After the Storm (SW 9685)
Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
After the Storm (SW 9685) is a very deep, cool black from Sherwin-Williams: LRV 3, so it reflects about 3 percent of the light that hits it.
Colors that go with After the Storm
Three Sherwin-Williams colors picked for After the Storm 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 After the Storm, 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 | After Midnight | CSP-630 | 6 | 2.7 | noticeably different |
| Behr | Obsidian Stone | ECC-25-3 | 4.9 | 6.2 | clearly different |
| Valspar | Dark Kettle Black | 4011-2 | 5 | 6.3 | clearly different |
| PPG Paints | Napoleon | 1013-7 | 5 | 6.7 | clearly different |
Lighter and darker in Sherwin-Williams
The Sherwin-Williams black colors nearest to After the Storm (LRV 3) by LRV.
Lighter than After the Storm
Color data
| Brand | Sherwin-Williams |
|---|---|
| Color code | SW 9685 |
| Hex | #2A3037 |
| RGB | 42, 48, 55 |
| HSL | 212°, 13%, 19% |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 3 |
| Lab L*, a*, b* | 19.6, -0.7, -5.3 |
| Undertone | Cool |
| Temperature | cool |
| Color family | Black |
Same paint, two kinds of light
After the Storm (SW 9685), published as #2A3037
#1A2835
#393837
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 After the Storm (SW 9685)?
- After the Storm has an LRV of 3. LRV runs from 0 (black) to 100 (pure white) and measures the share of light a surface reflects, so After the Storm is a very deep color.
- What is the closest match to After the Storm in another brand?
- After Midnight (BM CSP-630) from Benjamin Moore, at a deltaE of 2.7 (noticeably different).
- Is After the Storm warm or cool?
- Sherwin-Williams lists After the Storm as cool, with a Cool undertone. Its Lab b* value is -5.3; 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.