Grizzle Gray
SW 7068 · #636562 · LRV 13 — neutral with no strong undertone, dark — high drama, needs strong daylight or warm bulbs.
- 1Urbane Bronze8
- 2Grizzle Gray13
- 3Retreat21
- 4Stardew43
What Color Is Grizzle Gray, Really?
Grizzle Gray SW 7068 is a dark, genuinely neutral gray. The hex is #636562 and saturation is only about 2 percent, which is roughly as colorless as a paint color gets. Its LRV of 13 places it in the dark band, well below mid-tone, so it absorbs a lot more light than it returns. On a wall it looks like wet slate or graphite.
People reach for it when they want depth without a color story. Most dark grays give themselves away once they are on a big surface, leaning blue, green, or purple. Grizzle Gray does not commit to any of those, so it stays in the background instead of arguing with the tile, stone, wood, or fabric already in the room. That neutrality is why it shows up so often on exteriors, cabinets, and accent walls.
The catch is the LRV. At 13 the room has to supply the light. In a north-facing space with one window it goes flat and heavy, and detail in trim and paneling starts to disappear. Dark grays also show sheen unevenly across large flat drywall, so a flat or matte finish and careful rolling matter more here than with a light color.
There is almost nothing to find. Saturation sits near 2 percent, with the hue technically at 100 degrees, so any green in the mix is theoretical rather than something you will point at on a wall. In practice this is a true neutral dark gray.
Because it has so little of its own, it borrows direction from whatever is beside it. Next to Braintree SW 9595 at LRV 12, whose hex #65635B is warmer and more olive, Grizzle Gray looks cooler and cleaner. Next to Web Gray SW 7075 at LRV 13, hex #616669 and clearly bluer, it looks warmer. Cast Iron SW 6202 at LRV 12 leans olive as well and has the same effect.
That borrowing is the useful part. If the room already has a strong color in flooring or stone, Grizzle Gray will sit under it quietly instead of adding a second undertone to manage.
Best Rooms and Uses for Grizzle Gray
Exteriors are its strongest use. On siding, stucco, or a garage door, an LRV of 13 gives a deep, settled body color that pairs with white trim, stone, and wood without picking a side. It also makes a solid front door, shutter, or window sash color.
Indoors it works best on defined surfaces: cabinets, islands, built-in shelving, laundry and mudroom joinery, and lower walls under a chair rail. On those it reads as depth rather than as darkness.
Full-room use is possible when the room has good daylight or generous artificial light. A home office, a library, or a dining room can carry it well. A small north-facing bedroom usually cannot.
One wall in an otherwise light room is the low-risk version. Keep trim in a bright white so the corners and edges stay legible.
How Lighting Changes Grizzle Gray
With an LRV of 13, this color reflects little light, so the difference between rooms is mostly about how heavy it feels rather than how it shifts in color. North-facing rooms make it look deeper, flatter, and colder, and a space with one window can end up feeling closed in.
South-facing rooms give the best result. Direct sun lifts it enough to show the difference between wall and shadow, which is what keeps a dark gray from turning into a flat plane. East rooms brighten it in the morning and lose it by afternoon; west rooms do the reverse.
Bulb temperature is the main lever after dark. Warm 2700K lamps add a faint brown cast and make the room feel softer. Neutral 3500K to 4000K bulbs keep the gray reading cleanly as gray. Because the color is so neutral, it will not fight either choice.
Most complaints about Grizzle Gray are a light mismatch. Upload a photo of your actual room and see it on your walls — then ask for the same wall in north light or evening lamps before you buy a single sample.
Need It From Another Brand?
Any paint counter can custom-tint Sherwin-Williams SW 7068 directly. If you would rather stay in one brand's own deck, these are the closest stock matches, measured as ΔE2000. Under 2 is a difference you will not see on the wall.
| Brand | Closest color | ΔE | LRV | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Behr | Black LocustPPU25-02 · Behr | 1.1 | 13 | Color page → |
| Benjamin Moore | City ShadowCSP-60 · Benjamin Moore | 1.2 | 13 | Color page → |
| Valspar | Ocean Storm4004-2B · Valspar | 0.8 | 13.3 | Color page → |
| PPG / Glidden | Dark WoodsPPG0999-7 · PPG / Glidden | 4.4 | 12 | Color page → |
| Glidden | Deepest Valley Green30GY 13/045 · Glidden | 2.2 | 13 | Color page → |
| Dutch Boy | Blackened Ore439-6DB · Dutch Boy | 4.0 | 13 | Color page → |
Similar Sherwin-Williams Colors
The nearest shades to Grizzle Gray within Sherwin-Williams's own range, ranked by perceptual color distance — useful when you want the same look a touch lighter, darker, or warmer.
