Lamp Black vs Gibraltar
Where Lamp Black belongs to Little Greene's range, Gibraltar is a Sherwin-Williams color. Hue-wise, Lamp Black belongs to the grey family and Gibraltar to the blue-grey family. Gibraltar (LRV 14) reflects noticeably more light than Lamp Black (LRV 3), a difference of 11 points that becomes especially apparent in rooms with limited natural light. Lamp Black runs purple while Gibraltar is decidedly neutral, which means they'll respond very differently to warm vs cool light sources. With a ΔE of 25.9, 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 4 real-room photo comparisons where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Lamp Black vs Gibraltar in Real Spaces
4 real rooms side by side. Seeing Lamp Black and Gibraltar 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 Gibraltar will make the room feel meaningfully brighter than Lamp Black would.
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. Gibraltar 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. Gibraltar reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Lamp Black.
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 Gibraltar will make the room feel meaningfully brighter than Lamp Black would.
Color Details
Lamp Black vs Gibraltar Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Lamp Black on one side and Gibraltar 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 Lamp Black comparisons
See how Lamp Black stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
