Calm
OC-22 · Benjamin Moore
Benjamin Moore
Calm
OC-22
Faint yellow-beige, a true neutral
- Color family
- White
- Sold for
- Interior and exterior
Benjamin Moore Calm OC-22 is a near-neutral off-white, the quietest color in the Off White Collection by measurement. Its LRV of 76 gives a room the brightness of a soft white while the barely-there lean keeps the walls from committing to warm or cool. It gets specified when a room has strong finishes already, or when a client wants an off-white that will not turn cream in the afternoon.
Is Calm warm or cool? Undertones by the numbers
too close to gray to lean
Undertone
Faint yellow-beige
Barely off gray.
Calm holds a very small amount of yellow and almost nothing else, which is what the method reads as neutral rather than warm. In practice that means it has no character of its own to impose and takes the room's instead. Beside white oak it looks faintly warm; beside a cool marble slab it looks faintly cool; beside a cream like Natural Cream OC-14 it looks like a plain white. Most of the off-whites people compare it against, including Classic Gray OC-23 and Balboa Mist OC-27, carry twice its warmth or more, which is the whole reason to use it.
Calm in north, south, east and west light
North-facing rooms are where Calm earns its keep. With so little pigment to shift, cool northern light reads it as a slightly darker version of itself rather than turning it gray or green, which is the trap most off-whites fall into there. South light warms it a shade and lightens it, and it stays recognizably the same color. An east room barely moves it through the day. A west room reads it cooler in the morning and a touch warmer at sunset. It follows the bulb closely: 2700K warms it, 4000K cools it, and 3000K leaves it neutral.
Watch for
- It picks up whatever is next to it, so judge samples against the real floor
- In a room with strong warm wood it will look cooler than the chip
- Under 4000K bulbs it goes flat and can read as a plain gray
Best rooms and surfaces for Calm
Calm is the whole-house pick for a home with mixed finishes: cool tile in one bathroom, oak floors in the hall, a gray sofa and a walnut table in the same room. It carries all of that without taking a side. It works as a ceiling color over a stronger wall color, because it will not add a cream cast the way a warm white does. On cabinets it reads as a soft white and stays clean against both marble and wood. Where it disappoints is a room that needs warmth from the paint: a north bedroom with cool bedding in Calm will feel plain rather than restful, and there the creams do a better job.
Calm on an exterior
Benjamin Moore sells Calm for exterior use, and its neutrality is useful outdoors where the light is anything but neutral. On a sunlit wall it reads as a plain light body color rather than warming up, and in shade it holds without going blue. That makes it easy to pair with gray stone, a slate roof or black windows, which is a harder job for a cream. Bright white trim reads as a clear step above it; a warm white trim beside it will look yellow.
Try Calm on your own walls
Upload a photo of your room, or the outside of your house, and TryMyHome renders Calm onto the walls so you can judge it in your light, with your floors and furniture. Your first five renders are free.
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Calm vs Pale Oak, Balboa Mist, Classic Gray and White Dove
Pale OakCalmCalm vs Pale Oak OC-20
Calm is noticeably lighter; undertone faint yellow-beige vs subtle yellow-beige.
About seven points of brightness separate them, and Pale Oak OC-20 is the darker and clearly warmer one, enough to read as a greige where Calm reads as an off-white. In a room with wood floors Pale Oak ties to the floor and Calm stands apart from it. Pale Oak is the pick when the walls should be a soft color; Calm is the pick when they should be a light backdrop and nothing more.
Balboa MistCalmCalm vs Balboa Mist OC-27
Calm is much lighter; undertone faint yellow-beige vs subtle yellow-beige.
Balboa Mist OC-27 sits ten points lower and carries about twice the warmth, which puts it firmly in greige territory. That is a real color on the wall, where Calm stays a light neutral. Balboa Mist gives a room shape and shows every change in the light; Calm gives a room brightness and holds still. The choice is usually made by how much the floors and furniture are already doing.
Classic GrayCalmCalm vs Classic Gray OC-23
Calm is a touch lighter; undertone faint yellow-beige vs subtle yellow-beige.
Classic Gray OC-23 is only two points darker, so the brightness is nearly the same and the difference is temperature: Classic Gray carries close to twice the yellow and reads warmer, despite the name. In a warm room the two look almost identical. In a room with cool tile or a gray floor, Classic Gray shows a beige cast and Calm does not, which is when the choice actually matters.
White DoveCalmCalm vs White Dove OC-17
Calm is noticeably darker; undertone faint yellow-beige vs subtle yellow-leaning green.
White Dove OC-17 is seven points brighter and warmer, so it reads as a soft white while Calm reads as a light neutral with almost no color in it. The two make a sensible pair rather than rivals: White Dove on the trim and ceilings, Calm on the walls, gives a warm line around a neutral room. If everything in the house should be one white, White Dove is the more forgiving of the two.
Questions about Calm
Does Calm have a purple or green undertone?
No. The measurement shows a small amount of yellow and effectively nothing else, so there is no purple or green pigment in it to come out. What people report as a cast is almost always borrowed from the room: a violet-gray carpet or a green-gray tile will lend its lean to any near-neutral wall next to it. Sample it against the actual finishes rather than on white card.
Are Calm OC-22 and 2111-70 the same color?
Yes. Benjamin Moore gives some colors a number in more than one deck, and 2111-70 is the same paint as OC-22. Either number at the counter gets you the same can. The OC number is the one shown in the Off White Collection, so that is the code most fan decks and most designers use for it.
What colors go with Calm?
Benjamin Moore's own scheme puts Opulence OC-69 above it as the brighter white, then Nightingale AF-670, Porcelain 2113-60 and Newburyport Blue HC-155 for weight. That last one, a deep blue, shows what this color is for: it holds a strong accent without adding warmth of its own. Black metal, pale oak and gray stone all work with it.
Is there a Sherwin-Williams version of Calm?
Ghosted SW 9545 is the closest Sherwin-Williams color by measurement and sits very near it. Snowbound SW 7004 and Origami White SW 7636, both of which have pages here, are close as well, with Snowbound the brighter and Origami White the warmer of the pair. Across brands, Strong White No. 2001 from Farrow & Ball is nearer than any Sherwin-Williams color.
What is one shade lighter than Calm?
It is not printed on a fan-deck strip, so the nearest colors give the steps. Lacey Pearl 2108-70 is a shade brighter and just as quiet. Cloud Cover OC-25 is a clearer step up, about four points brighter. Going down, Garlic Bulb 2112-70 is roughly a point darker and even more neutral, and Silver Satin OC-26 sits about a point below with a little more warmth.
Get a sample before you paint
Use the visualizer to narrow your shortlist, then confirm the finalist on your actual wall. A peel-and-stick sample of Calm, checked in morning and evening light, is the last step before a gallon.
- Made with real paint
- Delivered next day
- Peels off clean
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