Sherwin Williams Colonnade Gray (7641): Undertones, LRV, & Real-Home Results
Sherwin Williams Colonnade Gray is a light-medium, warm gray paint color. It works well on interior walls, especially in open-concept spaces, as well as exteriors.
Warm grays like Colonnade Gray can change how they look throughout the day. Surrounding finishes, exposure, and light bulbs all play a part.
Now, if you’ve been with me for a while (bless your heart), you know that I love doing paint color reviews. Reviews are where all (okay, some) of the insanity that’s sloshing around in my brain comes out, and that’s precisely what’s going to happen with this review of Colonnade Gray – HOT DAMN, I love this color!
IS COLONNADE GRAY A WARM OR COOL GRAY OR GREIGE?
As it relates to paint colors, a lot comes down to perception. What I see as a warm gray, you might see as a greige. What looks a bit too cold for your room could be WAY too warm for mine!
However, some colors have a pretty obvious baseline to work off of, and Colonnade Gray is a warm gray. Is it warm enough to be a greige (a warm gray with more beige)? Nope, not quite, but it thinks about it in some exposures!
Colonnade Gray & Benjamin Moore Gibraltar Cliffs
If you have northern exposure, you should still see a passive warmth in Colonnade Gray. I wouldn’t say it’s remotely overwhelming, but it will be softer and more inviting than a cool or super stormy shade of gray. On the other hand, if you have southern sun or western afternoon light, notice how Colonnade Gray can look warmer and greige.
WHAT’S THE LRV OF COLONNADE GRAY?
Colonnade has an LRV of 53, which ‘they’ call light (‘they’ being the peeps at Sherwin Williams). However, when you picture a light gray color, it’s often fresher or brighter. Colonnade Gray is not fresh and light; it’s soft and subtle but has some decent body, so it doesn’t wash out in natural light as some light colors can.
You might go so far as to call Colonnade Gray ‘muddy.’
Are you not familiar with LRV? It’s a big deal, you should read about it.
In the above photo, look at the contrast between the white trim and the switch plate – this gives you a great idea of the general depth you can expect to see.
WHAT ARE COLONNADE GRAY’S UNDERTONES?
If you subscribe to my blog and drink the Ginger-infused Kool-Aid, you know grays are NEVER simple…
Of course, Doug had to make an appearance – he was feeling dapper with his new haircut.
Grays have cool undertones of either blue, purple, or green, and Colonnade Gray is no exception. Warm grays cater to green or purple undertones (blue is more situational). As for Colonnade Gray, it favors a very minor green undertone. That said, depending on the time of day, I’ve seen it look greige and even a smidge gray-blue, particularly when the northern light hits it. In other words, it’s a pretty typical neurotic warm gray.
By the way, many of the photos in this blog post are from my own home (our previous home; we’ve since moved).
How to Choose Paint Colors for North-Facing Rooms
COLONNADE GRAY IN SOUTH-FACING ROOMS
In this next photo, look at how that warm southern light softens Colonnade up – I love it. I partnered it with Sherwin Williams Urbane Bronze on the front door, which is pretty much the most badass color ever. Can I say heaven and bad-ass in the same paragraph?
The Best Paint Colors for Your Front Door
COLONNADE GRAY IN NORTH-FACING LIGHT ROOMS
In northern light, you’ll have a more challenging time pulling warmth out of Colonnade Gray as it will lean more into its gray roots than in south-facing light.
Get your Peel & Stick sample of Colonnade Gray HERE!
COLONNADE GRAY 25% LIGHTER (in morning east-facing light)
The carpet in our last home had purple undertones. However, I wanted to use Colonnade Gray throughout our main living areas, including the staircase, and its green undertone wasn’t cuttin’ it.
So, I experimented.
I asked Sherwin Williams to lighten Colonnade Gray by 25%. When you lighten or darken colors, undertones can shift a little (or a lot). I didn’t think I could lose ALL the green, but I felt that maybe 25% could lessen its impact—and sweet hallelujah, it did!
I also love how Colonnade sits with Sherwin Williams Anonymous in the powder room and the stairwell feature wall. This was actually one of my favorite spots in our 4000 sq ft house—true story. The color combo just sat well with my soul.
WHAT WHITE TRIM COLORS GO WITH COLONNADE GRAY?
Colonnade is pretty flexible. You can try it with almost ANY of my top white paint colors, but my personal faves are…
- Sherwin Williams Pure White
- Benjamin Moore White Dove
- Sherwin Williams Alabaster
These next photos are from another one of my E-design clients. I wanted to quickly show you how Colonnade Gray looks with slightly warmer features and furnishings.
I apologize for the slightly smaller photo size/quality. My blog relies 100% on my clients, friends, and readers sending me their after photos. Interiors are DARN tough to shoot, but she did pretty good!
The above photo shows a bit more of the warm gray I love seeing in Colonnade Gray—what a gorgeous complement to the slate tile fireplace.
Below, see how well Colonnade partners up with subdued greige and grayed-out beige tones in this room!
DOES COLONNADE GRAY GO WITH CREAM TRIM?
