Clove (SW 9605)
Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
Clove (SW 9605) is a very deep, neutral black from Sherwin-Williams: LRV 5, so it reflects about 5 percent of the light that hits it.
Colors that go with Clove
Three Sherwin-Williams colors picked for Clove by this site's color math: a trim white, 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 Clove, 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 | Night Horizon | 2134-10 | 6.7 | 1.8 | very close |
| Behr | Espresso Beans | PPU5-01 | 6 | 2.1 | very close |
| Valspar | Fired Earth | 6011-1 | 7 | 3.9 | noticeably different |
| PPG Paints | Phantom Mist | 1002-7 | 6 | 2.4 | noticeably different |
Lighter and darker in Sherwin-Williams
The Sherwin-Williams black colors nearest to Clove (LRV 5) by LRV.
Lighter than Clove
Darker than Clove
Color data
| Brand | Sherwin-Williams |
|---|---|
| Color code | SW 9605 |
| Hex | #453E39 |
| RGB | 69, 62, 57 |
| HSL | 25°, 10%, 25% |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 5 |
| Lab L*, a*, b* | 26.8, 2.0, 4.2 |
| Undertone | Warm |
| Temperature | neutral |
| Color family | Black |
Same paint, two kinds of light
Clove (SW 9605), published as #453E39
#373638
#534639
These swatches and the rooms above are a simulation, not a measurement. How the visualizer works
Similar shades from Sherwin-Williams
Comparisons that include Clove (SW 9605)
More from Sherwin-Williams
Common questions
- What is the LRV of Clove (SW 9605)?
- Clove has an LRV of 5. LRV runs from 0 (black) to 100 (pure white) and measures the share of light a surface reflects, so Clove is a very deep color.
- What is the closest match to Clove in another brand?
- Night Horizon (BM 2134-10) from Benjamin Moore, at a deltaE of 1.8 (very close).
- Is Clove warm or cool?
- Sherwin-Williams lists Clove as neutral, with a Warm undertone. Its Lab b* value is 4.2; 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.