Cast Iron vs Iron Ore
Both are Sherwin-Williams colors. Both sit in the grey family, which is useful context if you're narrowing within a single hue direction. At LRV 13 vs 6, Cast Iron will read as the brighter of the two — a 7-point gap that matters most in north-facing or low-light rooms. They share a neutral quality — useful to know if you're layering them in the same space. At ΔE 14.5, these are genuinely distinct colors — a strong contrast if used together, or a meaningful choice between two different directions. Below you'll find 7 real-room photo comparisons where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Cast Iron vs Iron Ore in Real Spaces
7 real rooms side by side. Seeing Cast Iron and Iron Ore 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
Living rooms test a color across a full range of conditions — morning sun, afternoon shade, and evening lamp light all shift how both of these read. Cast Iron has the edge in reflectance, which shows as a quiet sense of added space rather than an obvious contrast.
Kitchen
Kitchen lighting tends to be bright and directional, which sharpens contrast and makes undertone differences more apparent. The brightness difference is modest but present — Cast Iron gives the walls a little more lift.
Bathroom
Bathrooms amplify color — the enclosed space and reflective surfaces make what reads subtle elsewhere feel more present here. The brightness difference is modest but present — Cast Iron gives the walls a little more lift.
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 brightness difference is modest but present — Cast Iron gives the walls a little more lift.
Mudroom
A mudroom color needs to hold up under the most casual scrutiny: a glance as you're coming and going, often in mixed or artificial light. Cast Iron reads slightly lighter here — a subtle but real difference in how open the space feels.
House
At full exterior scale, the difference between these two colors becomes much easier to judge than from a small chip. The brightness difference is modest but present — Cast Iron gives the walls a little more lift.
Color Details
Cast Iron vs Iron Ore Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Cast Iron on one side and Iron Ore 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 Cast Iron comparisons
See how Cast Iron stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
At LRV 83 vs 13, White Dove is decisively the brighter choice.
Purbeck Stone reflects far more light (LRV 52 vs 13), opening up a space where Cast Iron encloses it.
Evergreen Fog reflects far more light (LRV 30 vs 13), opening up a space where Cast Iron encloses it.
Agreeable Gray reflects far more light (LRV 60 vs 13), opening up a space where Cast Iron encloses it.
At LRV 58 vs 13, Accessible Beige is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 27 vs 13, Denim Drift is decisively the brighter choice.
French Gray reflects far more light (LRV 43 vs 13), opening up a space where Cast Iron encloses it.
At LRV 55 vs 13, Tranquil Dawn is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 44 vs 13, Hardwick White is decisively the brighter choice.
Pure White reflects far more light (LRV 84 vs 13), opening up a space where Cast Iron encloses it.
At LRV 66 vs 13, Balboa Mist is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 74 vs 13, Shoji White is decisively the brighter choice.
Their light reflectance is nearly identical (LRV 13 vs 12), so neither reads brighter in a room.
A 4-point LRV gap (13 vs 8) makes Cast Iron the marginally brighter of the two.
At LRV 68 vs 13, Skimming Stone is decisively the brighter choice.
Their light reflectance is nearly identical (LRV 13 vs 12), so neither reads brighter in a room.
At LRV 45 vs 13, Saybrook Sage is decisively the brighter choice.
Pale Green reflects far more light (LRV 31 vs 13), opening up a space where Cast Iron encloses it.
Cast Iron reads slightly lighter (LRV 13 vs 7), a gap that shows most in low-lit rooms.