Celestial vs Colonial Yellow
Both from Sherwin-Williams's palette. Hue-wise, Celestial belongs to the blue family and Colonial Yellow to the beige-yellow family. Colonial Yellow (LRV 60) reflects noticeably more light than Celestial (LRV 44), a difference of 16 points that becomes especially apparent in rooms with limited natural light. Celestial runs cool while Colonial Yellow is decidedly warm, which means they'll respond very differently to warm vs cool light sources. With a ΔE of 55.5, 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 2 real-room photo comparisons where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Celestial vs Colonial Yellow in Real Spaces
2 real rooms side by side. Seeing Celestial and Colonial Yellow in actual rooms makes the difference concrete; browse the spaces below to get a feel for how each color lives on a wall.
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 Colonial Yellow will make the room feel meaningfully brighter than Celestial would.
Kitchen Cabinets
Kitchen cabinets are constantly compared against adjacent materials, which means subtle differences between these two become much more visible. Colonial Yellow reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Celestial.
Color Details
Celestial vs Colonial Yellow Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Celestial on one side and Colonial Yellow 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 Celestial comparisons
See how Celestial stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
At LRV 83 vs 44, White Dove is decisively the brighter choice.
Purbeck Stone reads slightly lighter (LRV 52 vs 44), a gap that shows most in low-lit rooms.
Celestial reflects far more light (LRV 44 vs 30), opening up a space where Evergreen Fog encloses it.
Agreeable Gray reflects far more light (LRV 60 vs 44), opening up a space where Celestial encloses it.
At LRV 58 vs 44, Accessible Beige is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 44 vs 27, Celestial is decisively the brighter choice.
With LRVs of 44 and 43, the two reflect almost the same amount of light.
A 11-point LRV gap (55 vs 44) makes Tranquil Dawn the marginally brighter of the two.
Their light reflectance is nearly identical (LRV 44 vs 44), so neither reads brighter in a room.
Pure White reflects far more light (LRV 84 vs 44), opening up a space where Celestial encloses it.
At LRV 66 vs 44, Balboa Mist is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 74 vs 44, Shoji White is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 44 vs 12, Celestial is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 44 vs 8, Celestial is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 68 vs 44, Skimming Stone is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 44 vs 12, Celestial is decisively the brighter choice.
Their light reflectance is nearly identical (LRV 45 vs 44), so neither reads brighter in a room.
Celestial reflects far more light (LRV 44 vs 31), opening up a space where Pale Green encloses it.