It can. This isn’t to say it’s my favorite combo, but if your cream trim is light enough, you can pull it off in a pinch.
However, if your cream trim is similar in depth/richness to Sherwin Williams Antique White, I’d tread carefully—the more muted and subtle (and lighter), the better.
The Best Paint Colors with Cream Cabinets & Trims
DOES COLONNADE GRAY GO WITH WOOD TRIM?
Colonnade Gray is gorgeous with many wood trims. Just watch that your room has enough natural light. Without enough light and no white trim, a color like Colonnade Gray could look a bit drab and dingy.
In this next room, Colonnade Gray looks amazeballs with the golden oak trims. My Online Paint Color Consulting client didn’t want to blend in that beautiful wood, and Colonnade Gray did a job complementing it!
Paint Colors That Go With Golden Oak
Colonnade Gray is also highly tolerant to a wide range of species and stains, including white oak, maple, and red or cherry stains.
The Best Paint Colors to Update Wood Finishes
One wood finish that could make me a bit twitchy would be a stain with a lighter pink undertone, often found in light maple cabinets or red oak flooring.
WHAT COLORS ARE SIMILAR TO COLONNADE GRAY?
In your search for the perfect paint color, you must sample and compare similar shades. Here’s what I recommend…
- Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter is a bit warmer and muddier.
- Sherwin Williams Mindful Gray
- Even better, check out my CURATED COLOR BUNDLE, which includes Colonnade Gray and the above two shades!
WHAT COLORS GO WITH COLONNADE GRAY?
Thanks to its depth and muted undertones, Colonnade Gray is reasonably easy to build a room-by-room palette around…
- Tons of warm off-whites like Sherwin Williams Aesthetic White, Shoji White, and White Duck
- Darker shades of moody green
- Medium to dark greige paint colors like Porpoise and Urbane Bronze
- As shown earlier, I LOVE Colonnade Gray with moody blue-gray paint colors
Are you not sure if Colonnade Gray is the color for you? I’VE GOT MORE!
READ MORE
Sherwin Williams 10 Best Gray & Greige Paint Colors
Paint Color Review of Sherwin Williams Modern Gray
Paint Color Review of Sherwin Williams Repose Gray
Paint Color Review of Sherwin Williams Agreeable Gray
Color Review: SW Collonade Gray vs BM Revere Pewter
NEED HELP?
Check out my affordable E-design packages!
WRITTEN ORIGINALLY IN 2020 OR SO, UPDATED IN 2024
Hi Kylie! We are currently in the beginning stages of building our custom home! I am considering Colonnade Gray or Repose Gray for the exterior. We have a house that will be hardie only, no stone, and extra white trim. Do you have a preference? I was thinking I may do Alpaca or Agreeable Gray, but after watching literally all of your videos (thank you for all of these), I’m afraid those colors may wash out with all of our Texas sun. Thanks for all of your help, you are awesome! (P.S. I love wine too lol)
Hi Lindsay! Well, it can depend on your roof, but check out SW Mindful Gray, which is REALLY lovely and just a step down from Repose Gray :). And yes, I’d probably stay away from Alpaca and Agreeable :), even though they’re beautiful colours! I have NO problem with Colonnade/Repose, but Mindful could just hold up a bit better for you.
Thank you so much! Finding you online has been such a blessing for me since starting this house building process. I don’t know what we may have ended up with without your website and videos. My husband is not really into picking colors and has left all of the choices up to me! No help at all there lol. We are going with a dark gray shingle color (slate) so I really didn’t want to go brown with the siding color, but don’t want it to exactly match either. We are going to pick our countertops, cabinets, and interior wall paint next month and I know what I am looking for thanks to you! I am already looking at a LRV of 62 for the inside. I am thinking On the Rocks or maybe even Agreeable Gray. I didn’t even know what LRV was before finding you lol. I went to look at your online courses and many are sold out, so you must be doing something right. Thank you so much for your help!
Hi Kylie!
I know this is an older post but I recently found your page while looking at Colonnade Gray and I LOVE the white stone/tile in the fireplace picture above (the one with the metal looking sofa table). Do you happen to know where the stone is from?
Thanks so much!
Ann
I’m SO sorry Ann, I don’t, as it was built a year before we moved in. My best guess would be that it’s from City Tile in Nanaimo 🙂
Hi Kylie, great review. We have a home with lots of natural oak trim, and love the photo you posted where colonnade leans more toward green and compliments the oak very well in certain light. Can you recommend a colour that favours green slightly more, so that it will look like the photo you posted in all light?
Thanks
Hi Kyle, you might find that BM REvere Pewter leans that wink more green!
Hi Kylie,
Thank you for taking pity on us and providing so much valuable information. I scored a 2 on the color IQ Quiz you linked, so I can see the colors, but I’m the WORST when it comes to putting things together. With your help I decided to paint my upper kitchen cabinets Pure White and my lower cabinets Cyberspace, and we love them so much, but now I’m trying to paint the walls.
