Essential Gray vs Thames Fog
Where Essential Gray belongs to Sherwin-Williams's range, Thames Fog is a Valspar color. Both sit in the grey family, which is useful context if you're narrowing within a single hue direction. Essential Gray (LRV 48) reflects noticeably more light than Thames Fog (LRV 27), a difference of 21 points that becomes especially apparent in rooms with limited natural light. With a ΔE of 17.2, 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 2 real-room photo comparisons where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Essential Gray vs Thames Fog in Real Spaces
2 real rooms side by side. Seeing Essential Gray and Thames Fog 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 Essential Gray will make the room feel meaningfully brighter than Thames Fog 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. Essential Gray reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Thames Fog.
Color Details
Essential Gray vs Thames Fog Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Essential Gray on one side and Thames Fog 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 Essential Gray comparisons
See how Essential Gray stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
