Modern Gray
SW 7632 · Sherwin-Williams
Sherwin-Williams
Modern Gray
SW 7632
Subtle yellow-beige, a warm color
- Color family
- Neutral
- Sold for
- Interior and exterior
Sherwin-Williams Modern Gray SW 7632 is a pale warm greige with an LRV of 63, light enough to run through a whole house without reading white and still a color against white trim. It measures a subtle yellow-beige with a trace of red, the same lean as Worldly Gray SW 7043 at a lighter depth, so it reads as a warm, slightly taupe gray. It is a whole-house wall color first and a soft cabinet color second.
Source: Sherwin-Williams's color data. Undertone labels describe our calculation, not the paint formula or a test in your room. How we assess colors.
Is Modern Gray warm or cool? Undertones by the numbers
leans yellow
Undertone
Subtle yellow-beige
A gentle lean, quiet on the wall.
Modern Gray has a small yellow lean with a trace of redward warmth in our swatch calculation, placing it between taupe and greige. Against a bright white trim like Snowbound SW 7004 the gray shows; against a cream trim the color looks warmer and more taupe. It is quiet beside warm wood and a touch pink-beige beside cool gray tile, which is the one place it surprises people. Popular Gray SW 6071 is its near twin, a whisker darker and a whisker peachier. Agreeable Gray SW 7029 is a little darker and cooler in the swatch comparison; Gossamer Veil SW 9165 is close in depth with a less red-leaning swatch.
Modern Gray in different lighting
Modern Gray keeps its warmth in a north-facing room better than a plain gray would: it reads a step grayer and cooler there, but the yellow-beige lean holds and the walls read as a soft greige, not a cold gray, and at this depth a north room stays bright. South rooms make it creamier and, in full afternoon sun, close to an off-white. An east room shows it warmest in the morning and grayer once the sun moves round. In a west room the last hour of sun can push it toward peach, the one time the red trace shows; a cooler trim white tempers it. Warm bulbs at 2700K to 3000K keep it true; 4000K makes it flat and gray.
Watch for
- Last-hour west sun can push it toward peach; the effect is strongest beside a cream trim
- Reads close to off-white on a south wall in full afternoon sun; sample the shaded wall too
- Can look pink-beige beside cool gray tile or blue-gray stone
Best rooms and surfaces for Modern Gray
Modern Gray is a whole-house color: light enough for hallways, stairwells and a north bedroom, warm enough to keep a big living room from reading like a gray box, and quiet enough to sit behind any sofa. It is the pick for a living room that gets all-day light, where a darker greige would lose its softness by afternoon. On kitchen cabinets it reads as a pale warm gray, a small step from white, so it works for people who want cabinets that are not white but do not want a visible color; pair it with a white wall like Snowbound SW 7004, not a greige one. In a bathroom it holds up under daylight and goes dull under cool LEDs. Brown, white oak and walnut floors suit it; beside gray-washed floors it reads beige.
Modern Gray on an exterior
Sherwin-Williams sells Modern Gray for exterior use, and outside it is a light body color, not a gray one. Full sun lifts it to a warm off-white with a hint of gray, so it suits a house that wants a soft, light body against white trim and a dark roof; if you want the siding to read gray from the street, the next step down its strip, Colonnade Gray SW 7641, does that. In shade and on a north side it holds a little more gray and reads close to the chip. Snowbound SW 7004 trim keeps it soft; Tricorn Black SW 6258 or Iron Ore SW 7069 on the door supplies the contrast.
Try Modern Gray on your own walls
Upload a photo of your room, or the outside of your house, and TryMyHome renders Modern Gray onto the walls for an illustrative preview beside your floors and furniture. Confirm the color with a physical sample. Your first 3 renders are free.
Modern Gray vs Agreeable Gray, Accessible Beige, Popular Gray and Worldly Gray
Agreeable GrayModern GrayModern Gray vs Agreeable Gray SW 7029
Modern Gray is a touch lighter; both fall in our subtle yellow-beige category. Based on published LRV and our swatch classification.
Agreeable Gray SW 7029 is a touch darker, an LRV of 60 against 63, and a touch cooler: it lacks the trace of red that gives Modern Gray its taupe softness. On a wall Agreeable Gray reads as the grayer of the two and Modern Gray as the warmer and lighter. Take Agreeable Gray for gray floors, black metal and a room that should read gray; take Modern Gray for warm wood and a house that should feel light and soft.
Accessible BeigeModern GrayModern Gray vs Accessible Beige SW 7036
Modern Gray is noticeably lighter; undertone subtle yellow-beige vs noticeable yellow-beige. Based on published LRV and our swatch classification.
