Mindful Gray (SW 7016) vs Anew Gray (SW 7030)

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 Anew Gray SW 7030 (simulated) — Anew Gray SW 7030#BFB6AA, LRV 47

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

Quick decision

Lighter: Mindful Gray, LRV 48 vs 47.
Warmer: Anew Gray, both greige (Lab b* 7.2 vs 5.7).
North rooms: Mindful Gray drifts less gray (chroma drop 4.4 vs 5.0); both keep about the same brightness.
Trim that works: Cotton White SW 7104, #F7EFE3, LRV 87: the Sherwin-Williams white closest in hue to both.
Closeness: deltaE 1.9, very close. At 1.9, test both side by side if the room is dim or north-facing.

See each color

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

More comparisons with Mindful Gray

Anew GraySherwin-Williams, SW 7030LRV 47, #BFB6AA

More comparisons with Anew Gray

Mindful Gray (SW 7016) is about as light as Anew Gray (SW 7030) and slightly cooler: LRV 48 vs 47, deltaE 1.9 (very close).

Side by side

Measure	Mindful Gray	Anew Gray	Gap
Brand	Sherwin-Williams	Sherwin-Williams
Color code	SW 7016	SW 7030
Hex	#BCB7AD	#BFB6AA
RGB	188, 183, 173	191, 182, 170
HSL	40°, 10%, 71%	34°, 14%, 71%
LRV (light reflectance value)	48	47	+1
Lab L*	74.6	74.5	+0.1
Lab a*	0.0	1.1	−1.1
Lab b*	5.7	7.2	−1.5
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

Anew Gray (SW 7030), published as #BFB6AA

North light (cool, indirect)
#AEACA8

South light (warm, direct)
#D0C0AA

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 1 LRV points lighter (48 vs 47), so it bounces back more of the limited light
Pick Mindful Gray (SW 7016) for a south-facing room, because its Lab b* is 5.7 against 7.2, so it is the cooler of the two and offsets warm direct sun
Pick Anew Gray (SW 7030) to warm a north-facing room, because it is the warmer of the two (Lab b* 7.2), which counters cool indirect light

Closest matches to Mindful Gray in other brands

Closest matches to Anew Gray in other brands

Common questions

Is Mindful Gray the same color as Anew Gray?: They are very close: a CIEDE2000 difference of 1.9. Side by side you may see a slight difference between Mindful Gray and Anew Gray.
Which is lighter, Mindful Gray or Anew Gray?: Mindful Gray, with an LRV of 48 against 47.

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.