A Popular FLEXIBLE Warm Neutral: Benjamin Moore Ballet White
Have you been scouring Pinterest looking for that one special color that makes your heart POUND with excitement? Let me save you some time and stress and introduce you to Benjamin Moore’s Ballet White.
What type of paint color is Ballet White? Is it warm or cool?
Ballet White is at HEART, a warm cream paint color – but it’s not quite that simple. Cream is a yellow paint color that has a neutral added to calm it down – and Ballet White has a LOT of neutral in it, making it what I fondly call a dirty cream paint color – and dirt has never looked SO good.
What is the LRV of Ballet White?
The LRV of Ballet White is 72, which means it’s a light color. If you’re not well-versed in LRV, I highly recommend you read this article as it’s a game-changer when it comes to choosing paint colors. And while Ballet White is in the off-white range, it still offers a nice, soft contrast with white trim, while keeping things low-key and muted.
Read more: The Ultimate Guide to Choosing a Paint Color – LRV
What are the undertones of Ballet White?
First, let’s talk about cream. A typical cream paint color starts out as yellow and can sometimes grab a wink of orange, red or green. Added to this is a soft neutral base that calms everything down – this neutral is what turns yellow paint colors into cream paint colors! And while Ballet White has a BEAUTIFUL creamy look to it, unlike ‘normal’ cream paint colors, where the yellow is more dominant, Ballet White has a considerably STRONG neutral base mixed, creating a more blended look and balanced look.
This means that in some rooms, you might see more of a warm, muted, but still slightly creamy look, while in others, you’ll see a more of a creamy-greige (mad love). For people who love cream, but don’t love yellow (I’m always amazed at this as cream IS yellow), Ballet White can be a great place to land.
In the previous photo, look at how MUTED and subtle Ballet White looks – hardly a wink of cream to be found!
It’s also a beautiful partner to dark wood trim…
In this next photo, you can see the warmth showing up to the party a bit more, but still VERY subtle.
BM Ballet White in the foreground, BM Gray Cashmere in the background
And unlike colors with a bit more COLOR in them, I find that Ballet White has WAY more flexibility and suits many more rooms. Why? Because no matter what it looks like, it always stays neutral. It’s easier to like or dislike a ‘color’ because colors tend to have emotional responses attached to them, whereas neutrals tend to have ‘neutral emotional responses’ attached to them. If you don’t like green then you DON’T LIKE GREEN and it’s an emotion you’re feeling. If you hate red, then you HATE RED, and again, it will be emotional (but this Ginger’s feelings might be crushed). You may not get excited about neutrals, but you probably won’t hate them (another reason why neutral paint colors are so great for Home Staging).
It is easier to like or dislike a ‘color’ because colors tend to have emotional responses attached to them, whereas neutrals are often less emotional
BTW – If you aren’t following me on Pinterest already, I’d love to see you there!
Ballet White on the exterior of a home
Ballet White is a great choice for an exterior as natural light really makes ALL of the aspects of Ballet White (yellow-cream-beige-gray) recede so that it generally looks like a soft, light, neutral color with no dominant personality or color shining through. If you have a south-facing home you could expect to see a BIT more warmth.
Before Ballet White…
And after Ballet White…
See the before and afters here: A Stunning Exterior Makeover – Painted Brick and More
If you’ve read my post re: picking exterior paint colors, you’ll know that exterior colors tend to come up a bit lighter than you THINK they will. Ballet White proves this point nicely, without looking white or stark.
If your walls are Ballet White, what’s the best white for your trim?
Ballet White is more flexible than a 10-year-old ballerina. It’s more than happy to humor whites like Benjamin Moore Cloud White, White Dove and MUCH more.
Benjamin Moore’s 8 Best White Paint Colors
Does Sherwin Williams have a paint color similar to Ballet White?
YOU BET it does! Check out Sherwin Williams White Duck which has a VERY similar approach being kind of a hybrid between cream, tan and greige, however, it’s a touch LIGHTER and slightly less warm.
