Sherwin Williams Homburg Gray (The Only Review You Need!)

Homburg Gray is a moody chameleon that will have you staring at your beautiful new walls for hours!

Better yet, put it on the ceiling, so you can watch the hours tick by in comfort.

Paint drop of Homburg Gray over a living room with a mount on one wall and simple victorian Inspired furniture

Dramatic?

Maybe. But it sure is a delightful color!

Let’s take a look at all things Homburg Gray, from color palettes, to real life photos, and finally dupes!

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What Color is Sherwin Williams Homburg Gray (SW 7622)

Homburg Gray is a murky, smoky, ocean green. It is not as pure gray as it seems from the swatch.

SW Homburg Gray changes a lot in the light, depending on the time of day, and other influences. It can range in appearance from a deep green to a smoky blue gray or teal.

LRV of Sherwin Williams Homburg Gray

The LRV of Homburg Gray is 15.

What does that mean?

The LRV of a color indicates on a scale of 0 – 100 how much light a color reflects (or doesn’t reflect). True black has an LRV of 0 and pure white has an LRV of 100.

In the paint world, we are working in a range of about 3 – 93 because no paint color is purely black or completely white.

I normally say that truly dark colors have an LRV of 10 or less, but Homburg Gray tends to appear quite dark. I would classify it as a mid-toned color that can shift to dark.

What Are the Undertones of SW Homburg Gray

Homburg Gray wall with two gold framed photos — Photo Credit: @bigmamashousereno

Sherwin Williams Homburg Gray has deep green undertones. From a technical perspective, it isn’t blue at all, but it can also appear to be on the blue-green spectrum, thanks to that heavy dose of gray.

Is Homburg Gray Warm or Cool

Homburg Gray is a cool paint color that you can use pretty much as a neutral. It is gray enough to work with a host of other shades, and in my opinion, most greens are neutral anyway.

Homburg Gray Color Strip

Homburg Gray is one of those delightful colors that Sherwin Williams has decided to create out of left field, so it doesn’t actually have a color strip.

I did my best to source some other shades, and put a strip together myself.

Sherwin Williams Homburg Gray color strip featuring extra white, Tinsmith, earl gray, and finally: Homburg Gray

Lighter Version of Homburg Gray

For a lighter alternative to Homburg Gray, try SW 7660 Earl Gray. It is a tiny bit warmer than the green area that Homburg Gray is in, but I think it works well.

The other lighter shades I included are:

SW 7657 Tinsmith – a light gray green

SW 7006 Extra White – a clean, green-based white

Darker Version of Homburg Gray

There isn’t really a perfect darker version of Homburg Gray, but you might like SW 6994 Greenblack. It does have a touch more blue than Homburg Gray, but it appears mostly black anyway, with just a hint of green.

You can see real life photos of Greenblack in my post: Best Dark Green Paint Colors from Sherwin Williams, Benjamin Moore, and More!

Sherwin Williams Homburg Gray Color Palette

Homburg Gray is very popular with Victorian inspired designs and remodels, so I went there with this color palette:

Complementary and Coordinating Colors

Sherwin Williams Extra White (SW 7006)

A nice complementary green-based white. You might also like Sherwin Williams Ethereal White.

Drop of Homburg Gray beside a drop of SW Extra White

Benjamin Moore Hale Navy (HC-154)

Hale Navy is a classic perfect navy. It’s very popular as an accurate Victorian color.

Drop of Homburg Gray beside a drop of Benjamin Moore Hale Navy

Hale Navy works great with Homburg Gray because it also has a good amount of smoke to it.

Farrow & Ball Sulking Room Pink (295)

Sulking Room Pink is another traditional Victorian color. It is a muted rose mauve with serious neutral vibes.

Drop of Homburg Gray beside a drop of Farrow & Ball Sulking Room Pink

I happen to think it looks great with Homburg Gray!

The “official” complementary color for Homburg Gray is a deep mauvey color, so Sulking Room Pink is a more user friendly alternative.

Sherwin Williams Sea Salt (SW 6204)

I was going to include a true neutral like SW Agreeable Gray or Accessible Beige, but why not go with a soft gray-green like Sherwin Williams Sea Salt?

Drop of Homburg Gray beside a drop of SW Sea Salt

Sea Salt can absolutely be used as a whole-home color, and it looks like a fresh young relative of Homburg Gray.

