Liveable Green (SW 6176) vs Softened Green (SW 6177)
Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
Quick decision
- Lighter
- Liveable Green, LRV 61 vs 49.
- Warmer
- Softened Green, both green-gray (Lab b* 10.5 vs 8.5).
- North rooms
- Liveable Green keeps more brightness (L* 78.4 vs 71.6 in north light); both drift gray about equally.
- Trim that works
- Spinach White SW 6434, #E4E8DA, LRV 79: the Sherwin-Williams white closest in hue to both.
- Closeness
- deltaE 5.0, clearly different. At 5.0, treat them as different colors.
See each color
Liveable Green
More comparisons with Liveable Green
Liveable Green (SW 6176) is lighter than Softened Green (SW 6177) and slightly cooler: LRV 61 vs 49, deltaE 5.0 (clearly different).
Side by side
| Measure | Liveable Green | Softened Green | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Sherwin-Williams | Sherwin-Williams | |
| Color code | SW 6176 | SW 6177 | |
| Hex | #CECEBD | #BBBCA7 | |
| RGB | 206, 206, 189 | 187, 188, 167 | |
| HSL | 60°, 15%, 77% | 63°, 14%, 70% | |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 61 | 49 | +12 |
| Lab L* | 82.4 | 75.7 | +6.7 |
| Lab a* | -3.0 | -4.0 | +1.1 |
| Lab b* | 8.5 | 10.5 | −2.1 |
| Undertone | Neutral | Warm Yellow | |
| Temperature | warm | warm | |
| Color family | Green | Green |
Same paint, two kinds of light
Liveable Green (SW 6176), published as #CECEBD
#BDC4BB
#E0D8BD
Softened Green (SW 6177), published as #BBBCA7
#AAB2A5
#CCC6A7
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 Liveable Green (SW 6176) for a small room or a north-facing room, because it is 12 LRV points lighter (61 vs 49), so it bounces back more of the limited light
- Pick Liveable Green (SW 6176) for a south-facing room, because its Lab b* is 8.5 against 10.5, so it is the cooler of the two and offsets warm direct sun
- Pick Softened Green (SW 6177) to warm a north-facing room, because it is the warmer of the two (Lab b* 10.5), which counters cool indirect light
Closest matches to Liveable Green in other brands
Closest matches to Softened Green in other brands
Common questions
- Is Liveable Green the same color as Softened Green?
- They are clearly different: a CIEDE2000 difference of 5.0. Liveable Green and Softened Green are different colors.
- Which is lighter, Liveable Green or Softened Green?
- Liveable Green, with an LRV of 61 against 49.
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.