Paint Color Review: Benjamin Moore Pale Oak OC-20

Pale Oak OC-20 is a beautiful soft, warm taupe and one of the most popular paint colors in Benjamin Moore’s Off-White Collection. It sits comfortably between gray and beige, making it a pretty flexible color. It can also be a bit of a chameleon as it’s very vulnerable to changes in lighting. Let’s take a closer look at the spectral data for Pale Oak and whether it might be a good match for your project.

Photo by Rufty Custom Built Homes and Remodeling – Discover kitchen design ideas

Walls and ceiling are painted in Benjamin Moore Pale Oak OC-20.

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What Is the LRV of Pale Oak?

Light Reflectance Value (LRV) is a measure of how much light a paint reflects back into a room, with 100% being highly reflective and zero being not reflective at all. Pale Oak has an LRV of 68.6, which means it will reflect quite a bit of light back into your space. Pale Oak is considerably lighter than many other popular taupe paint colors. It may lose a lot of its color strength (wash out) in a very bright room. In those spaces, you may want to consider colors with a lower LRV instead (around 55). If your space is very dark, Pale Oak may look a bit dull or dirty without plenty of artificial lighting to give it a boost.

Photo by Morr Interiors – Browse sunroom ideas

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What Is the “Undertone” of Pale Oak? 

Since everyone perceives color differently, let’s look at something a little more objective – the spectral data. We can use tools like colorimeters and spectrophotometers to accurately measure a color’s dominant wavelength, or hue angle, and other characteristics. Pale Oak has a hue angle of 92.414°. This means Pale Oak is officially part of the Yellow hue family (a warm color).

Chroma, another piece of spectral data, is a measure of a paint color’s vividness or saturation. At only 5.617, Pale Oak has a pretty low chroma value. This means that its Yellow hue is muted by a heavy dose of gray.

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Does Pale Oak Look Purple or Pink?

Pale Oak is frequently debated online. Some designers describe it as lavender, while others refer to it as a pink-tinged taupe or a brownish plum. The reason this happens is connected to lighting.

As you can see above, Pale Oak falls within the Yellow hue family, close to Yellow-Red hues on the color wheel. In balanced, neutral lighting, Pale Oak appears as a warm gray-beige with perhaps a subtle hint of pink or peach. Under certain lighting conditions, however, colors within this range tend to take on a purplish tint. Like many popular neutral, low-chroma paint colors in the Yellow hue family, Pale Oak is highly susceptible to color shifts under imbalanced lighting conditions. This phenomenon is known as color inconstancy. 

Photo by Willow Homes – Search family room design ideas

In this living room, Pale Oak by Benjamin Moore is on the walls, ceiling, and trim. Notice how the paint color seems to shift a bit depending on where the light hits.

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How Does Lighting Affect Pale Oak?

In a room with south-facing windows or a room that gets lots of warm afternoon sun from a west-facing window, you’ll find Pale Oak looks quite warm and beige. On the other hand, rooms that have muted, eastern morning light or north-facing windows will see Pale Oak leaning a little more into its gray side. 

Photo by Morr Interiors – Search living room design ideas

In this living room, we see Pale Oak looking more gray than beige.

Using the right color light bulbs will have a tremendous impact on this color. Under soft white bulbs (2700 K), Pale Oak will look a bit warmer. Daylight bulbs (4000+ K), however, will make it look grayer and possibly more purple. We recommend using light bulbs in the 3000 K to 3500 K range for the best, most natural-looking color results. Read our blog post for links to specific bulb recommendations. 

Photo by Rufty Custom Built Homes and Remodeling – Search family room design ideas

The walls in this beautiful room are BM Pale Oak. You can see how the warmer, lower Kelvin light in this photo (these are probably 2700 K “soft white” bulbs) is causing Pale Oak to look quite warm.

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Which White Trim Color Goes With Pale Oak?

Pale Oak and White Dove are a very popular Benjamin Moore color pairing – they look quite pretty together. Benjamin Moore White Dove OC-017 is a beautifully soft, warm white paint color. It’s not too stark, nor is it overly creamy. Next to Pale Oak, White Dove looks very muted and subtle. That said, we tend to prefer the contrast of a clean, low-chroma white paint, like Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace OC-65 or Sherwin-Williams High Reflective White 7757. If you prefer a clean white that’s a bit softer with only a touch more warmth, try Sherwin-Williams Pure White 7005.

