Light Charcoal vs Pure White
Where Light Charcoal belongs to Dulux's range, Pure White is a Sherwin-Williams color. Hue-wise, Light Charcoal belongs to the grey family and Pure White to the beige-greige family. Pure White (LRV 84) reflects noticeably more light than Light Charcoal (LRV 62), a difference of 22 points that becomes especially apparent in rooms with limited natural light. Light Charcoal runs neutral while Pure White is decidedly warm, which means they'll respond very differently to warm vs cool light sources. With a ΔE of 11.7, 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 2 real-room photo comparisons where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Light Charcoal vs Pure White in Real Spaces
2 real rooms side by side. Seeing Light Charcoal and Pure White 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 Pure White will make the room feel meaningfully brighter than Light Charcoal would.
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. Pure White reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Light Charcoal.
Color Details
Light Charcoal vs Pure White Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Light Charcoal on one side and Pure White 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 Light Charcoal comparisons
See how Light Charcoal stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
