Malt Chocolate vs Dix Blue
Where Malt Chocolate belongs to Dulux's range, Dix Blue is a Farrow & Ball color. Hue-wise, Malt Chocolate belongs to the beige-greige family and Dix Blue to the blue-grey family. Malt Chocolate (LRV 57) reflects noticeably more light than Dix Blue (LRV 41), a difference of 16 points that becomes especially apparent in rooms with limited natural light. Malt Chocolate runs warm while Dix Blue is decidedly cool, which means they'll respond very differently to warm vs cool light sources. With a ΔE of 17.1, 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.
Malt Chocolate vs Dix Blue in Real Spaces
4 real rooms side by side. Seeing Malt Chocolate and Dix 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 LRV gap is large enough that Malt Chocolate will make the room feel meaningfully brighter than Dix 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. Malt Chocolate reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Dix Blue.
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. Malt Chocolate returns significantly more light to the room — in a smaller or darker space, that difference in perceived brightness is hard to miss.
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. Malt Chocolate reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Dix Blue.
Color Details
Malt Chocolate vs Dix Blue Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Malt Chocolate on one side and Dix 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 Malt Chocolate comparisons
See how Malt Chocolate stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
A 12-point LRV gap (69 vs 57) makes Ammonite the marginally brighter of the two.
White Dove reflects far more light (LRV 83 vs 57), opening up a space where Malt Chocolate encloses it.
Malt Chocolate reflects far more light (LRV 57 vs 6), opening up a space where Iron Ore encloses it.
A 5-point LRV gap (57 vs 52) makes Malt Chocolate the marginally brighter of the two.
At LRV 57 vs 30, Malt Chocolate is decisively the brighter choice.
Malt Chocolate reads slightly lighter (LRV 57 vs 52), a gap that shows most in low-lit rooms.
A 3-point LRV gap (60 vs 57) makes Agreeable Gray the marginally brighter of the two.
With LRVs of 58 and 57, the two reflect almost the same amount of light.
Malt Chocolate reflects far more light (LRV 57 vs 27), opening up a space where Denim Drift encloses it.
At LRV 57 vs 43, Malt Chocolate is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 57 vs 4, Malt Chocolate is decisively the brighter choice.
With LRVs of 57 and 55, the two reflect almost the same amount of light.
Malt Chocolate reflects far more light (LRV 57 vs 13), opening up a space where Bancha encloses it.
Malt Chocolate reflects far more light (LRV 57 vs 44), opening up a space where Hardwick White encloses it.
At LRV 84 vs 57, Pure White is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 57 vs 21, Malt Chocolate is decisively the brighter choice.
Balboa Mist reads slightly lighter (LRV 66 vs 57), a gap that shows most in low-lit rooms.
Shoji White reflects far more light (LRV 74 vs 57), opening up a space where Malt Chocolate encloses it.
Snowbound reflects far more light (LRV 83 vs 57), opening up a space where Malt Chocolate encloses it.
A 6-point LRV gap (57 vs 51) makes Malt Chocolate the marginally brighter of the two.
Malt Chocolate reflects far more light (LRV 57 vs 12), opening up a space where Pewter Green encloses it.
Malt Chocolate reflects far more light (LRV 57 vs 8), opening up a space where Duck Green encloses it.
Skimming Stone reads slightly lighter (LRV 68 vs 57), a gap that shows most in low-lit rooms.
Malt Chocolate reflects far more light (LRV 57 vs 12), opening up a space where Vintage Vogue encloses it.
Malt Chocolate reads slightly lighter (LRV 57 vs 45), a gap that shows most in low-lit rooms.
At LRV 57 vs 31, Malt Chocolate is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 57 vs 7, Malt Chocolate is decisively the brighter choice.