Ocean Abyss vs Smalt
Where Ocean Abyss belongs to Behr's range, Smalt is a Little Greene color. These are both blues, so the question isn't which hue to choose — it's where within blue to land. They have nearly identical light reflectance values (7 vs 6), so they'll read as similarly Dark in most lighting conditions. Both lean blue, so they'll behave similarly in mixed or changing light conditions. With a ΔE of 33.6, 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 3 real-room photo comparisons where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Ocean Abyss vs Smalt in Real Spaces
3 real rooms side by side. Seeing Ocean Abyss and Smalt 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. Side by side like this, the difference is easy to read — which is exactly why seeing them in a real space is more useful than comparing chips.
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. The distinction reads clearly at room scale, making the choice between them concrete.
House
Seen across an entire facade, subtle tonal differences become pronounced. What reads as nearly the same on a chip often reads as clearly different at scale. The distinction reads clearly at room scale, making the choice between them concrete.
Color Details
Ocean Abyss vs Smalt Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Ocean Abyss on one side and Smalt 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 Ocean Abyss comparisons
See how Ocean Abyss stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
