Agreeable Gray (SW 7029) vs Intellectual Gray (SW 7045)

Living room with walls painted Sherwin-Williams Agreeable Gray SW 7029 (simulated) — Agreeable Gray SW 7029#D1CBC1, LRV 60

Living room with walls painted Sherwin-Williams Intellectual Gray SW 7045 (simulated) — Intellectual Gray SW 7045#A8A093, LRV 36

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

Quick decision

Lighter: Agreeable Gray, LRV 60 vs 36.
Warmer: Intellectual Gray, both greige (Lab b* 7.8 vs 5.7).
North rooms: Agreeable Gray keeps more brightness (L* 77.9 vs 62.1 in north light); both drift gray about equally.
Trim that works: Futon SW 7101, #EDE6DB, LRV 80: the Sherwin-Williams white closest in hue to both.
Closeness: deltaE 11.7, clearly different. At 11.7, treat them as different colors.

See each color

Agreeable GraySherwin-Williams, SW 7029LRV 60, #D1CBC1

More comparisons with Agreeable Gray

Intellectual GraySherwin-Williams, SW 7045LRV 36, #A8A093

More comparisons with Intellectual Gray

Amazing Gray vs Intellectual GraySW 7044 vs SW 7045deltaE 6.2, clearly different

Agreeable Gray (SW 7029) is much lighter than Intellectual Gray (SW 7045) and slightly cooler: LRV 60 vs 36, deltaE 11.7 (clearly different).

Side by side

Measure	Agreeable Gray	Intellectual Gray	Gap
Brand	Sherwin-Williams	Sherwin-Williams
Color code	SW 7029	SW 7045
Hex	#D1CBC1	#A8A093
RGB	209, 203, 193	168, 160, 147
HSL	37°, 15%, 79%	37°, 11%, 62%
LRV (light reflectance value)	60	36	+24
Lab L*	81.9	66.2	+15.7
Lab a*	0.3	0.6	−0.3
Lab b*	5.7	7.8	−2.1
Undertone	Warm Beige	Warm
Temperature	warm	warm
Color family	Greige	Greige

Same paint, two kinds of light

Agreeable Gray (SW 7029), published as #D1CBC1

North light (cool, indirect)
#C0C1BF

South light (warm, direct)
#E3D5C1

Intellectual Gray (SW 7045), published as #A8A093

North light (cool, indirect)
#989691

South light (warm, direct)
#B9AA93

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 Agreeable Gray (SW 7029) for a small room or a north-facing room, because it is 24 LRV points lighter (60 vs 36), so it bounces back more of the limited light
Pick Agreeable Gray (SW 7029) for a south-facing room, because its Lab b* is 5.7 against 7.8, so it is the cooler of the two and offsets warm direct sun
Pick Intellectual Gray (SW 7045) to warm a north-facing room, because it is the warmer of the two (Lab b* 7.8), which counters cool indirect light

Closest matches to Agreeable Gray in other brands

Closest matches to Intellectual Gray in other brands

Common questions

Is Agreeable Gray the same color as Intellectual Gray?: They are clearly different: a CIEDE2000 difference of 11.7. Agreeable Gray and Intellectual Gray are different colors.
Which is lighter, Agreeable Gray or Intellectual Gray?: Agreeable Gray, with an LRV of 60 against 36.

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.