Read all about Sherwin Williams Light French Gray (LFG), plus see it in action in 23 real homes!
Sherwin William Light French Gray (#SW 0055) is a mid-toned, neutral gray paint. It’s a very versatile gray with a nice balance of warm and cool tones that make it perhaps an ideal interior and exterior choice for gray paint.
In fact, this color is so balanced, that some people may call it a perfect gray. Fun fact: LFG has the slightest of purple undertones which only show up in certain lighting situations. This will be important later on, but for now, just keep that tidbit in the back of your mind 😉.
Gray paints have pretty much shot into the stratosphere in terms of popularity in the last few years, and it’s not hard to see why. Gray is a pretty awesome neutral background…it provides some color but not too much so it’s more appealing than white for a lot of people.
And yet anything – and everything – can go with it, making it a nice building block for the rest of your decor.
I admit it…while it’s not my all-time favorite gray, but I like Light French Gray very much. It’s mostly a true gray, rather than a greige, and it looks absolutely beautiful in lots of different lights (just wait – you’ll see for yourself down below).
Let’s begin our detailed look at Light French Gray.
I’m not gonna lie – choosing the PERFECT paint color isn’t as easy as seeing what you like online and simply adding it to your space. There’s an entire science behind it! Grab a FREE copy of my new guide to avoid the paint color picking mistakes people make! Click here or enter your email below. I’ll send the tips right away!⤵️
LRV of Light French Gray
As a quick refresh, LRV (light reflectance value) is a number between 0 and 100 indicating the amount of light a paint color either reflects or absorbs. An LRV of 0 means pitch-black while an LRV of 100 is glaring, blinding white.
The lower the number, the more light the paint absorbs, and the darker it will look. The opposite is also true: the higher the number means that paint color reflects more light, and the lighter it will appear.
With LRV 53, SW Light French Gray is just a titch lighter than right in the middle. As Goldilocks would say: it’s not too bright; it’s not too dark. It’s just right.
LRV…what? Don’t worry, I’ve got you! Grab a FREE copy of my new guide to avoid the paint color picking mistakes people make! Click here or enter your email below. I’ll send the tips right away!⤵️
Light French Gray vs. Other Paint Colors
Have you tried picking out a gray paint lately? It’s a daunting task, no doubt! At surface level, you may find yourself thinking “how hard can REALLY be to pick a gray paint?” Oh, friend, let me tell you.
I painted my basement gray one time and agonized over the choice between SEVEN similar gray paints. So don’t despair if you’re feeling like something that seems as if it should be easy isn’t feeling that way. It took me a LONG while to get comfy with the paint picking process.
Let’s see how Light French Gray stacks up next to some other amazing gray paints.
Sherwin Williams Light French Gray vs Sherwin Williams Repose Gray
Repose Gray is a trusty, very popular gray that reads warm with slight purple undertones. In fact, it’s so warm that it leans towards being a greige (that’s a blend of gray and beige). It may lean towards greige, but make no mistake that Repose Gray is definitely gray.
Light French Gray vs Repose Gray – which is lighter? Well, because they are fairly close when you look at them side by side, we need to take a look at their LRVs. Maybe you remember that Light French Gray has an LRV of 53. As it turns out, Repose Gray has an LRV of 58.
It’s only a smidge of a difference, but it’s enough to see that Repose Gray is lighter (and warmer) than Light French Gray.
Sherwin Williams Light French Gray vs Behr Light French Gray
At first blush, you might think “same name = same color”. That couldn’t be more untrue, however.
SW LFG is a very neutral gray that is balanced between warm and cool and has no strong undertones.
Behr LFG, on the other hand, reads more cool as a blue-toned gray with undertones of brown and green. Plus, Behr’s version is lighter with an LRV rating of 61 compared to Sherwin Williams’s version at LRV 53.
Sherwin Williams Light French Gray vs Sherwin Williams On The Rocks
SW On The Rocks (SW 7671) has an LRV of 62, automatically making it a tad lighter than Light French Gray. On The Rocks tends to read a little warmer with undertones that can almost look like an off white color in rooms with a lot of bright, natural light.
Light French Gray tends to read completely neutral or slightly cool and anywhere from a pale gray to a medium gray, depending on the lighting.
Sherwin Williams Light French Gray vs Benjamin Moore Nimbus
Nimbus is the shade directly below Light Pewter in the fan deck if you’re familiar with that popular shade.
Nimbus, with an LRV of 60.23 is lighter than Light French Gray. And Nimbus is a TRUE gray. In fact, it’s probably my personal favorite TRUE GRAY, and a very reliable one, at that. I’ve used Nimbus many times over the years.
While you’ll see Light French Gray can read pretty dark in certain lighting situations and has a tinge of purplish undertones, Nimbus reads true gray in any light.
You can see Benjamin Moore Nimbus on the walls of my foyer, below.
Here’s another shot of Nimbus in our entryway. The color in the dining room on the right side of the shot is Pale Smoke. Also by Ben Moore.
