Alpaca
SW 7022 · Sherwin-Williams
Sherwin-Williams
Alpaca
SW 7022
Subtle orange, a warm color
- Color family
- Neutral
- Sold for
- Interior and exterior
Sherwin-Williams Alpaca SW 7022 is a light greige that leans taupe, often searched for as Alpaca Gray, with an LRV of 57, light enough to carry a whole floor of rooms and still read as a color against white trim. Measured, its warmth tips toward orange rather than yellow: a subtle amount, with a trace of red that gives it the soft mauve-taupe cast people notice. It is used on living room and bedroom walls, and it is sold for exterior use.
Updated
Is Alpaca warm or cool? Undertones by the numbers
leans orange
Undertone
Subtle orange
A gentle lean, quiet on the wall.
The warmth in Alpaca is small and it points toward orange, not yellow: a trace of red rides along with the yellow, which is unusual among the light greiges and is why the color reads taupe rather than beige. On a wall the effect is quiet. Beside a warm white trim and wood floors it looks like a soft warm gray; beside a crisp cool white, gray tile or a blue-gray sofa the red trace shows and the wall can look faintly mauve. There is no blue in it, so the mauve never gets strong, and there is no green, so it never flashes sage. Worldly Gray SW 7043 is its near twin with more yellow and less of the taupe; Agreeable Gray SW 7029 is a touch lighter and cooler; Repose Gray SW 7015 is the same depth with the red taken out.
Alpaca in north, south, east and west light
In a north-facing room Alpaca reads a step grayer and cooler, and the taupe cast that shows in warm light mostly disappears; the warm lean keeps it from going cold, so a north bedroom in Alpaca reads as a soft gray rather than a chilly one, and at this depth the room stays bright. South light warms it and brings out the taupe, and by afternoon it can read close to a warm off-white. East rooms have it warmest at breakfast. West rooms are the exposure to watch: the last hour of sun can push its red trace toward peach, and a cooler trim white tempers that. Bulbs at 2700K to 3000K keep it true; 4000K turns it flat and can bring the mauve out.
Watch for
- Can read faintly mauve beside a crisp cool white like Extra White SW 7006 or a blue-gray sofa
- Last-hour west sun pushes the red trace toward peach
- Goes flat under 4000K LEDs in a windowless hallway or bath
Best rooms and surfaces for Alpaca
Alpaca suits the rooms where a plain greige looks a little dull: a living room with a lot of white trim, a bedroom that should feel soft under evening light, a dining room with wood furniture. Its taupe cast gives a room warmth without beige, which is the reason to pick it over the yellow-leaning greiges. It runs through a hallway and an open plan without a break. It is a weaker choice beside pink-beige tile or a mauve carpet, where the two pull each other purple, and beside cool gray tile it can look muddy. On kitchen cabinets it reads as a warm gray a step from white and wants a white wall such as Alabaster SW 7008 behind it. Brown, walnut and white oak floors suit it; orange-toned oak brings out the peach.
Alpaca on an exterior
Sherwin-Williams sells Alpaca for exterior use. Full sun lightens it to a soft warm gray-white, and outdoors the taupe cast reads as warmth rather than as mauve, so it suits a house with white trim and a brown or bronze roof that should look light and warm from the street. In shade and on a north side it keeps more gray and reads close to the chip. Alabaster SW 7008 trim keeps it soft and Extra White SW 7006 makes it crisper; for the door, the bottom of its own strip, Hickory Smoke SW 7027, or Urbane Bronze SW 7048 holds against it.
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Alpaca vs Agreeable Gray, Worldly Gray and Repose Gray
Agreeable GrayAlpacaAlpaca vs Agreeable Gray SW 7029
Alpaca is noticeably darker; undertone subtle orange vs subtle yellow-beige.
Agreeable Gray SW 7029 is a touch lighter, an LRV of 60 against 57, and cooler in the way that matters: its warmth is yellow with almost no red, so it reads as a clean greige where Alpaca reads taupe. In a room with white cabinets and cool tile Agreeable Gray stays clean and Alpaca can go faintly mauve. In a room with wood, leather and warm whites Alpaca looks richer and Agreeable Gray a little flat. Pick by the finishes, not the chip.
Worldly GrayAlpacaAlpaca vs Worldly Gray SW 7043
Alpaca is a touch darker; undertone subtle orange vs subtle yellow-beige.
Worldly Gray SW 7043 is the nearest page color to Alpaca and the same depth, an LRV of 57 for both. The difference is the balance of the warmth: Worldly Gray has more yellow and reads beiger, Alpaca has less yellow and the same trace of red, so it reads grayer with a taupe edge. Put the two chips together and Worldly Gray is the one that looks sandy. Choose Worldly Gray for a room that leans beige, Alpaca for one that should read gray with warmth.
Repose GrayAlpacaAlpaca vs Repose Gray SW 7015
Alpaca is a touch darker; undertone subtle orange vs subtle yellow-beige.
Repose Gray SW 7015 is a whisker lighter, an LRV of 58 against 57, and it is Alpaca with the red taken out: a subtle yellow lean and nothing else. Repose Gray reads as a gray with the warmth held back and can flash green by contrast; Alpaca reads softer and can flash mauve by contrast. Pick Repose Gray for cool tile, black metal and gray floors, Alpaca for brown wood, brass and cream.
Questions about Alpaca
Does Alpaca look purple?
It can, faintly, and this is the question people ask about it. Alpaca carries a trace of red with its warmth and no blue, so by measurement there is no purple in it; the mauve cast is contrast, and it shows beside crisp cool whites, blue-gray fabrics and cool LEDs. Beside Alabaster SW 7008 trim, wood floors and warm bulbs it reads as a plain warm greige.
What colors go with Alpaca?
Sherwin-Williams pairs it with Simple White SW 7021 on trim, Alabaster SW 7008 as a bright white and Moonlit Orchid SW 9153, a gray-violet, as the accent. In practice it sits with navy, charcoal, plum and deep green on doors and furniture, brass or bronze hardware, brown and walnut floors, and cream or white cabinets. Requisite Gray SW 7023 and Functional Gray SW 7024, the next steps down its strip, are the darker partners.
What is one shade lighter or darker than Alpaca?
Alpaca is the lightest color on its fan-deck strip, so the only printed step is darker: Requisite Gray SW 7023, about twelve points down. For a lighter version the nearest colors by measurement are Popular Gray SW 6071 and Pediment SW 7634, both a touch lighter with a similar lean; Twilight Gray SW 0054 and Colonnade Gray SW 7641 are the nearest that are a touch darker.
Is Alpaca good for exteriors?
Yes, Sherwin-Williams sells it for exterior use. Outdoors it reads as a light warm gray with none of the mauve people worry about indoors, because daylight and distance flatten the red trace. It suits brown brick, bronze roofs and tan stone and is a poor match for pink or orange brick, which pull it purple. Keep the trim a bright white and the door dark or bronze.
Is Alpaca a gray or a beige?
A gray, by measurement and on the wall, with enough warmth to keep it from reading cold. People search for it as Alpaca Gray, and that is the right instinct: its warmth is small, and it tips toward taupe rather than the sandy beige of Accessible Beige SW 7036. Next to a true beige it looks gray; next to a cool gray it looks warm and a little taupe.
Get a sample before you paint
Use the visualizer to narrow your shortlist, then confirm the finalist on your actual wall. A peel-and-stick sample of Alpaca, checked in morning and evening light, is the last step before a gallon.
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