What Trim Colors Go With Sherwin Williams Homburg Gray?

Wood Trim

If you are considering Homburg Gray for a project with dark wood trim, have no fear! This rich smoky shade looks great with practically any wood tone.

Homburg Gray with a variety of trim colors as outlined in the article

White Paint that Goes with Homburg Gray

Homburg Gray and Chantilly Lace

Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace is my favorite white! It is a green-based white like Extra White, but a bit cleaner and brighter.

Homburg Gray and Extra White

I’ve already said my piece about Extra White, but it made sense to show it as a trim option too!

Homburg Gray and Alabaster

Alabaster is one of Sherwin Williams’ most popular whites (if not the most popular) and a lot of people love to use it on their trim.

If you want to use a soft white, you will probably really like Alabaster.

Here it is in real life with Homburg Gray:

Sherwin Williams Homburg Gray with Alabaster Trim behind a retro bookcase — Photo Credit: @bigmamashousereno

I talk about Alabaster more in my post: Sherwin Williams Natural Choice vs Alabaster (Which to Choose?)

Sherwin Williams Homburg Gray Home Interior

Without further delay, let’s take a look at Homburg Gray in its real-life glory!

Sherwin Williams Homburg Gray Living Room

First let’s pay a visit to Julia’s house (@bigmamashousereno). You might have noticed her moody living room behind the palette and swatches earlier:

Wide shot of Homburg Gray living room walls with a leopard print couch, a wood coffee table, and a stag mount on the wall — Photo Credit: @bigmamashousereno

What I wanted to point out first, is the drastic difference that lighting makes for Homburg Gray.

Here is her living room in brighter natural light:

Lighter shot of Homburg Gray living room walls with a leopard print couch, a wood coffee table, and a stag mount on the wall — Photo Credit: @bigmamashousereno

It’s almost the exact same shot, but Homburg Gray looks almost teal in the brighter light.

Here’s another picture of Julia’s living room:

Homburg Gray walls around a white victorian fireplace in a living room with a chandelier and simple furnshings — Photo Credit: @bigmamashousereno

Let’s go back to the dark side, shall we?

Homburg Gray behind two cane chairs with leopard seat cushions on either side of a white fireplace — Photo Credit: @bigmamashousereno

Homburg Gray living room walls with a leopard print couch, a wood coffee table, and a stag mount on the wall — Photo Credit: @bigmamashousereno

Sherwin Williams Homburg Gray Dining Room

The lighting makes such a difference that it took several photos for me to make sure that the living room and dining room at Julia’s house are:

a.) Connected
b.) The same color!

Mid day lighting of Homburg Gray around a wood fireplace with a chandelier reflecting in the mantle mirror — Photo Credit: @bigmamashousereno

a lit chandelier hanging in formal dining room — Photo Credit: @bigmamashousereno

Of course it won’t be so confusing for you, because I have tried my best to show Homburg Gray as the chameleon it is!

Homburg Gray dining room with formal dining table and a chandelier — Photo Credit: @bigmamashousereno

Sherwin Williams Homburg Gray on Kitchen Cabinets

Julia also used Homburg Gray in this retro kitchen:

Homburg Gray cabinets looking their darkest in a kitchen with retro penny tile black and white floor and butcher block countertops — Photo Credit: @bigmamashousereno

It was my understanding that this was the original kitchen, and has since been converted to a laundry room (as we see it now).

The warm butcher block should give you an idea of how Homburg Gray would look on kitchen walls with oak cabinets as well.

Lucky for us, I actually have two Homburg Gray kitchens to show you!

This one belongs to Stephanie (@frommhouselove) :

Homburg Gray on Kitchen cabinets with butcher block island and white countertops and white subway tile backsplash — Photo Credit: @frommhouselove

Here Homburg Gray reminds me quite a lot of Sherwin Williams Pewter Green.

Stephanie decided to use butcher block on her island, and white countertops on the rest of her cabinets.

This is actually a super popular choice, and you can see it over and over again in my post: Trend-Setting Green Kitchen Cabinet Ideas (Plus: 22 Paint Colors to Use!)

Graphic reads "Nail down your neutral color scheme in 60 minutes or less" with an image of the foolproof neutrals ebook. Button below reads "Show me how!"

