Benjamin Moore Balboa Mist: If you are looking for a neutral gray paint color for your home, you can’t go wrong with BM OC-27. It is one of my favorite warm gray paint colors and it looks good in any room!
Below, you will find a comprehensive color analysis including information on its LRV (light reflectance value), colors that go with BM Balboa Mist, and a paint color comparison with other warm light grays and greige paint colors!
BENJAMIN MOORE BALBOA MIST
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GET A SAMPLE OF BALBOA MIST HERE
BENJAMIN MOORE BALBOA MIST PAINT SAMPLES
*This post contains affiliate links at no cost to you. See my complete disclosure policy here.
It requires no schlepping to the paint store, no washing paintbrushes, and no wondering if you painted enough (ensuring you have a true representation of the color…)
Samplize will send you 12″x12″ paint samples that you peel and stick on your walls. At $5.99 a sample, it cheaper than my going to the paint store, buying samples, brushes, and poster boards. Plus, it’s way EASIER and LESS MESSY!
Reasons Why I Love Samplize:
- NO MESS or Clean-up
- Color correct–they are a true representation of the colors because they are made with two coats of paint.
- More affordable and time-friendly than buying samples/ making samples.
- Samplize samples will arrive at your doorstep within 1-3 days from the time you order them! and of course easier and way less messy
BALBOA MIST UNDERTONES
The easiest way to see what the undertones are of any paint color is to examine it next to similar shades. On a paint chip, you can look at the most concentrated (or most saturated) paint colors. This helps you visualize what the undertones in a paint color are.
What are the undertones of BM Balboa Mist 1547?
With OC-27, you can see the slightly brown with a lot of gray undertones. It has a smidge of green in it too (it is the second one all the way to the left.)
Related: See the Top Paint Colors for Selling Your Home
But, the best way to see a paint’s undertones is to get a sample and see it in your own home. Paint colors are finicky friends–they tend to change a lot depending on the light conditions they are in. The easiest way to get a sample that is true to life is through Samplize.
Within days of ordering, you will have a 12″ x 12″ perfectly painted swatch that you can peel and stick to any of your walls. It is true to life and won’t leave any residue (nor will it have to fight against your other paint colors on your wall.)
BM Balboa Mist
BM Classic Gray
BM Pale Oak
BM Edgecomb Gray
BM Revere Pewter
SW Repose Gray
SW Agreeable Gray
What is Balboa Mist’s LRV?
BM Balboa Mist OC-27 has a light reflectance value (LRV) of 67.37. It is very similar to Pale Oak (LRV= 69.89). Darker paint colors will have lower LRVs and lighter paint colors will have higher LRVs. For reference, most white paint colors have LRVs between 80-95. So, Balboa Mist is a solid light gray.
Is Balboa Mist warm or cool?
Balboa Mist OC-27 (also called Balboa Mist 1547) is considered a warm gray. Unlike other cool gray colors which have blue undertones, OC-27 has a slightly taupe undertone which reads warmer than others. It goes well with warmer white tones that have a bit of gray in them like BM Simply White, BM White Dove, and BM Cloud White.
Is Balboa Mist too light?
Balboa Mist is a light gray but it is not too light. It has a LRV (light reflectance value) of 67.37. By contrast, most white paint colors have LRVs between 80-95.
BENJAMIN MOORE BALBOA MIST COMPARED
BALBOA MIST VS. CLASSIC GRAY
Balboa Mist and Classic Gray are very similar paint colors. For the first several years of owning our house, we only used these two paint colors in the majority of our rooms and had great success. See my complete review of Benjamin Moore Classic Gray here.
In a slightly sunnier room, BM OC-27 looks pretty much the same as Classic Gray. We originally had painted our hallway Classic Gray and our living room Balboa Mist.
I like using Balboa Mist in rooms that I want a little more drama in–our formal living room and our dining room (which is now a playroom). Classic Gray, on the other hand, is a great light gray color which I like to think is a go-anywhere and blend in with the surroundings.
