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Comparison
Two English paints made for decorators, with two philosophies of colour card. Mylands (London, 1884, family-owned and independent) sells its Marble Matt Emulsion — 3% sheen, class 1 washable, 15 m²/L — at €121.00 for 2.5 L. Paint & Paper Library (London, founded by interior designer David Oliver, part of the Little Greene group since 2016) offers 180 colours including the celebrated "Architectural Colours" graded I to V, a 2% Pure Flat Emulsion that is only wipeable and a 3–5% Architects' Matt that washes — around €116 for 2.5 L, with no shop in France. Here is the detail, figures included.
Comparison updated September 2026 · sources at the foot of the page
The starting point
If you are torn between Mylands and Paint & Paper Library, you are looking for a decorator's paint: constructed neutrals, whites that are not white, a deep matt that holds the light of London — or Lyon. On those points the two houses are more alike than any other pair in our comparisons. Both are London houses; both make in the UK and formulate in water with very few VOCs; both state a matt covering 15 m² per litre; both are the paints interior architects reach for.
The differences lie elsewhere: in ownership — an independent family on one side, the Little Greene group on the other — in how each house solves the washable-matt question, in the logic of the colour card, in price — and above all in how you buy in France, where Paint & Paper Library has neither shop nor French website. That is what the table below sets side by side.
Side by side
Every line cites the figures published by the two manufacturers (official product pages); the Paint & Paper Library price is one seen at a European online retailer shipping to France, the Mylands price is read live from our catalogue.
| Criterion | Mylands | Paint & Paper Library |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1884, London — by John Myland, "Honest John" | London, "over twenty years ago" (1990s) — by interior designer David Oliver |
| Ownership | Independent family business, sixth generation of the Myland family | Little Greene group (the Mottershead family, Manchester) since August 2016 |
| Manufacturing | One manufactory, West Norwood (London); every tin tinted to order | "Manufactured in the UK" (per the brand); Little Greene makes its bases in north Wales and tints in Manchester |
| Palette | 172 signature shades, including the 120 "Colours of London" and the colours of its film sets; bespoke shades possible | 180 colours: the "Original Colours" and the "Architectural Colours", 19 families of 5 graded shades from I (light) to V (dark), designed for ceiling, walls and woodwork |
| Flagship wall finish | Marble Matt Emulsion — 3% sheen, crushed Carrara marble, breathable | Pure Flat Emulsion — 2% sheen, "dead flat"; Architects' Matt — 3–5%, the washable matt |
| Washability of the matt | Washable and scrubbable — class 1 wet-scrub resistance (EN 13300) | Pure Flat Emulsion "gently wipeable" (per the brand); Architects' Matt "completely washable", scuff and stain resistant — no EN 13300 class published |
| Stated coverage | Up to 15 m²/L (Marble Matt Emulsion); ≈ 12 m²/L for the multi-surface finishes | Up to 15 m²/L (Pure Flat Emulsion); up to 14 m²/L (Architects' Matt) |
| Drying (matt wall paint) | Touch-dry in 1–2 h, recoat after 3–4 h | Recoat after 4 h (Pure Flat Emulsion and Architects' Matt) |
| Other finishes | Multi-surface Dead Matt (≈ 5%), Eggshell (≈ 15%), Satin, Gloss, Floor Satin, Masonry paint, primers | Architects' Eggshell, Architects' Satin, Architects' Gloss, Architects' A.S.P. (all-surface primer); wallpapers |
| Tin sizes | 100 ml sample pot, then 1 L, 2.5 L and 5 L depending on the finish | 125 ml sample pot, 250 ml (Pure Flat), 750 ml, 2.5 L and 5 L |
| Guide price — 2.5 L of matt wall paint | €121.00 incl. VAT — Marble Matt Emulsion, on mylands.fr | Around €116 incl. VAT for 2.5 L of Pure Flat Emulsion at a European online retailer shipping to France (September 2026), before postage |
| Samples | 100 ml sample pots (≈ 1.5 m²) from €9.50; free physical colour card | 125 ml sample pots; colour cards |
| VOCs & safety | Water-based, low VOC, meets the EN 71-3 toy standard | Water-based, "minimal VOCs" — VOC < 0.1% for Pure Flat Emulsion (per a retailer), low odour |
| Where to buy in France | Online at mylands.fr, the official site — same-day dispatch before 2.30pm, delivery in 2–3 working days, free from €75 | No showroom or French website: seven showrooms in the UK (London, Richmond, Wilmslow, Bristol); in France, via European online retailers |
Paint & Paper Library figures are those published by the brand and its retailers on the date given and may change. Sheen levels are light-reflection reference figures from each manufacturer's data sheets. The Mylands price is read from our catalogue as you view this page.
What makes the difference
01
Paint & Paper Library asks you to decide: Pure Flat Emulsion for the material (2%, gently wipeable), Architects' Matt for resistance (3–5%, washable). Marble Matt Emulsion does not ask: 3% sheen and class 1 wet-scrub resistance (EN 13300) — the only quantified washability figure in the table. Living room, hallway, kitchen: one tin.
02
Paint & Paper Library has neither shop nor website in France: you buy from a European online retailer, with foreign postage and lead times. Mylands France dispatches the same day from its warehouse in Occitanie, delivers in 2–3 working days, offers free delivery from €75 and answers in French. For a job that cannot wait, the difference is concrete.
03
Since 2016 Paint & Paper Library has belonged to the Little Greene group — a fine family house, but another house. Mylands has stayed in the Myland family since 1884 and makes everything in its single West Norwood manufactory: crushed Carrara marble, mineral pigments, recipes archived since the beginning, every tin tinted to order.
