Pale Oak (BM OC-20) vs Accessible Beige (SW 7036)
Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
Quick decision
- Lighter
- Pale Oak, LRV 68.6 vs 58.
- Warmer
- Accessible Beige, both greige (Lab b* 8.8 vs 5.9).
- North rooms
- Pale Oak: keeps more brightness (L* 82.8 vs 76.7 in north light) and drifts less gray (chroma drop 4.0 vs 4.9).
- Trim that works
- Woodland Snow BM 2161-70, #F7EFE1, LRV 85.6: the Benjamin Moore white closest in hue to both.
- Closeness
- deltaE 5.0, clearly different. At 5.0, treat them as different colors.
See each color
More comparisons with Accessible Beige
Pale Oak (BM OC-20) is lighter than Accessible Beige (SW 7036) and slightly cooler: LRV 68.6 vs 58, deltaE 5.0 (clearly different).
Side by side
| Measure | Pale Oak | Accessible Beige | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Benjamin Moore | Sherwin-Williams | |
| Color code | OC-20 | SW 7036 | |
| Hex | #DDD9CE | #D1C7B8 | |
| RGB | 221, 217, 206 | 209, 199, 184 | |
| HSL | 44°, 18%, 84% | 36°, 21%, 77% | |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 68.6 | 58 | +10.6 |
| Lab L* | 86.7 | 80.7 | +6.1 |
| Lab a* | -0.5 | 0.9 | −1.5 |
| Lab b* | 5.9 | 8.8 | −2.9 |
| Undertone | Warm Greige | Warm Sandy | |
| Temperature | warm | warm | |
| Color family | Greige | Beige |
Same paint, two kinds of light
Pale Oak (BM OC-20), published as #DDD9CE
#CCCFCC
#EFE3CE
Accessible Beige (SW 7036), published as #D1C7B8
#C0BDB6
#E2D1B8
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 Pale Oak (BM OC-20) for a small room or a north-facing room, because it is 10.6 LRV points lighter (68.6 vs 58), 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 8.8, so it is the cooler of the two and offsets warm direct sun
- Pick Accessible Beige (SW 7036) to warm a north-facing room, because it is the warmer of the two (Lab b* 8.8), which counters cool indirect light
Closest matches to Pale Oak in other brands
Closest matches to Accessible Beige in other brands
Common questions
- Is Pale Oak the same color as Accessible Beige?
- They are clearly different: a CIEDE2000 difference of 5.0. Pale Oak and Accessible Beige are different colors.
- Which is lighter, Pale Oak or Accessible Beige?
- Pale Oak, with an LRV of 68.6 against 58.
Full pages
Related comparisons
Sources: Pale Oak: LRV and hex from Benjamin Moore technical data (verified 2026-10-02); Accessible Beige: 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.