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5 Reasons Swiss Coffee Paint by Benjamin Moore Is the Best Exterior Paint for Your Home

ByKorilyn Martin

Painting the exterior of your home is a massive project and one that will last a while. I consider it semi-permanent since painting the entire exterior of your home only happens on average every five to ten years!

Choosing an exterior paint color is an important task. One of my personal favorite colors is Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee OC-45. Many people think of this gorgeous warm white for interior projects, but it is also a beautiful choice for your home’s exterior!

What color paint is Swiss Coffee?

What color is Swiss Coffee paint exactly? It is a warm and creamy whitish color, just like you imagine Swiss Coffee will look in your coffee cup. A warm cup of coffee with LOTS of cream! 100% in the white paint color family but leaning towards off white with warm undertones.

Understanding Undertone

Identifying the undertone of paint color is essential to choosing a successful color scheme or colors that will be harmonious in your home. Understanding undertones in paint color will help you create a flow from room to room.

There are two main components in every paint color. The main color, or mass tone and an undertone. The overall color is the mass tone, the easily identifiable one. The underlying color, invisible to most and much more difficult to spot, is the undertone. It is the slight difference that sets a color apart from similar colors.

To fully understand the color of Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee, you must grasp the undertones. Swiss Coffee OC-45 has a slight gray, yellow, and green undertone. These undertones give it an earthy feel while still being white. It pairs well with light or dark wood, which lends to its popularity. In addition, it can pair well with other off whites.

Does Swiss Coffee look gray?

Swiss Coffee paint is not gray and doesn’t look gray. It does compliment gray beautifully because of its warm undertones. Lighting will change the appearance of the paint due to the light reflective value and the color of the undertones.

What color goes with Swiss Coffee?

One of the best things about Swiss Coffee paint is that it pairs well with almost any color palette and decor theme. Some ideas for complementary colors to go with Swiss Coffee are:

  • Navy blue
  • Tans
  • Browns
  • Gold tones
  • Terra cottas
  • Charcoal grays
  • Creams
  • Earthy tones

Is Swiss Coffee darker than White Dove?

These two paint colors are very similar. Both colors are part of Benjamin Moore’s off-white paint color collection. White Dove is brighter and less creamy. It leans more towards white than off-white. 

Paints have a rating called the light reflective value (LRV). This value represents how much visible light is reflected by a specific color when a light source shines on the color. For example, you may be painting a wall, a piece of furniture, molding, trim, or a home’s exterior. Regardless of what you are painting, the LRV of the paint color lets you know how much light will be reflected by the paint. The higher the number, the more light it reflects. This rating applies to all light, natural or artificial.

Is Swiss Coffee darker than white Dove? Slightly depending on how the light hits it, it is definitely less “bright” and more off-white than White Dove. White Dove has a Light Reflective Value (LRV) of 85.38, and Swiss Coffee has an LRV of 83.93. White Dove reflects about 1% more light than Swiss Coffee, making it slightly brighter. 

Another difference between these two beautiful Benjamin Moore white paints is their undertones. Swiss Coffee has green undertones that lean toward yellow. Its warmth is very earthy. Some decorators warn that it may occasionally show a golden tone depending on your decor choices and light sources. Whereas White Dove has some invisible yellowish undertones swallowed up by gray, it does not show as golden. It is still a warm white but less earthy, lending to its slightly brighter appearance.

White Dove is suitable for molding and trim, whereas Swiss Coffee is better suited for walls in any room or area of your home.

Does Sherwin Williams have a Swiss Coffee color?

Sherwin Williams does not have a paint color named Swiss Coffee; however, they have several off-white shades. All appear a bit darker and more beige than Swiss Coffee. 

If you are looking for a Swiss Coffee paint color by Sherwin Williams, you may want to try:

  • Alabaster SW7008 LRV 82: regarded as the closest match to Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee, Alabaster is a warm off-white color with yellow, gray, and beige undertones.

