Sherwin-Williams Black 21 colors. Ten worth a sample.

Sherwin-Williams gives you 28 colors in the black family, and most of them are not pure black. The slice runs from an LRV of 3 at the darkest to 9 at the lightest, so even the deepest options reflect a little light and read as soft, rich darks rather than flat ink. The undertones do a lot of work here. Several of these "blacks" are really near-black greens, like Dard Hunter Green (SW 41), Roycroft Bottle Green (SW 2847), and Rookwood Shutter Green (SW 2809).

That green-leaning character is part of why these colors feel expensive instead of harsh. Others, like Black Swan (SW 6279) and Black of Night (SW 6993), sit closer to a true dramatic black. Iron Ore (SW 7069) leans warm and slightly soft, which is why it shows up on so many front doors and exteriors.

Black is the easiest way to add weight to a space without clutter. These colors are at their best on front doors, shutters, interior trim, fireplace surrounds, kitchen islands, and built-in cabinetry, where a small dose of deep color reads as intentional. The green-black options work especially well on cabinets and libraries because they feel slightly softer than a flat black.

For a whole accent wall or a moody dining room, the lower-LRV picks like Black Swan or Roycroft Bottle Green pull off full coverage well. Iron Ore is a popular exterior and door choice because it stays warm in full sun and doesn't go cold. Test any black on a poster board and move it around the room before you commit, since light direction changes a dark color more than a light one.

Every Sherwin-Williams color is mixed to order. The base paint is tinted to your chosen color at a company-owned Sherwin-Williams store or ordered online, so you buy the formula in the line and sheen you want, not a pre-made can. The lines run good to best: Cashmere (around $55 a gallon), SuperPaint (around $68), Duration (around $75), and Emerald (around $80). Those are list prices and the stores run 30 to 40 percent sales almost constantly, so it is almost always worth waiting for a sale before you buy.

Note that the HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams line sold at Lowe's is a separate, lower-tier brand and not the same as these colors. Because a black is defined by its undertone and LRV, you can cross-match it to another brand by matching those two things, and any paint store can color-match a chip or sample to a near-exact formula in their own product. The featured Kompozit deck can be matched the same way, so if you like a green-black like Roycroft Bottle Green you can carry the chip and have it recreated in whichever brand you prefer.