Mourning Dove (Behr OR-W12) vs Swiss Coffee (BM OC-45)
Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
Quick decision
- Lighter
- About the same: LRV 81.1 vs 81.9.
- Warmer
- Mourning Dove, both warm white (Lab b* 8.1 vs 5.6).
- North rooms
- Swiss Coffee: keeps more brightness (L* 89.4 vs 88.3 in north light) and drifts less gray (chroma drop 3.0 vs 4.5).
- Trim that works
- Ostrich Behr W-F-410, #E9E3D5, LRV 77.1 (estimated): the Behr white closest in hue to both.
- Closeness
- deltaE 2.6, noticeably different. At 2.6, test both: on a full wall the difference will show.
See each color
Mourning Dove (Behr OR-W12) is about as light as Swiss Coffee (BM OC-45) and slightly warmer: LRV 81.1 vs 81.9, deltaE 2.6 (noticeably different).
Side by side
| Measure | Mourning Dove | Swiss Coffee | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Behr | Benjamin Moore | |
| Color code | OR-W12 | OC-45 | |
| Hex | #EFE8D9 | #EEECE1 | |
| RGB | 239, 232, 217 | 238, 236, 225 | |
| HSL | 41°, 41%, 89% | 51°, 28%, 91% | |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 81.1 (est.) | 81.9 | −0.8 |
| Lab L* | 92.2 | 93.3 | −1.1 |
| Lab a* | -0.2 | -1.2 | +1.1 |
| Lab b* | 8.1 | 5.6 | +2.6 |
| Undertone | Neutral | Neutral | |
| Temperature | warm | warm | |
| Color family | Off-white | White |
Same paint, two kinds of light
Mourning Dove (Behr OR-W12), published as #EFE8D9
#DEDED7
#FFF2D9
Swiss Coffee (BM OC-45), published as #EEECE1
#DCE2DF
#FFF6E1
These swatches and the rooms above are a simulation, not a measurement. How the visualizer works
Which should you pick
Rules of thumb computed from the LRV and Lab values in the table above; no room test was done.
- Pick Swiss Coffee (BM OC-45) for a small room or a north-facing room, because it is 0.8 LRV points lighter (81.9 vs 81.1), so it bounces back more of the limited light
- Pick Swiss Coffee (BM OC-45) for a south-facing room, because its Lab b* is 5.6 against 8.1, so it is the cooler of the two and offsets warm direct sun
- Pick Mourning Dove (Behr OR-W12) to warm a north-facing room, because it is the warmer of the two (Lab b* 8.1), which counters cool indirect light
Closest matches to Mourning Dove in other brands
Closest matches to Swiss Coffee in other brands
Common questions
- Is Mourning Dove the same color as Swiss Coffee?
- They are noticeably different: a CIEDE2000 difference of 2.6. Most people can see the difference between Mourning Dove and Swiss Coffee side by side.
- Which is lighter, Mourning Dove or Swiss Coffee?
- Swiss Coffee, with an LRV of 81.9 against 81.1.
Full pages
Related comparisons
Sources: Mourning Dove: hex as published by the manufacturer, via PaintDB (CC BY 4.0); LRV is not published by Behr for this color and is estimated here from the color's own hex value; Swiss Coffee: LRV and hex from Benjamin Moore technical data (verified 2026-10-02). 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.