Sea Salt

CSP-95 · Benjamin Moore

Benjamin Moore

Sea Salt

CSP-95

Hex code

#D4CFC3

Light reflectance value (LRV)

61.1Light, brightens without washing out

0 black100 white

Undertone

Subtle yellow-beige, a warm color

Color family: Neutral
Sold for: Interior

Try it on your walls Get a sample

Benjamin Moore Sea Salt CSP-95 is a soft warm greige, and it is not the pale green that Sherwin-Williams sells under the same name. Its LRV of 61 puts it in the light band, bright enough to keep a room open while still reading as a color against white trim. Our method reads it as a subtle yellow-beige, so it sits with oak, rattan and cream more easily than with cool gray tile.

Is Sea Salt warm or cool? Undertones by the numbers

leans yellow

Undertone

Subtle yellow-beige

graysaturated

A gentle lean, quiet on the wall.

Measured, Sea Salt holds a small, steady amount of yellow and no green at all, which is the opposite of what the name suggests. On a wall it behaves like a warm putty: beige when it sits beside a true gray, gray when it sits beside a true beige. White trim is what settles it, and a clean white reads brighter against it than a cream does. Warm oak, jute and unlacquered brass pull the beige forward, while cool gray tile and blue-white bulbs strip it back toward plain gray. Against Edgecomb Gray HC-173 it is the quieter of the two, with less of the tan that Edgecomb carries.

Sea Salt in north, south, east and west light

North light is where Sea Salt changes most: the beige thins out and the color settles toward a plain warm gray, so a north bedroom wants warm bulbs and a wood floor to keep it from going flat. South rooms give the cream back, and it looks closest to the chip there in the afternoon. East light is warmest at breakfast and grayer by evening. West sun late in the day can tip it toward gold on a long wall. Keep bulbs at 2700K to 3000K, since 4000K drains the warmth out of it.

Watch for

Goes flat and gray in a north room lit by cool LEDs
Tips toward gold on a west-facing wall in late afternoon sun
Has none of the green people expect from the Sherwin-Williams color of the same name

Best rooms and surfaces for Sea Salt

Sea Salt is a wall color first, and Benjamin Moore sells it for interiors only, so it stays inside. Most of the searches for it name a bedroom, and that is where it does its best work: warm enough to be restful, light enough that one window is sufficient. Across an open kitchen and living room it reads as a single soft color, with white cabinets standing clearly in front of it. On an island or a vanity it turns into a pale putty rather than a real color, so give it a lighter wall behind. A dark den is the wrong room, because the warmth thins there and only the gray is left.

Try Sea Salt on your own walls

Upload a photo of your room, or the outside of your house, and TryMyHome renders Sea Salt onto the walls so you can judge it in your light, with your floors and furniture. Your first five renders are free.

Trusted by 19,897+ happy homeowners

Sea Salt vs Sea Salt, Pale Oak, Agreeable Gray and Edgecomb Gray

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

Sea Salt vs Sea Salt SW 6204

Sea Salt is a touch darker; undertone subtle yellow-beige vs subtle green.

Sea Salt SW 6204 is the color most people mean when they type the name, and it is a different thing entirely: a pale green-gray at an LRV of 63, two points lighter and cooler than this one. The Sherwin-Williams color leans green and reads coastal. The Benjamin Moore color leans beige and reads warm. Take the green one if you want a tint on the walls, this one if you want a greige that stays out of the way.

Living room walls rendered in Benjamin Moore Pale Oak OC-20, white trim, ceiling and wood floor unchanged

Sea Salt vs Pale Oak OC-20

Sea Salt is noticeably darker; both have a subtle yellow-beige undertone.

Pale Oak OC-20 is the pair searched most often on the Benjamin Moore side. It measures about eight points lighter, at an LRV of 69, with less pigment in it, so it reads almost white on a sunny wall where Sea Salt still reads as a color. Both are warm and neither is fussy. Choose Pale Oak for a room you want pale and open, and Sea Salt where the walls should have some body to them.

Living room walls rendered in Sherwin-Williams Agreeable Gray SW 7029, white trim, ceiling and wood floor unchanged

Sea Salt vs Agreeable Gray SW 7029

Sea Salt is a touch lighter; both have a subtle yellow-beige undertone.

Agreeable Gray SW 7029 is the near twin: one point apart in lightness and the same subtle yellow-beige by measurement. Put the chips side by side and few people can call which is which, and either one can run through a whole house. The tiebreaker is usually the store rather than the color. In a room full of orange-toned oak, Sea Salt looks a shade cleaner of the two.

Living room walls rendered in Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray HC-173, white trim, ceiling and wood floor unchanged

Sea Salt vs Edgecomb Gray HC-173

Sea Salt is a touch darker; undertone subtle yellow-beige vs noticeable yellow-beige.

Edgecomb Gray HC-173 sits two points lighter, at an LRV of 63, and carries clearly more tan, enough that it reads as a beige where Sea Salt reads as a greige. Edgecomb is the warmer one under lamplight and the one that fights cool tile harder. Take Edgecomb Gray when the room already has cream trim and oak. Take Sea Salt when there is gray in the floor or the counters.

Questions about Sea Salt

Does Sea Salt CSP-95 look green or pink?

Neither. Measured, it has yellow in it and no green, so the green in the name is a red herring; the shift you will see is between beige and gray, depending on its neighbors. Beside a cool gray floor it reads beige, and beside a cream sofa it reads gray. Pink is not in it, though pink-beige tile can suggest one.

Is there a Sherwin-Williams match for Sea Salt CSP-95?

Yes, but not the color that shares the name. By measurement Gossamer Veil SW 9165 is the nearest Sherwin-Williams color, near enough to be hard to tell apart on a wall, and Agreeable Gray SW 7029 comes second. Sea Salt SW 6204 is a green, and swapping one for the other changes the room.

What colors go with Sea Salt CSP-95?

Benjamin Moore puts it with Chantilly Lace OC-65, the pale Grandma's China CSP-365 and two darks, Arctic Seal CSP-15 and Lush AF-475. In practice it takes warm wood, jute, cream linen and black metal without a fight. Deep green and charcoal work as accents. Strong yellow-beige next to it makes the walls look gray.

Is Sea Salt CSP-95 a good bathroom color?

Yes, in a bathroom with warm finishes. It is light enough for one with no window, and the warm lean keeps it from going cold under a vanity light as long as the bulbs stay at 2700K to 3000K. Beside cool gray porcelain it can look dingy rather than soft, so hold the sample against the tile before you buy.

What is one shade darker than Sea Salt CSP-95?

Greenwich Gate CSP-170, the next step down in Benjamin Moore's own set, about ten points darker and a little more tan. One step up is Barely There CSP-725, which is closer to an off-white. If you want a smaller move than either, Rodeo 1534 measures a touch darker and Penthouse CSP-35 a touch lighter.

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 Sea Salt, checked in morning and evening light, is the last step before a gallon.