WCAG 2.1: AA is 4.5 : 1 for normal text, 3 : 1 for large text, AAA is 7 : 1.
Grizzle Gray vs Similar Colors
Web Gray SW 7075 at LRV 13 is the same depth but its hex #616669 carries a real blue lean. Choose Web Gray when you want the gray to feel cool and slightly blue; choose Grizzle Gray when you want no lean at all.
Braintree SW 9595 at LRV 12 and Cast Iron SW 6202 at LRV 12 both add warmth and a little olive, hex #65635B and #64645A. They feel earthier. Storm Warning SW 9555 at LRV 14 is a hair lighter. Night Owl SW 7061 and Roycroft Pewter SW 2848, both LRV 13, are the closest neighbors.
Across brands, HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams Grizzle Gray HGSW 1482 is the same color at deltaE 0. Valspar Ocean Storm 4004-2B at deltaE 0.75 is effectively identical. Behr Black Locust PPU25-02, Farrow and Ball Down Pipe No. 26, and Benjamin Moore City Shadow CSP-60 all fall between deltaE 1 and 1.3, visually identical in normal room light. Dutch Boy Blackened Ore 439-6DB at deltaE 3.99 is close but visibly different side by side, warmer and browner.
Colors That Go With Grizzle Gray
White trim is the default partner and the right one. The gap between LRV 13 and a white in the high 80s or 90s is what keeps the color from turning into a heavy mass, and because Grizzle Gray is so neutral you can use a warm white or a cool white without creating a clash.
For a second tone in the same family, Storm Warning SW 9555 at LRV 14 is nearly the same depth if you want a quiet shift, while Night Owl SW 7061 at LRV 13 and Roycroft Pewter SW 2848 at LRV 13 sit right alongside it for trim-and-body pairings on an exterior.
If your painter works in another line, Valspar Ocean Storm 4004-2B at LRV 13.3, Behr Black Locust PPU25-02 at LRV 13, Farrow and Ball Down Pipe No. 26 at LRV 13, and Benjamin Moore City Shadow CSP-60 at LRV 13 all sit near or just above deltaE 1, close enough to read the same in a room.
Materials that flatter it: oak and walnut, natural stone, black metal, and warm brass.
Coordinated palette
Generated by hue-rotating #636562 in HSL space. Pair Grizzle Gray with one accent and one neutral — the swatches below are starting points, not final picks.
Grizzle Gray FAQ
Is Grizzle Gray warm or cool?
It is neither, which is the point. Saturation sits near 2 percent, so there is no meaningful warm or cool lean to see on a wall. It will look slightly cooler beside a warm olive gray and slightly warmer beside a blue gray, but on its own it reads as a straight neutral dark gray at LRV 13.
What LRV is Grizzle Gray?
Grizzle Gray has an LRV of 13, on a scale from 0 for black to 100 for pure white. That is firmly in the dark band. It absorbs most of the light reaching it, so rooms painted in it feel enclosed and calm rather than bright, and trim contrast does most of the visual work.
Does Grizzle Gray work in a dark room?
It works only if you want the room to feel dark. With an LRV of 13 it cannot give light back, so a north-facing room with one window will read heavy and flat. In that situation use it on cabinets, built-ins, or a single wall instead of the whole space, and add good artificial lighting.
What white trim goes with Grizzle Gray?
Almost any white works, because the color has no undertone to clash with. A bright white in the high 80s or 90s LRV gives the sharpest edge against LRV 13, while a soft warm white makes the contrast gentler. Pick based on the rest of the house rather than on the gray.
Is Grizzle Gray good for exteriors?
Yes, exteriors are its most common use. At LRV 13 it gives siding, stucco, or a garage door a deep, settled body color that works with white trim, stone, and wood. Because it is neutral it will not fight a roof color or a brick tone the way a blue-leaning or green-leaning dark gray can.
How is Grizzle Gray different from Web Gray?
Both sit at LRV 13, so they are the same depth. The difference is undertone: Web Gray SW 7075 has a hex of #616669 with a visible blue lean, while Grizzle Gray at #636562 stays neutral. Side by side, Web Gray looks cooler and slightly blue and Grizzle Gray looks like plain dark gray.
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