Amazing Gray (SW 7044) vs Intellectual Gray (SW 7045)
Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
Quick decision
- Lighter
- Amazing Gray, LRV 47 vs 36.
- Warmer
- About the same, both greige (Lab b* 7.3 vs 7.8).
- North rooms
- Amazing Gray keeps more brightness (L* 70.0 vs 62.1 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 6.2, clearly different. At 6.2, treat them as different colors.
See each color
Amazing Gray
More comparisons with Amazing Gray
Amazing Gray (SW 7044) is lighter than Intellectual Gray (SW 7045) and about as warm: LRV 47 vs 36, deltaE 6.2 (clearly different).
Side by side
| Measure | Amazing Gray | Intellectual Gray | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Sherwin-Williams | Sherwin-Williams | |
| Color code | SW 7044 | SW 7045 | |
| Hex | #BEB5A9 | #A8A093 | |
| RGB | 190, 181, 169 | 168, 160, 147 | |
| HSL | 34°, 14%, 70% | 37°, 11%, 62% | |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 47 | 36 | +11 |
| Lab L* | 74.1 | 66.2 | +7.9 |
| Lab a* | 1.1 | 0.6 | +0.5 |
| Lab b* | 7.3 | 7.8 | −0.6 |
| Undertone | Warm | Warm | |
| Temperature | warm | warm | |
| Color family | Greige | Greige |
Same paint, two kinds of light
Amazing Gray (SW 7044), published as #BEB5A9
#ADABA7
#CFBFA9
Intellectual Gray (SW 7045), published as #A8A093
#989691
#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 Amazing Gray (SW 7044) for a small room or a north-facing room, because it is 11 LRV points lighter (47 vs 36), so it bounces back more of the limited light
Closest matches to Amazing Gray in other brands
Closest matches to Intellectual Gray in other brands
Common questions
- Is Amazing Gray the same color as Intellectual Gray?
- They are clearly different: a CIEDE2000 difference of 6.2. Amazing Gray and Intellectual Gray are different colors.
- Which is lighter, Amazing Gray or Intellectual Gray?
- Amazing Gray, with an LRV of 47 against 36.
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.