How to use your Colourcard
For every decorating project, we always recommend starting with our colour cards. Our Colours of England Colour Card Pack is designed to make the process of choosing colours a simple, enjoyable experience.
Read our guide to using the Little Greene colour cards to help you select and combine paint shades with ease.
Accurate colour cards made from real paint
Choosing paint colours is a process that begins with our colour cards.
We have carefully designed our paint collections ‘Colours of England’ and ‘Colour Scales’ to simplify selecting individual shades and creating beautiful colour combinations.
When browsing the palette, simply fold the card away from the unique flying chips. You can then compare shades directly against existing wallpapers, fabrics, tiles, painted walls and any other coordinating elements.
For total colour accuracy, we use Absolute Matt Emulsion straight from the tin to make our colour cards. These paint chips are not colour-matched inks or printed imitations of colour. Therefore, your colour card will react to varying lighting conditions in exactly the same way as your finished walls.
Request a colour card pack to choose paint colours for your project.
Navigating our colour cards...
Within your colour card pack, you will find our ‘Colours of England’ colour card and a smaller card featuring the ‘Colour Scales’ families. These two palettes bring together the best of our capsule collections.
The ‘Colours of England’ card showcases 128 refined and refreshed Little Greene colours, presented together. Alongside these shades, the ‘Colour Scales’ card introduces an expanded range of 18 families of graduated shades, complementing our core palette.
Colours of England
This incredibly versatile palette spans over 300 years of historic interior design. The ‘Colours of England’ card is the only one in which you will see a genuine 1970s orange alongside an authentic Georgian grey.
Authentic, historic colours from the 18th, 19th and 20th century sit alongside a carefully adjusted palette of contemporary shades. The result is a beautiful, timeless collection that complements modern interior design and embraces current decorating trends.
Colour Scales
The ‘Colour Scales’ colour card presents 18 graduated families of colour. The card is arranged in two sections, ‘Neutral Scales’ and ‘Colourful Scales’, designed to help you effortlessly identify and coordinate shades based on their undertones. Each ‘Neutral Scales’ section has been paired with two related whites which provide a softer alternative to bright white.
This collection of tonal shades responds to the increasing desire for easy and simple-to-scheme colours. Using these graduating hues is the perfect way to create harmonious and monochromatic backdrops to decoration.
How to choose paint colours using the colour cards
Our Creative Director, Ruth, writes: “It is always important to consider the function and orientation of each room in the house when choosing colour. Creating continuity also means thinking about how a space is used in order to create a versatile palette with longevity. Focus on choosing specific colours for the atmosphere you wish to create in a room rather than current trends, then relate these tones subtly from room to room.”
Our Advice Hub is an excellent resource to help you create beautiful, cohesive colour schemes for your home. Find guidance for decorating various rooms, whether you’re looking for the best paint colours for living rooms or kitchen colour inspiration.
The direction your room faces is a key consideration when selecting paint colours. Our guides to orientation will help you choose shades that perfectly complement the varying light in your space.
Another aspect to consider is the size of a room. Whether you want to make a space feel larger or if you want to embrace cosy, small proportions, find advice and inspiration from our experts.
Paint Sample Pots
Testing actual paint in situ is an essential part of the colour selection process. Each shade on our colour cards is available to purchase in a 60ml tester pot.
Once you have chosen a shade from the colour card, read our guide to sampling colours in the home.
Many site-specific factors can affect the way colours appear. We recommend testing paint shades in more than one location in the room, applying two coats over as large an area as possible.
Observe the colours at different times of day, especially when you use the space most. The variation in colour between natural and artificial light can be quite significant.
Avoid positioning small swatches of several colour immediately next to one another. Each colour will affect the way the others read. Also, try to avoid comparing the swatch to bright white paint, as this can be equally misleading.
Order a paint sample pot to find the perfect colour scheme for your space.
Request your complimentary Little Greene colour card. Explore our inspiration gallery for the latest painting ideas.