Swirling Water vs Balboa Mist
Where Swirling Water belongs to Behr's range, Balboa Mist is a Benjamin Moore color. Swirling Water reads as blue-white, while Balboa Mist reads as beige-greige — two distinct hue families, not close cousins. Swirling Water (LRV 81) reflects noticeably more light than Balboa Mist (LRV 66), a difference of 15 points that becomes especially apparent in rooms with limited natural light. Swirling Water runs blue while Balboa Mist is decidedly red, which means they'll respond very differently to warm vs cool light sources. With a ΔE of NaN, 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 2 real-room photo comparisons where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Swirling Water vs Balboa Mist in Real Spaces
2 real rooms side by side. Seeing Swirling Water 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.
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. Swirling Water 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. Swirling Water reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Balboa Mist.
Color Details
Swirling Water vs Balboa Mist Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Swirling Water 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 Swirling Water comparisons
See how Swirling Water stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
