Pointing vs China Clay
Where Pointing belongs to Farrow & Ball's range, China Clay is a Little Greene color. Both sit in the beige family, which is useful context if you're narrowing within a single hue direction. They have nearly identical light reflectance values (88 vs 86), so they'll read as similarly Light in most lighting conditions. Pointing runs warm while China Clay is decidedly red, which means they'll respond very differently to warm vs cool light sources. At ΔE 1.9, these are close — the kind of difference that matters when choosing between them, but doesn't read strongly in a finished room. Below you'll find 2 real-room photo comparisons where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Pointing vs China Clay in Real Spaces
2 real rooms side by side. Pointing and China Clay 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.
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 two are close enough that the choice comes down to finer qualities — undertone, texture, what the color sits next to.
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. At this scale the difference is subtle — you'd need them side by side, as shown here, to reliably tell them apart.
Color Details
Pointing vs China Clay Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Pointing on one side and China Clay 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 Pointing comparisons
See how Pointing stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
A 5-point LRV gap (88 vs 83) makes Pointing the marginally brighter of the two.
Pointing reflects far more light (LRV 88 vs 52), opening up a space where Purbeck Stone encloses it.
Pointing reflects far more light (LRV 88 vs 30), opening up a space where Evergreen Fog encloses it.
Pointing reflects far more light (LRV 88 vs 60), opening up a space where Agreeable Gray encloses it.
At LRV 88 vs 58, Pointing is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 88 vs 27, Pointing is decisively the brighter choice.
Pointing reflects far more light (LRV 88 vs 43), opening up a space where French Gray encloses it.
At LRV 88 vs 55, Pointing is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 88 vs 44, Pointing is decisively the brighter choice.
Pointing reads slightly lighter (LRV 88 vs 84), a gap that shows most in low-lit rooms.
At LRV 88 vs 66, Pointing is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 88 vs 74, Pointing is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 88 vs 12, Pointing is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 88 vs 68, Pointing is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 88 vs 12, Pointing is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 88 vs 45, Pointing is decisively the brighter choice.
Pointing reflects far more light (LRV 88 vs 31), opening up a space where Pale Green encloses it.
Pointing reflects far more light (LRV 88 vs 7), opening up a space where Pine Needle encloses it.
Pointing reflects far more light (LRV 88 vs 24), opening up a space where Cement grey encloses it.
Pointing reflects far more light (LRV 88 vs 57), opening up a space where Guilford Green encloses it.