Sea Salt (SW 6204) vs Mountain Air (SW 6224)
Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
Quick decision
- Lighter
- Mountain Air, LRV 73 vs 63.
- Warmer
- Sea Salt (Lab b* 3.4 vs -0.4). Sea Salt reads green-gray; Mountain Air reads cool white.
- North rooms
- Mountain Air keeps more brightness (L* 84.6 vs 79.6 in north light); both drift gray about equally.
- Trim that works
- Snowdrop SW 6511, #E0E8E7, LRV 80: the Sherwin-Williams white closest in hue to both.
- Closeness
- deltaE 4.7, noticeably different. At 4.7, test both: on a full wall the difference will show.
See each color
Sea Salt (SW 6204) is darker than Mountain Air (SW 6224) and warmer: LRV 63 vs 73, deltaE 4.7 (noticeably different).
Side by side
| Measure | Sea Salt | Mountain Air | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Sherwin-Williams | Sherwin-Williams | |
| Color code | SW 6204 | SW 6224 | |
| Hex | #CDD2CA | #D8E0DF | |
| RGB | 205, 210, 202 | 216, 224, 223 | |
| HSL | 97°, 8%, 81% | 173°, 11%, 86% | |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 63 | 73 | −10 |
| Lab L* | 83.6 | 88.6 | −4.9 |
| Lab a* | -3.1 | -2.9 | −0.3 |
| Lab b* | 3.4 | -0.4 | +3.8 |
| Undertone | Cool Blue-Green | Neutral | |
| Temperature | cool | neutral | |
| Color family | Gray | Off-white |
Same paint, two kinds of light
Sea Salt (SW 6204), published as #CDD2CA
#BBC8C8
#DFDCCA
Mountain Air (SW 6224), published as #D8E0DF
#C6D6DD
#EBEADF
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 Mountain Air (SW 6224) for a small room or a north-facing room, because it is 10 LRV points lighter (73 vs 63), so it bounces back more of the limited light
- Pick Mountain Air (SW 6224) for a south-facing room, because its Lab b* is -0.4 against 3.4, so it is the cooler of the two and offsets warm direct sun
- Pick Sea Salt (SW 6204) 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 Sea Salt in other brands
Closest matches to Mountain Air in other brands
Common questions
- Is Sea Salt the same color as Mountain Air?
- They are noticeably different: a CIEDE2000 difference of 4.7. Most people can see the difference between Sea Salt and Mountain Air side by side.
- Which is lighter, Sea Salt or Mountain Air?
- Mountain Air, with an LRV of 73 against 63.
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.