Learn all about Sherwin-Williams City Loft in this paint color review.
SW City Loft is a light, warm, greige paint color with violet undertones. It looks gorgeous as an exterior “white” paint color or a warm interior hue.
It’s a versatile color that looks beautiful with blues, greens and cooler gray paint colors and can even be used as an interior whole-house paint color.
Keep reading for our full Sherwin-Williams City Loft review.
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What Color is Sherwin-Williams City Loft?
Sherwin-Williams is a warm greige paint color. It’s a light greige, so outdoors it looks almost white. Indoors, however, it clearly has more pigment than even warm, darker whites like Sherwin-Williams Greek Villa.
What is the City Loft LRV?
City Loft has an LRV of 70. The scale goes from 1 (pure black) to 100 (pure white) and indicates how dark or light a color is.
What are the City Loft undertones?
SW City Loft has violet undertones, which help it pair well with just about any type of light – and many other colors and hard finishes. Violet grays are the ones that look like the color of elephants.
Is City Loft warm or cool?
City Loft is an interesting color. It’s cooler than a lot of the creamy white paint colors and popular beige paint colors on the market today, but it’s also one of the warmest greige colors because of its violet undertones. It balances beautifully with the warm colors that are so stylish today.
Is Sherwin-Williams City Loft gray or beige?
City Loft is really not gray or beige – it’s greige! It has warm undertones, much like a beige hue. But it’s also pretty muted, with plenty of gray tones. This combination makes for a gorgeous, warm greige that is very flexible and can work in many different lighting situations and pair with many different colors and finishes.
What is the difference between City Loft and Oyster White?
Both Sherwin-Williams paint colors are warm neutrals with similar LRVs, but they have different undertones. SW Oyster White (Article) is a beige paint color (Article) and is warmer with green undertones. SW City Loft is a cooler greige hue with violet undertones.
Both paint colors are beautiful options for interior and exterior projects. But for both hues, we prefer to use it for exterior projects. Here’s a side-by-side view of two of our clients’ homes, which both happen to feature a painted brick exterior – one with City Loft paint and one with Oyster White paint.
Sample Sherwin-Williams City Loft
We always recommend that you test paint colors on your home because lighting can change a color completely, both with interiors as well as exteriors.
In the old days, this meant we painted a large poster board with sample pots and a huge mess.
Now we have a better way to test paint, with Samplize Peel-and-Stick samples!
- Samples pre-painted with 2 coats of real paint from the manufacturer.
- Large 9” x 14” samples to see the color better in the lighting.
- Delivered overnight
- Colors are accurate
- Less expensive than painting a large poster board with sample pots
- No mess, and no toxic paint to dispose of
I use these in my color consulting practice for exact results. Discover Samplize peel-and-stick paint samples:
Using Sherwin-Williams City Loft Interior Paint
Sherwin-Williams City Loft is a really beautiful interior hue. I love it so much, I actually built a ready-made color palette around this paint color.
In my paint color consulting practice, however, I have not had many clients use City Loft as interior paint. The photos below, therefore, are of Benjamin Moore Balboa Mist interior projects, which is nearly identical to City Loft.
Can I use City Loft interior trim?
No, I would not recommend using City Loft as interior trim. It is too dark to provide enough contrast with most wall colors. Painting a whole room – walls, trim and ceiling – with SW City Loft (also known as color-drenching) would also not be my favorite because it could end up looking dingy without any contrast from white trim.
Should I try City Loft cabinets?
Yes, Sherwin-Williams City Loft cabinets would be gorgeous! If you want a light kitchen but don’t want traditional white kitchen cabinets, then City Loft could be a great pick. In the photo below, a client’s kitchen is pictured with BM Balboa Mist cabinets. City Loft cabinets would look very similar, and would pair well with granite countertops and quartz or marble with cooler gray veining.
Is a City Loft living room a good idea?
I love using City Loft for main living spaces and even open-concept spaces. It’s such a versatile color it can pair with many different colors of furniture and decor. In the image below, for example, a client’s BM Balboa Mist walls are a gorgeous backdrop for colorful art and warm wood furniture.