Accessible Beige SW 7036 is noticeably darker, an LRV of 58 against 63, and clearly beige where Modern Gray stays gray: it measures a noticeable yellow-beige, Modern Gray a subtle one. Accessible Beige looks sandy on the chip; Modern Gray looks like a pale gray until a true gray sits beside it. Choose Accessible Beige for tan tile, cream cabinets and honey wood; choose Modern Gray for white cabinets, white counters and a lighter, grayer whole house.
Popular GrayModern GrayModern Gray vs Popular Gray SW 6071
Modern Gray is a touch lighter; undertone subtle yellow-beige vs subtle orange. Based on published LRV and our swatch classification.
Popular Gray SW 6071 is the nearest page color to Modern Gray and almost the same depth, an LRV of 61 against 63. The warmth in Popular Gray tips a whisker toward peach, in Modern Gray toward yellow, a subtle difference to assess on physical samples; side by side Popular Gray is a hair darker and a hair pinker. Pick Popular Gray if your trim white is Heron Plume SW 6070, the white it was matched to; otherwise compare both samples beside your fixed finishes.
Worldly GrayModern GrayModern Gray vs Worldly Gray SW 7043
Modern Gray is noticeably lighter; both fall in our subtle yellow-beige category. Based on published LRV and our swatch classification.
Worldly Gray SW 7043 is the same lean at a deeper step, an LRV of 57 against 63, so the two are one warm taupe-greige in two depths. Modern Gray is the whole-house version, light enough for a north room; Worldly Gray is the one for a sunlit room that wants a wall with more weight. Used together they read as one color in two strengths, which makes them a natural pair for main walls and a feature wall.
Questions about Modern Gray
Does Modern Gray look pink?
It can lean that way by contrast. Modern Gray carries a trace of red with its yellow, and beside cool gray tile, blue-gray stone or a crisp cool white that trace can read as a faint pink-beige. In most rooms, with warm wood and a soft white trim, it reads as a plain warm greige. Under 2700K bulbs the pink is gone; under 4000K the whole color goes flat.
What colors go with Modern Gray?
Sherwin-Williams pairs it with Snowbound SW 7004 on trim, Taupe Tone SW 7633 as a darker taupe partner and Plum Dandy SW 6284, a muted plum, as an accent. In practice it sits with navy, charcoal and deep green on doors and islands, brass and black hardware, white oak and walnut floors, and white or cream cabinets. Colonnade Gray SW 7641, the next step on its strip, gives a matching deeper wall.
What is one shade lighter or darker than Modern Gray?
Modern Gray is the lightest color on its fan-deck strip, so the printed step is only darker: Colonnade Gray SW 7641, about ten points down. In our swatch calculation the nearest lighter colors are Taupe of the Morning SW 9590 and Whirlwind SW 9576, both a touch lighter with the same lean, and Popular Gray SW 6071 and Agreeable Gray SW 7029 are the nearest that are a touch darker.
Is Modern Gray a good living room color?
Yes, and it is the room people search it for most. It takes all-day light without going white by afternoon, and it sits behind almost any sofa: charcoal, navy, cream, or leather in brown or cognac. A white trim such as Snowbound SW 7004 keeps it calm, and a deeper greige on a fireplace wall, Colonnade Gray SW 7641 from its own strip, gives the room a focus without adding a second color.
Can I use Modern Gray on kitchen cabinets?
Yes, as a soft alternative to white. On cabinet doors it reads a small step from white, so it suits a kitchen where white looks too stark and a real gray too heavy. Brass and black hardware both work, a satin finish reads a touch lighter than the chip, and the walls should be a true white such as Pure White SW 7005 so the cabinets read as the color in the room.
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 Modern Gray, checked in morning and evening light, is the last step before a gallon.
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Trim, ceiling and coordinating colors for Modern Gray
Sherwin-Williams names Snowbound SW 7004 as the trim and ceiling white for Modern Gray, a soft white with a hint of gray that keeps the pairing calm. Pure White SW 7005 gives a little more contrast without going cold. Alabaster SW 7008 is warmer than the wall and makes it read grayer; Extra White SW 7006 is the crispest and the one most likely to show the faint taupe in the wall.
Colors darker than Modern Gray
Colors similar to Modern Gray
Closest matches for Modern Gray in other brands
These are the closest digital colors in our catalog, not equivalent paint formulas or touch-up substitutes. Compare physical samples in the same finish before choosing. See the comparison method.