Cathedral Gray vs Balboa Mist
Where Cathedral Gray belongs to Behr's range, Balboa Mist is a Benjamin Moore color. Hue-wise, Cathedral Gray belongs to the grey family and Balboa Mist to the beige-greige family. Balboa Mist (LRV 66) reflects noticeably more light than Cathedral Gray (LRV 40), a difference of 25 points that becomes especially apparent in rooms with limited natural light. Both lean red, so they'll behave similarly in mixed or changing light conditions. With a ΔE of 16.4, the contrast is hard to miss. These aren't variations on a theme — they're two different answers to the same question. Below you'll find 4 real-room photo comparisons where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Cathedral Gray vs Balboa Mist in Real Spaces
4 real rooms side by side. Seeing Cathedral Gray and Balboa Mist in actual rooms makes the difference concrete; browse the spaces below to get a feel for how each color lives on a wall.
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 LRV gap is large enough that Balboa Mist will make the room feel meaningfully brighter than Cathedral Gray would.
Dining Room
A dining room lit by a dimmed pendant or candles is one of the most forgiving environments for paint — warm light softens almost everything. Balboa Mist returns significantly more light to the room — in a smaller or darker space, that difference in perceived brightness is hard to miss.
Bathroom
Bathrooms are one of the few spaces where you're genuinely enclosed by the paint color, which makes the choice between these two more consequential. Balboa Mist reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Cathedral Gray.
Kitchen Cabinets
Kitchen cabinets are constantly compared against adjacent materials, which means subtle differences between these two become much more visible. Balboa Mist reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Cathedral Gray.
Color Details
Cathedral Gray vs Balboa Mist Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Cathedral Gray on one side and Balboa Mist 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 Cathedral Gray comparisons
See how Cathedral Gray stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
