Portland Gray vs Calamine
Where Portland Gray belongs to Benjamin Moore's range, Calamine is a Farrow & Ball color. Portland Gray reads as greige-grey, while Calamine reads as pink-red — two distinct hue families, not close cousins. Calamine (LRV 68) reflects noticeably more light than Portland Gray (LRV 60), a difference of 7 points that becomes especially apparent in rooms with limited natural light. Portland Gray runs red while Calamine is decidedly warm, which means they'll respond very differently to warm vs cool light sources. The ΔE 6.0 gap is real but not dramatic — close enough to use together, distinct enough to matter as a choice. Below you'll find 2 real-room photo comparisons where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Portland Gray vs Calamine in Real Spaces
2 real rooms side by side. Portland Gray and Calamine are close enough that the difference can be hard to judge from a chip alone — these photos show how each reads at scale, across different spaces and lighting conditions.
Dining Room
A dining room lit by a dimmed pendant or candles is one of the most forgiving environments for paint — warm light softens almost everything. Calamine has the edge in reflectance, which shows as a quiet sense of added space rather than an obvious contrast.
Bathroom
Bathrooms are one of the few spaces where you're genuinely enclosed by the paint color, which makes the choice between these two more consequential. Calamine reads slightly lighter here — a subtle but real difference in how open the space feels.
Color Details
Portland Gray vs Calamine Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Portland Gray on one side and Calamine 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 Portland Gray comparisons
See how Portland Gray stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