Photo by LDa Architecture & Interiors – Browse bedroom ideas

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Is Pale Oak a Good Whole House Color?

It certainly can be, depending on the lighting in your home. Pale Oak can be a great choice for many traditional, transitional, and contemporary homes in living rooms, entryways, bedrooms, bathrooms…just about anywhere. However, the color shifts in different lighting can make it tricky to work with. There are a lot of other lovely, low-chroma neutrals that may be a better fit (see comparisons below). Be sure to hang sample swatches to compare in different rooms and evaluate under different lighting conditions. 

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Is Pale Oak a Good Exterior Color?

Pale Oak is a beautiful, flexible choice for many exteriors, from modern to traditional to Mediterranean. It also works well on a variety of surfaces, including brick, siding, and stucco. You may even consider this color for trim or other architectural details, like columns or windows. Pale Oak will look even lighter than you might expect in an exterior environment. Be sure to hang up test swatches on exterior walls before committing to this color.

Photo by Richard Wallace Builder, Inc. – Discover exterior home design ideas

This exterior is painted BM Pale Oak. Trim is a “builder’s white,” according to the home builder.

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What Color Goes Well With Benjamin Moore Pale Oak?

The soft, subtle lightness of Pale Oak makes it ideal for coordinating with darker colors. Navy, black, charcoal, and even deep dark greens or reds form a beautiful contrast next to the quiet warmth of Pale Oak. We’ve created a sample Pale Oak color palette for you below.

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What Other Paint Colors Are Similar to Benjamin Moore Pale Oak?

If you like Benjamin-Moore Pale Oak OC-20, be sure to only get it mixed in a genuine Benjamin-Moore paint product. I never, ever recommend color matching between brands. Differences in pigments, chemical composition, and paint viscosity between brands mean they will be different. You cannot color match between brands and expect to get identical results. But if you’re looking for a paint color with a similar vibe as Pale Oak and need to use another brand, we’ve got you covered. Here are a few dupes that are a pretty close match to BM Pale Oak based on their spectral data: 

• Sherwin-Williams Limewash 9589 (only available in SW Emerald Designer Edition paint)
• Sherwin-Williams City Loft 7631
• Behr Campfire Ash N320-1
• PPG Silent Smoke PPG1025-2

Comparing paint colors that are similar to each other can be a useful tool when deciding what works best in your space. Here are a few popular comparisons and how they stand out from one another:

Benjamin Moore Pale Oak vs Edgecomb Gray

Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray HC-173 is another popular taupe that’s similar to Pale Oak in terms of lightness and hue angle. Because of this, it tends to have that same vulnerability to changes in light. You might see a hint of purple or pink in certain qualities of light. In short, Edgecomb Gray is slightly warmer and darker than Pale Oak.

Benjamin Moore Strand of Pearls vs Pale Oak

Strand of Pearls CSP-395 is a beautiful greige that’s part of the Benjamin Moore Color Stories line. Both colors are in the Yellow hue family with similar hue angles (95.02° and 92.41°). However, Strand of Pearls has a higher chroma value (7.75). That means you may see a bit more yellow/beige and less gray than you’d see in Pale Oak. The most noticeable difference between the two, however, is in terms of lightness. With an LRV of 72, Strand of Pearls is a much lighter, more reflective color.

Benjamin Moore Balboa Mist vs Pale Oak 

Balboa Mist OC-27 is another Benjamin Moore favorite that’s very similar to Pale Oak in terms of color and lightness. Like Pale Oak, Balboa Mist lives on that same part of the color wheel that makes it vulnerable to lighting. That means it can sometimes look a wink purple in certain light. Pale Oak’s hue angle and slightly higher chroma value (5.6 vs. 4.9) mean it’s just a bit warmer than Balboa Mist.

Pale Oak vs Revere Pewter

Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter HC-172 was a super hot color several years ago, and it’s still going strong. Comparing their spectral data, we see these colors are both Yellows with very similar hue angles (91° and 92°). With an LRV of 55, Revere Pewter is quite a bit darker. This might make it a better choice for a bright room that gets lots of direct hits of natural sunlight. Revere Pewter also has a higher chroma (7.3 vs 5.6), meaning it’s more colorful (saturated) than Pale Oak.

Need Help Choosing a Paint Color?

Need help finding the right paint color? Order a Virtual Color Consultation Report from the color professionals at Three Bears Home Staging to get a custom, curated palette and guidance for your next painting project.

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