Svelte Sage (SW 6164) vs Clary Sage (SW 6178)
Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
Quick decision
- Lighter
- About the same: LRV 41 vs 41.
- Warmer
- Svelte Sage (Lab b* 12.1 vs 11.2). Svelte Sage reads yellow; Clary Sage reads green-gray.
- North rooms
- Clary Sage drifts less gray (chroma drop 3.8 vs 4.5); both keep about the same brightness.
- Trim that works
- Spinach White SW 6434, #E4E8DA, LRV 79: the Sherwin-Williams white closest in hue to both.
- Closeness
- deltaE 3.4, noticeably different. At 3.4, test both: on a full wall the difference will show.
See each color
Svelte Sage (SW 6164) is about as light as Clary Sage (SW 6178) and about as warm: LRV 41 vs 41, deltaE 3.4 (noticeably different).
Side by side
| Measure | Svelte Sage | Clary Sage | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Sherwin-Williams | Sherwin-Williams | |
| Color code | SW 6164 | SW 6178 | |
| Hex | #B2AC96 | #ACAD97 | |
| RGB | 178, 172, 150 | 172, 173, 151 | |
| HSL | 47°, 15%, 64% | 63°, 12%, 64% | |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 41 | 41 | 0 |
| Lab L* | 70.3 | 70.1 | +0.2 |
| Lab a* | -1.6 | -4.3 | +2.6 |
| Lab b* | 12.1 | 11.2 | +0.9 |
| Undertone | Warm Yellow | Warm Yellow | |
| Temperature | warm | warm | |
| Color family | Beige | Green |
Same paint, two kinds of light
Svelte Sage (SW 6164), published as #B2AC96
#A2A294
#C3B696
Clary Sage (SW 6178), published as #ACAD97
#9CA395
#BDB797
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 Svelte Sage (SW 6164) for a small room or a north-facing room, because it is 0 LRV points lighter (41 vs 41), so it bounces back more of the limited light
Closest matches to Svelte Sage in other brands
Closest matches to Clary Sage in other brands
Common questions
- Is Svelte Sage the same color as Clary Sage?
- They are noticeably different: a CIEDE2000 difference of 3.4. Most people can see the difference between Svelte Sage and Clary Sage side by side.
- Which is lighter, Svelte Sage or Clary Sage?
- Neither: both have an LRV of 41.
Full pages
Related comparisons
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.