Soulful Blue vs Virtual Taupe
Both from Sherwin-Williams's palette. Hue-wise, Soulful Blue belongs to the blue-grey family and Virtual Taupe to the greige-grey family. They have nearly identical light reflectance values (20 vs 20), so they'll read as similarly Medium in most lighting conditions. Soulful Blue runs cool while Virtual Taupe is decidedly warm, which means they'll respond very differently to warm vs cool light sources. With a ΔE of 23.3, 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.
Soulful Blue vs Virtual Taupe in Real Spaces
1 real room side by side. Seeing Soulful Blue and Virtual Taupe in actual rooms makes the difference concrete; browse the spaces below to get a feel for how each color lives on a wall.
House
Seen across an entire facade, subtle tonal differences become pronounced. What reads as nearly the same on a chip often reads as clearly different at scale. Virtual Taupe brings more warmth to the space, while Soulful Blue keeps things cooler and crisper.
Color Details
Soulful Blue vs Virtual Taupe Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Soulful Blue on one side and Virtual Taupe 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 Soulful Blue comparisons
See how Soulful Blue stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