Just considering wall color, in your (vastly superior) opinion would Colonnade Gray at 25% lighter “work” in a north-facing room that wraps around and touches the Cyberspace cabinets on one end and a Web Gray accent wall on the other, with Pure White trim? I’m also thinking of Repose Gray (maybe 25% lighter), since in the Cyberspace review you say it doesn’t like cool or warm gray with a “wink o’ green”, but you recommended Colonnade in a north-facing room and if I make Colonnade 25% lighter the green disappears… You can see my problem. Any advice is not expected but would be much appreciated.
Amy, I think you’ve got a GREAT feel for things by the sounds of it – many people would not have been able to put your combos together! And I think Colonnade Gray 25% lighter sounds GREAT with what you have. There’s still a touch of green, but it’s totally okay with Cyberspace – totally. You’ve SO got this and I’d love to see it all done!
Will Collonade Gray bring out or tone down pink in brick for exterior?
Oooo, I wouldn’t do it, I worry it would enhance the pink 🙂
Hi Kylie!! Thank you so much for your blog posts. I’m surrounded by paint samples and wine haha and I’m so lost. I would love colonnade grey for our bedroom. Do you have any ideas for bathroom paint colors for master bath? I don’t really like a lot of bold colors looking for a neutral. Kinda light to medium grey that could work. Not great but decent southern sunlight coming in. Also I have planned for the rest of main home colors.. do those work in a home
Palate color scheme? thanks so much for all you do! Cheers 🙂
Hi! This has been a super informative read! We’ve just purchased a georgian/colonial style home with very creamy trim throughout. We don’t intend to change the trim. The south facing kitchen has darker honey oak cabinets as well. Would collonade gray be a good choice with these two things to consider? Thanks!
Hi Rachel, it TOTALLY depends on how cream it is. Some creams are more subtle and you MIGHT be able to pull it off – others, not so much. If you type ‘CREAM’ into my search function, you’ll find a full article on this exact topic!
Hi Kylie! Thank you for the helpful blog post. We recently painted our primary bathroom this color. Our bathroom remodel had many twists and turns (while I was in my third trimester of pregnancy!), so I’m now in the midst of fixing certain aspects. Here is our floor tile: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Satori-Windsor-White-Polished-Porcelain-12-in-x-24-in-Polished-Porcelain-Floor-and-Wall-Tile/1002658210
I believe the grout is currently Mapei eggshell, and even though it is sealed, it has a tendency to look a little dirty/discolored. I’d like to have the grout redone in a darker color to mitigate this problem and look more intentional. Do you happen to provide any grout color recommendations, and if so, any thoughts on what would work well with Collonade Gray?
Hey Kylie!!
Your Blogs have absolutely saved our butt’s trying to decide on colors for our new home! We have seen Colonnade gray now on a couple homes and we love it! We are just struggling to find a good accent color for our trim and maybe garage doors and front door. We both like Urbane Bronze and Tricorn black but wonder if either of those would work. We have the standard weathered wood shingles on the house so no Black roof unfortunately. We also have a lighter white and grey stone with off white mortar on the front. I have watched all your YouTube videos with Colonnade grey too and just wanted to see if you think either of those colors would work with it. I know you have it on your inside walls and inside front door so wondering if it would work for the outside too. Thank you!!
Oooo, that’s tough. Not everyone home can pull off dark/black trim, so I’d definitley have to see it. One important detail is that Colonnade Gray looks the most like itself against white trim, as that’s the cleanest contrast. Between UB and Tricorn Black, without seeing your home, I’d have to lean into UB :).
What about CG in a basement with good lighting?
It could be lovely!
Hello Kylie,
Im new here. I love how you explain so much in detail you are such a big help thank you. I have been learning alot about paint color. I didn’t realize how tough it was going to actually be to pick out paint colors for my entire interior. I came down to Colonnade gray . I have a front living room south facing with a good amount of light and also a north facing living room open to the kitchen. I do have 4 nice size windows and a big sliding door in that north facing living room. I also like to leave the north facing living room a little dimmer its our family room/ tv room.. I was going to do Colonnade gray throughout but not sure if I should lightened it by 25% in my north facing room and in my south facing room just leave the original color. the rooms somewhat cut off by a wall but kinda open concept, but they do cut off making them two separate rooms.My south facing living room also has the entryway ,which you can also see my stairwell going upstairs when you walk thru my front door. I was thinking of maybe lightened it in that area also by 25%. I love Colonnade Gray at 25% maybe because I had revere pewter 50% lighter thoughtout my downstairs and staircase and hallway upstairs . my eyes keep going towards 25% lighter colonnade gray, but not sure if breaking up the color in different areas will be noticeable different or weird looking, also from my south facing living room you can see my dining room which is north facing with a big window. I had the color b.m plymouth rock in that room. I have sky blue chairs and a dark table in dining room what color can go good with colonnade gray ? I do like to keep dining room a darker color but not too dark. please help! I have tired so many colors throughout my house .agreeable Gray, accessible beige, Bungalow beige , sand bar, alpaca, Edgecomb Gray, cedar key, vessel, I just didn’t like any of them. I really like Colonnade gray but not sure what to do! do I lighten it do I keep it original? help