Sherwin-Williams Purple 64 colors. Ten worth a sample.

Sherwin-Williams gives you 42 purples in the ColorSnap deck, and they cover a wide stretch from soft to deep. At the light end you have airy, barely-there tints like Elation (SW 6827) and Wallflower (SW 6281). At the dark end you get rich, saturated picks like Vigorous Violet (SW 6838) and Fully Purple (SW 6983).

The undertones matter more than the name. Some of these lean gray and dusty, like Grape Mist (SW 6548) and Thistle (SW 6283), which read as soft mauves on a wall. Others, like Berry Cream (SW 9075), carry a warmer pink note. Always test a sample, because purple shifts hard between daylight and lamp light.

LRV is light reflectance value. It runs 0 (black) to 100 (white), and it tells you how light or dark a color will feel on the wall. In this purple slice the numbers run from 5 at the darkest to 73 at the lightest, so you have real range to work with.

For a whole room or a small space you want to keep bright, stay high. Elation (SW 6827) at LRV 73 and Wallflower (SW 6281) at 64 act almost like soft neutrals. For one accent wall or a moody room, drop down to Vigorous Violet (SW 6838) at 13 or Fully Purple (SW 6983) at 8. The middle, around Novel Lilac (SW 6836) at 42 or Thistle (SW 6283) at 30, gives you color you can clearly see without going dark.

The light lilacs work well in bedrooms, nurseries, and bathrooms where you want calm without going gray. Elation, Wallflower, and Grape Mist (SW 6548) keep a room feeling open and restful, and they take morning light nicely.

The deep shades are better as a feature than a whole-room color. Vigorous Violet and Fully Purple shine on a dining room wall, a powder room, a front door, or built-in shelves and cabinets. Mid-range picks like Novel Lilac and Berry Cream (SW 9075) sit comfortably in a home office, a reading nook, or an entry where you want personality but not drama.

Every one of these purples is mixed to order. You pick the color, the store tints a base can on the spot, so the same code works across the paint lines. The lines run good to best: Cashmere (about $55 a gallon), SuperPaint (about $68), Duration (about $75), and Emerald (about $80).

Those are list prices, and they are mostly for show. Sherwin-Williams runs 30 to 40 percent sales almost constantly, so it pays to wait for one before you buy. Buy from a company-owned Sherwin-Williams store or their website. Note that the HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams line sold at Lowe's is a separate, lower-tier brand, not the same paint.