Blackened vs French Gray
Both from Farrow & Ball's palette. Hue-wise, Blackened belongs to the grey family and French Gray to the beige-greige family. Blackened (LRV 71) reflects noticeably more light than French Gray (LRV 43), a difference of 28 points that becomes especially apparent in rooms with limited natural light. Blackened runs neutral while French Gray is decidedly warm, which means they'll respond very differently to warm vs cool light sources. With a ΔE of 19.3, 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 5 real-room photo comparisons where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Blackened vs French Gray in Real Spaces
5 real rooms side by side. Seeing Blackened and French Gray 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 Blackened will make the room feel meaningfully brighter than French Gray 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. Blackened reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than French Gray.
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. Blackened 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. Blackened reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than French Gray.
Kitchen Cabinets
Kitchen cabinets are constantly compared against adjacent materials, which means subtle differences between these two become much more visible. Blackened reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than French Gray.
Color Details
Blackened vs French Gray Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Blackened on one side and French Gray 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 Blackened comparisons
See how Blackened stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
