Pale Oak (BM OC-20) vs Ballet White (BM OC-9)

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

Living room with walls painted Benjamin Moore Ballet White OC-9 (simulated) — Ballet White BM OC-9#E5E0D0, LRV 72 Verified 2026-10-02

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

Quick decision

Lighter: Ballet White, LRV 72 vs 68.6.
Warmer: Ballet White (Lab b* 8.4 vs 5.9). Pale Oak reads greige; Ballet White reads warm white.
North rooms: Ballet White keeps more brightness (L* 85.3 vs 82.8 in north light); both drift gray about equally.
Trim that works: Stoneware BM CSP-245, #EFEADB, LRV 80.8: the Benjamin Moore white closest in hue to both.
Closeness: deltaE 2.5, noticeably different. At 2.5, test both: on a full wall the difference will show.

See each color

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

More comparisons with Pale Oak

Ballet WhiteBenjamin Moore, BM OC-9LRV 72, #E5E0D0

More comparisons with Ballet White

Pale Oak (BM OC-20) is slightly darker than Ballet White (BM OC-9) and slightly cooler: LRV 68.6 vs 72, deltaE 2.5 (noticeably different).

Side by side

Measure	Pale Oak	Ballet White	Gap
Brand	Benjamin Moore	Benjamin Moore
Color code	OC-20	OC-9
Hex	#DDD9CE	#E5E0D0
RGB	221, 217, 206	229, 224, 208
HSL	44°, 18%, 84%	46°, 29%, 86%
LRV (light reflectance value)	68.6	72	−3.3
Lab L*	86.7	89.2	−2.4
Lab a*	-0.5	-1.0	+0.5
Lab b*	5.9	8.4	−2.5
Undertone	Warm Greige	Neutral
Temperature	warm	warm
Color family	Greige	Off-white

Same paint, two kinds of light

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

North light (cool, indirect)
#CCCFCC

South light (warm, direct)
#EFE3CE

Ballet White (BM OC-9), published as #E5E0D0

North light (cool, indirect)
#D4D6CE

South light (warm, direct)
#F7EAD0

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 Ballet White (BM OC-9) for a small room or a north-facing room, because it is 3.3 LRV points lighter (72 vs 68.6), so it bounces back more of the limited light
Pick Pale Oak (BM OC-20) for a south-facing room, because its Lab b* is 5.9 against 8.4, so it is the cooler of the two and offsets warm direct sun
Pick Ballet White (BM OC-9) to warm a north-facing room, because it is the warmer of the two (Lab b* 8.4), which counters cool indirect light

Closest matches to Pale Oak in other brands

Closest matches to Ballet White in other brands

Common questions

Is Pale Oak the same color as Ballet White?: They are noticeably different: a CIEDE2000 difference of 2.5. Most people can see the difference between Pale Oak and Ballet White side by side.
Which is lighter, Pale Oak or Ballet White?: Ballet White, with an LRV of 72 against 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: 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.