Natural Linen (SW 9109) vs Malabar (SW 9110)
Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
Quick decision
- Lighter
- Natural Linen, LRV 66 vs 53.
- Warmer
- Malabar (Lab b* 12.8 vs 9.4). Natural Linen reads greige; Malabar reads yellow.
- North rooms
- Natural Linen keeps more brightness (L* 81.2 vs 73.9 in north light); both drift gray about equally.
- Trim that works
- Panda White SW 6147, #EAE2D4, LRV 77: the Sherwin-Williams white closest in hue to both.
- Closeness
- deltaE 5.6, clearly different. At 5.6, treat them as different colors.
See each color
Natural Linen
More comparisons with Natural Linen
Natural Linen (SW 9109) is lighter than Malabar (SW 9110) and cooler: LRV 66 vs 53, deltaE 5.6 (clearly different).
Side by side
| Measure | Natural Linen | Malabar | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Sherwin-Williams | Sherwin-Williams | |
| Color code | SW 9109 | SW 9110 | |
| Hex | #DFD3C3 | #CFBEA9 | |
| RGB | 223, 211, 195 | 207, 190, 169 | |
| HSL | 34°, 30%, 82% | 33°, 28%, 74% | |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 66 | 53 | +13 |
| Lab L* | 85.1 | 77.9 | +7.3 |
| Lab a* | 1.5 | 2.6 | −1.1 |
| Lab b* | 9.4 | 12.8 | −3.4 |
| Undertone | Warm | Warm Yellow | |
| Temperature | warm | warm | |
| Color family | Beige | Beige |
Same paint, two kinds of light
Natural Linen (SW 9109), published as #DFD3C3
#CEC9C1
#F1DDC3
Malabar (SW 9110), published as #CFBEA9
#BFB4A7
#E0C8A9
These swatches and the rooms above are a simulation, not a measurement. How the visualizer works
Which should you pick
Rules of thumb computed from the LRV and Lab values in the table above; no room test was done.
- Pick Natural Linen (SW 9109) for a small room or a north-facing room, because it is 13 LRV points lighter (66 vs 53), so it bounces back more of the limited light
- Pick Natural Linen (SW 9109) for a south-facing room, because its Lab b* is 9.4 against 12.8, so it is the cooler of the two and offsets warm direct sun
- Pick Malabar (SW 9110) to warm a north-facing room, because it is the warmer of the two (Lab b* 12.8), which counters cool indirect light
Closest matches to Natural Linen in other brands
Closest matches to Malabar in other brands
Common questions
- Is Natural Linen the same color as Malabar?
- They are clearly different: a CIEDE2000 difference of 5.6. Natural Linen and Malabar are different colors.
- Which is lighter, Natural Linen or Malabar?
- Natural Linen, with an LRV of 66 against 53.
Full pages
Related comparisons
Sources: LRV and hex as published by the manufacturer, via PaintDB (CC BY 4.0). Color differences are CIEDE2000 values computed by this site from the hex values (data snapshot 2026-10-01). Color names and codes belong to their manufacturers.