Color Spotlight: Benjamin Moore Pale Oak
Hi Remodelaholics! It’s Cyndy from The Creativity Exchange back with this month’s paint color post. If you happened to miss my post last month, I highlighted great whole home paint colors and shared some tips for choosing the perfect color here.
For today’s paint color post, I wanted to highlight a fantastic versatile neutral called Pale Oak by Benjamin Moore.
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Pale Oak | Benjamin Moore
I wanted to spotlight Pale Oak because the color is quickly becoming a very popular neutral that is very versatile. Pale Oak is a light warmer greige (gray/beige) that leans just a tad warmer than traditional greiges. In spaces with a lot of natural light (like this space below), Pale Oak will look more of a warm off white.
In spaces with little natural light, Pale Oak takes on a beautiful warm light greige color.
Pale Oak has just the right amount of warmth in the undertone that it keeps the gray in the color from being to cold and sterile.
While Pale Oak is a very versatile color, Pale Oak is one of those colors that can dramatically change depending on lighting. If you’re looking for a beautiful off white with a hint of gray and you have a lot of natural light, Pale Oak is ideal in this situation.
HOW TO TEST A PAINT COLOR
When you’ve chosen the perfect color (or several) — be sure to test it out before splurging for the gallon of paint!
- Get a sample tester or, even easier, a peel and stick paint sample swatch!
- Use an online paint color visualizer or paint color mobile app to test the paint color using a photo of your room.
- Follow our paint expert’s tips here for choosing and testing a paint color.
However, if you have a space with very little natural light and want to choose a greige that will not be to cold, Pale Oak is stunning and has just the right amount of warmth.
While I love Pale Oak in all of these different light situation, I personally think Pale Oak looks its absolute best in spaces that have just a small amount of natural light. I especially love it when the gray in the undertone stands out more but the warmth keeps it from being to sterile.
Pale Oak is a gorgeous color and one to put on your radar. It’s always very important to paint a poster board with a sample of a color before buy but it is especially important to test if you are looking at Pale Oak. Be sure to pin this to save it for later!
Thanks for stopping by today and if you are looking for more versatile colors, I shared my 15 favorite all-star colors on my blog here. I also share tons of color inspiration and workable color palettes as well and you can find all of those here.
Cyndy
More beautiful paint color picks from Cyndy:
dramatic but balanced charcoal gray |Wrought Iron by Benjamin Moore
warm neutral white | Intense White by Benjamin Moore
versatile semi-neutral color | Aegean Teal by Benjamin Moore
Plus don’t miss this beautiful palette of neutral paint colors!
Cyndy is a color expert who has transitioned from the fashion world to the design world by helping others choose just the right paint colors for their homes. Cyndy takes the guesswork out of choosing paint colors and has been sharing her tips and paint color palettes with her readers for more than four years on her blog The Creativity Exchange.
Cyndy lives in East Texas and is an artist working with designers to create commissioned paintings that enhance the color and design of a space.
Cyndy,
I love the look of the Pale Oak!
But, is this another shade of gray that must have a white trim to “pop”?
Our whole house has off-white trim with lots of crown molding, and it is not feasible to paint at this time.
Is there a shade of gray (darker would be great) that would go ok with an off-white trim?
Thank you in advance, Lyne
Hi Cyndy,
I love your posts about colour, especially the colour palettes ones. Is there a post about what colours go well with exposed unpainted brick? How the tone of the bricks would affect the choise of other colours?
Hello, are you able to give me the brand, color stain,species and other specs on the wood floors in the bedroom with the pink pillows? This is exactly the wood floor I am looking for.
Thank you,
Evelyn
Please tell us what these floors are!!!! LOVE your style!!!
I love the look of Pale Oak when there is less natural light….can you recommend a color that will look that way but in spaces with a good amount of natural light? Thanks!
I love pale oak and will be painting the entire exterior of my house in pale oak. I have a white trim and need to pick a shutter color. Would you recommend a gray or navy? Which color and why? Thank you!
Stephanie, I would love to know what colors you chose and see photos! I am Sheri at Sheri Chase dot com. Please set up the email addy appropriately! Thank you.
