Simply White (OC-117)
A clean, bright white with just enough warmth to avoid looking sterile. The slight yellow undertone keeps it from feeling cold.
About Benjamin Moore Simply White
Simply White (OC-117) is a white from Benjamin Moore's collection with an LRV of 91.7 and warm yellow undertones. A clean, bright white with just enough warmth to avoid looking sterile. The slight yellow undertone keeps it from feeling cold.
As a very light color, Simply White reflects a significant amount of light back into the room, making it an excellent choice for spaces where you want maximum brightness. It works as both a wall color and a trim or cabinet color, and it is light enough to use throughout an entire home without any room feeling closed in or dark. The high LRV means it will look bright even in rooms with limited natural light, though the undertones may shift depending on your light source.
Light Reflectance Value (LRV)
Simply White has an LRV of 91.7, placing it in the very light range on the 0-to-100 scale. LRV measures the percentage of visible light a color reflects. A pure black has an LRV of 0 and a pure white has an LRV of 100. Understanding a color's LRV helps you predict how it will feel in your space: higher LRV means brighter and more spacious, lower LRV means cozier and more intimate.
Undertone Analysis
Simply White has warm yellow undertones. Undertones are the subtle background colors that become visible in different lighting conditions. Even colors that look "neutral" in the store will reveal their undertones once they are on your walls and interacting with natural light, artificial light, and the colors around them.
A clean, bright white with just enough warmth to avoid looking sterile. The slight yellow undertone keeps it from feeling cold. Warm undertones like these pair naturally with other warm elements: honey-toned wood floors, brass and gold hardware, cream-colored textiles, and warm-toned furnishings. They can clash with strongly cool elements like icy blue accents or chrome fixtures, though the effect depends on the strength of the undertone.
Lighting Behavior
Reads as a crisp, warm white in most lighting. In very warm south-facing light, the yellow can become noticeable. Under cool LEDs, it looks clean and bright.
Every paint color looks different depending on the light source in your room. South-facing rooms get warm, direct sunlight that brings out yellow and warm undertones. North-facing rooms get cool, indirect light that emphasizes blue and gray undertones. East-facing rooms are bright and warm in the morning, cooler in the afternoon. West-facing rooms are the opposite: cool morning, warm afternoon. Incandescent and warm LED bulbs push colors warmer, while cool-white LEDs and fluorescent tubes push colors cooler. To avoid surprises, always test Simply White with a physical sample on your actual wall, and observe it at different times of day before committing.
Best Rooms for Simply White
Benjamin Moore recommends Simply White for: trim, ceilings, cabinets, whole house, bathroom.
Simply White is versatile enough to use as a whole-house color, providing a consistent, cohesive look as you move from room to room. Whole-house colors need to work in multiple lighting conditions and alongside various furnishings, which is why a balanced LRV (91.7) and manageable undertones are essential. Simply White handles this well. As a trim color, Simply White provides a clean frame for wall colors without the starkness of a pure white. It softens the transition between wall and trim while still reading as "white" in most contexts. On kitchen and bathroom cabinets, Simply White offers a fresh, clean look. Cabinet colors are seen up close and under task lighting, so the undertones matter even more than on walls.
Closest Matches in Other Brands
Find the closest equivalent to Benjamin Moore Simply White from other paint brands. Matches are calculated using Delta E (CIE2000), the industry standard for measuring perceptual color difference.
Sherwin Williams Matches
Extra White is cooler and brighter. If you want a true clean white, this works. If you want that slight warmth, keep looking.
View all Sherwin Williams matches →Alabaster is warmer and creamier than Simply White. Close enough for trim if your walls are a warm color.
View all Sherwin Williams matches →Behr Matches
Behr's Ultra Pure White is cooler and cleaner. Not an exact match but serves a similar role as a bright warm-leaning white.
View all Behr matches →Coordinating Colors
These colors pair beautifully with Simply White for a cohesive palette. Use them for trim, accents, adjacent rooms, or furniture to create a well-designed space.
Frequently Asked Questions
The closest Sherwin Williams match for Benjamin Moore Simply White is Extra White (SW 7006) with a Delta E of 4.5, which rates as a "good match" match. Extra White is cooler and brighter. If you want a true clean white, this works. If you want that slight warmth, keep looking. A Delta E under 2 means most people cannot tell the colors apart, while 2 to 4 means the difference is subtle.
Simply White has warm yellow undertones. A clean, bright white with just enough warmth to avoid looking sterile. The slight yellow undertone keeps it from feeling cold. Undertones become most visible when the color is on a large surface like a wall, and they shift depending on the light source in your room. Always test with a physical sample in your specific space to see how the undertones interact with your lighting, flooring, and furnishings.
Simply White (OC-117) has a Light Reflectance Value (LRV) of 91.7, which puts it in the very light range. LRV measures the percentage of light a color reflects on a scale from 0 (pure black) to 100 (pure white). At 91.7, this is a light color that will keep rooms feeling bright and open.
Simply White leans warm. The warm yellow undertones give it a cozy, inviting quality. It pairs naturally with other warm elements like wood tones, brass hardware, and cream textiles. In north-facing rooms, the warmth is especially welcoming.
Color data sourced from manufacturer specifications. Match calculations use Delta E (CIE2000) computed from Lab color space conversion. Last reviewed: March 22, 2026.