Calamine vs Portland Stone
Where Calamine belongs to Farrow & Ball's range, Portland Stone is a Little Greene color. Hue-wise, Calamine belongs to the pink-red family and Portland Stone to the beige-greige family. Calamine (LRV 68) reflects noticeably more light than Portland Stone (LRV 55), a difference of 12 points that becomes especially apparent in rooms with limited natural light. Calamine runs warm while Portland Stone is decidedly yellow, which means they'll respond very differently to warm vs cool light sources. With a ΔE of 15.0, 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 3 real-room photo comparisons where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Calamine vs Portland Stone in Real Spaces
3 real rooms side by side. Seeing Calamine and Portland Stone in actual rooms makes the difference concrete; browse the spaces below to get a feel for how each color lives on a wall.
Living Room
In a living room, color works across both daylight and evening light — the same wall can read very differently at noon and at 8pm. The LRV gap is large enough that Calamine will make the room feel meaningfully brighter than Portland Stone would.
Kitchen
In a kitchen, colors are seen under bright task lighting that amplifies undertones — what reads neutral elsewhere can show its hand here. Calamine reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Portland Stone.
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 reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Portland Stone.
Color Details
Calamine vs Portland Stone Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Calamine on one side and Portland Stone 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 Calamine comparisons
See how Calamine stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
