Kendall Charcoal (BM HC-166) vs Amherst Gray (BM HC-167)

Living room with walls painted Benjamin Moore Kendall Charcoal HC-166 (simulated) — Kendall Charcoal BM HC-166#676662, LRV 14.6 Verified 2026-10-02

Living room with walls painted Benjamin Moore Amherst Gray HC-167 (simulated) — Amherst Gray BM HC-167#757670, LRV 18.8

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

Quick decision

Lighter: Amherst Gray, LRV 18.8 vs 14.6.
Warmer: Amherst Gray (Lab b* 3.2 vs 2.4). Kendall Charcoal reads neutral gray; Amherst Gray reads green-gray.
North rooms: Amherst Gray keeps more brightness (L* 45.4 vs 39.2 in north light); both drift gray about equally.
Trim that works: Oxford White BM 869, #F0F1EA, LRV 86.7: the Benjamin Moore white closest in hue to both.
Closeness: deltaE 6.3, clearly different. At 6.3, treat them as different colors.

See each color

Kendall CharcoalBenjamin Moore, BM HC-166LRV 14.6, #676662

More comparisons with Kendall Charcoal

Amherst GrayBenjamin Moore, BM HC-167LRV 18.8, #757670

Kendall Charcoal (BM HC-166) is slightly darker than Amherst Gray (BM HC-167) and about as warm: LRV 14.6 vs 18.8, deltaE 6.3 (clearly different).

Side by side

Measure	Kendall Charcoal	Amherst Gray	Gap
Brand	Benjamin Moore	Benjamin Moore
Color code	HC-166	HC-167
Hex	#676662	#757670
RGB	103, 102, 98	117, 118, 112
HSL	48°, 2%, 39%	70°, 3%, 45%
LRV (light reflectance value)	14.6	18.8	−4.2
Lab L*	43.2	49.4	−6.2
Lab a*	-0.4	-1.6	+1.2
Lab b*	2.4	3.2	−0.8
Undertone	Neutral	Neutral
Temperature	neutral	neutral
Color family	Gray	Gray

Same paint, two kinds of light

Kendall Charcoal (BM HC-166), published as #676662

North light (cool, indirect)
#585D60

South light (warm, direct)
#776F62

Amherst Gray (BM HC-167), published as #757670

North light (cool, indirect)
#656D6E

South light (warm, direct)
#857F70

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 Amherst Gray (BM HC-167) for a small room or a north-facing room, because it is 4.2 LRV points lighter (18.8 vs 14.6), so it bounces back more of the limited light

Closest matches to Kendall Charcoal in other brands

Closest matches to Amherst Gray in other brands

Common questions

Is Kendall Charcoal the same color as Amherst Gray?: They are clearly different: a CIEDE2000 difference of 6.3. Kendall Charcoal and Amherst Gray are different colors.
Which is lighter, Kendall Charcoal or Amherst Gray?: Amherst Gray, with an LRV of 18.8 against 14.6.

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: Kendall Charcoal: LRV and hex from Benjamin Moore technical data (verified 2026-10-02); Amherst Gray: 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.