Dress Blues vs Sunflower
Both from Sherwin-Williams's palette. Dress Blues reads as blue, while Sunflower reads as beige — two distinct hue families, not close cousins. Sunflower (LRV 40) reflects noticeably more light than Dress Blues (LRV 5), a difference of 35 points that becomes especially apparent in rooms with limited natural light. Dress Blues runs cool while Sunflower is decidedly warm, which means they'll respond very differently to warm vs cool light sources. With a ΔE of 93.4, 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 1 real-room photo comparison where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Dress Blues vs Sunflower in Real Spaces
1 real room side by side. Seeing Dress Blues and Sunflower 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 Sunflower will make the room feel meaningfully brighter than Dress Blues would.
Color Details
Dress Blues vs Sunflower Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Dress Blues on one side and Sunflower 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 Dress Blues comparisons
See how Dress Blues stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
Their light reflectance is nearly identical (LRV 5 vs 4), so neither reads brighter in a room.
At LRV 84 vs 5, Pure White is decisively the brighter choice.