We’ve all been there. You decide to re-paint a room white and are suddenly confronted with an overwhelming range of possibilities. Oh those undertones! Grey, brown, blue, green…heavens to Betty White, the whites look quite different when viewed side by side in your space. If the right white for you is bright and clear and brings to mind fresh cotton and pure silk, you may love the white purity of Benjamin Moore OC-65...Chantilly Lace.
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Need a Pure White or Benjamin Moore OC-65 Chantilly Lace?
What Type of White is Benjamin Moore OC-65?
Chantilly Lace is one of the “whitest white” paint colors. Pure, bright, and neutral, this white has two numbers associated with it (both Benjamin Moore OC-65 and also Benjamin Moore 2121-70). It is one of those whitest whites with minimal to no undertones.
Crisp and bright, it has a light reflectance value of 90.04.
You’ll recall LRV is the percentage of light the paint color will reflect back into the room. (Black would have an LRV closer to 0.)
From hundreds of white and off-white colors, Benjamin Moore narrowed down their “most pure” white paint to Chantilly Lace OC-65 and Super White OC-152. They say “Both have little to no visible undertone, making them two of our ‘whitest white’ paint colors.”
Will OC-65 Be Too White or Too Sterile?
While Chantilly Lace is a neutral white, bear in mind there are factors such as natural light that will affect how this color reads in a particular context.
It will be perceived differently in artificial light, ambient light, and natural light.
Chantilly Lace in a room with Northern Exposure may look slightly blue or gray because of the qualities of Northern Light. In a kitchen with Western Exposure, Chantilly Lace may feel a bit too chilly to you in the morning since that space won’t receive the best light until the afternoon.
If you spend mornings in the kitchen, you may want a white with more warmth or even a color with pink undertones. That’s why it’s so important to sample at least three different whites and watch how they change over the course of the day. Some whites will change very little from day to night, while others may surprise you.
Is Chantilly Lace a Trustworthy White for Trim?
It’s a great white for trim. First of all, white trim is one of those timeless design elements that works across a variety of architectural and design styles. Second, Chantilly Lace is one of the more “adaptable” whites. It is bright and clean so it quite effortlessly pairs with just about all color combinations.
After all, it is more likely that you’ll be changing your wall color before your trim color. Lastly, the high light reflectance (LRV) of this white means there will be a ton of reflected light back into the space…which is nearly always the goal.
How Does Chantilly Lace Compare to Other Popular Whites?
Benjamin Moore White Dove is a wildly popular off white and is going to read softer and more muted than Chantilly Lace. It may even appear a bit “dingy” right next to Chantilly Lace. Simply White is another trustworthy, often used white color that has warm yellow undertones which will make the color appear warm next to Chantilly Lace with its minimal undertones.
Chantilly Lace: Similar Colors
Other BM whites similar to this white include: Distant Gray, Ice Mist, Snow White, and Frostine. Different shades of Chantilly Lace include: White Diamond, Iced Cube Silver, Silver Half Dollar, Pewter, Steel Wool, and Gray. Colors that will match? White Wisp, Bird’s Egg, Classic Gray, and Georgia Pink.
Sample the Color With Two Other Whites First
It is smart to sample at least three whites to make sure to arrive at the best white for your room. You can sample with a brush-on sample method:
Or an easier way to sample? Order a peel and stick sample along with a couple other contenders (i.e. White Dove, OC-151) from Samplize and have them delivered straight to your door.
Sample This White: Chantilly Lace – Benjamin Moore
I have enjoyed great success with this white for ceilings, walls, doors, trim, and even furniture. Many designers swear by it for brightening up dim hallways, kitchens, closets and more. With that light reflectance value (LRV) of 90.04, your future is bright!
Sample an Off White Such as White Dove for Comparison
In order to get a sense of how a different sort of white may work in your space, compare Chantilly Lace to a beautiful off-white but softer shade:
Notice how the swatch above of White Dove appears almost tan or linen-colored, but the paint is actually an off-white that appears like this on cabinetry:
Try BM White OC-151
This is the off-white for which I am most familiar! I painted interiors throughout our entire former home this color (walls, windows, trim, ceilings). Ready to see it? (Just made this, and the white rooms from our prior home are OC-151:
The LRV is slightly lower for this color (83.56), and you may notice cooler undertones.
In fact, the swatch above appears slightly grey. Such undertones may appear more pronounced when you view the sample in your unique lighting and with the other whites side by side.
In person, the color is a crisp white, and I go into detail about it HERE.
This white is a bright white like Chantilly Lace as you can see from my former bedroom above and on this board:
and the exterior board and batten (below).
Like me, designer Lisa Furey loved White OC-151 so much, she used it on the interior walls, cabinetry, shiplap, ceilings and trim as well:
I sampled Chantilly Lace along with White OC-151 and discovered that with our home’s lighting, a cooler white was a better option with the lighting.
So sample as many whites as you can to get it right the first time.
Can You Use Just One White for Walls AND Trim?
Sure. One white can create a very seamless, modern, gallery-like look when you use the single shade in different sheens for walls (matte or eggshell), ceiling (flat), and trim (semigloss). And here’s an example where window frames were painted a high contrast black.
But Chantilly Lace is also beautiful with a host of gray paint colors.
One of my favorite gray paint colors is what our living room is painted: Sherwin-Williams Repose Gray, and here it is paired with Chantilly Lace in a kitchen:
You can see it with high contrast in a kitchen with BM Cheating Heart on cabinetry here:
White Walls Play Nice with Wood Tones & Color
The beauty of white is that it can become such a wonderful canvas for the rest of the home. If you’re thinking modern bright whites are only at home in a “modern farmhouse” with black, expand your perspective by thinking about it as a foundation to play with color.
These classic interiors in an apartment are also classic, not informal farmhouse in nature, and you’ll see how the living room has white walls with a mix of colors including green:
For more help choosing the perfect white, SEE THIS, and here are a few more ideas for an exterior white paint color:
I hope these ideas for a crisp white paint color to sample help you discover the just right white for your project!
Sample the color right HERE.
Peace to you right where you are.
-michele
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