, b* | 79.1, -4.6, -8.4 |
| Undertone | Cool |
| Temperature | cool |
| Color family | Blue |
Same paint, two kinds of light
Honest Blue (SW 6520), published as #B2C7D3
#9FBDD1
#C5D1D3
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 Honest Blue (SW 6520)?
- Honest Blue has an LRV of 55. LRV runs from 0 (black) to 100 (pure white) and measures the share of light a surface reflects, so Honest Blue is a medium color.
- What is the closest match to Honest Blue in another brand?
- Opal Waters (Behr MQ5-50) from Behr, at a deltaE of 0.5 (indistinguishable).
- Is Honest Blue warm or cool?
- Sherwin-Williams lists Honest Blue as cool, with a Cool undertone. Its Lab b* value is -8.4; 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.