Is City Loft good for North-facing rooms?
Yes, it is! This is especially true if you want a greige paint color. City Loft will look a bit cooler in North-facing light, but still lovely. The photo below is a North-facing basement living area painted with BM Balboa Mist. SW City Loft will look very similar.
Is City Loft a good whole-house color?
Yes, this color looks great as a whole-house paint color. Its violet undertones keep the color looking warm and inviting without being too creamy. It looks fabulous with blues and greens, but also works well with darker gray hues with violet undertones. My client’s BM Balboa Mist living room with a fireplace is a great example of how City Loft would work in a similar space.
When should I avoid SW City Loft for interiors?
Don’t pair City Loft with green-gray paint colors. That neutral combination of green-grays and violet-grays sucks the life out of each other. I also don’t recommend this paint color for a monochromatic paint scheme because it might end up looking dingy.
Sherwin-Williams City Loft Coordinating Colors for Interiors
Sherwin-Williams City Loft looks fabulous with blues and greens, particularly cooler versions of these hues.
Muted greens like Sherwin-Williams Dried Thyme or Sherwin-Williams Green Onyx (Article) would look gorgeous paired with City Loft.
I also love it with blue-gray paint colors, such as SW Granite Peak or SW Delft. In the image below, my client’s entryway features BM Balboa Mist walls with a BM Gray Wolf interior front door. The combination is gorgeous!
City Loft is also versatile enough to look lovely with some warmer colors, too. I love using it alongside warmer beige hues like SW Malabar or SW Taupe Tone. It would look absolutely beautiful paired with mauve hues like SW Patchwork Plum or SW Intuitive.
What are the best interior trim and ceiling colors for City Loft?
The best interior trim colors for City Loft are SW Extra White (Article), SW White Snow (clean white), and SW Pure White (Article) (a light off-white). I wouldn’t pick trim or ceiling colors that are too warm or yellow. Stay away from SW Alabaster (Article) and darker white or off-white paint colors, which won’t provide enough contrast.
Using Sherwin-Williams City Loft Exterior Paint
I love using City Loft as an exterior “white” color. It can work either as a body color or as an exterior trim color. While City Loft tends to look warm indoors, it looks cooler and much lighter in the bright sunshine outdoors.
Sherwin-Williams City Loft Exterior Trim
SW City Loft is one of my favorite exterior “white” trim colors (Article) on the market. It works especially well for dark exterior color palettes, such as my client’s Sherwin-Williams Charcoal Blue (Article) home pictured below.
Sherwin-Williams City Loft Exterior Body Color
I absolutely love the way City Loft looks as a “white” exterior body color, too. The home pictured below features beautiful painted brick (Article). City Loft really brings this home to life!
When they first came to us, the homeowners were looking for a change and wanted a look that was evocative of a European Chateau. The architecture of the home lent itself very well to that design, because of the style of the windows.
We resisted using a very bright white because of the Colorado sunshine. Instead, we painted the house SW City Loft (Sample).
We paired the City Loft exterior paint with SW Fawn Brindle (Sample) trim. This is a darker greige than City Loft, with an LRV of 36, although it looks pretty light outside.
The home’s fascia, gutter, downspouts and garage door were painted with Sherwin-Williams Black Fox (Sample) for some additional contrast.
Best SW City Loft Alternatives
Looking for other paint colors that are similar to Sherwin-Williams City Loft? Look no further!
Sherwin-Williams City Loft vs Benjamin Moore Balboa Mist
This is definitely the closest match we’ll see today. Benjamin Moore Balboa Mist (Article) and Sherwin-Williams City Loft both have warm violet undertones and are fairly muted. The main difference is that Balboa Mist is darker than City Loft, with an LRV of 65.53.
Sherwin-Williams City Loft vs Sherwin-Williams Agreeable Gray
Sherwin-Williams Agreeable Gray (Article) is one of the most popular greige paint colors on the market today. Agreeable Gray is much darker than City Loft, with an LRV of 60. It also has green undertones that can flash violet, so it looks much fleshier in place.
