Dried Thyme (SW 6186) vs Rosemary (SW 6187)
Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
Quick decision
- Lighter
- Dried Thyme, LRV 21 vs 14.
- Warmer
- Dried Thyme, both green-gray (Lab b* 8.1 vs 6.7).
- North rooms
- Dried Thyme keeps more brightness (L* 48.8 vs 39.7 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 9.1, clearly different. At 9.1, treat them as different colors.
See each color
Dried Thyme (SW 6186) is lighter than Rosemary (SW 6187) and slightly warmer: LRV 21 vs 14, deltaE 9.1 (clearly different).
Side by side
| Measure | Dried Thyme | Rosemary | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Sherwin-Williams | Sherwin-Williams | |
| Color code | SW 6186 | SW 6187 | |
| Hex | #7B8070 | #64695C | |
| RGB | 123, 128, 112 | 100, 105, 92 | |
| HSL | 79°, 7%, 47% | 83°, 7%, 39% | |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 21 | 14 | +7 |
| Lab L* | 52.8 | 43.6 | +9.1 |
| Lab a* | -5.0 | -4.5 | −0.4 |
| Lab b* | 8.1 | 6.7 | +1.4 |
| Undertone | Neutral | Neutral | |
| Temperature | warm | warm | |
| Color family | Green | Green |
Same paint, two kinds of light
Dried Thyme (SW 6186), published as #7B8070
#6B776E
#8B8970
Rosemary (SW 6187), published as #64695C
#55605B
#74725C
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 Dried Thyme (SW 6186) for a small room or a north-facing room, because it is 7 LRV points lighter (21 vs 14), so it bounces back more of the limited light
- Pick Rosemary (SW 6187) for a south-facing room, because its Lab b* is 6.7 against 8.1, so it is the cooler of the two and offsets warm direct sun
- Pick Dried Thyme (SW 6186) to warm a north-facing room, because it is the warmer of the two (Lab b* 8.1), which counters cool indirect light
Closest matches to Dried Thyme in other brands
Closest matches to Rosemary in other brands
Common questions
- Is Dried Thyme the same color as Rosemary?
- They are clearly different: a CIEDE2000 difference of 9.1. Dried Thyme and Rosemary are different colors.
- Which is lighter, Dried Thyme or Rosemary?
- Dried Thyme, with an LRV of 21 against 14.
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.