Intellectual Gray (SW 7045)
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Intellectual Gray (SW 7045) is a deep, warm greige from Sherwin-Williams: LRV 36, so it reflects about 36 percent of the light that hits it.
Colors that go with Intellectual Gray
Four Sherwin-Williams colors picked for Intellectual Gray 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 Intellectual 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 | River Reflections | 1552 | 35.3 | 0.7 | indistinguishable |
| Behr | Jackal | T12-12 | 35.7 | 0.5 | indistinguishable |
| Valspar | Aspen Gray | 6004-2A | 34 | 2.0 | very close |
| PPG Paints | Stonehenge Greige | 1024-5 | 34 | 1.6 | very close |
Lighter and darker in Sherwin-Williams
The Sherwin-Williams greige colors nearest to Intellectual Gray (LRV 36) by LRV.
Lighter than Intellectual Gray
Darker than Intellectual Gray
Color data
| Brand | Sherwin-Williams |
|---|---|
| Color code | SW 7045 |
| Hex | #A8A093 |
| RGB | 168, 160, 147 |
| HSL | 37°, 11%, 62% |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 36 |
| Lab L*, a*, b* | 66.2, 0.6, 7.8 |
| Undertone | Warm |
| Temperature | warm |
| Color family | Greige |
Same paint, two kinds of light
Intellectual Gray (SW 7045), published as #A8A093
#989691
#B9AA93
These swatches and the rooms above are a simulation, not a measurement. How the visualizer works
Similar shades from Sherwin-Williams
Comparisons that include Intellectual Gray (SW 7045)
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Common questions
- What is the LRV of Intellectual Gray (SW 7045)?
- Intellectual Gray has an LRV of 36. LRV runs from 0 (black) to 100 (pure white) and measures the share of light a surface reflects, so Intellectual Gray is a deep color.
- What is the closest match to Intellectual Gray in another brand?
- Jackal (Behr T12-12) from Behr, at a deltaE of 0.5 (indistinguishable).
- Is Intellectual Gray warm or cool?
- Sherwin-Williams lists Intellectual Gray as warm, with a Warm undertone. Its Lab b* value is 7.8; 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.