Earl Blue vs Pearl Colour - Dark
Where Earl Blue belongs to Dulux's range, Pearl Colour - Dark is a Little Greene color. Earl Blue reads as blue-grey, while Pearl Colour - Dark reads as green-grey — two distinct hue families, not close cousins. Pearl Colour - Dark (LRV 54) reflects noticeably more light than Earl Blue (LRV 41), a difference of 13 points that becomes especially apparent in rooms with limited natural light. Earl Blue runs cool while Pearl Colour - Dark is decidedly green, which means they'll respond very differently to warm vs cool light sources. With a ΔE of 13.9, 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 4 real-room photo comparisons where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Earl Blue vs Pearl Colour - Dark in Real Spaces
4 real rooms side by side. Seeing Earl Blue and Pearl Colour - Dark 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 Pearl Colour - Dark will make the room feel meaningfully brighter than Earl Blue 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. Pearl Colour - Dark reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Earl Blue.
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. Pearl Colour - Dark reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Earl Blue.
Kitchen Cabinets
Kitchen cabinets are constantly compared against adjacent materials, which means subtle differences between these two become much more visible. Pearl Colour - Dark reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Earl Blue.
Color Details
Earl Blue vs Pearl Colour - Dark Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Earl Blue on one side and Pearl Colour - Dark 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 Earl Blue comparisons
See how Earl Blue stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
