Kendall Charcoal (BM HC-166) vs Chelsea Gray (SW 2850)

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 Sherwin-Williams Chelsea Gray SW 2850 (simulated) — Chelsea Gray SW 2850#B6B7B0, LRV 47

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

Quick decision

Lighter: Chelsea Gray, LRV 47 vs 14.6.
Warmer: Chelsea Gray (Lab b* 3.4 vs 2.4). Kendall Charcoal reads neutral gray; Chelsea Gray reads green-gray.
North rooms: Chelsea Gray keeps more brightness (L* 70.1 vs 39.2 in north light); Kendall Charcoal drifts less gray (chroma drop 0.0 vs 0.8).
Trim that works: Oxford White BM 869, #F0F1EA, LRV 86.7: the Benjamin Moore white closest in hue to both.
Closeness: deltaE 27.9, clearly different. At 27.9, treat them as different colors.

See each color

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

More comparisons with Kendall Charcoal

Chelsea GraySherwin-Williams, SW 2850LRV 47, #B6B7B0

Kendall Charcoal (BM HC-166) is much darker than Chelsea Gray (SW 2850) and slightly cooler: LRV 14.6 vs 47, deltaE 27.9 (clearly different).

Side by side

Measure	Kendall Charcoal	Chelsea Gray	Gap
Brand	Benjamin Moore	Sherwin-Williams
Color code	HC-166	SW 2850
Hex	#676662	#B6B7B0
RGB	103, 102, 98	182, 183, 176
HSL	48°, 2%, 39%	69°, 5%, 70%
LRV (light reflectance value)	14.6	47	−32.4
Lab L*	43.2	74.2	−31.0
Lab a*	-0.4	-1.6	+1.2
Lab b*	2.4	3.4	−1.0
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

Chelsea Gray (SW 2850), published as #B6B7B0

North light (cool, indirect)
#A5ADAE

South light (warm, direct)
#C8C1B0

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 Chelsea Gray (SW 2850) for a small room or a north-facing room, because it is 32.4 LRV points lighter (47 vs 14.6), so it bounces back more of the limited light
Pick Kendall Charcoal (BM HC-166) for a south-facing room, because its Lab b* is 2.4 against 3.4, so it is the cooler of the two and offsets warm direct sun
Pick Chelsea Gray (SW 2850) to warm a north-facing room, because it is the warmer of the two (Lab b* 3.4), which counters cool indirect light

Closest matches to Kendall Charcoal in other brands

Closest matches to Chelsea Gray in other brands

Common questions

Is Kendall Charcoal the same color as Chelsea Gray?: They are clearly different: a CIEDE2000 difference of 27.9. Kendall Charcoal and Chelsea Gray are different colors.
Which is lighter, Kendall Charcoal or Chelsea Gray?: Chelsea Gray, with an LRV of 47 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); Chelsea 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.