French Gray vs Smalt
Where French Gray belongs to Farrow & Ball's range, Smalt is a Little Greene color. Hue-wise, French Gray belongs to the beige-greige family and Smalt to the blue family. French Gray (LRV 43) reflects noticeably more light than Smalt (LRV 6), a difference of 37 points that becomes especially apparent in rooms with limited natural light. French Gray runs warm while Smalt is decidedly blue, which means they'll respond very differently to warm vs cool light sources. With a ΔE of 62.8, 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.
French Gray vs Smalt in Real Spaces
3 real rooms side by side. Seeing French Gray and Smalt 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 French Gray will make the room feel meaningfully brighter than Smalt would.
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. French Gray reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Smalt.
House
Seen across an entire facade, subtle tonal differences become pronounced. What reads as nearly the same on a chip often reads as clearly different at scale. French Gray reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Smalt.
Color Details
French Gray vs Smalt Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see French Gray 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 French Gray comparisons
See how French Gray stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
