Hawthorne Yellow (BM HC-4)
Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
Hawthorne Yellow (BM HC-4) is a light, warm yellow from Benjamin Moore: LRV 71.3, so it reflects about 71 percent of the light that hits it.
Colors that go with Hawthorne Yellow
Four Benjamin Moore colors picked for Hawthorne Yellow 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 Hawthorne Yellow, 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 | Optimistic Yellow | SW 6900 | 76 | 0.4 | indistinguishable |
| Behr | Lily Bulb | P320-3 | 77.3 | 1.6 | very close |
| Valspar | Hazy Dawn | 3004-2B | 82 | 1.8 | very close |
| PPG Paints | Visionary | 1210-3 | 76 | 1.6 | very close |
Lighter and darker in Benjamin Moore
The Benjamin Moore yellow colors nearest to Hawthorne Yellow (LRV 71.3) by LRV.
Lighter than Hawthorne Yellow
Darker than Hawthorne Yellow
Color data
| Brand | Benjamin Moore |
|---|---|
| Color code | HC-4 |
| Hex | #F5E1A4 |
| RGB | 245, 225, 164 |
| HSL | 45°, 80%, 80% |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 71.3 |
| Lab L*, a*, b* | 89.8, -1.9, 32.4 |
| Undertone | Warm Yellow |
| Temperature | warm |
| Color family | Yellow |
Same paint, two kinds of light
Hawthorne Yellow (BM HC-4), published as #F5E1A4
#E5D7A3
#FFEBA3
These swatches and the rooms above are a simulation, not a measurement. How the visualizer works
Similar shades from Benjamin Moore
More from Benjamin Moore
Common questions
- What is the LRV of Hawthorne Yellow (BM HC-4)?
- Hawthorne Yellow has an LRV of 71.3. LRV runs from 0 (black) to 100 (pure white) and measures the share of light a surface reflects, so Hawthorne Yellow is a light color.
- What is the closest match to Hawthorne Yellow in another brand?
- Optimistic Yellow (SW 6900) from Sherwin-Williams, at a deltaE of 0.4 (indistinguishable).
- Is Hawthorne Yellow warm or cool?
- Benjamin Moore lists Hawthorne Yellow as warm, with a Warm Yellow undertone. Its Lab b* value is 32.4; 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.