Balboa Mist vs Gibraltar
Where Balboa Mist belongs to Benjamin Moore's range, Gibraltar is a Sherwin-Williams color. Balboa Mist reads as beige-greige, while Gibraltar reads as blue-grey — two distinct hue families, not close cousins. Balboa Mist (LRV 66) reflects noticeably more light than Gibraltar (LRV 14), a difference of 52 points that becomes especially apparent in rooms with limited natural light. Balboa Mist runs red while Gibraltar is decidedly neutral, which means they'll respond very differently to warm vs cool light sources. With a ΔE of 42.9, 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 5 real-room photo comparisons where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Balboa Mist vs Gibraltar in Real Spaces
5 real rooms side by side. Seeing Balboa Mist and Gibraltar 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 Gibraltar 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 Gibraltar.
Home Office
The test for a home office color isn't how it looks in a quick glance — it's whether it still feels right after a full day of work. Balboa Mist reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Gibraltar.
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. Balboa Mist reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Gibraltar.
Color Details
Balboa Mist vs Gibraltar Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Balboa Mist on one side and Gibraltar 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 Balboa Mist comparisons
See how Balboa Mist stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