Other options from Sherwin Williams that are similar to Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee are:

  • Westhighland White SW7566 LRV 86
  • Greek Villa SW7551 LRV84
  • Shell White SW8917 LRV 83
  • Dover White SW6385 LRV 83
  • Whitetail SW7103 LRV 86
  • Cotton White SW7104 LRV 87

The Sherwin Williams paints listed here are all warm whites similar to Swiss Coffee. If Sherwin Williams is your go-to paint and you want a color similar to Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee, pay careful attention to the LRV ratings. I listed them here for you beside each paint color. These ratings affect the brightness of each color. This will make a difference on the exterior or interior of your home.

How Does Benjamin Moore Describe Swiss Coffee?

The Benjamin Moore website describes Swiss Coffee OC-45 as a best-selling color and “An essential white with just the right amount of warmth.” Their website also shows what the color looks like in different lighting, and a few optimal color matches if you are curious! 

Why do People Love Swiss Coffee So Much?

Paint preferences are just that – personal preferences. I have my own love of Benjamin Moore’s Swiss Coffee color because of its warmth – but it also simply is a great color in my opinion! Thats why it’s hard to say why Swiss Coffee is so popular, but we can certainly discuss its popularity! 

Let’s start with the creamy warmness of the color. In contrast to a stark white, Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee gives homeowners a beautiful white without the sharpness of a pure, abrupt white. It is a warm white, and warm colors are welcoming. They evoke a sense of coziness. Both desired qualities in a home inside and out. 

The light reflectance value (LRV) is 83.93. This LRV rating means the paint reflects about 84% light. This allows design professionals and homeowners to create a light, airy feel with character instead of a sterile look often associated with bright, pure whites.

What Colors Go Best with Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee?

Earlier I mentioned just about “every color” goes well with Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee. However, that answer doesn’t make it easy to narrow down choices. There’s gota be some best colors that go with Swiss coffee right?  While it is true that Swiss Coffee goes with almost everything, some best matches include:

  • Earthy Colors
  • Muted Colors
  • Browns
  • Dark Charcoals

This colors perfectly show Swiss Coffee’s warmth and coziness! It is good to avoid cool colors and finishes when using Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee.

Benjamin Moore lists matching colors for Swiss Coffee OC-45 as:

  • White Drifts OC-138
  • Lush AF-475
  • Fossil AF-65
  • Newburg Green HC-158

5 Reasons Swiss Coffee Paint by Benjamin More Is the Best Exterior Paint for Your Home

  1. It is the Perfect Backdrop

As an exterior paint, Swiss Coffee provides a perfect backdrop for your landscaping, contrasting shutters, beautiful rooflines, and a fantastic setting for your front door. It makes changing things from time to time easy because you can paint your front door a new color and have it pop against the warm creamy neutral of Swiss Coffee.

  1. The color Hides the Dirt & Keep it Cool

Off-white will look nice and bright while hiding dirt better than dark colors. Stark white shows dirt quickly too. Sticking with a warm, off-white exterior is on-trend with the current design trends, and it will help your home look cleaner for longer!

As an added bonus, a lighter off-white exterior color helps keep your home stay cooler in the summer months, potentially decreasing your electric bill.

  1. Cozy and Welcoming

Color psychology and interior designers agree some colors are cozy and welcoming, while cool toned whites make the space feel cold ansd spacious. For example, a warm white like Swiss Coffee is simple, clean, and honest. Exactly what you want for your home!

  1. Versatile

Swiss Coffee is versatile. The warm off-white can go with any style of home and fit into any neighborhood. Traditional, modern, farmhouse, transitional, cottage, or sophisticated. Swiss coffee remains versatile through style shifts and can transition if you make style changes.

  1. Sophisticated

Sophisticated and versatile Swiss Coffee gives your home a timeless, refined look. It is both elegant and soothing. With a beautiful creamy white exterior, your home can be both cozy and stately.

