Farrow & Ball · No. 291 · Whites
Farrow & Ball
School House White
Behr
Crisp Linen
Lower score means closer. Under 2 is hard to tell apart on the wall; over 5 is a different colour that sits in the same family.
British paint maker, widely stocked across the UK.
UK stockists
Closest · 269
Green Stone Light
Closescore 3.19
Same family and depth. Expect a slight shift in warmth or strength.
Option 2 · 229
Wood Ash
Closescore 3.25
Option 3 · 26
Julie's Dream
Closescore 3.39
Sold through independent stockists in the UK and mixed to order.
UK stockists
Closest · 963
Maritime White
Near identicalscore 0.88
Most people could not tell these apart on the wall.
Option 2 · AF-65
Fossil
Near identicalscore 0.92
Option 3 · AF-55
Sonnet
Near identicalscore 0.99
North American colour card.
Closest · SW 7010
White Duck
Near identicalscore 0.53
Most people could not tell these apart on the wall.
Option 2 · SW 6154
Nacre
Near identicalscore 0.80
Option 3 · SW 6098
Pacer White
Near identicalscore 0.86
North American colour card. The Valspar range sold in UK stores is different.
Closest · 3003-10C
Cream in my Coffee
Near identicalscore 0.56
Most people could not tell these apart on the wall.
Option 2 · 7006-9
Totten's Inlet
Very closescore 1.07
Option 3 · 6007-1A
Gracious
Very closescore 1.13
North American colour card.
Closest · 1008-1
Focus
Very closescore 1.00
A small difference you may see with the two side by side.
Option 2 · 1097-2
Southern Breeze
Very closescore 1.00
Option 3 · 1078-2
Water Chestnut
Very closescore 1.01
North American colour card.
Closest · MQ3-13
Crisp Linen
Near identicalscore 0.44
Most people could not tell these apart on the wall.
Option 2 · 750C-2
Hazelnut Cream
Near identicalscore 0.78
Option 3 · BWC-15
Predictable
Near identicalscore 0.80
North American colour card.
Closest · DE6219
Crystal Haze
Very closescore 1.24
A small difference you may see with the two side by side.
Option 2 · DE6205
Stucco Tan
Very closescore 1.39
Option 3 · DE6212
Crisp Muslin
Very closescore 1.52
From the trade
Paint School House White and your chosen match on two boards in the same finish. A flat and an eggshell in one colour never look identical.
Check them on the darkest wall in the morning and again under your own lamps at night. That is where small differences show.
Give the merchant the brand, colour name and code shown here. It avoids the guesswork of a scanned match.
In your light
Pick the way your window faces and the time of day. The same paint can look like three different colours.
North light is steady but cool and grey. It pulls blues and greys colder and makes greens look heavier. Warm based colours hold up best.
An approximation of how light colour and strength shift a paint. Use it to narrow a shortlist, then paint a sample board and look at it at these same times.
Building a scheme
Worked out from undertone and depth, the way a decorator would put a scheme together. Paint samples side by side before you commit.
A pale colour from the same undertone as School House White, so the ceiling does not look stark white against it.
One step lighter or darker on skirtings, doors and window boards. A tonal scheme is the easiest way to make a room feel finished.
A dark colour that sits under it. Use on a fireplace wall, an inside door, a kitchen island or a hall below the dado.
From the other side of the colour wheel, at a similar depth, for a door, a bookcase or a cushion. Use in small amounts.
Colour values are on screen approximations taken from published community colour libraries (Farrow & Ball; Farrow & Ball (cross check); Little Greene; Benjamin Moore; Sherwin-Williams, Valspar, PPG, Behr, Dunn-Edwards), compiled 2026-10-09. Scores use CIEDE2000. Screens, light and sheen all change how paint looks, so always check a physical sample. Aethos is not connected to any of the paint makers named here and all colour names belong to their owners.