Peony vs Calamine
Where Peony belongs to Benjamin Moore's range, Calamine is a Farrow & Ball color. Both sit in the pink-red family, which is useful context if you're narrowing within a single hue direction. Calamine (LRV 68) reflects noticeably more light than Peony (LRV 19), a difference of 49 points that becomes especially apparent in rooms with limited natural light. Peony runs red while Calamine is decidedly warm, which means they'll respond very differently to warm vs cool light sources. With a ΔE of 61.4, 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 3 real-room photo comparisons where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Peony vs Calamine in Real Spaces
3 real rooms side by side. Seeing Peony and Calamine 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 Calamine will make the room feel meaningfully brighter than Peony would.
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. Calamine reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Peony.
Color Details
Peony vs Calamine Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Peony on one side and Calamine 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 Peony comparisons
See how Peony stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
White Dove reflects far more light (LRV 83 vs 19), opening up a space where Peony encloses it.
At LRV 52 vs 19, Purbeck Stone is decisively the brighter choice.
A 12-point LRV gap (30 vs 19) makes Evergreen Fog the marginally brighter of the two.
At LRV 60 vs 19, Agreeable Gray is decisively the brighter choice.
Accessible Beige reflects far more light (LRV 58 vs 19), opening up a space where Peony encloses it.
Denim Drift reads slightly lighter (LRV 27 vs 19), a gap that shows most in low-lit rooms.
At LRV 43 vs 19, French Gray is decisively the brighter choice.
Tranquil Dawn reflects far more light (LRV 55 vs 19), opening up a space where Peony encloses it.
Hardwick White reflects far more light (LRV 44 vs 19), opening up a space where Peony encloses it.
At LRV 84 vs 19, Pure White is decisively the brighter choice.
Balboa Mist reflects far more light (LRV 66 vs 19), opening up a space where Peony encloses it.
Shoji White reflects far more light (LRV 74 vs 19), opening up a space where Peony encloses it.
Peony reads slightly lighter (LRV 19 vs 12), a gap that shows most in low-lit rooms.
Skimming Stone reflects far more light (LRV 68 vs 19), opening up a space where Peony encloses it.
Peony reads slightly lighter (LRV 19 vs 12), a gap that shows most in low-lit rooms.
Saybrook Sage reflects far more light (LRV 45 vs 19), opening up a space where Peony encloses it.
At LRV 31 vs 19, Pale Green is decisively the brighter choice.
A 12-point LRV gap (19 vs 7) makes Peony the marginally brighter of the two.
A 6-point LRV gap (24 vs 19) makes Cement grey the marginally brighter of the two.
At LRV 57 vs 19, Guilford Green is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 72 vs 19, Just Walnut is decisively the brighter choice.