Sherwin Williams Worldly Gray: Undertones, LRV, & Real-Home Results
By Kylie
April 3, 2024
Sherwin Williams Worldly Gray is a light, warm greige-taupe paint color. It works well on interior walls, especially in open-concept spaces, as well as kitchen cabinets.
Worldly Gray’s LRV and undertones play an important role in how it looks on painted surfaces.
This is easily shown on Worldly Gray’s Pinterest page. Which is why it’s VITAL that you sample it in your own home. But first, it needs to be worth checking out. So, let’s see what it’s all about…
WHAT TYPE OF COLOR IS WORLDLY GRAY? IS IT WARM OR COOL?
Worldly Gray is a warm paint color that can EASILY be seen as a warm gray or a greige, depending on your perception. How it’s perceived can also shift depending on the exposure of the room where you’re putting it. Generally speaking, Worldly Gray IS a greige at heart due to its degree of warmth and undertones (coming up shortly).
If you have a north-facing room, Worldly Gray can look more like a warm gray (meaning it will look a bit grayer/cooler), whereas it will lean a bit more into its warmth with south-facing light or warm afternoon sunshine.
North, East, South, West – Which Paint Color is the Best?
WHAT’S THE LRV OF WORLDLY GRAY?
Worldly Gray has an LRV of 57, which puts it in the light range but on the HEAVIER side of it (learn more HERE).
A color with this LRV will hold its look a bit better in a super-bright room than a color with a higher LRV. If you have a dark room, though, a color like Worldly Gray can look a bit dingy, so you’ll need some good interior lighting to back it up!
This next room is in a basement and doesn’t get any natural light. However, because there’s enough interior lighting, Worldly Gray holds its own reasonably well…
But of course, in a room with good natural light, Worldly Gray will look its most beautiful…
Not sure what LRV is? It could save your paint-lovin’ life – read all about it HERE.
WHAT ARE WORLDLY GRAY’S UNDERTONES? PURPLE, GREEN, BLUE?
While the undertones of Worldly Gray are super passive, it can have a very, very mild bias towards green, but not by much. The Fact is, colors like Worldly Gray cater to purple or green. The more a color commits to its undertone, the less likely it is to grab the other.
So, with Worldly Gray being just not super committed, in some lights, it could pick up a slightly taupe (violet) hue (but not by much – don’t be scared.) Most of the time, it shows up as pretty darn neutral.
Get your Samplize Peel & Stick sample of Worldly Gray HERE!
WHAT’S THE BEST WHITE COLOR FOR TRIMS & CABINETS WITH WORLDLY GRAY?
When choosing a white paint color for your trim with Worldly Gray, be sure it isn’t too creamy or yellow. I highly recommend…
- Sherwin Williams Pure White
- Sherwin Williams High Reflective White
- Benjamin Moore White Dove
SHOULD I Paint My Wood Cabinets White? A QUESTIONNAIRE
The 4 Best White Paint Colors from Sherwin Williams
IS WORLDLY GRAY A GOOD EXTERIOR PAINT COLOR?
Well, if your roof, stone, brick, and other exterior features can support a mild, warm green undertone, then it certainly could work, although I won’t say it’s a popular choice. My Online Color Consulting clients are usually inclined towards Sherwin Williams Agreeable Gray and Anew Gray on their exteriors (when looking at this type of color.)
5 Tips for Choosing an Exterior Paint Color
WHAT COLORS ARE SIMILAR TO WORLDLY GRAY
You won’t find an exact match for ANY color between brands – you’ll see shifts in undertones, temperature, and depths. However, there are some with similar intentions but different approaches…
WORLDLY GRAY vs. AGREEABLE GRAY
If it’s a popularity contest, Agreeable Gray wins…by a long shot. But this doesn’t mean it’s the best color for you and your home. Like Worldly Gray, Agreeable Gray is also a greige. However, Agreeable Gray easily looks like a taupe as it has even less green undertone than Worldly Gray. Worldly Gray has more of an earthy, organic warmth compared to Agreeable Gray and a bit more depth compared to Agreeable Gray’s LRV of 60.
