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Color Review Iron Ore SW 7069
Okay – before you scroll down to see Iron Ore SW 7069 by Sherwin-Williams in context of its hue family, let me say don’t freak out because it belongs to the Green-Yellow hue family.
Colors like Iron Ore which are super low in Chroma from this hue family range are perceived as being the most neutral. In other words, it’s not very colorful, there isn’t any discernible trace of green-yellow when you look at it.
There is all kinds of interesting research that explains why near neutral colors, colors with no discernible hue, from this hue family neighborhood are perceived as “just neutral” but I won’t bore you with the studies.
What you need to remember about Iron Ore SW 7069 is that it’s a great option if you’re looking for a dark color that looks darker than a dark gray but not as harshly black as a true black.
It’s always best to test. I recommend Samplize Peel & Stick samples.
Whenever we talk about dark paint colors, it’s important to mention LRV which is short for Light Reflectance Value. Before you choose dark colors for exterior application, you need to make sure the substrate (what you’re painting) is built to tolerate the heat that a dark color can absorb. You want to ask the manufacturer for LRV color specifications.
Hue Family Iron Ore SW 7069
In context of its Hue Family neighborhood, 7 GY (Green-Yellow), on The Color Strategist Color. The pink arrows point to where it fits in among the other colors according to its Value of 3.61 rounded to 3.62 and Chroma of 0.17 rounded to 0.25.
I have a White House with SW Dovetail gray shutters. I want to paint the front door a shade of black that will go well with the shutters. Would Iron Ore be a good choice?
Hi Sherry,
Technically, factually I don’t see any reason why Dovetail SW 7018 and Iron Ore 7069 would not harmonize or work together. Just make sure you like how they look as a color combination.
Hi Lori. I’ve added Iron Ore into my house color palette. (SW Alabaster and BM Whisper are my two others.) I am looking to add a mid tone gray. Am I correct in thinking I should stick with a gray that is in the yellow/yellow-green hue family? After checking out your color analyses it seems that SW Dorian Gray, Light French Gray or Classic French Gray are choices to consider. Am I on the right track? Thanks, Melodie 🙂
Yes. Colors from the same Hue Family organically go together. There has to be at least one thread of harmony for colors to go together like Hue Family. Value and Chroma also work.
And, of course, my standard reminder is you can’t color by the numbers/notations alone. How it looks counts so make sure you think it looks pretty.
I recently painted my stucco house SW city loft and trim SW iron ore. I wanted to add a pop of color to the front door and chose SW Aquaverde. It is too much of a contrast to the frame iron ore. I want to keep the color (in the blue/gray family – I think) but am not sure where to go. Considering Poolhouse, favorite jeans, smoky blue, smoky azurite. Need something not too dark and not too light.
Hi Layna. There’s more here to unpack and consider than possible here in the comments section. I recommend hiring one of the Color Strategists I’ve trained. Here’s a list of experts who are currently taking new clients. https://campchroma.com/certified-color-strategists/
I’m wanting to do my exterior home in Iron Ore, and I see many other paints that would look good with iron ore, but what about a stain? What color stain would really pop with the Iron Ore?
Stain colors – whoo boy. That’s a whole ‘nother kind of color science that I am not well-versed in.
For exteriors, I’m personally loving the look of walnut or pecan stain tones that look and feel light and lean a little orange but not too orange.
All I can do is give you my personal, subjective opinion here because there is a factor of transparency with stain, I can’t measure stain color like I can measure paint colors.
So, we don’t have those all important objective hue, value, chroma, LRV notations for any brand’s stain color palette.
Best thing to do is find a color pro who knows stain and sample, sample, sample on the same kind of wood that you will be staining – that’s important.
What’s one shade darker than iron ore? It’s looking very gray on our exterior but tricorn blk is looking a bit harsh.. what’s a good in between?