Linen White (BM 912) vs Navajo White (SW 6126)

Living room with walls painted Benjamin Moore Linen White 912 (simulated) — Linen White BM 912#F2EBDA, LRV 80.9 Verified 2026-10-02

Living room with walls painted Sherwin-Williams Navajo White SW 6126 (simulated) — Navajo White SW 6126#E9DCC6, LRV 72

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

Quick decision

Lighter: Linen White, LRV 80.9 vs 72.
Warmer: Navajo White (Lab b* 12.4 vs 9.1). Linen White reads warm white; Navajo White reads yellow.
North rooms: Linen White keeps more brightness (L* 89.3 vs 84.3 in north light); both drift gray about equally.
Trim that works: White Blush BM 904, #F6F0E1, LRV 84.7: the Benjamin Moore white closest in hue to both.
Closeness: deltaE 4.2, noticeably different. At 4.2, test both: on a full wall the difference will show.

See each color

Linen WhiteBenjamin Moore, BM 912LRV 80.9, #F2EBDA

More comparisons with Linen White

Navajo WhiteSherwin-Williams, SW 6126LRV 72, #E9DCC6

More comparisons with Navajo White

Linen White (BM 912) is lighter than Navajo White (SW 6126) and cooler: LRV 80.9 vs 72, deltaE 4.2 (noticeably different).

Side by side

Measure	Linen White	Navajo White	Gap
Brand	Benjamin Moore	Sherwin-Williams
Color code	912	SW 6126
Hex	#F2EBDA	#E9DCC6
RGB	242, 235, 218	233, 220, 198
HSL	42°, 48%, 90%	38°, 44%, 85%
LRV (light reflectance value)	80.9	72	+8.9
Lab L*	93.2	88.3	+4.9
Lab a*	-0.5	0.9	−1.4
Lab b*	9.1	12.4	−3.3
Undertone	Neutral	Warm Peach
Temperature	warm	warm
Color family	Off-white	Beige

Same paint, two kinds of light

Linen White (BM 912), published as #F2EBDA

North light (cool, indirect)
#E1E1D8

South light (warm, direct)
#FFF5DA

Navajo White (SW 6126), published as #E9DCC6

North light (cool, indirect)
#D8D2C4

South light (warm, direct)
#FBE6C6

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 Linen White (BM 912) for a small room or a north-facing room, because it is 8.9 LRV points lighter (80.9 vs 72), so it bounces back more of the limited light
Pick Linen White (BM 912) for a south-facing room, because its Lab b* is 9.1 against 12.4, so it is the cooler of the two and offsets warm direct sun
Pick Navajo White (SW 6126) to warm a north-facing room, because it is the warmer of the two (Lab b* 12.4), which counters cool indirect light

Closest matches to Linen White in other brands

Closest matches to Navajo White in other brands

Common questions

Is Linen White the same color as Navajo White?: They are noticeably different: a CIEDE2000 difference of 4.2. Most people can see the difference between Linen White and Navajo White side by side.
Which is lighter, Linen White or Navajo White?: Linen White, with an LRV of 80.9 against 72.

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: Linen White: LRV and hex from Benjamin Moore technical data (verified 2026-10-02); Navajo White: 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.