Mindful Gray (SW 7016) vs Worldly Gray (SW 7043)

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 Worldly Gray SW 7043 (simulated) — Worldly Gray SW 7043#CEC6BB, LRV 57

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

Quick decision

Lighter: Worldly Gray, LRV 57 vs 48.
Warmer: About the same, both greige (Lab b* 5.7 vs 6.5).
North rooms: Worldly Gray keeps more brightness (L* 76.2 vs 70.5 in north light); Mindful Gray drifts less gray (chroma drop 4.4 vs 4.9).
Trim that works: Downy SW 7002, #EFE8DD, LRV 81: the Sherwin-Williams white closest in hue to both.
Closeness: deltaE 4.3, noticeably different. At 4.3, 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

Worldly GraySherwin-Williams, SW 7043LRV 57, #CEC6BB

More comparisons with Worldly Gray

Mindful Gray (SW 7016) is darker than Worldly Gray (SW 7043) and about as warm: LRV 48 vs 57, deltaE 4.3 (noticeably different).

Side by side

Measure	Mindful Gray	Worldly Gray	Gap
Brand	Sherwin-Williams	Sherwin-Williams
Color code	SW 7016	SW 7043
Hex	#BCB7AD	#CEC6BB
RGB	188, 183, 173	206, 198, 187
HSL	40°, 10%, 71%	35°, 16%, 77%
LRV (light reflectance value)	48	57	−9
Lab L*	74.6	80.2	−5.7
Lab a*	0.0	0.9	−0.9
Lab b*	5.7	6.5	−0.8
Undertone	Warm Greige	Warm Green
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

Worldly Gray (SW 7043), published as #CEC6BB

North light (cool, indirect)
#BDBCB9

South light (warm, direct)
#E0D0BB

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 Worldly Gray (SW 7043) for a small room or a north-facing room, because it is 9 LRV points lighter (57 vs 48), so it bounces back more of the limited light

Closest matches to Mindful Gray in other brands

Closest matches to Worldly Gray in other brands

Common questions

Is Mindful Gray the same color as Worldly Gray?: They are noticeably different: a CIEDE2000 difference of 4.3. Most people can see the difference between Mindful Gray and Worldly Gray side by side.
Which is lighter, Mindful Gray or Worldly Gray?: Worldly Gray, with an LRV of 57 against 48.

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.