Our Review of Benjamin Moore’s Graphite

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Benjamin Moore Graphite is a bold, deep charcoal paint color. If you want to make a daring statement with your home’s exterior, a saturated charcoal is a great way to go. This color in particular translates beautifully across both traditional and modern home styles, and brings every texture to life. Whether you plan on using it as the star of the show or as an accent color, Graphite delivers a striking aesthetic. 

Read on for more about Graphite’s technical specs, pros and cons, application recommendations, and similar paint colors.

As you read this post, you might notice that our renderings using Graphite can have a slightly different appearance from house to house. That’s because our virtual exterior design services consider the surface you plan on painting, the direction your home faces, natural light, and many other variables. We also only use paint colors for our renderings that we have applied in real-life situations. We want our clients to not only love their chosen paint color, but love it on their home specifically.

Virtual exterior rendering of a home painted in Benjamin Moore's Graphite

Graphite: The Specs

Graphite is a true charcoal gray. With an LRV of 5.66, this shade is deep, but doesn’t quite come across as black even though it doesn’t reflect much light. (Learn more about LRV here — you’ll definitely want to understand it before painting your home’s exterior.)

When choosing a paint color, it is important to understand what undertones are present. Graphite does not have any obvious undertones, so it works well with a variety of other colors and accents.

Keep in mind that before you decide on a paint color for your home’s exterior, it is extremely important to test until you get it right!

modern home with a light gray stone chimney and charcoal siding

Recommended Applications for Graphite

Benjamin Moore’s Graphite is one of our favorite neutral charcoal shades because it’s so adaptable across home styles and textures. We really love how it looks on siding and larger panels, but it would also look incredible on brick or stucco. We’ve used it on traditional and modern homes, and, when paired with natural elements, it works well on homes with a rustic vibe, too.

large home with light colored brick, gray stone, and charcoal siding

Graphite Paint Color Pairings

Because Graphite is such a deep tone, we love to create contrast by pairing it with lighter colors. In the rendering shown above, our designers used Benjamin Moore’s Olympic Mountains for the brick, juxtaposed with Graphite siding. The off-white shade is the perfect companion for the stark charcoal. This color combination works especially well here since it helps highlight the different textures. 

In the rendering below, our designers put their own spin on the classic black-and-white color combination. Instead of going completely white with saturated black, this gorgeous home showcases Graphite coupled with Benjamin Moore’s Revere Pewter. Using such a deep shade against a warm light gray with beige undertones creates an interesting aesthetic that we can’t get enough of. 

large home with light brick, columns, and charcoal siding
rustic modern home with charcoal siding and wooden accents

Pros and Cons of Benjamin Moore Graphite

Pros:

  • Bold and daring
  • Saturated without being too stark
  • Works well on both traditional and modern homes, and everything in between
  • No obvious undertones to be wary of

Cons:

  • This shade doesn’t reflect a lot of light
  • Graphite is a true charcoal, so it doesn’t have the added dimension brought in from undertones as compared to a more complex neutral 

Graphite Alternatives

Interested in painting your home’s exterior with Benjamin Moore Graphite, but wanting to explore similar colors first? Check out some of these alternative options.

commercial building with charcoal siding and large windows

Wrought Iron by Benjamin Moore

With an LRV of 6.16, Wrought Iron is another deep charcoal shade. It almost reads as black, with some blue and gray undertones. This shade works great for modern and traditional home styles. We’ve even recommended it for commercial buildings, as with the rendering shown above.

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.
large home with charcoal siding and wood paneling accents

Iron Ore by Sherwin Williams

Although Iron Ore is a charcoal shade, it can appear black when paired with white accents. It also shows some brown undertones when paired with natural elements. It has an LRV of 6, making it just slightly lighter than Graphite. 

modern home with charcoal siding, light gray accents, and some wooden accents

Black Panther by Benjamin Moore

If you’re looking for a charcoal paint color that is a bit bolder and closer to black, Benjamin Moore’s Black Panther is a great option. This saturated hue has an LRV of 4.42, so it is truly very dark. 

small modern rustic home with charcoal siding and wooden accents

The Bottom Line on Benjamin Moore’s Graphite

Graphite is an excellent paint color choice for your home’s exterior. It’s a daring, moody hue that is both straightforward and striking. This color works well on both modern and traditional home styles and looks stunning when applied on all sorts of different textures.

Would it help you to see what Graphite would look like on your home’s exterior before committing to it? That’s what our virtual exterior design services are for! Our renderings help you visualize your home’s renovations before you make expensive design commitments. Get started today.

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