Cheating Heart vs Stiffkey Blue
Where Cheating Heart belongs to Benjamin Moore's range, Stiffkey Blue is a Farrow & Ball color. Hue-wise, Cheating Heart belongs to the grey family and Stiffkey Blue to the blue family. They have nearly identical light reflectance values (9 vs 10), so they'll read as similarly Dark in most lighting conditions. Cheating Heart runs blue while Stiffkey Blue is decidedly cool, which means they'll respond very differently to warm vs cool light sources. With a ΔE of 10.5, 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 8 real-room photo comparisons where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Cheating Heart vs Stiffkey Blue in Real Spaces
8 real rooms side by side. Seeing Cheating Heart and Stiffkey Blue 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 temperature contrast between Stiffkey Blue and Cheating Heart is what sets these apart most in this context.
Kitchen
In a kitchen, colors are seen under bright task lighting that amplifies undertones — what reads neutral elsewhere can show its hand here. Stiffkey Blue brings more warmth to the space, while Cheating Heart keeps things cooler and crisper.
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. Cheating Heart reads more restrained here, while Stiffkey Blue adds a sense of enclosure and warmth.
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. Stiffkey Blue brings more warmth to the space, while Cheating Heart keeps things cooler and crisper.
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. Stiffkey Blue brings more warmth to the space, while Cheating Heart keeps things cooler and crisper.
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. Stiffkey Blue brings more warmth to the space, while Cheating Heart keeps things cooler and crisper.
Front Door
A front door is a focal point — small color differences read clearly at this concentrated scale. The temperature contrast between Stiffkey Blue and Cheating Heart is what sets these apart most in this context.
Kitchen Cabinets
Kitchen cabinets are constantly compared against adjacent materials, which means subtle differences between these two become much more visible. Stiffkey Blue brings more warmth to the space, while Cheating Heart keeps things cooler and crisper.
Color Details
Cheating Heart vs Stiffkey Blue Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Cheating Heart on one side and Stiffkey Blue 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 Cheating Heart comparisons
See how Cheating Heart stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