LRVs compared: BM is slightly darker (and has a lower LRV) than Classic Gray.
Classic Gray: 74.78
Balboa Mist: 67.37
*affiliate links have been used see my complete disclosure policy here
Here you can see Benjamin Moore OC-27 in our playroom (dining room turned playroom) in late afternoon Southern light. It is still considered a warm light gray paint color even though it does have blue in it. It pairs really well with Benjamin Moore’s Simply White, which we used for the wainscoting and all the trim in the house.
And here you can see it in our formal living room which receives even more light–it faces South and West. Whereas Classic Gray may have been washed out by the amount of light pouring in, Balboa Mist is able (because of its slightly higher concentration of color) to hold its ground and not be washed out.
PALE OAK VS. BALBOA MIST
The other color we considered instead of Benjamin Moore’s Balboa Mist OC-27, was Pale Oak. You can see here how similar it is to Balboa Mist. It is another one of those beautiful light gray paint colors (see all my favorites in this post here on the best gray paint colors for your home!)
Compared to Balboa Mist, Pale Oak is slightly less concentrated and while it’s hard to see (even in the graphic below comparing Pale Oak vs. Balboa Mist paint swatches), Pale Oak read slightly more brownish to me. It is a little warmer of a light gray color with a little less blue.
LRVs compared: Both paint colors are very similar with their brightness–only two points apart on their light reflectance values.
Pale Oak LRV: 69.89
Balboa Mist LRV: 67.37
If you are trying to decide Pale Oak vs. OC-27 then my best advice is to get a sample–the easiest way to do it is through Samplize!
It’s the best way to see what the paint colors will really look like on your walls without painting samples everywhere (plus you don’t have to contend with trying to cover up the paint underneath!)
You can also always purchase a Samplize paint sample! They run about $5 and save you the hassle of painting (and cost about what a test size paint can does!)
BM BALBOA MIST VS. SW REPOSE GRAY
Another one of the most popular gray paint colors is Sherwin-Williams Repose Gray. While I haven’t used it in my own home, several of my friends have used it in theirs (see them in the post here).
While they might seem like similar light gray colors when you put them head to head you can see how much greener and bluer SW Repose Gray is than Benjamin Moore Balboa Mist OC-27. They are two very different paint colors. I prefer Benjamin Moore OC-27 because it reads warmer. With the majority of the year here in Wisconsin being color and dreary, I want a slightly “warmer” light gray for my home.
LRVs (light reflectance values) compared:
BM BALBOA MIST VS. SW GREEABLE GRAY
Sherwin-Williams’ Agreeable Gray is one of their most popular paint colors. It is a lovely gray, and you can see how it looks in the paint chip below. But, by comparing it to Balboa Mist OC-27, you can see its warmer undertones. Benjamin Moore’s OC-27 has slightly greener undertones; whereas, Agreeable Gray has a lot of brown and purple in it. Agreeable Gray is a darker paint color but is warmer in tone (this is reflected in the LRVs below as well!)
Balboa Mist LRV: 67.37
SW Agreeable Gray LRV: 60
BALBOA MIST VS. EDGECOMB GRAY
Two of Benjamin Moore’s most popular paint colors, Edgecomb Gray and Balboa Mist OC-27 are versatile paint colors that look good in any room (and I use them all the time in my custom color schemes!)
While they are of similar brightness (you can see that with their similar light reflectance values listed below), Edgecomb Gray has more of a brownish undertone. It reads more “taupe” than Benjamin Moore Balboa Mist, which by comparison seems more greenish.
Balboa Mist LRV: 67.37
BM Edgecomb Gray LRV: 63.88
Also read: Edgecomb Gray: The Perfect Greige?
BALBOA MIST VS. REVERE PEWTER
Revere Pewter is one of my favorite warm gray paint colors. It is similar to Balboa Mist, but quite a bit darker and warmer (as evidenced by its LRVs compared below.) Revere Pewter is very similar to Edgecomb Gray above and has a lot of taupe in it, and much more brown than Balboa Mist. Both are lovely colors but have distinctly different looks.
