Tawny Owl vs Calamine
Where Tawny Owl belongs to Dulux's range, Calamine is a Farrow & Ball color. Hue-wise, Tawny Owl belongs to the greige-grey family and Calamine to the pink-red family. Calamine (LRV 68) reflects noticeably more light than Tawny Owl (LRV 10), a difference of 57 points that becomes especially apparent in rooms with limited natural light. Both lean warm, so they'll behave similarly in mixed or changing light conditions. With a ΔE of 47.7, 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 2 real-room photo comparisons where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Tawny Owl vs Calamine in Real Spaces
2 real rooms side by side. Seeing Tawny Owl 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 Tawny Owl would.
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. Calamine returns significantly more light to the room — in a smaller or darker space, that difference in perceived brightness is hard to miss.
Color Details
Tawny Owl vs Calamine Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Tawny Owl 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 Tawny Owl comparisons
See how Tawny Owl stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
At LRV 83 vs 10, White Dove is decisively the brighter choice.
Purbeck Stone reflects far more light (LRV 52 vs 10), opening up a space where Tawny Owl encloses it.
Evergreen Fog reflects far more light (LRV 30 vs 10), opening up a space where Tawny Owl encloses it.
Agreeable Gray reflects far more light (LRV 60 vs 10), opening up a space where Tawny Owl encloses it.
At LRV 58 vs 10, Accessible Beige is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 27 vs 10, Denim Drift is decisively the brighter choice.
French Gray reflects far more light (LRV 43 vs 10), opening up a space where Tawny Owl encloses it.
At LRV 55 vs 10, Tranquil Dawn is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 44 vs 10, Hardwick White is decisively the brighter choice.
Pure White reflects far more light (LRV 84 vs 10), opening up a space where Tawny Owl encloses it.
At LRV 66 vs 10, Balboa Mist is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 74 vs 10, Shoji White is decisively the brighter choice.
Their light reflectance is nearly identical (LRV 12 vs 10), so neither reads brighter in a room.
At LRV 68 vs 10, Skimming Stone is decisively the brighter choice.
Their light reflectance is nearly identical (LRV 12 vs 10), so neither reads brighter in a room.
At LRV 45 vs 10, Saybrook Sage is decisively the brighter choice.
Pale Green reflects far more light (LRV 31 vs 10), opening up a space where Tawny Owl encloses it.
Tawny Owl reads slightly lighter (LRV 10 vs 7), a gap that shows most in low-lit rooms.
Cement grey reflects far more light (LRV 24 vs 10), opening up a space where Tawny Owl encloses it.
Guilford Green reflects far more light (LRV 57 vs 10), opening up a space where Tawny Owl encloses it.
Just Walnut reflects far more light (LRV 72 vs 10), opening up a space where Tawny Owl encloses it.