Kylie M E-Design
The Best Benjamin Moore Creams and Off-Whites
The Best Benjamin Moore Beige and Tan Paint Colors
A few more things about Ballet White…
- if you’re looking for a slightly warm greige paint color, Ballet White might have TOO much yellow in it as it’s more cream than greige/tan. Check out Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray instead
- Ballet White DOES have a reasonable grayish backdrop, which is what calms the yellow down, so if you don’t love this ‘dirtier’ look and prefer a more noticeable CREAM, check out Benjamin Moore Gentle Cream
- northern light can slightly enhance the gray undertones of Ballet White
- direct natural light will wash Ballet White out because of its higher LRV
- Ballet White is a great ‘whole home’ color as it is light enough for hallways and interesting enough for larger rooms
Not sure if Ballet White is the right color for you? Want something warmer, lighter, brighter? I’ve got more!
Paint Review of Benjamin Moore White Down
Paint Color Review of Benjamin Moore Linen White
Paint Color Review of Sherwin Williams Shoji White
NEED HELP?
Check out my Online Color Consulting Services, I’d love to help!
ORIGINALLY WRITTEN IN 2018, AWESOMELY UPDATED IN 2021
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Hi Kylie, LOVE your website! I have been studying it for months now and recommending it to my friends. Quick question for you…we recently had our upstairs hallway painted Ballet White which I love, but not sure about my selection of satin Chantilly Lace for the trim/door color – seems too stark a contrast. The previous homeowner used semi-gloss Behr Ultra Pure White throughout the house for trim/doors, so I thought I would switch to Chantilly Lace as we begin repainting our home. Do you have any recommendations for a better trim color? Should I switch to SW Pure White for the Ballet White walls or stick with the Chantilly Lace for consistency? Thanks in advance! (PS We also had my son’s room painted Newburyport Blue with Chantilly Lace satin trim – LOVE IT – and as soon as the room is finished, I will send you some pics.)
After reading (too many) reviews and trying (too many) samples, I finally decided on Ballet White (25% darkened) as our whole-house color. I’m obsessed. Now I’m ready to paint our oak cabinets in the hallway. I’m thinking a medium greige, but I’m struggling to find one with undertones that don’t conflict…and make me cringe. Also, I’d like the lightest griege for the cabinets while keeping enough LRV differentiation so they don’t blend together. Any suggested colors? Thank you for any suggestions!!! 🥰
Author
Hi Jaime, try for a greige in the medium depth range with a green undertone – avoid any violet or violet-pink hues with Ballet White!
Hi Kylie! Thank you so much for everything you post! I hope you know how much you help!
I’m painting my home’s exterior and I’ve narrowed it down to Ballet White or Inspire Awe by Clark+Kensington. The problem is I cannot find any information on Inspire Awe except the LRV 63. It’s a very similar greige to Ballet White with slight barely there purplish/taupe undertones. I have samples of both on poster boards. I’ve looked at each all around my exterior… at all hours…many, many, many times.
I live in Phoenix, AZ and my house faces southwest. I’m worried about going too yellow with Ballet White due to the western sun. But if I used Inspire Awe, the purple/taupe undertones should cancel it.
I also do not want my house to look pastel purple in low light! I also have a green lawn and don’t want it to reflect too much on the house. (But that may be inevitable with light paint). I really like Inspire Awe, but I’m afraid of it since I can’t find anything on it. Also, I think I see a tiny hint of pink/violet in Ballet White, am I mistaken?
1. My house is mid-century and I would like to do a soft white/light greige with dark trim like you have in this blog. I’m worried that a LRV of 63 would make the house look too dark in some light (like bad 90s blah beige). How do you predict how much lighter/brighter the color will be on the exterior? Is the paint on the poster board an accurate representation of how the true color will look on the house? How much of the undertone will I see once on the exterior?
2. Thanks to your information in this blog, I now have an idea for the trim: BM Willow. When picking trim, I know that contrast is good. HOWEVER, when picking contrasting trim do I always aim for the same undertone of the main color? Would a contrasting trim paint in a different undertone than the main color be a disaster? In other words, do I contrast the main color and never contrast the undertones?