LRVs compared:
Revere Pewter LRV : 55.51
BM Balboa Mist LRV: 67.31
BM OC-27 IN REAL HOMES
BALBOA MIST KITCHENS
BM 1547 DINING ROOMS
BENJAMIN MOORE BALBOA MIST LIVING ROOMS
BM OC-27 BATHROOMS
BALBOA MIST BM 1547 BEDROOMS
BALBOA MIST EXTERIOR
BALBOA MIST OC-27 COLOR SCHEME
Wondering how to use OC-27 in your house? We’ve used Balboa Mist OC-27 in two of our rooms (our playroom and our living room) as shown above. But you can use it anywhere you like! It looks lovely in hallways, in kitchens, and even bedrooms. Below, I’ve created a custom color palette. Most of these paint colors are ones we have used in our own home.
Middle row: Simply White/ Boothbay Gray/ Romantic Pink
Bottom row: Cloud White/ Van Courtland Blue/ Pale Oak
WHAT COLOR GOES WITH BALBOA MIST?
- Benjamin Moore Classic Gray
- Benjamin Moore White Dove
- Benjamin Moore Hale Navy
- Benjamin Moore Simply White
- Benjamin Moore Boothbay Gray
- Benjamin Moore Romantic Pink
- Benjamin Moore Cloud White
- Benjamin Moore Van Courtland Blue (see all the best blue-gray paint colors here)
- Benjamin Moore Pale Oak
Related: See my tips for picking a whole house color scheme here
WHAT ARE THE UNDERTONES OF BALBOA MIST?
TOOLS TO PAINT A ROOM FAST
This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.
These tools have literally saved me DAYS of painting and cut my time painting by 66%! I only wish I knew about them and made the under $10 purchase before!
- Abrasive Hand Pad
- Use this instead of sandpaper. Using sandpaper will rub off too much of the varnish and the stain on your oak wood trim will permeate your newly painted white paint. We use these abrasive pads everywhere instead of sandpaper.
- Paint Pad–– save yourself HOURS by buying this under $10 painting tool!
- Paint Trim Guard
- You are going to want this if you have wall-to-wall carpeting or hardwood floors that you want to protect. I use it along with Painter’s Tape to ensure that I don’t have drips on my floor.
YOU WILL LOVE:
- SEE ALL THE BEST GRAY PAINT COLORS for your home in this post!
- SEE HOW BENJAMIN MOORE CLASSIC GRAY compares
PIN THIS FOR LATER SO YOU DON’T FORGET IT!
Hello Annie,
Well I am happy I found you!
I have been looking non stop for Wall colors for my house in Canada ( that I have only seen on pictures and have to choose the paints online as well).
So after reading your post I decided to follow your advice and I choose Balboa mist for the living room and Classic gray for the rest of the House. I told the contractor that if any spaces were dark to use Classic gray. I will also use Simply white for the trims. Should I use Simply white for the ceiling as well? Is classic gray nice for teenagers’rooms? Does your house have a light and warm feeling? This is what I am looking for. Thank you so much!
Oh good! I am so glad you found it helpful! That sounds like a wonderful palette–and the exactly the same thing we have in our house. I think classic gray would be perfect for a teenager room. I think our house definitely still has a light and warm feeling, airy but still warm! I would use a bright white actually on the ceiling instead of Simply White–it will make it seem brighter and more airy. I don’t know offhand what the name of our ceiling paint is because it’s just what the owners had ahead of us.
Hi. Love your post. I have been thinking of painting my open concept townhome- facing southwest-SW Gossimer Veil, but now considering Bm Balboa Mist.
An issue is that I’m trying to tone down the green in my kitchen’s glass tile backsplash.
Would you be able tell me how these two compare?
Love the post and the colors. We just painted our kitchen/dining room, living room foyer/hallway Pale Oak with Simply White trim. It’s gorgeous. I am however, wanting to add a bit more color to the dining area as it gets a lot of light and the pale oak is washing out, i might try Balboa Mist. For our ceiling we used White Dove. It’s great for ceilings and nice contrast to the molding and walls.
