Barley vs Skimming Stone
Where Barley belongs to Cloverdale Paint's range, Skimming Stone is a Farrow & Ball color. Both sit in the beige-greige family, which is useful context if you're narrowing within a single hue direction. Skimming Stone (LRV 68) reflects noticeably more light than Barley (LRV 43), a difference of 25 points that becomes especially apparent in rooms with limited natural light. With a ΔE of 17.5, 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 4 real-room photo comparisons where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Barley vs Skimming Stone in Real Spaces
4 real rooms side by side. Seeing Barley and Skimming Stone 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 Skimming Stone will make the room feel meaningfully brighter than Barley would.
Bedroom
The context that matters most in a bedroom is how a color reads under a bedside lamp at night, not under noon daylight. Skimming Stone reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Barley.
Kitchen
In a kitchen, colors are seen under bright task lighting that amplifies undertones — what reads neutral elsewhere can show its hand here. Skimming Stone reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Barley.
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. Skimming Stone reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Barley.
Color Details
Barley vs Skimming Stone Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Barley on one side and Skimming Stone 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 Barley comparisons
See how Barley stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
At LRV 83 vs 43, White Dove is decisively the brighter choice.
Purbeck Stone reads slightly lighter (LRV 52 vs 43), a gap that shows most in low-lit rooms.
Barley reflects far more light (LRV 43 vs 30), opening up a space where Evergreen Fog encloses it.
Agreeable Gray reflects far more light (LRV 60 vs 43), opening up a space where Barley encloses it.
At LRV 58 vs 43, Accessible Beige is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 43 vs 27, Barley is decisively the brighter choice.
With LRVs of 43 and 43, the two reflect almost the same amount of light.
At LRV 55 vs 43, Tranquil Dawn is decisively the brighter choice.
Their light reflectance is nearly identical (LRV 44 vs 43), so neither reads brighter in a room.
Pure White reflects far more light (LRV 84 vs 43), opening up a space where Barley encloses it.
At LRV 66 vs 43, Balboa Mist is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 74 vs 43, Shoji White is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 43 vs 12, Barley is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 43 vs 8, Barley is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 43 vs 12, Barley is decisively the brighter choice.
Their light reflectance is nearly identical (LRV 45 vs 43), so neither reads brighter in a room.
Barley reads slightly lighter (LRV 43 vs 31), a gap that shows most in low-lit rooms.
Barley reflects far more light (LRV 43 vs 7), opening up a space where Pine Needle encloses it.