Pitch Blue vs Honorable Blue
Where Pitch Blue belongs to Farrow & Ball's range, Honorable Blue is a Sherwin-Williams color. Both sit in the blue family, which is useful context if you're narrowing within a single hue direction. Pitch Blue (LRV 15) reflects noticeably more light than Honorable Blue (LRV 6), a difference of 10 points that becomes especially apparent in rooms with limited natural light. Both lean cool, so they'll behave similarly in mixed or changing light conditions. With a ΔE of 21.4, 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 6 real-room photo comparisons where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Pitch Blue vs Honorable Blue in Real Spaces
6 real rooms side by side. Seeing Pitch Blue and Honorable 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 Pitch Blue will make the room feel meaningfully brighter than Honorable Blue would.
Kitchen
In a kitchen, colors are seen under bright task lighting that amplifies undertones — what reads neutral elsewhere can show its hand here. Pitch Blue reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Honorable Blue.
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. Pitch Blue reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Honorable Blue.
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. Pitch Blue reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Honorable Blue.
Front Door
A front door is a focal point — small color differences read clearly at this concentrated scale. The LRV gap is large enough that Pitch Blue will make the room feel meaningfully brighter than Honorable Blue would.
Kitchen Cabinets
Kitchen cabinets are constantly compared against adjacent materials, which means subtle differences between these two become much more visible. Pitch Blue reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Honorable Blue.
Color Details
Pitch Blue vs Honorable Blue Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Pitch Blue on one side and Honorable 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 Pitch Blue comparisons
See how Pitch Blue stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
At LRV 69 vs 15, Ammonite is decisively the brighter choice.
White Dove reflects far more light (LRV 83 vs 15), opening up a space where Pitch Blue encloses it.
Pitch Blue reads slightly lighter (LRV 15 vs 6), a gap that shows most in low-lit rooms.
At LRV 52 vs 15, Purbeck Stone is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 30 vs 15, Evergreen Fog is decisively the brighter choice.
Mizzle reflects far more light (LRV 52 vs 15), opening up a space where Pitch Blue encloses it.
At LRV 60 vs 15, Agreeable Gray is decisively the brighter choice.
Accessible Beige reflects far more light (LRV 58 vs 15), opening up a space where Pitch Blue encloses it.
Denim Drift reads slightly lighter (LRV 27 vs 15), a gap that shows most in low-lit rooms.
At LRV 43 vs 15, French Gray is decisively the brighter choice.
A 11-point LRV gap (15 vs 4) makes Pitch Blue the marginally brighter of the two.
Tranquil Dawn reflects far more light (LRV 55 vs 15), opening up a space where Pitch Blue encloses it.
With LRVs of 15 and 13, the two reflect almost the same amount of light.
Hardwick White reflects far more light (LRV 44 vs 15), opening up a space where Pitch Blue encloses it.
At LRV 84 vs 15, Pure White is decisively the brighter choice.
A 6-point LRV gap (21 vs 15) makes Artichoke the marginally brighter of the two.
Balboa Mist reflects far more light (LRV 66 vs 15), opening up a space where Pitch Blue encloses it.
Shoji White reflects far more light (LRV 74 vs 15), opening up a space where Pitch Blue encloses it.
Snowbound reflects far more light (LRV 83 vs 15), opening up a space where Pitch Blue encloses it.
At LRV 51 vs 15, Pigeon is decisively the brighter choice.
Pitch Blue reads slightly lighter (LRV 15 vs 12), a gap that shows most in low-lit rooms.
Pitch Blue reads slightly lighter (LRV 15 vs 8), a gap that shows most in low-lit rooms.
Skimming Stone reflects far more light (LRV 68 vs 15), opening up a space where Pitch Blue encloses it.
At LRV 41 vs 15, Dix Blue is decisively the brighter choice.
Pitch Blue reads slightly lighter (LRV 15 vs 12), a gap that shows most in low-lit rooms.
Saybrook Sage reflects far more light (LRV 45 vs 15), opening up a space where Pitch Blue encloses it.
At LRV 31 vs 15, Pale Green is decisively the brighter choice.