Sherwin Williams Gauntlet Gray: Undertoners, Lighting, & Best Uses
By Kylie
September 2, 2024
A Dark Gray With Attitude…
When choosing a dark gray paint color for a feature wall, cabinets, exterior siding, or even an entire room, it’s important to note the temperature, LRV, and undertones of the gray you’re looking at, especially one with a personality like Sherwin Williams Gauntlet Gray!
WHAT TYPE OF COLOR IS GAUNTLET GRAY?
Gauntlet Gray is a warm gray paint color in the medium-dark range. While it often gets passed off as the ‘perfect dark gray or charcoal color,’ it has some serious considerations, as it’s not as cold or neutral as traditional shades of gray – this baddy is WARM, baby!
And because Gauntlet Gray is warm, even in north-facing light, you must be careful when coordinating it with interior finishes, especially if they cater to a cooler shade.
North, East, South, West – Which Paint Color is the Best?
The Best Off-White Cabinet Colors
WHAT’S GAUNTLET GRAY’S LRV?
Gauntlet Gray has an LRV of just over 17, which puts it in the medium-dark end of things. It’s not as dense as a traditional ‘dark’ paint color, whose LRV is likelier to sit between 2-10, but it’s not soft like a more standard medium tone (20-40 LRV).
Not sure what LRV is? It could save your paint-lovin’ life – read all about it HERE.
WHAT ARE GAUNTLET GRAY’S UNDERTONES?
Gauntlet Gray is one of my favorite darker shades of gray as it has a minimal commitment to any undertone (the most common in warm gray is green and purple. Sure, the odd time it seems a wink violet or a touch green, but that’s more situational, based on a room’s exposure or surrounding finishes.
Gray Paint Colors – The 3 Undertones You HAVE to Consider
You won’t find even a wink of green in this next bathroom remodel, where Gauntlet Gray seems far more purple-toned…
And in this next photo, Gauntlet Gray looks more or less neutral compared to the previous one…
Sampling paint just got a WHOLE lot easier…
Get your Peel & Stick sample of Gauntlet Gray.
WHICH WHITE PAINT COLOR GOES WITH GAUNTLET GRAY
When it comes to trim, Gauntlet Gray is very flexible but certainly has its favorites…
- Sherwin Williams Pure White
- Benjamin Moore White Dove
- Sherwin Williams Extra White
SHOULD I Paint My Wood Cabinets White? A QUESTIONNAIRE
The 4 Best White Paint Colors from Sherwin Williams
IS GAUNTLET GRAY A GOOD EXTERIOR PAINT COLOR?
Heck yes, Gauntlet Gray can be amazeballs on exterior siding, stucco, or trim! If you have south-facing light or a super bright eastern morning light, you may find Gauntlet Gray looking lighter and warmer than expected.
In this next photo, notice how different Gauntlet Gray looks where the sun hits vs. not…
Here’s another great shot of Gauntlet Gray, chosen to coordinate with the darker areas of the stone facade and transition the black windows and trims…
5 Tips for Choosing an Exterior Paint Color
WHAT COLORS ARE SIMILAR TO GAUNTLET GRAY?
Well, Gauntlet Gray really is a color unto itself. Sure, there are similar shades, but nothing quite the same. All the same, it’s often the tweaks and adjustments in a color that make it a better choice over another—compare, compare, compare!
- Sherwin Williams Dovetail is a great comparable as it’s similar but a shift lighter.
- Benjamin Moore Metropolis for a lighter, warmer look (mad love).
- Or, make your life easier by comparing it to these colors in my CURATED COLOR BUNDLE.
Benjamin Moore Metropolis
WHAT COLORS GO WITH GAUNTLET GRAY?
Gauntlet Gray can be a bit finicky, but has some great color palette partners…
- Gauntlet Gray loves some muted, warm, off-white paint colors.
- Some of the most popular warm neutral paint colors go well with Gauntlet Gray, including Agreeable Gray, Anew Gray, and more!
- Gauntlet Gray doesn’t want to be partnered with a lighter color that’s cooler than it. However, it loves colors of the same depth or darker, such as Sherwin Williams Grizzle Gray and Cyberspace.