Sherwin Williams Homburg Gray Exterior

Sometimes exteriors can be hard to track down, but not for Homburg Gray!

Homburg Gray exterior of a mid century home tucked behind tall shrubs — Photo Credit: @offthecuffhome

I have several amazing photos from Jeanette (@offthecuffhome) that will show you totally new faces of Homburg Gray.

Homburg Gray exterior of a mid century home around sunset — Photo Credit: @offthecuffhome

No surprise that in the evening, it looks very dark.

Here’s a similar shot in different light:

Homburg Gray exterior of a mid century home — Photo Credit: @offthecuffhome

That is looking a little more like we would expect!

Now for where things get a bit…confusing.

Homburg Gray looks very teal in a few of Jeanette’s photos. Let’s take a look:

evening at a house with white dormers, black roof and homburg gray sding — Photo Credit: @offthecuffhome

Once you’ve seen Homburg Gray in all different lights like we have, I can see how it’s the same color, but it still seems a bit unexpected.

I loooove this shot of Homburg Gray on Jeanette’s porch:

Homburg Gray siding on covered porch in sunset lighting — Photo Credit: @offthecuffhome

Add pops of yellow to the list! This looks fab.

The dark trim you see here is Sherwin Williams Greenblack, and the dormers are Sherwin Williams Shoji White.

Daylight shot of homburg gray house with greenblack trim and shoji white dormers — Photo Credit: @offthecuffhome

You can see in that last photo, that Homburg Gray looks a bit more like it did in Julia’s home with bright lighting.

Homburg Gray siding on a porch at night — Photo Credit: @offthecuffhome

I know a few of these photos are in low light, but Homburg Gray definitely looks darker than I would expect in an outdoor setting.

Just to further muddy the waters, here is an exterior paint job by @pintandomza :

Homburg Gray on stucco exterior with nebulous white on the rest of a contemporary home and a black garage door — Photo Credit: @pintandomza

Yes that tall part is Homburg Gray, and the rest is Sherwin Williams Nebulous White.

Why do I feel like all I did here is convince you that you don’t have any idea what Homburg Gray will look like on your exterior?

You definitely need to sample Homburg Gray on your own house to get a better idea. This one is unpredictable! Of course that makes for a nice exterior in my opinion. I like colors that shift with the weather, etc.

The fastest, easiest, and most affordable way to test your paint colors, is by ordering a peel-and-stick sample!

Samplize will ship you a large “sticker” made of actual paint. You can reposition it to check out the color in every area of your home.

The best part? It often ends up being cheaper than buying the test pots and sampling the old fashioned way. (Plus you can order all the colors you want!)

Canadian? Hello Paint does the same thing, without the expensive international shipping.

Homburg Gray Compared to Other Sherwin Williams Paint Colors

To be honest, Homburg Gray is kind of it’s own special color, and we don’t have loads of other colors to compare it to!

Here are a couple of similar tones that are popular from Sherwin Williams:

Sherwin Williams Homburg Gray vs Pewter Green

I wouldn’t have really thought that SW Pewter Green and Homburg Gray were similar until I saw Stephanie’s kitchen.

You can see that Pewter Green is more green than Homburg, and darker.

Once you see a picture of Pewter Green, you can tell the difference:

Pewter Green Cabinets – Photo Credit: @marjorie_verschueren

But separately these two are much more similar than I realized!

To see more Pewter Green, check out this post: Sherwin Williams Pewter Green Review (Coordinating Colors & Dupes)

Sherwin Williams Homburg Gray vs Evergreen Fog

Evergreen Fog was Sherwin Williams Color of the Year for 2022, and as such, is making a splash!

These two are not similar at all (outside of being gray-greens) :

You can see that Evergreen Fog is much warmer and lighter.

To see more from this color, check out my post: Sherwin Williams Evergreen Fog: 2022 Color of the Year (Plus Dupes!)

Homburg Gray Dupes

Now for the moment that you have been waiting for! (Possibly? Maybe? Anybody?)

It’s dupe time!

Here are the best color matches that I found for Homburg Gray, from every major brand.

5 Homburg Gray dupes swatched beside Homburg Gray over a background of a Homburg Gray porch — Background photo credit: @offthecuffhome

Benjamin Moore Homburg Gray Equivalent

I found two pretty good Homburg Gray Benjamin Moore alternatives: Kitty Gray and Millstone Gray.