I still don’t know if it’s the right paint color for me…
Then grab a free copy of our paint color pro tips to help you decide! Click here to enter your email, or on the image below, and I’ll send your tips right now!
Real Life Homes Using Light French Gray
Of course, gray paints are notorious for reading very differently in different rooms and at different times of the day as the lighting changes.
Tip: No matter which grays you think you like, paint a swatch (or several) in the room you want to paint so that you can see how the color looks with your decor and how it changes throughout the day.
As far as sampling goes, I highly recommend these mess-free, re-usable, re-positionable peel and stick paint samples ⤵
Let’s take a look at several real-world examples of Light French Gray in action so you can see for yourself how it behaves.
SW Light French Gray Bathrooms
I don’t know about you, but I love a good crisp and clean-looking bathroom. To me, gray is a lovely color choice for a bathroom because you can keep the room looking bright by painting the trim white and having a white vanity.
A quick note here: don’t forget to consider picking the right paint finish…it’s not only about getting the color right! We have an in-depth explanation of choosing sheens here.
Don’t forget the finish! For bathrooms the perfect sheen is either an eggshell or satin. Why? We’ll tell you in this post about paint sheen.
Take a look at these gorgeous bathrooms painted with Light French Gray!
1. Coastal Farmhouse
Sherwin Williams Light French Gray looks beautiful and elegant in contrast to the white trim in this bathroom from Coastal Farmhouse. You can also see what I mean about those slightly purple undertones peeking through!
2. Light French Gray in Lots of Natural Light
Because there is so much natural light in this bathroom from The Creativity Exchange, LFG reads a little lighter.
3. Can Read a Little Cool
Wow, see the difference between this bathroom from Laine & Layne and the previous two? Here the color reads slightly lighter and even a little cool.
4. Slight Green Undertones
In this bathroom, surrounded by this decor (and bathed in artificial light), Light French Grey seems to have slight green undertones causing it to read light but cool
View this post on Instagram
5. Nice and Neutral
Here @foreverhomecountry shows this color as a lovely, neutral gray. Enough said.
Bedrooms That Use Light French Gray
A good gray can create a perfect, relaxing environment in a bedroom. Take a look at these beauties— each bedroom here is painted with Sherwin Williams Light French Gray.
In general for bedrooms, and low-traffic areas, flat paint is fine. If you like something with a bit of shine (and more ease of cleaning) opt for eggshell or satin.
6. Serene Shade
Light and reading very slightly cool, Light French Gray looks stunning in this bedroom from Rugh Designs.
7. Almost Off-White?
Can you believe it? The huge amount of natural light in this bedroom from @blessedoakfarm makes Light French Gray read almost as an off-white.
8. Good Choice for a Little Guy’s Room
Here’s Light French Gray looking nice and neutral gray in a boy’s bedroom.
9. Gorgeous Gray
Oh my, this is a gorgeous light gray bedroom. Perfectly gray. Perfectly neutral.
10. French Country Flair
You can barely tell that this room is gray. It’s so light that the surrounding decor makes it read as a gray-ish off-white. This image does show the warmth that Light French Gray can have, however. It’s quite serene here!
11. Relaxation Station
In this bedroom, Light French Gray reads as the perfect neutral gray, but it looks darker here than it does in some of the images above.
Fabulous Kitchens Using Light French Gray
Check out these enviable real-life kitchens that use Light French Gray.
For kitchens, eggshell or satin are popular finish choices for walls. For cabinets consider semi-gloss or high gloss for the most durable finish (and a gorgeous glow).
12. Charming Cabinet Color
Light French Gray cabinets! Gorgeous. The paint has a bit of sheen to it to help keep the color more reflective and slightly brighter than it would have been if it was more matte.
13. Classic Color
As you scroll through the images, you’ll see how the light plays with the Light French Gray walls and changes how the color reads.
14. Contrasts Well with White
There are very few situations where Light French Gray can come across as almost a cream color, but this is one of them. Take a look at the wall on top of the cabinets and see what I mean! It also shows that this shade can be a great choice when looking for some contrast in a space that has a lot of white.
Laundry Rooms, Entryways and More That Use Light French Gray
Here are some beautiful examples of Sherwin William Light French Gray in other areas of the house that will keep you coming back for more.
15. More Saturated in Certain Situations
Here is an area with less natural light, and you can see just how dark it is compared to a room with tons of natural light. Isn’t it gorgeous?
16. Very Versatile
This entryway and hallway area helps to show the color’s versatility. In one lighting the color clearly reads mid-tone gray while from a different angle it reads much more greige.
I recently had my (Her’s) master bath vanity, painted SW Light French Gray.
I debated between SW LFG and BM Nimbus & I’m pleased to say I’m thrilled with the way it turned out. Although, a darker/cooler gray, I found SW LFG to have a slightly more feminine feel than BM Nimbus & it complaints my marble floors nicely.
I spent months (seriously) agonizing over gray paint colors in our current farmhouse, total remodel.
This is NOT our first major remodel & I have been successfully choosing paint colors for 30+ years, I am however, a newbie to the GRAY’s !!!!!
Thank you, Heather for all your HONEST opinions.