Solitude (BM AF-545) vs Boothbay Gray (BM HC-165)

Living room with walls painted Benjamin Moore Solitude AF-545 (simulated) — Solitude BM AF-545#A3AEB4, LRV 41.6

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: Boothbay Gray, LRV 43.3 vs 41.6.
Warmer: Boothbay Gray (Lab b* 0.1 vs -4.4). Solitude reads blue-gray; Boothbay Gray reads green-gray.
North rooms: Boothbay Gray keeps more brightness (L* 67.9 vs 66.4 in north light); both drift gray about equally.
Trim that works: Gray Sky BM 2131-70, #DDE5E5, LRV 75.9: the Benjamin Moore white closest in hue to both.
Closeness: deltaE 4.3, noticeably different. At 4.3, test both: on a full wall the difference will show.

See each color

SolitudeBenjamin Moore, BM AF-545LRV 41.6, #A3AEB4

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

More comparisons with Boothbay Gray

Solitude (BM AF-545) is slightly darker than Boothbay Gray (BM HC-165) and cooler: LRV 41.6 vs 43.3, deltaE 4.3 (noticeably different).

Side by side

Measure	Solitude	Boothbay Gray	Gap
Brand	Benjamin Moore	Benjamin Moore
Color code	AF-545	HC-165
Hex	#A3AEB4	#AAB2B0
RGB	163, 174, 180	170, 178, 176
HSL	201°, 10%, 67%	165°, 5%, 68%
LRV (light reflectance value)	41.6	43.3	−1.6
Lab L*	70.4	71.9	−1.5
Lab a*	-2.6	-3.2	+0.5
Lab b*	-4.4	0.1	−4.4
Undertone	Cool	Neutral
Temperature	neutral	neutral
Color family	Gray	Gray

Same paint, two kinds of light

Solitude (BM AF-545), published as #A3AEB4

North light (cool, indirect)
#91A4B2

South light (warm, direct)
#B5B8B4

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 Boothbay Gray (BM HC-165) for a small room or a north-facing room, because it is 1.6 LRV points lighter (43.3 vs 41.6), so it bounces back more of the limited light
Pick Solitude (BM AF-545) for a south-facing room, because its Lab b* is -4.4 against 0.1, so it is the cooler of the two and offsets warm direct sun
Pick Boothbay Gray (BM HC-165) to warm a north-facing room, because it is the warmer of the two (Lab b* 0.1), which counters cool indirect light

Closest matches to Solitude in other brands

Closest matches to Boothbay Gray in other brands

Common questions

Is Solitude the same color as Boothbay Gray?: They are noticeably different: a CIEDE2000 difference of 4.3. Most people can see the difference between Solitude and Boothbay Gray side by side.
Which is lighter, Solitude or Boothbay Gray?: Boothbay Gray, with an LRV of 43.3 against 41.6.

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.