Simply White (BM 2143-70) vs Cotton Balls (BM 2145-70)

Living room with walls painted Benjamin Moore Simply White 2143-70 (simulated) — Simply White BM 2143-70#F6F6ED, LRV 89.5 Verified 2026-10-02

Living room with walls painted Benjamin Moore Cotton Balls 2145-70 (simulated) — Cotton Balls BM 2145-70#F5F6EB, LRV 89

Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.

Quick decision

Lighter: About the same: LRV 89.5 vs 89.
Warmer: About the same, both warm white (Lab b* 4.3 vs 5.2).
North rooms: About the same: both keep their brightness and color about equally (L* 92.5 vs 92.4 in north light).
Trim that works: Vanilla Milkshake BM 2141-70, #ECECE3, LRV 81: the Benjamin Moore white closest in hue to both.
Closeness: deltaE 1.1, very close. At 1.1, test both side by side if the room is dim or north-facing.

See each color

Simply WhiteBenjamin Moore, BM 2143-70LRV 89.5, #F6F6ED

More comparisons with Simply White

Cotton BallsBenjamin Moore, BM 2145-70LRV 89, #F5F6EB

More comparisons with Cotton Balls

Cotton Balls vs White DoveBM 2145-70 vs BM OC-17deltaE 2.1, very close

Simply White (BM 2143-70) is about as light as Cotton Balls (BM 2145-70) and about as warm: LRV 89.5 vs 89, deltaE 1.1 (very close).

Side by side

Measure	Simply White	Cotton Balls	Gap
Brand	Benjamin Moore	Benjamin Moore
Color code	2143-70	2145-70
Hex	#F6F6ED	#F5F6EB
RGB	246, 246, 237	245, 246, 235
HSL	60°, 33%, 95%	65°, 38%, 94%
LRV (light reflectance value)	89.5	89	+0.6
Lab L*	96.7	96.5	+0.1
Lab a*	-1.6	-2.2	+0.7
Lab b*	4.3	5.2	−0.8
Undertone	Neutral	Neutral
Temperature	neutral	warm
Color family	White	White

Same paint, two kinds of light

Simply White (BM 2143-70), published as #F6F6ED

North light (cool, indirect)
#E4EBEB

South light (warm, direct)
#FFFFEB

Cotton Balls (BM 2145-70), published as #F5F6EB

North light (cool, indirect)
#E3EBE9

South light (warm, direct)
#FFFFE9

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 Simply White (BM 2143-70) for a small room or a north-facing room, because it is 0.6 LRV points lighter (89.5 vs 89), so it bounces back more of the limited light

Closest matches to Simply White in other brands

Closest matches to Cotton Balls in other brands

Common questions

Is Simply White the same color as Cotton Balls?: They are very close: a CIEDE2000 difference of 1.1. Side by side you may see a slight difference between Simply White and Cotton Balls.
Which is lighter, Simply White or Cotton Balls?: Simply White, with an LRV of 89.5 against 89.

Full pages

Related comparisons

By Paint Pairs. Color data from manufacturer specifications, via PaintDB. The most-viewed colors are checked against each manufacturer's own color page.

Published 2026-10-01. Updated 2026-10-01.

Sources: Simply White: LRV and hex from Benjamin Moore technical data (verified 2026-10-02); Cotton Balls: 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.