Mount Etna vs Natural Choice
Both from Sherwin-Williams's palette. Hue-wise, Mount Etna belongs to the blue-grey family and Natural Choice to the beige-greige family. Natural Choice (LRV 73) reflects noticeably more light than Mount Etna (LRV 6), a difference of 67 points that becomes especially apparent in rooms with limited natural light. Mount Etna runs cool while Natural Choice is decidedly warm, which means they'll respond very differently to warm vs cool light sources. With a ΔE of 59.9, 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 4 real-room photo comparisons where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Mount Etna vs Natural Choice in Real Spaces
4 real rooms side by side. Seeing Mount Etna and Natural Choice 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 Natural Choice will make the room feel meaningfully brighter than Mount Etna would.
Dining Room
A dining room lit by a dimmed pendant or candles is one of the most forgiving environments for paint — warm light softens almost everything. Natural Choice returns significantly more light to the room — in a smaller or darker space, that difference in perceived brightness is hard to miss.
Home Office
The test for a home office color isn't how it looks in a quick glance — it's whether it still feels right after a full day of work. Natural Choice reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Mount Etna.
Kitchen Cabinets
Kitchen cabinets are constantly compared against adjacent materials, which means subtle differences between these two become much more visible. Natural Choice reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Mount Etna.
Color Details
Mount Etna vs Natural Choice Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Mount Etna on one side and Natural Choice 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.