Cool Charcoal vs Mole
Where Cool Charcoal belongs to PPG's range, Mole is a Tikkurila color. These are both greys, so the question isn't which hue to choose — it's where within grey to land. They have nearly identical light reflectance values (20 vs 20), so they'll read as similarly Dark in most lighting conditions. At ΔE 2.3, these are close — the kind of difference that matters when choosing between them, but doesn't read strongly in a finished room. Below you'll find 2 real-room photo comparisons where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Cool Charcoal vs Mole in Real Spaces
2 real rooms side by side. Cool Charcoal and Mole are close enough that the difference can be hard to judge from a chip alone — these photos show how each reads at scale, across different spaces and lighting conditions.
Living Room
In a living room, color works across both daylight and evening light — the same wall can read very differently at noon and at 8pm. The two are close enough that the choice comes down to finer qualities — undertone, texture, what the color sits next to.
Bedroom
The context that matters most in a bedroom is how a color reads under a bedside lamp at night, not under noon daylight. At this scale the difference is subtle — you'd need them side by side, as shown here, to reliably tell them apart.
Color Details
Cool Charcoal vs Mole Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Cool Charcoal on one side and Mole on the other.
Digital color is approximate. These simulations are generated from the manufacturer's hex values and overlaid on grayscale room photos — your screen's calibration, brightness, and viewing angle all affect how they render. Before committing to either color, test physical samples in your own space under the light you actually live with.
More Cool Charcoal comparisons
See how Cool Charcoal stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
Ammonite reflects far more light (LRV 69 vs 20), opening up a space where Cool Charcoal encloses it.
At LRV 83 vs 20, White Dove is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 20 vs 6, Cool Charcoal is decisively the brighter choice.
Purbeck Stone reflects far more light (LRV 52 vs 20), opening up a space where Cool Charcoal encloses it.
Evergreen Fog reads slightly lighter (LRV 30 vs 20), a gap that shows most in low-lit rooms.
At LRV 52 vs 20, Mizzle is decisively the brighter choice.
Agreeable Gray reflects far more light (LRV 60 vs 20), opening up a space where Cool Charcoal encloses it.
At LRV 58 vs 20, Accessible Beige is decisively the brighter choice.
A 7-point LRV gap (27 vs 20) makes Denim Drift the marginally brighter of the two.
French Gray reflects far more light (LRV 43 vs 20), opening up a space where Cool Charcoal encloses it.
Cool Charcoal reflects far more light (LRV 20 vs 4), opening up a space where Naval encloses it.
At LRV 55 vs 20, Tranquil Dawn is decisively the brighter choice.
A 7-point LRV gap (20 vs 13) makes Cool Charcoal the marginally brighter of the two.
At LRV 44 vs 20, Hardwick White is decisively the brighter choice.
Pure White reflects far more light (LRV 84 vs 20), opening up a space where Cool Charcoal encloses it.
With LRVs of 21 and 20, the two reflect almost the same amount of light.
At LRV 66 vs 20, Balboa Mist is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 74 vs 20, Shoji White is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 83 vs 20, Snowbound is decisively the brighter choice.
Pigeon reflects far more light (LRV 51 vs 20), opening up a space where Cool Charcoal encloses it.
A 8-point LRV gap (20 vs 12) makes Cool Charcoal the marginally brighter of the two.
A 12-point LRV gap (20 vs 8) makes Cool Charcoal the marginally brighter of the two.
At LRV 68 vs 20, Skimming Stone is decisively the brighter choice.
Dix Blue reflects far more light (LRV 41 vs 20), opening up a space where Cool Charcoal encloses it.
A 8-point LRV gap (20 vs 12) makes Cool Charcoal the marginally brighter of the two.
At LRV 45 vs 20, Saybrook Sage is decisively the brighter choice.
Pale Green reads slightly lighter (LRV 31 vs 20), a gap that shows most in low-lit rooms.