Bancha vs Searching Blue
Where Bancha belongs to Farrow & Ball's range, Searching Blue is a Sherwin-Williams color. Hue-wise, Bancha belongs to the beige-greige family and Searching Blue to the blue family. Searching Blue (LRV 21) reflects noticeably more light than Bancha (LRV 13), a difference of 7 points that becomes especially apparent in rooms with limited natural light. Bancha runs warm while Searching Blue is decidedly cool, which means they'll respond very differently to warm vs cool light sources. With a ΔE of 37.8, 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 3 real-room photo comparisons where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Bancha vs Searching Blue in Real Spaces
3 real rooms side by side. Seeing Bancha and Searching Blue in actual rooms makes the difference concrete; browse the spaces below to get a feel for how each color lives on a wall.
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. Searching Blue has the edge in reflectance, which shows as a quiet sense of added space rather than an obvious contrast.
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. Searching Blue reads slightly lighter here — a subtle but real difference in how open the space feels.
Front Door
A front door is a focal point — small color differences read clearly at this concentrated scale. The brightness difference is modest but present — Searching Blue gives the walls a little more lift.
Color Details
Bancha vs Searching Blue Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Bancha on one side and Searching 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 Bancha comparisons
See how Bancha stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
