Shoji White (SW 7042) vs White Sesame (SW 9586)

Living room with walls painted Sherwin-Williams Shoji White SW 7042 (simulated)
Shoji White SW 7042#E6DFD3, LRV 74
Living room with walls painted Sherwin-Williams White Sesame SW 9586 (simulated)
White Sesame SW 9586#E3DBCD, LRV 71

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

Quick decision

Lighter
Shoji White, LRV 74 vs 71.
Warmer
White Sesame (Lab b* 7.9 vs 6.7). Shoji White reads warm white; White Sesame reads greige.
North rooms
Shoji White keeps more brightness (L* 85.2 vs 83.8 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 1.2, very close. At 1.2, test both side by side if the room is dim or north-facing.

See each color

Shoji White (SW 7042) is slightly lighter than White Sesame (SW 9586) and slightly cooler: LRV 74 vs 71, deltaE 1.2 (very close).

Side by side

MeasureShoji WhiteWhite SesameGap
BrandSherwin-WilliamsSherwin-Williams
Color codeSW 7042SW 9586
Hex#E6DFD3#E3DBCD
RGB230, 223, 211227, 219, 205
HSL38°, 28%, 86%38°, 28%, 85%
LRV (light reflectance value)7471+3
Lab L*89.187.7+1.4
Lab a*0.30.4−0.0
Lab b*6.77.9−1.1
UndertoneWarmWarm
Temperaturewarmwarm
Color familyOff-whiteGreige

Same paint, two kinds of light

Shoji White (SW 7042), published as #E6DFD3

North light (cool, indirect)
#D5D5D1
South light (warm, direct)
#F8E9D3

White Sesame (SW 9586), published as #E3DBCD

North light (cool, indirect)
#D2D1CB
South light (warm, direct)
#F5E5CD

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 Shoji White (SW 7042) for a small room or a north-facing room, because it is 3 LRV points lighter (74 vs 71), so it bounces back more of the limited light
  • Pick Shoji White (SW 7042) for a south-facing room, because its Lab b* is 6.7 against 7.9, so it is the cooler of the two and offsets warm direct sun
  • Pick White Sesame (SW 9586) to warm a north-facing room, because it is the warmer of the two (Lab b* 7.9), which counters cool indirect light

Closest matches to Shoji White in other brands

Closest matches to White Sesame in other brands

Common questions

Is Shoji White the same color as White Sesame?
They are very close: a CIEDE2000 difference of 1.2. Side by side you may see a slight difference between Shoji White and White Sesame.
Which is lighter, Shoji White or White Sesame?
Shoji White, with an LRV of 74 against 71.

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.