Paper White

OC-55 · Benjamin Moore

Benjamin Moore

Paper White

OC-55

Hex code

#E0E2DC

Light reflectance value (LRV)

74.4Off-white, light and airy

0 black100 white

Undertone

Faint yellow-leaning green, a true neutral

Color family: White
Sold for: Interior and exterior

Try it on your walls Get a sample

Benjamin Moore Paper White OC-55 is a pale gray-green that is sold among the whites but does not behave like one. An LRV of 74 puts it well below the bright whites, light enough to keep a room open and dark enough to read as a color against white trim. People choose it where a wall should look nearly white and still have something in it. Benjamin Moore also numbers it 1590.

Is Paper White warm or cool? Undertones by the numbers

too close to gray to lean

Undertone

Faint yellow-leaning green

graysaturated

Barely off gray.

Paper White holds more green than yellow, which is unusual in this part of the deck and the reason it reads gray instead of cream. There is not enough of either to call it a green paint. What lands on the wall is a white with the warmth taken out and a cool cast left behind. Beside White Dove OC-17 it looks distinctly gray, and beside a true gray it looks green. In a room with white trim it is plainly a color, which is the entire reason to choose it over a brighter white. Warm bulbs soften the green without removing it.

Paper White in north, south, east and west light

North light suits Paper White, because cool light simply deepens the gray already in it rather than exposing something unexpected: a north wall reads as a quiet pale gray-green and stays there. That makes it one of the few near-whites that does not need warm bulbs to rescue it in a north room. South light lifts it toward white and can take away the point of it. East and west rooms move it between gray and green across the day. Bulbs at 3000K hold the balance, 2700K warms it toward putty and 4000K pushes it cold.

Watch for

Reads almost white in a bright south room, which wastes it
Needs a clean white trim to show at all, and looks dirty against cream trim
Goes cold and slightly blue under 4000K bulbs

Best rooms and surfaces for Paper White

Paper White is a wall color rather than a trim white, and it does its best work in bedrooms, studies and bathrooms that should feel calm without being gray. It carries a whole floor easily, since at this brightness it never closes a room in. On cabinets it gives a soft gray-green kitchen that sits with white counters and pale wood. On trim it is too dark to register as trim beside most wall colors. In a windowless room it holds up better than a warm off-white does, since those turn muddy with no daylight to warm them. Ceilings above it should go a clean white rather than the same color.

Paper White on an exterior

Benjamin Moore sells Paper White for exterior use, where it is a body color rather than a trim white. On siding it reads as the palest gray-green, a house that looks white from the street and shows its color up close. Full sun bleaches it close to white, so the shaded elevations carry most of the character. It wants a genuinely white trim to work against, and a dark roof or dark window frames to hold it down. Against cream trim it looks washed out.

Try Paper White on your own walls

Upload a photo of your room, or the outside of your house, and TryMyHome renders Paper White 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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Paper White vs White Dove, Alabaster, Swiss Coffee and Sea Salt

Living room walls rendered in Benjamin Moore White Dove OC-17, white trim, ceiling and wood floor unchanged

Paper White vs White Dove OC-17

Paper White is noticeably darker; undertone faint yellow-leaning green vs subtle yellow-leaning green.

White Dove OC-17 sits nine points higher at 83 and leans warm, so the two are barely in the same conversation: one is a white and the other is a pale color. People weigh them against each other when they cannot decide whether the walls should read white at all. White Dove keeps a room bright and neutral, while Paper White gives it a quiet gray-green cast that shows in every photograph.

Living room walls rendered in Sherwin-Williams Alabaster SW 7008, white trim, ceiling and wood floor unchanged

Paper White vs Alabaster SW 7008

Paper White is noticeably darker; undertone faint yellow-leaning green vs subtle yellow-beige.

Alabaster SW 7008 is warm where this color is cool, and brighter by eight points at 82, which makes it an opposite rather than an alternative. In the same room Alabaster reads cream and Paper White reads gray. Rooms with oak floors and brass tend to want Alabaster, and rooms with white oak, black metal and cool stone tend to want Paper White.

Living room walls rendered in Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee OC-45, white trim, ceiling and wood floor unchanged

Paper White vs Swiss Coffee OC-45

Paper White is noticeably darker; undertone faint yellow-leaning green vs subtle yellow-beige.

Swiss Coffee OC-45 is the cream at this end of the deck and Paper White the cool one, separated by eight points of brightness at 82 against 74. Both get bought as whites and neither behaves like one. Swiss Coffee warms a room and covers for cool light, while Paper White accepts cool light and gives back a soft color. They rarely work in one house without a stronger color between them.

Living room walls rendered in Sherwin-Williams Sea Salt SW 6204, white trim, ceiling and wood floor unchanged

Paper White vs Sea Salt SW 6204

Paper White is much lighter; undertone faint yellow-leaning green vs subtle green.

Sea Salt SW 6204 is where this color's green actually goes somewhere: at 63 it is eleven points darker and unmistakably a color on the wall. Paper White is a near-white with a green memory, Sea Salt a soft green with gray in it. Choose Sea Salt when the room should be green, and Paper White when it should be white with only a hint of where the green would be.

Questions about Paper White

Does Paper White look green or gray?

Both, and which one wins depends on the trim. Against a clean white it reads green, and against a warm white or a cream it reads gray and slightly dirty. Its measurement carries more green than yellow, so the green is real, but there is far too little of it for the room to look green.

What colors go with Paper White?

Benjamin Moore pairs it with White Heron OC-57 and White OC-151 as the whites above it, then Salisbury Green HC-139 and Slate Blue 1648 as the two accents. In a room it takes white oak, black metal, cool stone and muted blues. What it does not take is cream, brass and orange-toned wood, all of which flatten it to gray.

What is one shade lighter than Paper White?

White Wisp OC-54 is the step up, about four points brighter and a shade cleaner. Horizon OC-53 goes the other way by a point or two and is close enough that most people cannot separate the pair. For a real jump into white, Decorator's White OC-149 is eight points brighter and clearly a different job.

Is Paper White good on kitchen cabinets?

Yes, if you want a soft gray-green kitchen rather than a white one. It reads as a color on a cabinet door, which is the point, and it sits well with white counters, pale oak and black hardware. Beside cream tile or a warm wood counter it can look drab, and it is dark enough that a small kitchen will feel it.

Is Paper White too dark for a whole house?

No, but it is not really a whole-house white either. At this brightness it carries hallways and open plans without closing them in, though every room then reads as the same soft gray-green, which gets monotonous over a floor. It is more often run in the rooms that want calm, with a brighter white in the circulation space.

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 Paper White, checked in morning and evening light, is the last step before a gallon.