Sherwin-Williams City Loft vs Benjamin Moore Classic Gray
Benjamin Moore Classic Gray (Article) can be used in a lot of the same situations as SW City Loft, but they are still fairly different hues. Classic Gray has an LRV of 73.67 and has warm green undertones with flashes of violet.
Sherwin-Williams City Loft vs Benjamin Moore Collingwood
Benjamin Moore Collingwood (Article) has the same violet undertones as Sherwin-Williams City Loft, but it’s darker, with an LRV of 61.52.
Sherwin-Williams City Loft vs Benjamin Moore Pale Oak
Benjamin Moore Pale Oak (Article) is a very similar color to City Loft. It has the same violet undertones as Sherwin-Williams City Loft, but is slightly warmer and slightly darker, with an LRV of 68.64.
Sherwin-Williams City Loft vs Sherwin-Williams Grey Heron
SW Grey Heron is a gorgeous color, and part of the Sherwin-Williams Emerald Designer Edition Collection. Paint colors in the Emerald Designer Collection start with a white base vs a gray base like the rest of the Sherwin-Williams paint colors. It has similar, soft violet undertones but is slightly darker than City Loft, with an LRV of 65.
What Is the Best Benjamin Moore City Loft Alternative?
If you want the look of City Loft but want to use Benjamin Moore paint, BM Balboa Mist (Article) is the best choice. We never recommend paint matching, especially with light neutrals or white paint colors. They can shift to green which wouldn’t be noticeable until you painted your walls. Balboa Mist will give you the same look and feel as City Loft, even though they are not identical.
Sherwin-Williams City Loft Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Offers a warm, muted hue perfect for today’s color trends.
- Has enough pigment that it won’t look dingy in rooms with low light, including North-facing rooms.
- Is a gorgeous exterior paint color if you want the look of a white paint color without it being too stark in bright sunshine.
Cons:
- Not a good option for interior trim or color-drenching.
- Does not work with colors that have green undertones, which will look discordant.
- Can look very cool in rooms with low light, which may not provide the look you want.
Key Learning Points
Sherwin-Williams City Loft is a beautiful, warm neutral paint color that can be used for both interiors and exteriors.
- For interiors, SW City Loft’s violet undertones keep this color looking warm and inviting.
- Outdoors, City Loft looks cooler and much lighter. It’s a great option if you want exterior trim or body color but don’t want it to look too stark.
- Sherwin-Williams City Loft pairs well with blue and green hues, especially those on the cooler side.
Remember: NEVER, EVER use paint matches from a different brand than the one specified. Results are poor and there are no standards for the sheens. Even though your painter may truly believe it can be done, don’t do it. See results from paint matching here.
No matter what, always test your paint colors. It’s a standard best practice. Whenever I test my paint colors, they are perfect, and when I don’t test they turn out wrong. Learn how to test your paint colors here.
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Related Posts
- Painting Exterior Brick White
- Benjamin Moore Balboa Mist Paint Color Review
- Sherwin-Williams Agreeable Gray Paint Color Review
- Benjamin Moore Classic Gray Paint Color Review
- Best Exterior White Trim Colors
About the Author
Hi, I’m Michelle Marceny, founder, owner, and Principal Color Designer at The Color Concierge. I believe a fresh coat of paint can completely transform a space. The Color Concierge was born out of my drive to help clients fall back in love with their homes. My clients trust me to help them find the perfect paint color for their home – whether it’s a whole-house paint color scheme or ideas for a single room.
Since The Color Concierge was founded in 2017, we have completed over 3000 color consultations, both online and in-person. I am a Certified Color Expert with 7 years of experience creating interior and exterior color palettes throughout North America.
We love your comments! Please note that the blog is meant as general advice, and it is not possible to give out specific answers to your paint questions. If you want more specific advice, please consider purchasing a color consultation. Thank you for your understanding.
