Balanced Beige (SW 7037) vs Tony Taupe (SW 7038)
Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
Quick decision
- Lighter
- Balanced Beige, LRV 46 vs 37.
- Warmer
- Tony Taupe, both greige (Lab b* 11.3 vs 10.0).
- North rooms
- Balanced Beige keeps more brightness (L* 69.3 vs 63.3 in north light); both drift gray about equally.
- Trim that works
- Panda White SW 6147, #EAE2D4, LRV 77: the Sherwin-Williams white closest in hue to both.
- Closeness
- deltaE 4.6, noticeably different. At 4.6, test both: on a full wall the difference will show.
See each color
Balanced Beige
More comparisons with Balanced Beige
Balanced Beige (SW 7037) is lighter than Tony Taupe (SW 7038) and slightly cooler: LRV 46 vs 37, deltaE 4.6 (noticeably different).
Side by side
| Measure | Balanced Beige | Tony Taupe | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Sherwin-Williams | Sherwin-Williams | |
| Color code | SW 7037 | SW 7038 | |
| Hex | #C0B2A2 | #B1A290 | |
| RGB | 192, 178, 162 | 177, 162, 144 | |
| HSL | 32°, 19%, 69% | 33°, 17%, 63% | |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 46 | 37 | +9 |
| Lab L* | 73.3 | 67.4 | +5.9 |
| Lab a* | 2.3 | 2.5 | −0.1 |
| Lab b* | 10.0 | 11.3 | −1.4 |
| Undertone | Warm | Warm Yellow | |
| Temperature | warm | warm | |
| Color family | Beige | Beige |
Same paint, two kinds of light
Balanced Beige (SW 7037), published as #C0B2A2
#B0A8A0
#D1BCA2
Tony Taupe (SW 7038), published as #B1A290
#A1988E
#C1AC90
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 Balanced Beige (SW 7037) for a small room or a north-facing room, because it is 9 LRV points lighter (46 vs 37), so it bounces back more of the limited light
- Pick Balanced Beige (SW 7037) for a south-facing room, because its Lab b* is 10.0 against 11.3, so it is the cooler of the two and offsets warm direct sun
- Pick Tony Taupe (SW 7038) to warm a north-facing room, because it is the warmer of the two (Lab b* 11.3), which counters cool indirect light
Closest matches to Balanced Beige in other brands
Closest matches to Tony Taupe in other brands
Common questions
- Is Balanced Beige the same color as Tony Taupe?
- They are noticeably different: a CIEDE2000 difference of 4.6. Most people can see the difference between Balanced Beige and Tony Taupe side by side.
- Which is lighter, Balanced Beige or Tony Taupe?
- Balanced Beige, with an LRV of 46 against 37.
Full pages
Related comparisons
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.