04
A Royal Warrant granted by Elizabeth II in 1985 and renewed by Charles III; the paint of British film sets since 1928. Two references that demand tin-to-tin colour consistency — and a colour-matching craft you find again in our bespoke shades.
In all honesty
This is the idea that made the house's name: 19 families of neutrals in five graded shades, I to V, designed to be used together — the lightest on the ceiling, the next on the walls, the darkest on the woodwork. For anyone who wants to compose a tonal room without a misstep, it is a tool the Mylands card, built colour by colour, does not offer in that form — though our neutral groups pursue the same aim.
Pure Flat Emulsion goes down to 2% sheen, a step below Marble Matt Emulsion, for the same 15 m²/L coverage. For a feature wall or a ceiling nobody touches, it is a matt of remarkable depth — at the cost of care limited to gentle wiping.
Seven showrooms in the UK, the house's wallpapers, and since 2016 the logistics and research of the Little Greene group. If you decorate between London and Paris, or want to match painted and papered walls under one signature, the advantage is real. Mylands devotes itself to paint and wood finishes.
Deciding
Choose Mylands if you want a deep matt that is also class 1 washable without trading material against upkeep, if you want to buy in France, delivered in two days and advised in French, if price matters, or if you like the idea of an independent family manufactory tinting every tin for you. Choose it too for colour drenching: the Multi-Surface Dead Matt dresses walls, woodwork and radiators in a single matt.
Choose Paint & Paper Library if you are composing a tonal room with the Architectural Colours, if you want the 2% dead flat for a wall nobody will touch, or if you are matching paint and wallpaper under one signature. Either way, test before you order: a sample pot brushed onto two walls and watched morning and evening settles the question more reliably than any comparison. All our comparisons are gathered on one page.
A colour in mind?
We do not publish a table of "equivalents" between the two colour cards: Paint & Paper Library colour names belong to the brand, and two different formulas never give exactly the same result under the same light. What our colour team can do is match a bespoke shade from a painted sample, a fabric or an object — a skill inherited from the film studios.
If you like the logic of the Architectural Colours, start from the same idea at Mylands: pick a family of neutrals — stone, warm grey, off-white — and order three sample pots from lightest to darkest. The digital colour card and the visualiser help you shortlist; the wall does the rest.
Frequently asked
Not by the tin, by a few euros: a 2.5 L tin of Marble Matt Emulsion costs €121.00 incl. VAT on mylands.fr, delivery free from €75, against around €116 for 2.5 L of Pure Flat Emulsion at a European online retailer, plus postage to France, which narrows the gap (September 2026). Stated coverage is the same — 15 m²/L — so the gap per tin is the gap per square metre. And Pure Flat is only wipeable, where Marble Matt Emulsion is class 1 washable. Our Mylands paint prices page works it out for you.
Both at once. Paint & Paper Library separates material (Pure Flat Emulsion, 2%, gently wipeable) from resistance (Architects' Matt, 3–5%, washable). Marble Matt Emulsion brings both together in one tin: 3% sheen — a deep, chalky, reflection-free matt to the eye — and class 1 wet-scrub resistance (EN 13300). You do not have to choose between the living room and the hallway.
Yes. Founded in London by interior designer David Oliver, Paint & Paper Library Limited has been controlled by Little Greene since August 2016, according to the UK companies register (Companies House); the two brands remain distinct, with their own colour cards and finishes. If you are also weighing up the parent house, we have made the Mylands or Little Greene comparison.
Yes, provided you keep one brand per surface: a Mylands wall and a Paint & Paper Library door sit together without difficulty, both being water-based paints. Avoid layering the two on the same substrate without a primer, and do not expect an exact colour match between two manufacturers — even under a similar colour name.
Paint & Paper Library lists no showroom or website in France: you go through a European online retailer, with the postage and lead times that entails, or buy in the UK. Mylands France is the brand's official site for France: stock in Occitanie, same-day dispatch before 2.30pm, delivery in 2–3 working days, free from €75, and customer service in French.
At mylands.fr, the brand's official site in France: order online, same-day dispatch before 2.30pm, delivery in 2–3 working days, free from €75. Our page Where to buy Mylands in France walks you through it, from samples to delivery. Also weighing up Farrow & Ball or Little Greene? We have made the same comparisons — and a guide, "Which English paint to choose?".
Mylands data: the Our paint, Find your finish and FAQ pages of this site, and this site's Marble Matt Emulsion product page (3% sheen, ≈ 15 m²/L, class 1). Paint & Paper Library data: the "Pure Flat Emulsion" (2%, "gently wipeable", up to 15 m²/L, recoat in 4 h, 125 ml to 5 L), "Architects' Matt" (3–5%, "completely washable", up to 14 m²/L, 750 ml to 5 L), "About us" (David Oliver, "over twenty years ago", 180 colours, UK manufacture) and "Showrooms" pages of paintandpaperlibrary.com, consulted September 2026; control by Little Greene Limited notified 8 August 2016: Companies House, Paint & Paper Library Limited (no. 03340887), persons with significant control; Architectural Colours (19 groups of 5 shades I to V): designerpaintstore.com; price: meinewand.com (Pure Flat Emulsion 2.5 L, €116 incl. VAT, VOC < 0.1%), September 2026; Little Greene manufacturing (Wales, Manchester): Knight Frank, "The Little Greene paint story". Paint & Paper Library and its colour names are registered trademarks of their owner; Mylands France is affiliated with neither Paint & Paper Library nor Little Greene.
"A comparison tells you where to look. A sample pot on your own wall tells you what to choose."
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