Pearl Colour - Dark vs Basil
Where Pearl Colour - Dark belongs to Little Greene's range, Basil is a Sherwin-Williams color. These are both green-greys, so the question isn't which hue to choose — it's where within green-grey to land. Pearl Colour - Dark (LRV 54) reflects noticeably more light than Basil (LRV 15), a difference of 40 points that becomes especially apparent in rooms with limited natural light. Pearl Colour - Dark runs green while Basil is decidedly neutral, which means they'll respond very differently to warm vs cool light sources. With a ΔE of 33.7, 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 5 real-room photo comparisons where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Pearl Colour - Dark vs Basil in Real Spaces
5 real rooms side by side. Seeing Pearl Colour - Dark and Basil 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 Pearl Colour - Dark will make the room feel meaningfully brighter than Basil 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. Pearl Colour - Dark reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Basil.
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. Pearl Colour - Dark reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Basil.
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 Pearl Colour - Dark will make the room feel meaningfully brighter than Basil would.
Kitchen Cabinets
Kitchen cabinets are constantly compared against adjacent materials, which means subtle differences between these two become much more visible. Pearl Colour - Dark reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Basil.
Color Details
Pearl Colour - Dark vs Basil Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Pearl Colour - Dark on one side and Basil 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 Pearl Colour - Dark comparisons
See how Pearl Colour - Dark stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