Hi Michelle! That sounds wonderful! I love the idea of using White Dove on the ceilings as a contrast to the mouldings!
Annie
Hi Fran! Thanks so much for commenting. Unfortunately, I am not familiar with SW Gossimer Veil but upon examining the paint chip on their website, it looks like Balboa Mist is slightly lighter. What I would recommend is getting a paint chip of both and putting them right next to each other on your glass tile backsplash. If you are open to painting a small sample on a white piece of paper, I would recommend that as well. That is my favorite trick for getting a good idea of what it will look like!
Annie
Would love your thoughts on pale oak or balboa mist in a low natural light room with a reddish brick fireplace?
I hear ya! It is so hard! I would paint samples of both right next to the brick and see which one you like more. It’s hard to say because they are so similar. And funny thing, I just painted my reddish brown fireplace!
Thank you! Wil try that! Did you paint your fireplace white and if so, which white?
Yes! It’s my favorite trick (and it saves me putting patches of paint up on every single wall in my house 🙂 I just did a coat of primer–Zinsser 1-2-3 Bulls Eye Primer and then 2 coats of Benjamin Moore Semi Gloss Natura in Simply White (to match the rest of my trim)–you can see a pic of it on my Instagram.com/diydecormom if that helps!
Great blog! We just painted whole house Balboa Mist and it’s so purple (lavender in some points, grapey purple in others). I’m crushed because I have no idea where to go from here. When we tried it out in different spaces it looked great. Currently the floor is covered with white tarp to protect floors and all windows are covered with plastic. Will the purple die down once removed? My trim is off white, wood floors will be a darker oak stain, decor primarily gray, white, neutral tones with pops of coral and blue. Front of house faces southeast and the back northwest. I’m just stumped 🙁
Lee, I am so sorry to hear that! I would guess that the purple will die down. What was underneath it? Is it possible that something underneath is still showing? We have it in two of our rooms, and never seen a lavender hue. Our house faces the same exact orientation, and we have it in our dining room/ playroom and living room. Or did the painters perhaps color match it? I have had bad experiences with that, having Sherwin-Williams color match Simply White from Benjamin Moore and it turned out beige. That is the only thing I can think of.
Hi Annie,
Hope you can help. My living room/dining area is now BM Sandy Brown (very warm & cozy), but I’d like to update to something brighter. I have brown wood furniture, a beige, cream & grey oriental carpet & a cream colored sofa, a green swivel chair & a deep red leather swivel chair. The room is facing south, although there are few windows, so there is very low light. I accent with green & deep red. I was looking at SW Repose Gray (my daughter just painted her high light living room & dining room), BM Pewter (son has whole house with this color), BM Wickham Grey (friends have it…high & low light). Not sure what to do. Help!!
Hi Kathleen! Thanks so much for commenting! I wish I could be there with you and help you out! What I would recommend is buying some samples, painting them on a big poster board (the Dollar Store has them for $1–you can cut it up and put up to four samples on it) and taking them room to room. You can put it behind pieces of your furniture and see how the colors coordinate. In my mother-in-law’s house, she has a lot of green, orange, and red accents with wood trim, and lots of wood furniture. She has gone a slightly different route than me and it’s turned out lovely. She loved Hazy Skies by Benjamin Moore and November Rain by Benjamin Moore. Paint colors can look so different in each room, and with different shades of furniture already in there, your best bet is getting samples and living with it for a day or two. You’ll notice the way the light catches the samples during different parts of the day. I hope it helps a little! Although it sounds like your kids have excellent taste too 🙂
Annie
Hi I need help !!! I love Balboa Mist We have open concept LR, Kitchen and hallway…kitchen has cream cabinets. The granite does have some gray in it. Do you think Balboa will still work? Thankyou!