Paint Color Review of Sherwin Williams Agreeable Gray
WORLDLY GRAY vs. BENJAMIN MOORE REVERE PEWTER
Worldly Gray and Revere Pewter are great colors to compare for your walls, cabinets, or exterior. Both colors can pass as warm gray or greige, and both harbor a green undertone. The noticeable difference is in depth, as Revere Pewter has an LRV of 55, giving it a more dense, organic look compared to Worldly Gray’s LRV of 57.
Paint Color Review of Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter
WORLDLY GRAY vs. REPOSE GRAY
While we compared apples to apples with Agreeable Gray and Revere Pewter, Repose Gray is more noticeably different from Worldly Gray. Sure, Repose Gray has an LRV of 58, so it’s similar in depth to Worldly Gray; however, Repose Gray is a more legit warm shade of gray, making Worldly Gray look greige in comparison.
Paint Color Review of Sherwin Williams Repose Gray
WHAT PAINT COLORS LOOK GOOD WITH IT?
If I want to partner Worldly Gray with other colors in a palette, I might look at…
- Some gray paint colors with a lower LRV, especially blue-gray blends
- Super passive creamy-tan hybrids, such as Sherwin Williams White Duck and other flexible, warm shades of off-white
- Colors that are DARKER VERSIONS of it, like Sherwin Williams Anonymous (shown below) and Felted Wool
- Subtly warm shades of white
READ MORE
The Best Light Greige & Taupe Paint Colors
Greige & Taupe: What’s the Big Difference?
The Best WHOLE HOME Gray & Greige Paint Colors
NEED HELP?
Check out my Online Paint Color Consulting – I’d love to help!
KYLIE M INTERIORS E-DESIGN AND ONLINE VIRTUAL PAINT COLOR EXPERT, SPECIALIZING IN BENJAMIN MOORE AND SHERWIN WILLIAMS PAINT COLORS DIY DECORATING AND DESIGN ADVICE BLOGGER
ORIGINALLY WRITTEN IN 2020, UPDATED IN 2024
Share this!
Tagged with:
Meet Kylie
Do you need help, but aren’t quite sure what ‘help’ looks like? Are you drowning in paint samples and decision fatigue?
Does every color you like at the paint store look terrible in your lighting or pick up a funky undertone? I’d love to help.
Hi, I’m Kylie
For over 24 years I’ve helped 12,000+ homeowners and renters make more confident decisions on paint colors and affordable home updates using real home examples and practical, experience-based advice. My goal is simple: help you love the home you have.
Do-it-yourself, the smart way
Grab one of Kylie’s guides
Affordable, downloadable shortcuts to the colors and combos I’d pick for you. Yours to keep, forever.
Homeowner’s Guide: White Kitchen Cabinets
This isn’t another ’10 Best Cabinet Colors’ list, because there is no SINGLE best white for every home and every kitchen.
Learn how to choose a white cabinet paint color that works with your countertops, backsplash, flooring, trim, lighting, and home—so you can rule out the wrong whites, sample fewer colors, and choose with confidence.
158-page PDF – Instant Download
$34.95Accent Colors – And How to Use Them
This isn’t about plastering your home in the ‘Color of the Year’ or following the latest trends (unless you really want to).
It’s about finding accent colors that work with YOUR home, YOUR style, and YOUR comfort level.
Because the best accent color isn’t one you love on a paint chip, it’s one that makes everything around it look better.
118-Page PDF – Instant Download
$34.95
Homeowner’s Guide: Exterior Paint Colors
Painting your home’s exterior is a BIG investment and choosing a color based on a tiny paint chip, a trend or the house down the street can be an expensive mistake.
Learn how to look at YOUR roof, YOUR windows, YOUR brick (or stone) and YOUR home as a whole so you can understand what colors make sense.
The goal? Less guessing, fewer samples and a lot more confidence before gallons of paint go on your home.
206-page PDF – Digital Download
$44.95Exterior Trim Paint Colors
This isn’t a list of ‘the best trim colors’, although you’ll get a ton of links to great shades!
