Anew Gray (SW 7030) vs Worldly Gray (SW 7043)

Living room with walls painted Sherwin-Williams Anew Gray SW 7030 (simulated)
Anew Gray SW 7030#BFB6AA, LRV 47
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 47.
Warmer
About the same, both greige (Lab b* 7.2 vs 6.5).
North rooms
Worldly Gray keeps more brightness (L* 76.2 vs 70.4 in north light); both drift gray about equally.
Trim that works
Cotton White SW 7104, #F7EFE3, LRV 87: the Sherwin-Williams white closest in hue to both.
Closeness
deltaE 4.1, noticeably different. At 4.1, test both: on a full wall the difference will show.

See each color

Anew Gray (SW 7030) is darker than Worldly Gray (SW 7043) and about as warm: LRV 47 vs 57, deltaE 4.1 (noticeably different).

Side by side

MeasureAnew GrayWorldly GrayGap
BrandSherwin-WilliamsSherwin-Williams
Color codeSW 7030SW 7043
Hex#BFB6AA#CEC6BB
RGB191, 182, 170206, 198, 187
HSL34°, 14%, 71%35°, 16%, 77%
LRV (light reflectance value)4757−10
Lab L*74.580.2−5.8
Lab a*1.10.9+0.2
Lab b*7.26.5+0.7
UndertoneWarmWarm Green
Temperaturewarmwarm
Color familyGreigeGreige

Same paint, two kinds of light

Anew Gray (SW 7030), published as #BFB6AA

North light (cool, indirect)
#AEACA8
South light (warm, direct)
#D0C0AA

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 10 LRV points lighter (57 vs 47), so it bounces back more of the limited light

Closest matches to Anew Gray in other brands

Closest matches to Worldly Gray in other brands

Common questions

Is Anew Gray the same color as Worldly Gray?
They are noticeably different: a CIEDE2000 difference of 4.1. Most people can see the difference between Anew Gray and Worldly Gray side by side.
Which is lighter, Anew Gray or Worldly Gray?
Worldly Gray, with an LRV of 57 against 47.

Full pages

Related comparisons

Published . Updated .

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.