***I’m determined not to mess this up. I’ve already had to pay to repaint my living room that went creamy lemon yellow when I chose BM Philadelphia Cream. It reminded me of my grandma’s kitchen growing up. I chose BM Winter Wheat (Albescent) to fix it thanks to your post on creams- and it looks great!
Author
Hey! Just a quick note to check out Sherwin Williams White Duck, as it’s less yellowish than Ballet White but still has a bit of warmth to it!
Hi, Kylie! Scouring through colors for our exterior—it’s about 3/4 brick and 1/4 cedar siding. Our brick is orange toned (the varied, lighter kind, not super dark orange); do you think it could work to leave the brick and paint the siding ballet white? I don’t want the contrast to look jarring but I also don’t want to commit to painting the brick yet.
Author
Ooooo, without seeing it I can’t say for sure, but right off the bat I worry that Ballet White could look too creamy/yellow with an orange-hued brick 🙂
Thank you! I looked at you packages but saw your out of office until the 21st and we have to decide by tomorrow 🙃—does dove wing seem like a pretty safe bet?
Thank you! I looked at you packages but saw you’re out of office until the 21st and we have to decide by tomorrow 🙃—does dove wing seem like a pretty safe bet?
Do you think that Ballet White and Edgecomb Gray would work in adjoining rooms. Just worried that the yellow in Ballet White may bring out pink in Edgecomb Gray. Was also looking at Wind’s Breath or White Sand if either of those would work better.
I have Ballet White bookcases, but am looking for wall color a couple shades darker for contrast. What do you suggest? I don’t want to go too beige or yellow. Thank you.
Hi Kylie,
I have been reading every tidbit of info you’ve put out there and watched countless videos and I think I finally came to a decision on exterior paint. Planning on ballet white for siding, simply white for trim, and conservative gray for shutters and doors. Thoughts?
Author
Hi Shana, sounds good, but you MIGHT want a slightly darker gray-green for the shutters, just for a touch more contrast :).
Thanks very much for your wonderful color analyses. Trying to sort whites and off-whites is the most challenging aspect of painting, as those who have tried know. But I see on the Benjamin Moore site that “Ballet White” OC-9 is given an LRV of _71.97_. Has the formula changed since your original review?
FYI, the beautiful pale bluish-gray tiles in my bath presented a nightmare for upper wall color. After two tries with cold whites, BM “Steam” has been a winner. It seems bluish and yellowish are always a good duo. And after two attempts at yellow in the kitchen with “White Dove” cabinetsand soapstone counters, BM “Simply Irresistible” is just enough yellow without being yellow. I’d love to see you do a piece on calm, grown-up yellows that provide muted backdrops but still “read” as yellow. That’s been a tough search, too.
Author
Hi Blair, thanks for catching this, and YES, it looks like it is lower! And I think this is a GREAT blog post idea, thank you – ESPECIALLY with warm colours coming back on the scene!
I chose ballet white to brighten a dining room it seems very yellow /cream. (It does get a bit of sun during the day) Trying to figure out what color to paint the hutch was going to do dark gray/light gray (have lighter floors) but don’t want it to bring out more yellow in the paint. What color would you do the hutch. The room next to it has pashmina but planning to get painters to lighten up the surrounding main areas in January…room with an off white color in next few months stuck in my decision not sure I’m loving my new color but want it to work
Hi Kylie! Edgecomb lightened by 50% vs Ballet White. Are they that different?
Author
I’d have to check them out to see!
Hi Kylie! I have Alabaster for trim throughout the house and don’t want to change. Would the alabaster trim go with Ballet White on (some) of the walls?
Author
Yup!
Hi Kylie!
I am learning so much from you and read everything that you write. Your humor is fantastic !
I am painting my large family room which faces south-east, with lots of natural light. I have two large dark grey leather pieces with warm cherry woodwork. I really love the warmer toned paint.
What color do you suggest; a warm cream or a warm gray, or any other paint color that you suggest?
Please help!!! Thank you !
Author
Oh boy, it’s so hard to say without seeing the room and the undertones of the gray, flooring, etc…off the top, how about SW Egret White or BM Classic Gray???