You’ll learn how to look at your home and understand whether it needs contrast, repetition, connection, or a little visual peacekeeping to pull it all together.
Because trim might seem like a small detail…but spread it around all four sides of your home on multiple surfaces and it suddenly has a pretty big job.
118-page PDF – Instant Download
$24.95
Comments
-
Would you paint your cabinets SW White Duck with Worldly Gray walls?
-
Nope, I wouldn’t.
-
My walls are SW White Duck with SW Pure White Trim. Doors are Urbane Bronze. I’m looking at painting the kitchen cabinets Worldly Gray. I like Agreeable Gray and my husband likes Amazing Gray. I think Worldly is in the middle. Thoughts?
-
Wellll, neither are dark enough to partner up well with White Duck. You’ll want to head into the light-medium depths, so LRV’s around 40-50 or so. I’d also lean into a slightly greige undertone (i.e. Amazing Gray or even a touch more green) rather than Agreeable Gray/Anew Gray :). Also check out BM Pashmina, it’s lovely! Darker than you want, but beautiful all the same.
-
-
-
-
Hi, would it look fine if I paint my fireplace Chatura Gray and my walls Worldly gray in my Great room living space. I have dark wood trim and a dark wood mantle so just looking for a darker coordinating color for my fireplace but not too dark.
-
Noooope! Worldly Gray can grab a subtle green undertone that could be right at odds with the taupe approach of Chatura Gray. You might want to shift to something with no violet in it.
-
-
Hi Kylie, my house if full of honey oak. If I paint my walls worldly gray would painting my honey oak trim, closets, and kitchen cabinets a Shoji White from Benjamin Moore work?
-
It cooould, but it will all be very low contrast – you might get a sample made of Shoji White 25% lighter and see how that looks.
-
Hi Kylie, thanks for your feedback! Would BM Chantilly Lace be a better option to paint all my honey oak trim, closets and cabinets with Worldly Gray on the walls?
-
-
-
Kylie, what do you think about painting our North facing two-story (lots of windows) room with Worldly Gray – the ceiling and trim are honey-pine – and we face a lake.
-
Ooooo, I do love Worldly Gray! It CAN pick up a minor green undertone which is pretty.
-
-
Hello, I’ve been doing a lot of reading and watching your videos! I am doing alabaster cabinets in all spaces, trim, and doors. Is worldly gray going to look good on the walls? I don’t want my walls to have a purple tone to them! My parents have that problem in their house. I’m just trying to find a light griege color that has a little less beige than gray. Thank you!
-
It can work, but i personally would feel better of Worldly was darkened by 25%, just to increase the contrast between the two a bit more :). And Worldly Gray’s undertones are pretty darn subtle – some don’t see the green at all!
-
For some reason I am just seeing your response! My house building has been VERY slow, and am just starting to paint. Still looking at paint colors! This is extremely difficult! But I wanted to thank you for taking the time to respond to my question!
-
-
-
Hi Kylie, I want to paint my walls worldly gray. Will that go with medium stained woodwork, floors, trim, maple cabinets?
I have a few areas that need a lighter “trim”- columns. I am considering creamy and white heron. Will those look good together? -
Hi there, I want to use Urbane Bronze on exterior trim and garage door but not sure what to use for body. Looking at Versatile Gray? Do you have a better option? Don’t want to go too light, we live in Arizona. Thank you!
-
Would Greek Villa be a good trim color to match with Worldly Gray walls & ceiling?
-
Oooo, I would lean more into Pure White as it’s less yellow.
-
-
Will Worldy Gray coordinate with Egret White?
-
Hey Lisa! I wouldn’t do them in the same room (ie. walls and cabinets), but in adjoining rooms they’re nice!
-
Perfect, thank you so much! Super helpful advice! I feel better now:) I painted our master bedroom Egret White & going to paint our Master Bathroom Worldly Gray.
-
-
-
Hi! I love worldly gray but am looking for the exact same color except around 50% lighter overall. Is paint mixed at 50% of a color at the paint counter actually accurate? I’ve read differing opinions so am nervous to have them mix it. Thanks!
