Bowman Blue

A color that sits comfortably in the middle: not so light it washes out, not so dark it needs justifying, with a teal undertone that carries it. 0500 in the Vista Paint range.

Light reflectance measures 17.0, which is enough to keep a room bright without bouncing light around. Chroma 8.4 keeps the teal undertone present without letting it run the room.

Bedrooms and living rooms, where it is seen in lamplight as much as daylight. South light flatters it. In a north-facing room it can turn cold, so sample that wall first. Benjamin Moore Through the Looking Glass pairs well as a second surface - close enough in feel to belong in the same room, far enough in lightness to read as two distinct walls (about 34 points apart on the reflectance scale).

Rooms already built around reds and brick tones are the hardest fit for this color - the two are opposites, and opposites next to each other rarely feel calm.

Next to it, white trim reads brighter and cooler than it does anywhere else in the house - the gap in light reflectance is what does that, not the trim paint itself. For layering, pair this with a clearly lighter mid-tone on a secondary wall or cabinetry, and keep the ceiling close to white. The gap between each step should be big enough to see without thinking about it (roughly 17.0 / 51 / 85 on the reflectance scale).

For anyone tied to a different brand, Behr Crater Lake (BXC-81) is the nearest stand-in, at a delta-E of 1.56. This is a relatively uncrowded spot in the spectrum - just 2 colors from other brands come this close. This color reads consistently across most finishes, so the choice can come down to durability needs rather than how it changes the color.

It is lighter than 15 percent of the Vista Paint range. Vista Paint lists it in the C codes, alongside 1,421 other colors.