Worldly Gray (SW 7043) vs Gossamer Veil (SW 9165)

Living room with walls painted Sherwin-Williams Worldly Gray SW 7043 (simulated) — Worldly Gray SW 7043#CEC6BB, LRV 57

Living room with walls painted Sherwin-Williams Gossamer Veil SW 9165 (simulated) — Gossamer Veil SW 9165#D3CEC4, LRV 62

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

Quick decision

Lighter: Gossamer Veil, LRV 62 vs 57.
Warmer: About the same, both greige (Lab b* 6.5 vs 5.6).
North rooms: Gossamer Veil: keeps more brightness (L* 79.0 vs 76.2 in north light) and drifts less gray (chroma drop 4.3 vs 4.9).
Trim that works: Downy SW 7002, #EFE8DD, LRV 81: the Sherwin-Williams white closest in hue to both.
Closeness: deltaE 2.3, noticeably different. At 2.3, test both: on a full wall the difference will show.

See each color

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

More comparisons with Worldly Gray

Gossamer VeilSherwin-Williams, SW 9165LRV 62, #D3CEC4

More comparisons with Gossamer Veil

Worldly Gray (SW 7043) is darker than Gossamer Veil (SW 9165) and about as warm: LRV 57 vs 62, deltaE 2.3 (noticeably different).

Side by side

Measure	Worldly Gray	Gossamer Veil	Gap
Brand	Sherwin-Williams	Sherwin-Williams
Color code	SW 7043	SW 9165
Hex	#CEC6BB	#D3CEC4
RGB	206, 198, 187	211, 206, 196
HSL	35°, 16%, 77%	40°, 15%, 80%
LRV (light reflectance value)	57	62	−5
Lab L*	80.2	82.9	−2.7
Lab a*	0.9	0.0	+0.9
Lab b*	6.5	5.6	+0.9
Undertone	Warm Green	Neutral
Temperature	warm	warm
Color family	Greige	Greige

Same paint, two kinds of light

Worldly Gray (SW 7043), published as #CEC6BB

North light (cool, indirect)
#BDBCB9

South light (warm, direct)
#E0D0BB

Gossamer Veil (SW 9165), published as #D3CEC4

North light (cool, indirect)
#C2C4C2

South light (warm, direct)
#E5D8C4

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 Gossamer Veil (SW 9165) for a small room or a north-facing room, because it is 5 LRV points lighter (62 vs 57), so it bounces back more of the limited light

Closest matches to Worldly Gray in other brands

Closest matches to Gossamer Veil in other brands

Common questions

Is Worldly Gray the same color as Gossamer Veil?: They are noticeably different: a CIEDE2000 difference of 2.3. Most people can see the difference between Worldly Gray and Gossamer Veil side by side.
Which is lighter, Worldly Gray or Gossamer Veil?: Gossamer Veil, with an LRV of 62 against 57.

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.