• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Mandy Jackson logo

  • Recipes
  • Our Home
  • Kitchen Favorites
  • About
    • Contact
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Recipes
  • Our Home
  • Kitchen Favorites
  • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×

    Testing Benjamin Moore's 6 Most Popular White Paints

    Aug 30, 2021 · Leave a Comment

    Counting myself in the ranks of people who must be joined in order to be understood: anyone tasked with picking out white paint and realizing there are approximately ten billion shades of white.

    sample pots of BM whites

    After a long run of living with the ubiquitous greige walls of rentals (no shade, it's a very inoffensive color!), I was jonesing for some freshly painted, crisp white walls in our new house.

    So I swung by Home Depot's paint counter to scope out the white options, thinking I would immediately find the one.

    The reality was a lengthy episode of me grabbing up every white-ish piece of cardstock, comparing it to all the others, wondering is this too yellow? do I want a cream? does this look blue? would a bright white or muted white be better?

    So, I did what any rational person would do and took home a stack of samples and a few pamphlets, mulled them over, polled anyone who came into my home for their opinions, and eventually found myself overwhelmed and threw them away.

    Wanting the endorsement of a widely-loved paint color, I looked up Benjamin Moore's most popular white paints, got a sample of each, and tested them out on our new porch.

    white paints swatched on porch
    from top to bottom:
    cloud white | chantilly lace | white dove | swiss coffee | white heron | simply white

    Important Paint Terms

    There are a couple of important terms that are helpful to know before looking at the specific colors.

    Light Reflectance Value (LRV) - A color's LRV is a measure of how much light it reflects. The scale runs from 0% (a true black), to 100% (a true white). The higher the number, the more reflective the color.

    Undertone - Undertone is the underlying color that can become more visible in certain lighting and depending on the surrounding colors. Any time multiple colors are mixed to make a paint, the resulting color will have an undertone.

    For example, a moss green (made of green + yellow) will have a yellow undertone.

    Undertones are an especially important consideration when looking at neutral paints, as they are generally composed of red, green, and blue tints that can make them appear yellow, purple, green, blue, etc. depending on the setting.

    Warm vs. Cool - A white paint's undertone will determine whether it leans warm or cool.

    Warm whites have yellow, orange, or red undertones. They typically make rooms feel cozy.

    Cool whites have green, blue, or purple undertones. They can make rooms feel fresh, clean, and bright.

    Benjamin Moore's Best Selling White Paints

    Talking about these in the order they're painted in.

    white paints swatched on porch pillar

    Cloud White

    LRV 87.35 

    Very subtle yellow undertones. Looks neutral with just a hint of warmth. I liked this in all lightings as a nice white that was bright and fresh without being stark.

    Chantilly Lace

    LRV 92.2

    A crisp, bright white. It has very, very faint yellow and green undertones, but so little color is added that they are hardly discernible. The highest LRV of all the whites on this list, which makes it the brightest.

    White Dove

    LRV 85.38

    This is a very widely loved, all-purpose white. People swear by it as the perfect creamy white. The undertones are solidly yellow, making this a warm, creamy white.

    Swiss Coffee

    LRV 83.93

    Yellow and green undertones, which can come out more depending on the surrounding colors and lighting. I'd say this leans slightly more warm than cool, but is close to being neutral. The lowest LRV on this list, so a good option if you don't want too bright a white.

    White Heron

    LRV 88.85

    This one did not even look white to me! Though I could see it being brighter over a larger surface area. Yellow and green undertones. Can read warm OR cool depending on the lighting and surrounding colors. A sophisticated color with a lot of depth!

    Simply White

    LRV 91.7

    A perfect name because it is just simply white. Bright and fresh, but slightly toned down from Chantilly Lace. Yellow undertones with a hint of green. This is almost totally neutral, but I did notice a warm undertone in some lighting.

    white swatches in daylight on porch

    I loved all of these for different reasons and part of me wants to find a place for each of them in our new home!

    For the porch, I chose (drum roll, please...) Cloud White. It was in my top 3 in all lightings and seemed like a good balance of fresh, neutral, and not too bright in a room that gets lots of natural light. It's currently up on the walls and I cannot get enough of it! Just have the floors left to paint. Stay tuned!

    You Might Also Like

    « Thai Basil Chicken Fried Rice
    Apple Cider Donut Loaf Cake with a Cinnamon Sugar Coating »

    let's stay in touch!

    sign up to get fresh posts delivered straight to your inbox + an ebook of our all time favorite 7 cookie recipes!

    Reader Interactions

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Mandy Jackson

    hi, i'm mandy.

    A regular Midwest homebody. Here, I share recipes we love, and how we're thoughtfully renovating our 100-year-old American foursquare.

    Learn more about me.

    Top Posts

    • Sharing a Room with Baby
    • Secret Ingredient Chocolate Chip Cookies
    • French Apple Tart
    • Creamy Mexican Corn Dip
    • Sheet Pan Quesadillas

    Eat the Seasons

    cup of French onion soup topped with herby croutons and cheese

    Bistro French Onion Soup with Herbs de Provence Croutons

    bowl of chili topped with sour cream and green onion

    A Not-Soupy Beef Chili (AKA, My Favorite Chili!)

    Bowl of soup topped with bacon and served with rolls.

    Broccoli Bacon Cheddar Soup

    baking dish of bubble up chicken pot pie

    Bubble Up Chicken Pot Pie

    Winter

    let's stay in touch!

    sign up to get fresh posts delivered straight to your inbox + an ebook of our all time favorite 7 cookie recipes!

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest

    Footer

    let's stay in touch!

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Privacy Policy
    • About
    • Contact

    Copyright © 2023 Mandy Jackson on the Seasoned Pro Theme