-
Hey Jackie, I can tell you with 100% confidence that the 50% lighter version isn’t an exact 50% lighter version. As colors are lightened/darkened, they adjust the varying tints accordingly. Sometimes, the tints can’t be cut in half (as there’s too little of them), so they either nix it or keep it. This can affect how it looks. I’d say you’re still working with similar BONES, but it won’t be ‘exact’. This said, it’s likely closer than you’ll get by eyeballing a shade that simply LOOKS like a 50% lighter version of it.
-
-
Question.does worldly gray look good with urban bronze around it. I am painting my garage door and house worldly gray. And the trim around the garage door urban bronze.
I am so nervous about colors
-
Hi Kylie – My primary bedroom Aesthetic White with Pure White Trim. We have a good bit of white furniture in the room so I was considering painting my 3 doors in the room Worldly Grey to add a little depth to the bedroom but still keep the neutral feel. Do you think Worldly Grey would be a good color to paint the doors?
-
Hmmm, I might add just a bit more depth on the doors, maybe Amazing Gray or BM Revere Pewter!
-
-
Hi! I am thinking of using Worldly Gray on wood trim, doors, cabinets, and accent wall paneling along with
Aesthetic White on walls. This would be throughout a medical office. I have watched your videos carefully (which are amazeballs btw) and in one you give a favorable opinion of pairing the 2 colors, saying they looked beautiful together. Just checking here to see if you had anything more to add about using them together and if you could recommend a quartz countertop to go with the pallet. Thanks very much!-
Hmmmm, I like them in a palette together (as in side-by-side rooms) but RIGHT next to each other like this is different. I might bump down darker to Amazing Gray for a bit more contrast!
-
-
I picked SW Worldly Grey for the color through out my whole house. My floors are going to be dark, their color is called an Espresso Hickory. My cabinets are dark also with a tinge of red (that I’m not trying to pull). I had picked BM Alabaster for my trim and door color. Will that look okay? I haven’t painted yet but I have bought the worldly grey already.
-
If it were me, I’d adjust the trim and doors to Pure White. Alabaster isn’t bad with Worldly Gray, but I’d chose Pure White instead (or BM White Dove) as they’re less yellow!
-
-
Love your breakdown of Worldly Gray! That’s the color I had chosen for kitchen cabinets and reading your post confirmed that decision for an earthy feel. I’m struggling with a light neutral wall color. I was looking at White Duck or Egret White until I read someone else’s question with your response. 🙂 Do you have a suggestion of a SW wall color that would look great with my BM White Dove Trim and Worldly Gray cabinets – all one very large room (kitchen and dining combined)?
-
Oooo, this is defintely a tough one as the LRV (depth) of Worldly Gray makes it fussy with its wall partners. It’s usually best to stick with the whites with a color this light – BM White Dove, as it already exists!
-
-
Hello,
The walls in my living room, dining room and bedroom are SW Worldly Gray. I have mid-century wood furniture and an offwhite sofa.I am not sure what type of area carpet to get. I am thinking of a pretty light colored design for the living room and dining room and maybe white berber with a white duvet for the bedroom.
Do you have any suggestions?
-
Hi Kylie,
What a great site you have here and very helpful! I have a quick question that I hope you can help me with. My house is painted SW worldy gray with extra white trim. I am trying to decide a kitchen cabinet color. Do you think I should use SW extra white since it’s already on the trim or I was also considering SW Pure white for the cabinets? Thanks.-
I don’t love mixing and matching whites too much, so I’d stick with Extra White if it suits your backsplash and countertop!
-
-
How would bm chantilly lace look as trim color with worldly gray walls? Thank you!
-
I see no problem with this at all!
-
-
Hello Kylie
my cabinets are BM espresso bean. I painted a poster of worldly gray and they seem to like each other. Feels a bit heavy though. Balboa mist went blue on me. do you think lightening worldly gray would help ? I see more violet leaning than green leaning in my space which I do prefer.
Leave a Reply