Cracked Pepper (Behr PPU18-01) vs Peppercorn (SW 7674)

Living room with walls painted Behr Cracked Pepper PPU18-01 (simulated) — Cracked Pepper Behr PPU18-01#4F5152, LRV 8.2 (estimated)

Living room with walls painted Sherwin-Williams Peppercorn SW 7674 (simulated) — Peppercorn SW 7674#585858, LRV 10

Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.

Quick decision

Lighter: Peppercorn, LRV 10 vs 8.2.
Warmer: About the same, both neutral gray (Lab b* -0.9 vs 0.0).
North rooms: Peppercorn keeps more brightness (L* 33.3 vs 30.2 in north light); both drift gray about equally.
Trim that works: Ivory Keys Behr T16-17, #F3F1E7, LRV 87.7 (estimated): the Behr white closest in hue to both.
Closeness: deltaE 2.8, noticeably different. At 2.8, test both: on a full wall the difference will show.

See each color

Cracked PepperBehr PPU18-01LRV 8.2 (estimated), #4F5152

More comparisons with Cracked Pepper

Cracked Pepper vs Iron OreBehr PPU18-01 vs SW 7069deltaE 5.1, clearly different

PeppercornSherwin-Williams, SW 7674LRV 10, #585858

More comparisons with Peppercorn

Cracked Pepper (Behr PPU18-01) is slightly darker than Peppercorn (SW 7674) and about as warm: LRV 8.2 vs 10, deltaE 2.8 (noticeably different).

Side by side

Measure	Cracked Pepper	Peppercorn	Gap
Brand	Behr	Sherwin-Williams
Color code	PPU18-01	SW 7674
Hex	#4F5152	#585858
RGB	79, 81, 82	88, 88, 88
HSL	200°, 2%, 32%	0°, 0%, 35%
LRV (light reflectance value)	8.2 (est.)	10	−1.8
Lab L*	34.3	37.4	−3.1
Lab a*	-0.6	0.0	−0.6
Lab b*	-0.9	0.0	−0.9
Undertone	Warm	Neutral
Temperature	warm	neutral
Color family	Gray	Gray

Same paint, two kinds of light

Cracked Pepper (Behr PPU18-01), published as #4F5152

North light (cool, indirect)
#404850

South light (warm, direct)
#5E5A52

Peppercorn (SW 7674), published as #585858

North light (cool, indirect)
#494F56

South light (warm, direct)
#676158

These swatches and the rooms above are a simulation, not a measurement. How the visualizer works

Which should you pick

Rules of thumb computed from the LRV and Lab values in the table above; no room test was done.

Pick Peppercorn (SW 7674) for a small room or a north-facing room, because it is 1.8 LRV points lighter (10 vs 8.2), so it bounces back more of the limited light

Closest matches to Cracked Pepper in other brands

Closest matches to Peppercorn in other brands

Common questions

Is Cracked Pepper the same color as Peppercorn?: They are noticeably different: a CIEDE2000 difference of 2.8. Most people can see the difference between Cracked Pepper and Peppercorn side by side.
Which is lighter, Cracked Pepper or Peppercorn?: Peppercorn, with an LRV of 10 against 8.2.

Full pages

Related comparisons

By Paint Pairs. Color data from manufacturer specifications, via PaintDB. The most-viewed colors are checked against each manufacturer's own color page.

Published 2026-10-01. Updated 2026-10-01.

Sources: Cracked Pepper: hex as published by the manufacturer, via PaintDB (CC BY 4.0); LRV is not published by Behr for this color and is estimated here from the color's own hex value; Peppercorn: 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.