Stiffkey Blue vs City Loft
Where Stiffkey Blue belongs to Farrow & Ball's range, City Loft is a Sherwin-Williams color. Hue-wise, Stiffkey Blue belongs to the blue family and City Loft to the beige-greige family. City Loft (LRV 70) reflects noticeably more light than Stiffkey Blue (LRV 10), a difference of 60 points that becomes especially apparent in rooms with limited natural light. Stiffkey Blue runs cool while City Loft is decidedly warm, which means they'll respond very differently to warm vs cool light sources. With a ΔE of 51.6, 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 7 real-room photo comparisons where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Stiffkey Blue vs City Loft in Real Spaces
7 real rooms side by side. Seeing Stiffkey Blue and City Loft 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 City Loft will make the room feel meaningfully brighter than Stiffkey Blue 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. City Loft reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Stiffkey Blue.
Kitchen
In a kitchen, colors are seen under bright task lighting that amplifies undertones — what reads neutral elsewhere can show its hand here. City Loft reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Stiffkey 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. City Loft reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Stiffkey Blue.
Home Office
The test for a home office color isn't how it looks in a quick glance — it's whether it still feels right after a full day of work. City Loft reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Stiffkey 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. City Loft reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Stiffkey 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 City Loft will make the room feel meaningfully brighter than Stiffkey Blue would.
Color Details
Stiffkey Blue vs City Loft Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Stiffkey Blue on one side and City Loft 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 Stiffkey Blue comparisons
See how Stiffkey Blue stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
