Brewster Gray (BM HC-162) vs Boothbay Gray (BM HC-165)

Living room with walls painted Benjamin Moore Brewster Gray HC-162 (simulated) — Brewster Gray BM HC-162#8A9696, LRV 30

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 30.
Warmer: Boothbay Gray (Lab b* 0.1 vs -1.5). Brewster Gray reads blue-gray; Boothbay Gray reads green-gray.
North rooms: Boothbay Gray keeps more brightness (L* 67.9 vs 57.0 in north light); both drift gray about equally.
Trim that works: Whispering Spring BM 2136-70, #DCE7E6, LRV 77.8: the Benjamin Moore white closest in hue to both.
Closeness: deltaE 8.9, clearly different. At 8.9, treat them as different colors.

See each color

Brewster GrayBenjamin Moore, BM HC-162LRV 30, #8A9696

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

More comparisons with Boothbay Gray

Brewster Gray (BM HC-162) is darker than Boothbay Gray (BM HC-165) and slightly cooler: LRV 30 vs 43.3, deltaE 8.9 (clearly different).

Side by side

Measure	Brewster Gray	Boothbay Gray	Gap
Brand	Benjamin Moore	Benjamin Moore
Color code	HC-162	HC-165
Hex	#8A9696	#AAB2B0
RGB	138, 150, 150	170, 178, 176
HSL	180°, 5%, 56%	165°, 5%, 68%
LRV (light reflectance value)	30	43.3	−13.3
Lab L*	61.2	71.9	−10.8
Lab a*	-4.3	-3.2	−1.1
Lab b*	-1.5	0.1	−1.5
Undertone	Neutral	Neutral
Temperature	neutral	neutral
Color family	Gray	Gray

Same paint, two kinds of light

Brewster Gray (BM HC-162), published as #8A9696

North light (cool, indirect)
#798C94

South light (warm, direct)
#9CA096

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 13.3 LRV points lighter (43.3 vs 30), so it bounces back more of the limited light
Pick Brewster Gray (BM HC-162) for a south-facing room, because its Lab b* is -1.5 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 Brewster Gray in other brands

Closest matches to Boothbay Gray in other brands

Common questions

Is Brewster Gray the same color as Boothbay Gray?: They are clearly different: a CIEDE2000 difference of 8.9. Brewster Gray and Boothbay Gray are different colors.
Which is lighter, Brewster Gray or Boothbay Gray?: Boothbay Gray, with an LRV of 43.3 against 30.

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.