Van Buren Brown (BM HC-70)
Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
Van Buren Brown (BM HC-70) is a very deep, warm brown from Benjamin Moore: LRV 9.5, so it reflects about 10 percent of the light that hits it.
Colors that go with Van Buren Brown
Three Benjamin Moore colors picked for Van Buren Brown by this site's color math: a trim white, 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 Van Buren Brown, 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 | Rookwood Dark Brown | SW 2808 | 8 | 1.1 | very close |
| Behr | Warm Pumpernickel | HDC-FL15-05 | 8.1 | 1.4 | very close |
| Valspar | Cabin Plank | 2011-10 | 8 | 1.1 | very close |
| PPG Paints | Sarsaparilla | 1018-7 | 8 | 1.2 | very close |
Lighter and darker in Benjamin Moore
The Benjamin Moore brown colors nearest to Van Buren Brown (LRV 9.5) by LRV.
Lighter than Van Buren Brown
Darker than Van Buren Brown
Color data
| Brand | Benjamin Moore |
|---|---|
| Color code | HC-70 |
| Hex | #5F4F46 |
| RGB | 95, 79, 70 |
| HSL | 22°, 15%, 32% |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 9.5 |
| Lab L*, a*, b* | 34.9, 5.1, 7.8 |
| Undertone | Warm |
| Temperature | warm |
| Color family | Brown |
Same paint, two kinds of light
Van Buren Brown (BM HC-70), published as #5F4F46
#514745
#6D5846
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 Van Buren Brown (BM HC-70)?
- Van Buren Brown has an LRV of 9.5. LRV runs from 0 (black) to 100 (pure white) and measures the share of light a surface reflects, so Van Buren Brown is a very deep color.
- What is the closest match to Van Buren Brown in another brand?
- Rookwood Dark Brown (SW 2808) from Sherwin-Williams, at a deltaE of 1.1 (very close).
- Is Van Buren Brown warm or cool?
- Benjamin Moore lists Van Buren Brown as warm, with a Warm undertone. Its Lab b* value is 7.8; 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.