Mercurial vs Popular Gray
Both are Sherwin-Williams colors. Hue-wise, Mercurial belongs to the greige-grey family and Popular Gray to the beige-greige family. With LRVs of 61 and 61, they'll behave almost identically in terms of how much light they reflect back into a room. They share a warm quality — useful to know if you're layering them in the same space. With a ΔE of 1.9, the difference is subtle — you'd need them side by side to reliably tell them apart. Below you'll find 1 real-room photo comparison where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Mercurial vs Popular Gray in Real Spaces
1 real room side by side. Mercurial and Popular Gray are close enough that the difference can be hard to judge from a chip alone — these photos show how each reads at scale, across different spaces and lighting conditions.
Kitchen Cabinets
On cabinetry, undertone and temperature become more pronounced against countertops and hardware. The two are close enough that the choice comes down to finer qualities — undertone, texture, what the color sits next to.
Color Details
Mercurial vs Popular Gray Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Mercurial on one side and Popular 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 Mercurial comparisons
See how Mercurial stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
With LRVs of 61 and 60, the two reflect almost the same amount of light.
