Amber Waves (BM 2159-40)
Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
Amber Waves (BM 2159-40) is a medium, warm yellow from Benjamin Moore: LRV 54.2, so it reflects about 54 percent of the light that hits it.
Colors that go with Amber Waves
Four Benjamin Moore colors picked for Amber Waves by this site's color math: a trim white, a deeper yellow, a quiet contrast from another family, a dark accent. Benjamin Moore did not choose these pairings.
Closest match in every other brand
Each brand's closest color to Amber Waves, ranked by CIEDE2000 (deltaE): under 1.0 is indistinguishable, 1.0 to 2.3 very close, 2.3 to 5 noticeably different, over 5 clearly different.
| Brand | Closest color | Code | LRV | deltaE | How close |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sherwin-Williams | Colonial Yellow | SW 0030 | 59 | 1.5 | very close |
| Behr | Gold Buff | 310D-4 | 54.9 | 0.8 | indistinguishable |
| Valspar | Golden Chime | 3006-5C | 59 | 0.8 | indistinguishable |
| PPG Paints | Gold Buff | 1208-4 | 59 | 2.1 | very close |
Lighter and darker in Benjamin Moore
The Benjamin Moore yellow colors nearest to Amber Waves (LRV 54.2) by LRV.
Lighter than Amber Waves
Darker than Amber Waves
Color data
| Brand | Benjamin Moore |
|---|---|
| Color code | 2159-40 |
| Hex | #ECBF7F |
| RGB | 236, 191, 127 |
| HSL | 35°, 74%, 71% |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 54.2 |
| Lab L*, a*, b* | 80.0, 8.1, 38.3 |
| Undertone | Warm Yellow-Red |
| Temperature | warm |
| Color family | Yellow |
Same paint, two kinds of light
Amber Waves (BM 2159-40), published as #ECBF7F
#DDB57E
#FCC97E
These swatches and the rooms above are a simulation, not a measurement. How the visualizer works
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Common questions
- What is the LRV of Amber Waves (BM 2159-40)?
- Amber Waves has an LRV of 54.2. LRV runs from 0 (black) to 100 (pure white) and measures the share of light a surface reflects, so Amber Waves is a medium color.
- What is the closest match to Amber Waves in another brand?
- Gold Buff (Behr 310D-4) from Behr, at a deltaE of 0.8 (indistinguishable).
- Is Amber Waves warm or cool?
- Benjamin Moore lists Amber Waves as warm, with a Warm Yellow-Red undertone. Its Lab b* value is 38.3; a higher b* is warmer and yellower, a lower one cooler and bluer.
Sources: LRV and hex as published by the manufacturer, via PaintDB (CC BY 4.0). Color differences are CIEDE2000 values computed by this site from the hex values (data snapshot 2026-10-01). Color names and codes belong to their manufacturers.