Not sure if Gauntlet Gray is right for you? Want a bit warmer or cooler? I’ve got more!
READ MORE
The Best Dark Gray Paint Colors
The Best Dark Blue-Gray Paint Colors
Dark Shades of Greige & Taupe From Sherwin Williams
NEED HELP?
Check out my Online Paint Color Consulting – I’d love to help!
ORIGINALLY WRITTEN IN 2020, UPDATED IN 2024
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Meet Kylie
Do you need help, but aren’t quite sure what ‘help’ looks like? Are you drowning in paint samples and decision fatigue?
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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.
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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
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I’m loving this gray! Would gauntlet gray painted over a brick fireplace look good next to walls painted in agreeable gray?
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It depends. In the odd room, Agreeable can pick up a vague green cast, but GENERALLY SPEAKING, yes, this can work :).
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Thank you for all your posts and videos!! I have spent hours scouring your site and videos and my husband is slowly catching on hearing me talking LRVs and undertones. Would Gauntlet Gray play well with Colonnade Gray? Also, is there a white you could pair with these?
Thank you for all your help!!-
AWESOME, I love to hear that ;). I think Gauntlet isn’t quite warm/green enough for Colonnade. I mean not BAD…but not close. I’d look more along the lines of SW Porpoise perhaps or even into BM with Amherst Gray! I also LOVE SW Pure White 🙂
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My exterior is painted Guantlet Grey and my stucco is painted Colonnade. They look great together. We get lots of compliments. Our trim is Urban Bronze.
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What color did you do your garage door and front door?
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This is super helpful! I am planning on Gauntlet Gray for body color. Do you think Alabaster would pair as a trim? We also have shakes above the garage. Any suggestion for what color to use? Would a shade or two lighter on the spectrum (such as Dovetail or mindful gray) be acceptable?
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Hi Jessica, I might shift to SW Pure White as it’s a bit less yellow 🙂
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We are doing gauntlet gray for exterior of house and pure white for trim. It is a ranch style house with two dormers on front and garage door on side. What color should we do garage door and should we do a different accent color for the dormers?
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Would gauntlet grey be okay to paint a upright piano? I have medium dark wood floors. Thanks
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Oooo Lin, I like the sounds of this!
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Hello I am painting my brick home Oxford white, with gauntlet gray shutters and garage doors painted dovetail ?
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I’m using this color on bathroom vanity and using Marquee Chain Reaction with it on walls. Lots of light in bathroom. What do you think?
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Hi! I’m using Gauntlet gray for my exterior home and thinking of High Reflective White as for the window trims. My front door is black. What do you think about the High Reflective White with Gauntlet Gray?
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Petal, i LOVE this idea, I see no problem with it at all (I’d love to see it all done too!)
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Hi Kylie, we have an exterior stone that is lighter gray, some slight maroon and dark grey and our home is stucco . If we went with Gauntlet Grey as the body and Reflective White as the trim, do you think Tricorn Black would work for the doors and shutters? Thanks so much.
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Hi Dylan, without seeing your home, from the SOUNDS of it, I like this overall palette!
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Gauntlet as body of house (stucco), Tricorn on windows and glass/black iron door. Best to use either Black Fox, or Iron Ore for garage doors, fascia and soffit.? The home gets strong sun exposure (south-facing), and soffits are 2 ft deep.
Thank you! -
Please help!!! I’m trying to decide what color to paint our fireplace(currently Cloud White). Our walls are Balboa Mist. The inside is brick tiles, shades of browns and tans! I prefer green undertones over blue. I’m wondering if Stonehenge Greige (PPG1024-5) would look good? Suggestions greatly appreciated!!!
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Oh gosh, Sharon, it’s so hard to say without seeing your fireplace – I’d just be shootin’ in the dark! Especially seeing as Balboa Mist has a violet undertone.
