Pale Oak (BM OC-20) vs Alabaster (SW 7008)

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 Sherwin-Williams Alabaster SW 7008 (simulated) — Alabaster SW 7008#EDEAE0, LRV 82

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

Quick decision

Lighter: Alabaster, LRV 82 vs 68.6.
Warmer: About the same (Lab b* 5.9 vs 5.2). Pale Oak reads greige; Alabaster reads warm white.
North rooms: Alabaster: keeps more brightness (L* 88.8 vs 82.8 in north light) and drifts less gray (chroma drop 3.2 vs 4.0).
Trim that works: Dove Wing BM 960, #E9E6DB, LRV 77.5: the Benjamin Moore white closest in hue to both.
Closeness: deltaE 3.8, noticeably different. At 3.8, 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

AlabasterSherwin-Williams, SW 7008LRV 82, #EDEAE0

More comparisons with Alabaster

Pale Oak (BM OC-20) is darker than Alabaster (SW 7008) and about as warm: LRV 68.6 vs 82, deltaE 3.8 (noticeably different).

Side by side

Measure	Pale Oak	Alabaster	Gap
Brand	Benjamin Moore	Sherwin-Williams
Color code	OC-20	SW 7008
Hex	#DDD9CE	#EDEAE0
RGB	221, 217, 206	237, 234, 224
HSL	44°, 18%, 84%	46°, 27%, 90%
LRV (light reflectance value)	68.6	82	−13.4
Lab L*	86.7	92.7	−6.0
Lab a*	-0.5	-0.7	+0.2
Lab b*	5.9	5.2	+0.7
Undertone	Warm Greige	Neutral
Temperature	warm	warm
Color family	Greige	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

Alabaster (SW 7008), published as #EDEAE0

North light (cool, indirect)
#DBE0DE

South light (warm, direct)
#FFF4E0

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 Alabaster (SW 7008) for a small room or a north-facing room, because it is 13.4 LRV points lighter (82 vs 68.6), so it bounces back more of the limited light

Closest matches to Pale Oak in other brands

Closest matches to Alabaster in other brands

Common questions

Is Pale Oak the same color as Alabaster?: They are noticeably different: a CIEDE2000 difference of 3.8. Most people can see the difference between Pale Oak and Alabaster side by side.
Which is lighter, Pale Oak or Alabaster?: Alabaster, with an LRV of 82 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: Pale Oak: LRV and hex from Benjamin Moore technical data (verified 2026-10-02); Alabaster: 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.