The Color Digest · Compare
Settled, side by side
Pure White
Sherwin-Williams · SW 7005
The white that stays out of the way
Pelican Gray
Benjamin Moore · 1612
Grey, silver-lined
In real rooms
Every room, each colorPelican Gray
1 roomThe difference
Read from the numbersPure White is the lighter of the two at LRV 84, 25.4 points above Pelican Gray at LRV 58.58. Pure White leans neutral where Pelican Gray reads cool. Pure White is a whites, Pelican Gray a grays. For a whole room, Pure White is the safer, more forgiving choice thanks to its higher LRV, while Pelican Gray is the bolder pick.
How they read
In their own wordsPure White is one of Sherwin-Williams' most-specified whites for a simple reason: it has almost no agenda. A trace of grey keeps it from glaring, a trace of warmth keeps it from turning blue, and at LRV 84 it is bright without being stark. It is the white you choose when the art, the furniture or the view is the point.
Pelican Gray is a light, silvery grey with a clear blue lean — cooler than the greiges that dominated the last decade, and all the better for it. At LRV 59 it is light enough for a small room and grey enough to feel deliberate. It is the grey of a slate roof after rain.