Athena (BM 858) vs Pale Oak (BM OC-20)

Living room with walls painted Benjamin Moore Athena 858 (simulated) — Athena BM 858#DDD9CE, LRV 68.6

Living room with walls painted Benjamin Moore Pale Oak OC-20 (simulated) — Pale Oak BM OC-20#DDD9CE, LRV 68.6 Verified 2026-10-02

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

Quick decision

Lighter: About the same: LRV 68.6 vs 68.6.
Warmer: About the same, both greige (Lab b* 5.9 vs 5.9).
North rooms: About the same: both keep their brightness and color about equally (L* 82.8 vs 82.8 in north light).
Trim that works: Seapearl BM 961, #E7E4D9, LRV 76.4: the Benjamin Moore white closest in hue to both.
Closeness: deltaE 0.0, indistinguishable. At 0.0, pick on price, finish or availability.

See each color

AthenaBenjamin Moore, BM 858LRV 68.6, #DDD9CE

Pale OakBenjamin Moore, BM OC-20LRV 68.6, #DDD9CE

More comparisons with Pale Oak

Athena (BM 858) is about as light as Pale Oak (BM OC-20) and about as warm: LRV 68.6 vs 68.6, deltaE 0.0 (indistinguishable).

Side by side

Measure	Athena	Pale Oak	Gap
Brand	Benjamin Moore	Benjamin Moore
Color code	858	OC-20
Hex	#DDD9CE	#DDD9CE
RGB	221, 217, 206	221, 217, 206
HSL	44°, 18%, 84%	44°, 18%, 84%
LRV (light reflectance value)	68.6	68.6	0
Lab L*	86.7	86.7	0.0
Lab a*	-0.5	-0.5	0.0
Lab b*	5.9	5.9	0.0
Undertone	Neutral	Warm Greige
Temperature	warm	warm
Color family	Greige	Greige

Same paint, two kinds of light

Athena (BM 858), published as #DDD9CE

North light (cool, indirect)
#CCCFCC

South light (warm, direct)
#EFE3CE

Pale Oak (BM OC-20), published as #DDD9CE

North light (cool, indirect)
#CCCFCC

South light (warm, direct)
#EFE3CE

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 Athena (BM 858) for a small room or a north-facing room, because it is 0 LRV points lighter (68.6 vs 68.6), so it bounces back more of the limited light

Closest matches to Athena in other brands

Closest matches to Pale Oak in other brands

Common questions

Is Athena the same color as Pale Oak?: They are indistinguishable: a CIEDE2000 difference of 0.0. Most people cannot tell Athena and Pale Oak apart.
Which is lighter, Athena or Pale Oak?: Neither: both have an LRV of 68.6.

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: Athena: LRV and hex as published by the manufacturer, via PaintDB (CC BY 4.0); Pale Oak: 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.