Modern Lavender (SW 9688)
Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
Modern Lavender (SW 9688) is a medium, neutral gray from Sherwin-Williams: LRV 40, so it reflects about 40 percent of the light that hits it.
Colors that go with Modern Lavender
Four Sherwin-Williams colors picked for Modern Lavender 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 Modern Lavender, 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 | Excalibur Gray | 2118-50 | 41 | 1.0 | very close |
| Behr | Canyon Sunset | T12-3 | 38.4 | 1.8 | very close |
| Valspar | Metropolis | 4005-1C | 44 | 4.5 | noticeably different |
| PPG Paints | Glistening Gray | 1043-4 | 45 | 2.7 | noticeably different |
Lighter and darker in Sherwin-Williams
The Sherwin-Williams gray colors nearest to Modern Lavender (LRV 40) by LRV.
Lighter than Modern Lavender
Darker than Modern Lavender
Color data
| Brand | Sherwin-Williams |
|---|---|
| Color code | SW 9688 |
| Hex | #A8AAB3 |
| RGB | 168, 170, 179 |
| HSL | 229°, 7%, 68% |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 40 |
| Lab L*, a*, b* | 69.7, 1.1, -4.9 |
| Undertone | Cool |
| Temperature | neutral |
| Color family | Gray |
Same paint, two kinds of light
Modern Lavender (SW 9688), published as #A8AAB3
#96A0B1
#BAB4B3
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 Modern Lavender (SW 9688)?
- Modern Lavender has an LRV of 40. LRV runs from 0 (black) to 100 (pure white) and measures the share of light a surface reflects, so Modern Lavender is a medium color.
- What is the closest match to Modern Lavender in another brand?
- Excalibur Gray (BM 2118-50) from Benjamin Moore, at a deltaE of 1.0 (very close).
- Is Modern Lavender warm or cool?
- Sherwin-Williams lists Modern Lavender as neutral, with a Cool undertone. Its Lab b* value is -4.9; 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.