Me too! I’m currently looking for a shutter color asap to go with pale oak painted brick exterior. Please send photos and color shutter you choose! Thank you!!!! Olivia at rivco dot biz
Did you chose a shutter color and do you have pics??? i just had my house painted in Pale Oak and am not sure about shutters. I may do white. BUt the white they used on the trim hasnt popped much. suggestions!!!
Hi stephanie! I would love to know how pale oak turned out on your exterior. I am painting my exterior tomorrow in this color with Canterbury gray as my front door and garage door. I’m patio the doors in an oil base high shine to pop a little.
My email is Jeanne @planetrehab.com
I am painting my daughters bedroom pale oak. Your picture of the bedroom with the upholstered headboard with the brass nailheads was our inspiration room. She loves the bed. Can you tell me where you bought it from?
Mary
Would pale oak work in a room with a red brick fireplace and without much natural light?
I painted my house Pale Oak exterior and I have a tobacco cantera stone trim around my windows and doors and will like to know what color can I use for a trim on top and also doing my interior edge comb gray and my floor is like a travertine color what color will it look good with that flooring having thoughts on the inside color
Can you let me know the floor details for the room with the pink pillows???
Thank you
Hi Kathy, These are inspiration photos, not our own, so you’d have to check with the original source (linked below the photo).
Have you seen Pale Oak painted kitchen cabinets? Or do you have any pictures of cabinets painted Pale Oak?
Hi,
Loved your post on Pale Oak. It was very helpful. We are in the process of choosing a paint color for our home and it has been tough to choose. I have hunted Pinterest and your post was really helpful. We have a open floor plan with a Southern transitional style. Our home is North faces and that has been hard to decide on a paint color for house that has some personality and goes well with white trim, but not one that doesn’t go boring and dull. I had a quick question. We love Pale Oak and think we might go with that… but my husband thinks it needs to be just a little darker. What do you think about Pale Oak at 25% darker?
Thanks again for your helpful post,
Jennifer
Sent from my iPhone
Hi ! I’m thinking of going pale oak 25 percent darker too .. have same set up it sounds at our house . Love the color just thinking it needs to go a tad darker . Curious If you did the 25 percent darker shade and was it enough to see a shade change without it changing the color? Thanks!!!
Hi I used Pale Oak in a house with not a lot of light and most of it northface. It was beautiful. In a studio with a lot of light, I used Cedar Key – it is a bit “darker” than Pale Oak and worked well. Trim was Cloud White in both. J
Thank you ! I have a north facing room and the painters are painting today as I watch I’m having anxiety! Reading This made me feel everything will be ok.
Hi
We choose pale oak for the exterior of our home. What might work for the trim? I was thinking vm chattily lace or white dive? I am not in love with the outside. Looks a bit more oatmeal than I anticipated. I could do , black or grey or on windows and a blue door? Luckily it is raining for a few days Any advice is much appreciated!!!
Terri
It’s hard to say without seeing a picture of your house, We just painted our front door blue and we love the blue door. I do love the look of black windows with a pale oak exterior.
Thank you for this helpful advice! I recently had all the cabinets in my home refinished by a local wood refinishing company and they did a great job, but the stain I chose didn’t quite go with the walls or the decor of the room. Rather than getting the cabinets refinished again, I decided to repaint the walls in my home with Benjamin Moore’s Pale Oak. I never would have picked this color if it weren’t for this post, but I’m so glad I did because it was the perfect color for my kitchen and I’m happy with the results!
Hello, I am helping my mother repaint her living room and kitchen that are wood tongue and groove. Her living room is large, has three windows, but only table lamps for lighting right now, her house runs north/south and the living room faces east, however she has a overhang on the east side of living room and her house sits in a valley. I’m trying to select a neutral paint color that (white of some form) that doesn’t have yellow undertones, but will brighten the room without looking dingy. I have been thinking about pale oak, white dove, silver satin (all by Benjamin Moore), but struggle and overwhelmed in making the right choice. Any suggestions? She has finally got new kitchen cabinets after 60 years and new quartz countertop (swanbridge cambria) and will be getting new luxury vinyl plank flooring. I’m open to any suggestions.
What did you end up choosing, B?
Pale Oak, Pale Oak. Love it but what colors of white trim in north facing rooms and other facing rooms for that matter. Thx
Hello Roo — I think you’ll find this article helpful: https://www.remodelaholic.com/tricks-choosing-perfect-white-paint-color/