French Canvas (BM 1514) vs Swiss Coffee (BM OC-45)
Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
Quick decision
- Lighter
- Swiss Coffee, LRV 81.9 vs 74.1.
- Warmer
- French Canvas, both warm white (Lab b* 7.6 vs 5.6).
- North rooms
- Swiss Coffee: keeps more brightness (L* 89.4 vs 86.1 in north light) and drifts less gray (chroma drop 3.0 vs 3.7).
- Trim that works
- French Canvas BM OC-41, #E5E3D4, LRV 74.1: the Benjamin Moore 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
French Canvas (BM 1514) is darker than Swiss Coffee (BM OC-45) and slightly warmer: LRV 74.1 vs 81.9, deltaE 2.6 (noticeably different).
Side by side
| Measure | French Canvas | Swiss Coffee | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Benjamin Moore | Benjamin Moore | |
| Color code | 1514 | OC-45 | |
| Hex | #E5E3D4 | #EEECE1 | |
| RGB | 229, 227, 212 | 238, 236, 225 | |
| HSL | 53°, 25%, 86% | 51°, 28%, 91% | |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 74.1 | 81.9 | −7.9 |
| Lab L* | 90.0 | 93.3 | −3.3 |
| Lab a* | -1.9 | -1.2 | −0.7 |
| Lab b* | 7.6 | 5.6 | +2.0 |
| Undertone | Neutral | Neutral | |
| Temperature | warm | warm | |
| Color family | Off-white | White |
Same paint, two kinds of light
French Canvas (BM 1514), published as #E5E3D4
#D4D9D2
#F7EDD4
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 7.9 LRV points lighter (81.9 vs 74.1), 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 7.6, so it is the cooler of the two and offsets warm direct sun
- Pick French Canvas (BM 1514) to warm a north-facing room, because it is the warmer of the two (Lab b* 7.6), which counters cool indirect light
Closest matches to French Canvas in other brands
Closest matches to Swiss Coffee in other brands
Common questions
- Is French Canvas the same color as Swiss Coffee?
- They are noticeably different: a CIEDE2000 difference of 2.6. Most people can see the difference between French Canvas and Swiss Coffee side by side.
- Which is lighter, French Canvas or Swiss Coffee?
- Swiss Coffee, with an LRV of 81.9 against 74.1.
Full pages
Related comparisons
Sources: French Canvas: LRV and hex as published by the manufacturer, via PaintDB (CC BY 4.0); 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.