Benjamin Moore Kitty Gray (1589)

Kitty Gray is the closest Homburg Gray equivalent that Benjamin Moore carries:

Kitty Gray and Homburg Gray each on half of a wall

Not bad, right?

I would order Kitty Gray with confidence if I wanted Homburg Gray in Benjamin Moore paint.

So what is the difference?

The LRV is essentially the same: 15 for Homburg Gray vs 15.52 for Kitty Gray, but Benjamin Moore does not round LRV numbers, so the reality is probably even closer.

Kitty Gray is the teeniest, tiniest, bit cooler (more blue) than Homburg Gray.

Benjamin Moore Millstone Gray (1581)

Millstone Gray is not quite as close a match to Homburg Gray, but still pretty good, and a more popular color:

Homburg Gray vs Millstone Gray on a wall in a bedroom

Millstone Gray is warmer than Homburg Gray, and a little lighter, with an LRV of 15.3.

Millstone Gray kitchen cabinets — Millstone Gray – Photo Credit: @Bothwickdecor

**Side note: The LRV doesn’t totally make sense, because Millstone Gray should be a bit darker than Kitty Gray by this measure. Unfortunately, we are at the mercy of third parties to get the hex codes for Benjamin Moore colors, because they do not provide them.

Valspar (Lowe’s) Equivalent to Homburg Gray

I found one good dupe for Homburg Gray from Valspar, just in case you are on a budget and prefer to get your paint from Lowe’s.

Valspar Quaking Bog (5005-2C)

The Homburg Gray Valspar equivalent is Quaking Bog.

What a name!

A quaking bog doesn’t sound like something that I would want interpreted onto my walls, but I guess I would be wrong!

Valspar Homburg Gray equivalent quaking bog on a bedroom wall

You can plainly see that Quaking Bog is a bit more green than Homburg Gray. This will probably make it less likely to look teal as Homburg Gray sometimes does.

5 Homburg Gray dupes swatched beside Homburg Gray over a background of a Homburg Gray wall with two gold framed photos on it

Homburg Gray Behr Equivalent (Home Depot)

Behr was a little bit of a disappointment this time when it came to color matches. I found two passable alternatives for Homburg Gray, but not as close as I would typically like for a “dupe.”

Still very nice colors though!

Behr Black Locust (PPU25-02)

Black Locust is a nice gray green by Behr, and a pretty good dupe for Homburg Gray.

Behr Black Locust vs SW Homburg Gray on a wall

The Behr shade is darker, with an LRV of 13. It is also a bit more gray. Where Black Locust differs most from Homburg Gray, is that it is quite a lot warmer (more yellow).

It sometimes looks gray and sometimes look green, but doesn’t ever have the blue-green shift that Homburg can.

(At least not from what I’ve seen.)

Behr Black Locust on wall behind fireplace — Photo credit: @riverbirchhouse

Behr Cordite (HDC-MD-28)

I chose Cordite as my second Behr dupe because it is the opposite of Black Locust: It is cooler and more blue than Homburg Gray.

Cordite also has an LRV of 13, so like Black Locust, it is darker than Homburg Gray.

Homburg Gray Final Moody Musings

Let’s catch you up on all things Homburg Gray!

Homburg Gray is a sultry gray green with complicated undertones
If you like: moody grays, gray-greens, teal, and dark greens, you will like Homburg Gray! If you hate any one of those, you should probably steer clear
Homburg Gray is an unexpected but sophisticated choice for an exterior

Not the one?

Well if you like dark chameleon colors with smoky green tones, check out: Sherwin Williams Thunderous Review (What Color Even Is It?)

Or take a look at these other colors:

Aegean Teal Color Strip Benjamin Moore 2136

Cyberspace Swatch over a living room with a cyberspace wall

Acacia Haze paint drop over a picture of Acacia Trees in a foggy field

Ready to paint?

Don’t Forget Your Supplies!

This little brush might look funny, but it’s my absolute ride or die!

Rollers like these hold the most paint and make the job faster. Get a metal roller cage for easy on and off.

DryDex is the fastest (and funnest!) way to make chips and dents disappear. (Make sure you get a small spackling tool that actually fits in the container, and a sanding sponge.)

This tool will save your back and limit time on a ladder.