Cardboard vs Rain Cloud
Both are Sherwin-Williams colors. Hue-wise, Cardboard belongs to the beige family and Rain Cloud to the blue-grey family. At LRV 22 vs 11, Cardboard will read as the brighter of the two — a 10-point gap that matters most in north-facing or low-light rooms. The tonal difference — Cardboard's warm character against Rain Cloud's cool — becomes most visible against white trim or in morning light. At ΔE 35.4, these are genuinely distinct colors — a strong contrast if used together, or a meaningful choice between two different directions. Below you'll find 2 real-room photo comparisons where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Cardboard vs Rain Cloud in Real Spaces
2 real rooms side by side. Seeing Cardboard and Rain Cloud in actual rooms makes the difference concrete; browse the spaces below to get a feel for how each color lives on a wall.
Home Office
In a home office, wall color sits in your peripheral vision for hours at a time, so temperature and undertone matter more than you might expect. The LRV gap is large enough that Cardboard will make the room feel meaningfully brighter than Rain Cloud would.
Front Door
Front doors are seen in isolation against the rest of the facade, which makes them a high-stakes surface where even subtle differences matter. Cardboard returns significantly more light to the room — in a smaller or darker space, that difference in perceived brightness is hard to miss.
Color Details
Cardboard vs Rain Cloud Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Cardboard on one side and Rain Cloud 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 Cardboard comparisons
See how Cardboard stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
At LRV 83 vs 22, White Dove is decisively the brighter choice.
Purbeck Stone reflects far more light (LRV 52 vs 22), opening up a space where Cardboard encloses it.
Evergreen Fog reads slightly lighter (LRV 30 vs 22), a gap that shows most in low-lit rooms.
Agreeable Gray reflects far more light (LRV 60 vs 22), opening up a space where Cardboard encloses it.
At LRV 58 vs 22, Accessible Beige is decisively the brighter choice.
A 5-point LRV gap (27 vs 22) makes Denim Drift the marginally brighter of the two.
French Gray reflects far more light (LRV 43 vs 22), opening up a space where Cardboard encloses it.
At LRV 55 vs 22, Tranquil Dawn is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 44 vs 22, Hardwick White is decisively the brighter choice.
Pure White reflects far more light (LRV 84 vs 22), opening up a space where Cardboard encloses it.
At LRV 66 vs 22, Balboa Mist is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 74 vs 22, Shoji White is decisively the brighter choice.
A 10-point LRV gap (22 vs 12) makes Cardboard the marginally brighter of the two.
At LRV 68 vs 22, Skimming Stone is decisively the brighter choice.
A 10-point LRV gap (22 vs 12) makes Cardboard the marginally brighter of the two.
At LRV 45 vs 22, Saybrook Sage is decisively the brighter choice.
Pale Green reads slightly lighter (LRV 31 vs 22), a gap that shows most in low-lit rooms.
Cardboard reflects far more light (LRV 22 vs 7), opening up a space where Pine Needle encloses it.
With LRVs of 24 and 22, the two reflect almost the same amount of light.
Guilford Green reflects far more light (LRV 57 vs 22), opening up a space where Cardboard encloses it.