Kendall Charcoal (BM HC-166) vs Peppercorn (SW 7674)

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 Peppercorn SW 7674 (simulated) — Peppercorn SW 7674#585858, LRV 10

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

Quick decision

Lighter: Kendall Charcoal, LRV 14.6 vs 10.
Warmer: Kendall Charcoal, both neutral gray (Lab b* 2.4 vs 0.0).
North rooms: Kendall Charcoal keeps more brightness (L* 39.2 vs 33.3 in north light); both drift gray about equally.
Trim that works: Garlic Bulb BM 2112-70, #E4E3E0, LRV 74.5: the Benjamin Moore white closest in hue to both.
Closeness: deltaE 5.6, clearly different. At 5.6, treat them as different colors.

See each color

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

More comparisons with Kendall Charcoal

PeppercornSherwin-Williams, SW 7674LRV 10, #585858

More comparisons with Peppercorn

Kendall Charcoal (BM HC-166) is slightly lighter than Peppercorn (SW 7674) and slightly warmer: LRV 14.6 vs 10, deltaE 5.6 (clearly different).

Side by side

Measure	Kendall Charcoal	Peppercorn	Gap
Brand	Benjamin Moore	Sherwin-Williams
Color code	HC-166	SW 7674
Hex	#676662	#585858
RGB	103, 102, 98	88, 88, 88
HSL	48°, 2%, 39%	0°, 0%, 35%
LRV (light reflectance value)	14.6	10	+4.6
Lab L*	43.2	37.4	+5.8
Lab a*	-0.4	0.0	−0.4
Lab b*	2.4	0.0	+2.4
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

Peppercorn (SW 7674), published as #585858

North light (cool, indirect)
#494F56

South light (warm, direct)
#676158

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 Kendall Charcoal (BM HC-166) for a small room or a north-facing room, because it is 4.6 LRV points lighter (14.6 vs 10), so it bounces back more of the limited light
Pick Peppercorn (SW 7674) for a south-facing room, because its Lab b* is 0.0 against 2.4, so it is the cooler of the two and offsets warm direct sun
Pick Kendall Charcoal (BM HC-166) to warm a north-facing room, because it is the warmer of the two (Lab b* 2.4), which counters cool indirect light

Closest matches to Kendall Charcoal in other brands

Closest matches to Peppercorn in other brands

Common questions

Is Kendall Charcoal the same color as Peppercorn?: They are clearly different: a CIEDE2000 difference of 5.6. Kendall Charcoal and Peppercorn are different colors.
Which is lighter, Kendall Charcoal or Peppercorn?: Kendall Charcoal, with an LRV of 14.6 against 10.

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); Peppercorn: 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.