Wales Gray (BM 1585) vs Boothbay Gray (BM HC-165)

Living room with walls painted Benjamin Moore Wales Gray 1585 (simulated) — Wales Gray BM 1585#B9C5C3, LRV 53.5

Living room with walls painted Benjamin Moore Boothbay Gray HC-165 (simulated) — Boothbay Gray BM HC-165#AAB2B0, LRV 43.3

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

Quick decision

Lighter: Wales Gray, LRV 53.5 vs 43.3.
Warmer: About the same (Lab b* -0.4 vs 0.1). Wales Gray reads blue-gray; Boothbay Gray reads green-gray.
North rooms: Wales Gray keeps more brightness (L* 74.6 vs 67.9 in north light); both drift gray about equally.
Trim that works: Tulle Skirt BM 2135-70, #E4EDEB, LRV 81: the Benjamin Moore white closest in hue to both.
Closeness: deltaE 5.1, clearly different. At 5.1, treat them as different colors.

See each color

Wales GrayBenjamin Moore, BM 1585LRV 53.5, #B9C5C3

Boothbay GrayBenjamin Moore, BM HC-165LRV 43.3, #AAB2B0

More comparisons with Boothbay Gray

Wales Gray (BM 1585) is lighter than Boothbay Gray (BM HC-165) and about as warm: LRV 53.5 vs 43.3, deltaE 5.1 (clearly different).

Side by side

Measure	Wales Gray	Boothbay Gray	Gap
Brand	Benjamin Moore	Benjamin Moore
Color code	1585	HC-165
Hex	#B9C5C3	#AAB2B0
RGB	185, 197, 195	170, 178, 176
HSL	170°, 9%, 75%	165°, 5%, 68%
LRV (light reflectance value)	53.5	43.3	+10.3
Lab L*	78.6	71.9	+6.7
Lab a*	-4.5	-3.2	−1.3
Lab b*	-0.4	0.1	−0.5
Undertone	Neutral	Neutral
Temperature	neutral	neutral
Color family	Gray	Gray

Same paint, two kinds of light

Wales Gray (BM 1585), published as #B9C5C3

North light (cool, indirect)
#A7BBC1

South light (warm, direct)
#CBCFC3

Boothbay Gray (BM HC-165), published as #AAB2B0

North light (cool, indirect)
#99A8AE

South light (warm, direct)
#BCBCB0

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 Wales Gray (BM 1585) for a small room or a north-facing room, because it is 10.3 LRV points lighter (53.5 vs 43.3), so it bounces back more of the limited light

Closest matches to Wales Gray in other brands

Closest matches to Boothbay Gray in other brands

Common questions

Is Wales Gray the same color as Boothbay Gray?: They are clearly different: a CIEDE2000 difference of 5.1. Wales Gray and Boothbay Gray are different colors.
Which is lighter, Wales Gray or Boothbay Gray?: Wales Gray, with an LRV of 53.5 against 43.3.

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: 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.