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I am painting my kitchen island Gauntlet Grey. I have creamy cabinets which work well with gauntlet grey and white duck for the walls., but I also have an aquamarine backsplash which is throwing everything off. Can you recommend a color for my backsplash that works?? My cabinets are creamy. My walls are going to be white duck, and my island will be gauntlet gray I have granite countertops that are black grays and off white. A little bit of taupe runs through.. thank you!
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It sounds to me like you shouldn’t add another color to the mix. Instead, I would lean into a subway tile that perfectly matches the cabinets!
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Thank you!
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Hi Kylie! Your posts on design and colors have been very helpful! I’m strongly considering Gauntlet Gray for my lower cabinets with white uppers, like you have pictured at the beginning of this post. I’m wondering if you happen to know the finish of the hardware used in that photo? Looks almost like a nickel or pewter? Any help you can provide is appreciated! Thank you 🙂
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Your videos and blogs are so helpful! I was thinking of doing Gauntlet Gray on my lower cabinets. I painted a sample and it seems to be pulling a little green. Not a lot. Just enough that I’m wondering if there’s a different warm-greige, medium-dark color you could recommend that isn’t going have those green undertones? The surrounding walls are Perfect Greige and (based on your advice!) I’m leaning towards Pure White for the upper cabinets. Thank you!!
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Hmmm, maybe try BM Metropolis and see if that shift has you feeling better?
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Hi Kylie, I’m going with Gauntlet gray for the exterior siding on my new home with Pure white trim and a walnut stained garage door. I’d like to do a blue front door but struggling to follow your advice on not pairing GG with a color that is lighter and cooler than it. Do you think HGSW 9141 Waterloo or 9140 Blustery sky would work? Thank you!!
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Well, it’s interesting, as sometimes, once you step outside of the NEUTRAL world, the rule can shift a bit. So, with Gauntlet Gray and a color that’s a bit more BLUE than gray, I would lean more into a blue-green over blue-violet. I also wouldn’t go too light, but Blustery Sky is pretty. Moody Blue and Riverway are also interesting and Gauntlet Gray LOVES their increased bit of green!
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This is very helpful advice! Thank you so much!!
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Hi, Kylie! Your blogs are my go to for learning about paint colors! I’m struggling with picking colors for the remodel I’m doing. What’s your opinion on Kilim Beige walls, an accent wall that has a warm stone fireplace on it in Gauntlet Gray, and Alabaster trim and doors? Or Pure White?I’ve got cherry and dark wood finishes throughout my home. Thank you!!
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YOu know, I’m feelin’ it. I mean, I might like a WARMER gray than Gauntlet Gray, but otherwise, I’m feeling it.
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Hi, Kylie. I am painting the bedroom accent wall in Gauntlet Gray. I am debating Repose or Eider White for the side walls. Any thoughts?
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I haven’t seen your home, but miiiiiight I introduce you to SW Agreeable Gray???
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Loving this review of Gauntlet Gray and all of the responses. We pulled the old aluminum siding off our house and had it painted Gauntlet Gray. Trying to figure out front door color. It has always been black, and am thinking of keeping it that way, depending on how dark the Gauntlet seems. From what you said above, maybe Peppercorn would be the way to go. We have a three-part door with two long windows on the side, a wooden door and a metal glass door in front. Should that door also be the same color as the windows and door behind it? Thoughts?
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I saw your other note re: Tricorn Black, and yup, that could work! You might also explore SW Iron Ore, which is a soft black and kind of interesting!
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****TRICORN black, not sure where Peppercorn came from! 🙂
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My son wants a dark color in his room. its a south facing room. I’m thinking gauntlet gray as either an accent wall with amazing gray or doing the top amazing and bottom half of all walls with gauntlet gray. What do you think?
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Gauntlet Gray is AWESOME. I might just shift over to either Agreeable Gray or Anew Gray for its partner color ;).
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Hi! My new build home was painted this color & honestly I love it! My problem is knowing what color rock to pair it with for landscaping?? I plan to do mulch (brown obviously) but also rock & don’t want to do gray. I know your expertise here is paint colors but wondered if you could give me some direction as I’m totally lost!
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Oh, I’m sorry, I don’t know any of the beautiful rocks off the top of my head, I wish I did!
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