Stirabout vs Shade-Grown
Where Stirabout belongs to Farrow & Ball's range, Shade-Grown is a Sherwin-Williams color. Hue-wise, Stirabout belongs to the beige-greige family and Shade-Grown to the grey family. Stirabout (LRV 63) reflects noticeably more light than Shade-Grown (LRV 8), a difference of 55 points that becomes especially apparent in rooms with limited natural light. Stirabout runs warm while Shade-Grown is decidedly neutral, which means they'll respond very differently to warm vs cool light sources. With a ΔE of 49.9, 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.
Stirabout vs Shade-Grown in Real Spaces
6 real rooms side by side. Seeing Stirabout and Shade-Grown 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 Stirabout will make the room feel meaningfully brighter than Shade-Grown 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. Stirabout reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Shade-Grown.
Kitchen
In a kitchen, colors are seen under bright task lighting that amplifies undertones — what reads neutral elsewhere can show its hand here. Stirabout reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Shade-Grown.
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. Stirabout reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Shade-Grown.
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. Stirabout reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Shade-Grown.
Kitchen Cabinets
Kitchen cabinets are constantly compared against adjacent materials, which means subtle differences between these two become much more visible. Stirabout reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Shade-Grown.
Color Details
Stirabout vs Shade-Grown Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Stirabout on one side and Shade-Grown 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 Stirabout comparisons
See how Stirabout stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
