Selvedge vs Pure White
Where Selvedge belongs to Farrow & Ball's range, Pure White is a Sherwin-Williams color. Hue-wise, Selvedge belongs to the blue-grey family and Pure White to the beige-greige family. Pure White (LRV 84) reflects noticeably more light than Selvedge (LRV 25), a difference of 59 points that becomes especially apparent in rooms with limited natural light. Selvedge runs cool while Pure White is decidedly warm, which means they'll respond very differently to warm vs cool light sources. With a ΔE of 36.9, 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 4 real-room photo comparisons where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Selvedge vs Pure White in Real Spaces
4 real rooms side by side. Seeing Selvedge and Pure White 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 Pure White will make the room feel meaningfully brighter than Selvedge would.
Bedroom
The context that matters most in a bedroom is how a color reads under a bedside lamp at night, not under noon daylight. Pure White reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Selvedge.
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. Pure White reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Selvedge.
Kitchen Cabinets
Kitchen cabinets are constantly compared against adjacent materials, which means subtle differences between these two become much more visible. Pure White reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Selvedge.
Color Details
Selvedge vs Pure White Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Selvedge on one side and Pure White 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 Selvedge comparisons
See how Selvedge stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
White Dove reflects far more light (LRV 83 vs 25), opening up a space where Selvedge encloses it.
At LRV 52 vs 25, Purbeck Stone is decisively the brighter choice.
A 5-point LRV gap (30 vs 25) makes Evergreen Fog the marginally brighter of the two.
At LRV 60 vs 25, Agreeable Gray is decisively the brighter choice.
Accessible Beige reflects far more light (LRV 58 vs 25), opening up a space where Selvedge encloses it.
With LRVs of 27 and 25, the two reflect almost the same amount of light.
At LRV 43 vs 25, French Gray is decisively the brighter choice.
Tranquil Dawn reflects far more light (LRV 55 vs 25), opening up a space where Selvedge encloses it.
Hardwick White reflects far more light (LRV 44 vs 25), opening up a space where Selvedge encloses it.
Balboa Mist reflects far more light (LRV 66 vs 25), opening up a space where Selvedge encloses it.
Shoji White reflects far more light (LRV 74 vs 25), opening up a space where Selvedge encloses it.
Selvedge reflects far more light (LRV 25 vs 12), opening up a space where Pewter Green encloses it.
Skimming Stone reflects far more light (LRV 68 vs 25), opening up a space where Selvedge encloses it.
Selvedge reflects far more light (LRV 25 vs 12), opening up a space where Vintage Vogue encloses it.
Saybrook Sage reflects far more light (LRV 45 vs 25), opening up a space where Selvedge encloses it.
A 6-point LRV gap (31 vs 25) makes Pale Green the marginally brighter of the two.
At LRV 25 vs 7, Selvedge is decisively the brighter choice.
Their light reflectance is nearly identical (LRV 25 vs 24), so neither reads brighter in a room.
At LRV 57 vs 25, Guilford Green is decisively the brighter choice.
At LRV 72 vs 25, Just Walnut is decisively the brighter choice.