Honest Indigo vs Smalt
Where Honest Indigo belongs to Dulux's range, Smalt is a Little Greene color. These are both blues, so the question isn't which hue to choose — it's where within blue to land. They have nearly identical light reflectance values (7 vs 6), so they'll read as similarly Dark in most lighting conditions. Honest Indigo runs cool while Smalt is decidedly blue, which means they'll respond very differently to warm vs cool light sources. The ΔE 6.2 gap is real but not dramatic — close enough to use together, distinct enough to matter as a choice. Below you'll find 2 real-room photo comparisons where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Honest Indigo vs Smalt in Real Spaces
2 real rooms side by side. Honest Indigo and Smalt are close enough that the difference can be hard to judge from a chip alone — these photos show how each reads at scale, across different spaces and lighting conditions.
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. Side by side like this, the difference is easy to read — which is exactly why seeing them in a real space is more useful than comparing chips.
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. The distinction reads clearly at room scale, making the choice between them concrete.
Color Details
Honest Indigo vs Smalt Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Honest Indigo on one side and Smalt 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 Honest Indigo comparisons
See how Honest Indigo stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
