Mindful Gray (SW 7016) vs Dorian Gray (SW 7017)

Living room with walls painted Sherwin-Williams Mindful Gray SW 7016 (simulated) — Mindful Gray SW 7016#BCB7AD, LRV 48

Living room with walls painted Sherwin-Williams Dorian Gray SW 7017 (simulated) — Dorian Gray SW 7017#ACA79E, LRV 39

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

Quick decision

Lighter: Mindful Gray, LRV 48 vs 39.
Warmer: About the same, both greige (Lab b* 5.7 vs 5.3).
North rooms: Mindful Gray keeps more brightness (L* 70.5 vs 64.5 in north light); both drift gray about equally.
Trim that works: Pearly White SW 7009, #E8E3D9, LRV 77: the Sherwin-Williams white closest in hue to both.
Closeness: deltaE 4.5, noticeably different. At 4.5, test both: on a full wall the difference will show.

See each color

Mindful GraySherwin-Williams, SW 7016LRV 48, #BCB7AD

More comparisons with Mindful Gray

Dorian GraySherwin-Williams, SW 7017LRV 39, #ACA79E

More comparisons with Dorian Gray

Mindful Gray (SW 7016) is lighter than Dorian Gray (SW 7017) and about as warm: LRV 48 vs 39, deltaE 4.5 (noticeably different).

Side by side

Measure	Mindful Gray	Dorian Gray	Gap
Brand	Sherwin-Williams	Sherwin-Williams
Color code	SW 7016	SW 7017
Hex	#BCB7AD	#ACA79E
RGB	188, 183, 173	172, 167, 158
HSL	40°, 10%, 71%	39°, 8%, 65%
LRV (light reflectance value)	48	39	+9
Lab L*	74.6	68.7	+5.9
Lab a*	0.0	0.2	−0.2
Lab b*	5.7	5.3	+0.4
Undertone	Warm Greige	Warm
Temperature	warm	warm
Color family	Greige	Greige

Same paint, two kinds of light

Mindful Gray (SW 7016), published as #BCB7AD

North light (cool, indirect)
#ABADAB

South light (warm, direct)
#CDC1AD

Dorian Gray (SW 7017), published as #ACA79E

North light (cool, indirect)
#9B9D9C

South light (warm, direct)
#BDB19E

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 Mindful Gray (SW 7016) for a small room or a north-facing room, because it is 9 LRV points lighter (48 vs 39), so it bounces back more of the limited light

Closest matches to Mindful Gray in other brands

Closest matches to Dorian Gray in other brands

Common questions

Is Mindful Gray the same color as Dorian Gray?: They are noticeably different: a CIEDE2000 difference of 4.5. Most people can see the difference between Mindful Gray and Dorian Gray side by side.
Which is lighter, Mindful Gray or Dorian Gray?: Mindful Gray, with an LRV of 48 against 39.

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: 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.