Yes, without seeing the cream cabinets, I think it will work! To be sure, I would take a paint sample of Balboa Mist up next to the granite countertops and cream cabinets as well. It’s a lovely color that plays well with others 🙂
Hi Annie,
Great Post! I wish BM would have videos and more insight on tones that relate within that 2nd to 3rd rage of options that customers may have trouble comparing.
Around 11/18, I had painted my halls and kitchen Vapor AF-35 and trim Decorators White OC-149 (no bueno!) I wish I didn’t use Decorators White for the trim as it’s so cool and Vapor is on the warm side. During the day they’re ok, however at night they clash. Perhaps, I should’ve used Gardenia or Cloud White.
I’m now in search of painting both the open concept Living / Dining Room that spill off the hall and kitchen (Vapor AF-35). What paint colors would you recommend to compliment that tone? The rooms get a good amount of light during the day. I’m going for a French Vibe.
Hi Annie,
I just came upon your blog as I was looking for information about BM Revere Pewter. It’s that time to paint the OUTSIDE of my home, uugh and was hoping you might be able to offer some advice. I love grey and griege colors and my husband is skeptical and is not a fan of anything really grey, he likes warmer tones. Our home is a traditional colonial with shutters and a portico over the front door. Currently I think I have BM Manchester Tan with dark forest green shutter and door. I want to change it up and try Revere Pewter or Balboa Mist. I have used BM indoors and like it but don’t know about the outside. I was thinking black shutters and white trim. Any thoughts? Front of the house does not get much light at all. Thanks!!
Hi. This is so helpful and I need help!
I’ve been searching for warmer neutrals. My living room is east facing on north west axis with a beautiful deep mint couch and navy chair. I came across balboa mist and like that it’s a warm neutral and plan to paint my living room and front entry hall and staircase wall. My friend whose a designer (without being in my house) recommended edgecomb grey (or nimbus 1439, which is too tan for me and she didn’t mention balboa, found that on my own)for my dining room which is next to the living rom through a wide open space (you see one from the other) My furniture is medium dark with reddish brown tones. Can edgecomb grey go next to balboa mist?
Also, she recommended semi-gloss decorators white for the moldings, trim and fireplace and French doors but now I’m reading that might clash with balboa Mist’s warm tones. Any idea for a trim and molding that would work with both balboa mist and edgecomb grey? Or thoughts about what color to sub in if edgecomb and balboa don’t work well together?
Thanks so much! Painters start tomorrow and I’m so anxious!
Idana
omg where is this cute coffee table from??
Hi, Have a quick question. First thanks for being so helpful. I am going with Balboa Mist in my mom’s in law place. I read some blogs that say use White Dove for the Trim and others Simply White. What made your final decision to go with Simply White on the Trim? Maybe your thought process will help me with mine. Thanks 🙂 Todd, Massachusetts
Thanks for your thoughts about BM balboa mist. I’m serious Considering it for kitchen cabinets. I am however worried about purple undertones which I can slightly see in my sample board. What’s your feeling on that?
Hi Annie,
Would this colour work well in a powder room with no window?
I am also considering Balboa Mist on my kitchen cabinets. Did you do it? Would love to hear your review
Hi Bonnie! Sorry, I took some time off with the birth of my fourth! I haven’t painted Balboa Mist cabinets yet, but I think they would be lovely! Erin Gates also has some nicely painted gray cabinets in her bathroom–I think they are pretty dark–maybe Chelsea Gray, and in her kitchen I want to say it’s another light gray paint color!
Let me know how it turns out!
Annie
Hi, Annie! Love your website. My walls are painted Balboa Mist and I’m looking for a darker color that will match to use for the interior doors. Any ideas?? I’ve searched the internet, to no avail. Do I just have Balboa Mist darkened 50%? I’m at a total loss. Thanks!
Love all your advice for using gray.I’ve never been good at picking paint colors. We’re redoing our bedroom and we have Tommy Bahama furniture. Would gray go with that kind of tropical decor? I’m so tired of using green everywhere. I’d like to update and change our look and the grays and griege colors are beautiful.