Charcoal Slate vs Agreeable Gray
Where Charcoal Slate belongs to Benjamin Moore's range, Agreeable Gray is a Sherwin-Williams color. Hue-wise, Charcoal Slate belongs to the grey family and Agreeable Gray to the greige-grey family. Agreeable Gray (LRV 60) reflects noticeably more light than Charcoal Slate (LRV 15), a difference of 46 points that becomes especially apparent in rooms with limited natural light. Charcoal Slate runs blue while Agreeable Gray is decidedly warm, which means they'll respond very differently to warm vs cool light sources. With a ΔE of 39.2, the contrast is hard to miss. These aren't variations on a theme — they're two different answers to the same question. Below you'll find 9 real-room photo comparisons where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Charcoal Slate vs Agreeable Gray in Real Spaces
9 real rooms side by side. Seeing Charcoal Slate and Agreeable Gray in actual rooms makes the difference concrete; browse the spaces below to get a feel for how each color lives on a wall.
Living Room
In a living room, color works across both daylight and evening light — the same wall can read very differently at noon and at 8pm. The LRV gap is large enough that Agreeable Gray will make the room feel meaningfully brighter than Charcoal Slate would.
Bedroom
The context that matters most in a bedroom is how a color reads under a bedside lamp at night, not under noon daylight. Agreeable Gray reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Charcoal Slate.
Kitchen
In a kitchen, colors are seen under bright task lighting that amplifies undertones — what reads neutral elsewhere can show its hand here. Agreeable Gray reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Charcoal Slate.
Dining Room
A dining room lit by a dimmed pendant or candles is one of the most forgiving environments for paint — warm light softens almost everything. Agreeable Gray returns significantly more light to the room — in a smaller or darker space, that difference in perceived brightness is hard to miss.
Bathroom
Bathrooms are one of the few spaces where you're genuinely enclosed by the paint color, which makes the choice between these two more consequential. Agreeable Gray reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Charcoal Slate.
Home Office
The test for a home office color isn't how it looks in a quick glance — it's whether it still feels right after a full day of work. Agreeable Gray reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Charcoal Slate.
House
Seen across an entire facade, subtle tonal differences become pronounced. What reads as nearly the same on a chip often reads as clearly different at scale. Agreeable Gray reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Charcoal Slate.
Front Door
A front door is a focal point — small color differences read clearly at this concentrated scale. The LRV gap is large enough that Agreeable Gray will make the room feel meaningfully brighter than Charcoal Slate would.
Kitchen Cabinets
Kitchen cabinets are constantly compared against adjacent materials, which means subtle differences between these two become much more visible. Agreeable Gray reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Charcoal Slate.
Color Details
Charcoal Slate vs Agreeable Gray Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Charcoal Slate on one side and Agreeable Gray on the other.
Digital color is approximate. These simulations are generated from the manufacturer's hex values and overlaid on grayscale room photos — your screen's calibration, brightness, and viewing angle all affect how they render. Before committing to either color, test physical samples in your own space under the light you actually live with.
More Charcoal Slate comparisons
See how Charcoal Slate stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
White Dove reflects far more light (LRV 83 vs 15), opening up a space where Charcoal Slate encloses it.
At LRV 69 vs 15, Ammonite is decisively the brighter choice.
Charcoal Slate reads slightly lighter (LRV 15 vs 6), a gap that shows most in low-lit rooms.
At LRV 52 vs 15, Purbeck Stone is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 30 vs 15, Evergreen Fog is decisively the brighter choice.
Mizzle reflects far more light (LRV 52 vs 15), opening up a space where Charcoal Slate encloses it.
Accessible Beige reflects far more light (LRV 58 vs 15), opening up a space where Charcoal Slate encloses it.
Denim Drift reflects far more light (LRV 27 vs 15), opening up a space where Charcoal Slate encloses it.
At LRV 43 vs 15, French Gray is decisively the brighter choice.
A 10-point LRV gap (15 vs 4) makes Charcoal Slate the marginally brighter of the two.
Tranquil Dawn reflects far more light (LRV 55 vs 15), opening up a space where Charcoal Slate encloses it.
With LRVs of 15 and 13, the two reflect almost the same amount of light.
Hardwick White reflects far more light (LRV 44 vs 15), opening up a space where Charcoal Slate encloses it.
At LRV 84 vs 15, Pure White is decisively the brighter choice.
A 7-point LRV gap (21 vs 15) makes Artichoke the marginally brighter of the two.
Balboa Mist reflects far more light (LRV 66 vs 15), opening up a space where Charcoal Slate encloses it.
Shoji White reflects far more light (LRV 74 vs 15), opening up a space where Charcoal Slate encloses it.
Snowbound reflects far more light (LRV 83 vs 15), opening up a space where Charcoal Slate encloses it.
With LRVs of 15 and 12, the two reflect almost the same amount of light.
Skimming Stone reflects far more light (LRV 68 vs 15), opening up a space where Charcoal Slate encloses it.
At LRV 41 vs 15, Dix Blue is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 68 vs 15, Calamine is decisively the brighter choice.
A 10-point LRV gap (25 vs 15) makes Treron the marginally brighter of the two.
With LRVs of 15 and 12, the two reflect almost the same amount of light.
Saybrook Sage reflects far more light (LRV 45 vs 15), opening up a space where Charcoal Slate encloses it.
At LRV 31 vs 15, Pale Green is decisively the brighter choice.
A 8-point LRV gap (15 vs 7) makes Charcoal Slate the marginally brighter of the two.
A 10-point LRV gap (24 vs 15) makes Cement grey the marginally brighter of the two.
At LRV 57 vs 15, Guilford Green is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 72 vs 15, Just Walnut is decisively the brighter choice.