Our Review of City Loft by Sherwin Williams

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City Loft is a soft white from the White & Pastels collection by Sherwin Williams. Some consider it a light greige due to its neutrality, but either way this paint color is popular for obvious reasons. Our designers love City Loft because of the cozy feel it brings to a variety of home styles. Keep reading to learn more about this warm white paint color and how you can use it on your own home!

Choosing the perfect white exterior paint color — or any exterior paint color — can be daunting. Let us help! Our design experts at brick&batten can narrow down the choices and even show you how they look on your home. From exterior paint colors to lighting options, we’re here to guide you in your decision-making process. Learn more about what we do.

modern southwestern bungalow with wood accents and a black roof

Sherwin Williams’ City Loft: The Specs

City Loft has an LRV of 70, which is considered a decent amount of reflectivity. However, natural light will play a larger part in how City Loft appears on your exterior. (Wondering what LRV is? Learn more here, including why LRV is so important to keep in mind when choosing the perfect paint color for your home.)

traditional two story cottage with balcony and a large porch and black and wood accents

Recommended Applications for City Loft

Our designers at brick&batten often use City Loft as an accent color. We’ve used it on shutters and siding, like on the rendering above, as well as on fascia and decorative trim. Of course, City Loft can also hold its own as the main color on the right home, as demonstrated throughout this post.

traditional soft white home with black arched doors, copper gutters, and wood garage door

City Loft Paint Color Pairings

The warmth of City Loft gives it the ability to contrast well with many colors while not being too bold, creating a soft color palette. If you are looking to have the coziest curb appeal on the block, it’s a great choice. Colors that coordinate well with City Loft tend to be taupes, blacks and grays, and brighter whites. For a pop of fun color, try something like teal for the front door.

The design above shows how City Loft shines in a neutral palette as the main color with blacks, grays, wood tones, and stone accents. This is a quintessential use of this gorgeous hue.

Green brown two-story home with white trim and wood front door

Next, the home above shows City Loft on the trim and fascia while the main color used is Deep Creek by Benjamin Moore. The green undertones of Deep Creek are modern and earthy. Pairing it with brown wood features contrasts well alongside City Loft, which has undertones that can sometimes read peachy.

gray stucco home with black window awnings and white trim

The central color (Dorian Gray by Sherwin Williams) on the beautiful stucco home above is accented by City Loft on the lower horizontal border, window trim, and columns of the portico. It’s an intriguing contrast that creates a sophisticated, high-end look.

gray and stone traditional home with wood accents and white fascia

City Loft also plays beautifully with darker contrasting colors. The home above uses Dovetail by Sherwin Williams as the field color for the siding and City Loft on the fascia. The warmth of the stone combined with the warm undertones of City Loft lend a cozier feel to this gray home. We also love the use of James Hardie siding, providing a clean texture to balance the busy stone.

two story bungalow with dormers and a large porch

Pros & Cons of Sherwin Williams’ City Loft

PROS:

  • Is a gorgeous main or accent color
  • Can be used to create a cozy aesthetic
  • Pairs well with darker colors without creating a stark contrast

CONS:

  • Its undertones can limit coordinating colors
  • Lighting will play a large role in how it appears on your exterior
We always recommend sampling and testing paint colors before committing. Factors such as natural lighting, undertones, and your property’s fixed elements will have a significant impact on how a color will appear on your exterior. Our friends at Samplize offer extra-large 9 x 14.75 inch peel-and-stick paint samples of the colors we love for exteriors. Order your ‘Real Paint, No Mess’ samples from Samplize here.

Alternatives to City Loft

As we’ve mentioned before, brick&batten can help narrow down your choices of white paint. Below we’ve included a couple of other neutral color options to consider and/or compare against City Loft.

modern split level home with wood accents, glass paneled door and large windows

City Loft vs. Sherwin Williams’ Agreeable Gray

Agreeable Gray is a lovely neutral greige paint color, a hue that we consider a true greige. Beloved as an interior paint color, our designers at brick&batten have used it to stunning effect on exteriors, as well. The biggest differences between City Loft and Agreeable Gray are the undertones and LRV. City Loft’s undertones lean more towards yellow-red, potentially giving it a peachy look depending on the light and color pairings. Agreeable Gray has subtle green undertones, but overall the color is warm. Next, Agreeable Gray has an LRV of 60 vs. City Loft’s 70, so it will appear darker even in similar environments.

The neutrality of both colors are why they are worth comparing. City Loft as a neutral white and Agreeable Gray as a greige are used in near identical applications and with similar color pairings. Both are excellent choices for a neutral color palette, a tone-on-tone look, or to contrast with darker colors like blacks, browns, and grays.

Sherwin Williams’ Shoji White

A slightly warmer white than City Loft, Sherwin Williams’ Shoji White is a great alternative. Shown above on the brick siding and window trim, we ten to use this paint color in comparable applications to City Loft, too. Shoji White offers a warmer and lighter shade than City Loft (LRV of 74 vs. City Loft’s 70), but we use it with similar coordinating colors. In fact, this warmer hue has a bit more flexibility than City Loft — Shoji White can play well even with deep purples, for example.

Our designers at brick&batten love Shoji White so much, it’s been featured in multiple lists on our blog, including naming it one of the best warm whites of 2021 and one of the best Sherwin William’s exterior paint colors of 2021.

modern multi-unit two story building with black and wood accents

The Bottom Line on City Loft by Sherwin Williams

City Loft by Sherwin Williams is a beautiful soft white to enhance the exterior of your home. It may not be as versatile as other whites we’ve discussed on the blog, but it deserves attention all the same. City Loft pairs beautifully with other neutrals and can support fun uses of color, like some greens and blues. It works well as an accent shade, but can handle being the center of attention, too. Overall, this paint color is a timeless choice no matter how you use it.

Our designers at brick&batten are experts at choosing the right color choices for your home and its environment. We take into account the amount of natural light your home gets, your desired style, fixed elements (i.e., those you don’t plan to change), and more to ensure the perfect hue for your home. With your answers to a few short questions, we can create an exterior design plan to transform your home! Let’s make your dream reality. Get started here.

Author

Originally from Tennessee, Ami currently lives in South Carolina, which has been home since leaving the military in 2016. Interior and exterior design has always intrigued Ami, especially the styles and characteristics seen in other countries as an avid traveler and photographer. She lives for the renewal of older or historic homes that maintain their character, and regularly creates her own mood boards and virtual designs for inspiration or to help others with their spaces. Having always had a passion for design and following their work for years prior, Ami was excited to be brought onto brick&batten’s team of writers. Her writing endeavors actually started in an academic/scientific setting, then in a regulatory aspect. Writing about paint colors, emerging or current trends in exterior design, and so much more revolving around something she’s always enjoyed was a fun and welcomed change!