Agreeable Gray vs Repose Gray: Which Greige Is Right for You?

If you've narrowed your whole-home neutral down to Agreeable Gray and Repose Gray, you're in good company — they're two of Sherwin-Williams' best-selling colors, and they look almost identical on a chip. Almost. The differences are small but they decide whether your rooms feel warm and inviting or cool and crisp. Here's how to tell them apart.

The quick verdict

• Choose Agreeable Gray if you want the warmer, cozier greige — it leans beige and flatters dim or north-facing rooms.
• Choose Repose Gray if you want a touch more gray and a crisper, cooler read — great in bright, sunny spaces.

Undertones

Agreeable Gray is a true greige with a soft warm, slightly taupe undertone. In most light it reads warm and friendly, which is why it's such a reliable open-plan choice. Repose Gray carries a subtle cool undertone — usually a faint blue or violet — so it stays a hair more 'gray' and can drift cool in north light. If your floors and furniture are warm, Agreeable Gray harmonizes more easily; if they're cool or you want contrast against warm wood, Repose holds its own.

Lightness (LRV)

Both are light enough to keep a room feeling open, with Repose Gray reading a touch lighter and airier and Agreeable Gray a touch deeper and more grounded. In a small or windowless room, the lighter Repose can help — but watch its cool undertone in low light, where it can feel flat.

How lighting changes each one

• North-facing rooms (cool light): Agreeable Gray stays warm and comfortable; Repose Gray can turn noticeably cooler, occasionally bluish.
• South-facing rooms (warm light): both look great; Repose Gray's coolness keeps it from going too beige.
• Warm artificial light: Agreeable Gray can warm up toward greige-beige, while Repose Gray stays more balanced.

The honest answer to 'which is better' is: whichever one looks right in your room. Undertones only reveal themselves at full scale, in your light.

The only test that settles it

Reading about undertones gets you to the final two — but it can't pick the winner, because both depend entirely on your room's light and furnishings. Instead of buying two sample pots, preview both on a photo of your actual wall and compare them side by side in the same light. Tap either swatch above, or upload a room photo and see Agreeable Gray and Repose Gray repainted onto your own walls in seconds.

What to pair them with

Both greiges love a clean warm white on the trim and ceiling — Alabaster is a natural match. For contrast, a deep anchor like Naval on a door or built-in keeps the palette from feeling flat.