Other Brands Make Swiss Coffee

Other than Benjamin Moore, a few paint brands make a Swiss Coffee color paint. They may be slightly different from Benjamin Moore in terms of LRV ratings, but they will have very similar hues. 

  • Behr Swiss Coffee Paint Color: #12 LRV 84
  • Dunn Edwards Swiss Coffee Paint Color: DEW341 LRV 83
  • Kelly Moore Swiss Coffee Paint Color: #23 LRV 86.46
  • Valspar Swiss Coffee Paint Color: #7002-16 LRV 86.152

Color Percentage

Did you know you can adjust the color percentage of your paint? When the paint experts at your local home improvement store or paint store mix your paint, they use formulas. The formulas consist of a specific number of drops of several colors to make your desired paint color. 

You can ask them to adjust it! This is where color percentage comes into play. So, for example, suppose you want the color adjusted by 50%. In that case, the color specialist can change the number of drops of each color to mix accordingly! 

Shae and Syd McGee painted the McGee home using the color we are discussing today, Swiss Coffee by Benjamin Moore! They used it at 75% strength, making it slightly lighter than when ordered with no adjustments. 

Choosing An Exterior Paint Color

Choosing a paint color for the exterior of your home can be intimidating. I mean, house exteriors are vast compared to an interior room or wall. Unlike repainting an inside room, it’s much more difficult to fix if you don’t like it!

Here are a few tips to think of as you choose your exterior paint color and why Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee is a great choice:

  • Look at your roof: A house is not a completely blank canvas. Your roof is also a large part of your home’s outside appearance. What color is it? What is it made of? 
  • Unpainted material: brick, wood, gutters, a chimney. All homes have something on the outside that will not be painted. Make sure your paint color will complement these unpainted parts of your home.
  • Look at your landscaping: Do you have a lot of sunshine? Shrubs and trees lending to greens and browns? 

What Type of Paint is Best for Exterior Paint?

In addition to color, it is essential to know what type of paint to use on the exterior of your home.

Important things to consider when choosing your exterior paint include:

  • Color Retention: crucial for darker colored paints and also important for a lighter color like Swiss Coffee. How long will the paint maintain its color?
  • Resistance to Chalking: A white chalky powder substance will appear on exterior paint over time. This lightens the color of the paint it damages the finish.
  • Blister Resistance: blistering paint allows moisture in and damages the paint finish.
  • Covering Power: will the paint fully cover the surface to which it is applied?

Discuss these quality issues with your paint specialist wherever you buy your paint.

As you select a color for the exterior of your home, enjoy the process! 

Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee is an excellent choice for many reasons. Still, the most important thing to consider is your own style preferences!

Looking for trim paint colors? Check out this post here!

Looking for more inspiration on exterior paint colors – check it out here!

Be sure to pin for later!

Thanks for reading!

Chat soon,

Kori

Blogger, Decorator

Kori is the creative force behind The Farmhouse Life. She is a devoted mom of three and happily married to her college sweetheart. Kori lives in Central New Hampshire on a 25 acre pig farm. When Kori isn’t working on her latest home project, she enjoys reading, shopping on Poshmark, Indulging in skincare routines on Youtube, and watching reruns of New Girl. She is also working on becoming a certified interior designer.

569 Comments

  1. Just painted my salt box styled house with Swiss coffee on the exterior and wanted to know your suggestions on specific trim colors (Benjamin Moore).
    In addition was thinking of a an orange gloss for the front door but need help in color choice . What are your thoughts ?
    Thanks so much for any suggestions !

    Reply

  2. Love this color after searching and searching. Do you have a recommendation for a very dark charcoal and possibly even a black color for trim and doors to accent it? Mahalo in advance!

    Reply

  4. Hello. If you are still reading replies to your posts, would you please answer my questions? I didn’t see an answer on your website. Thank you!
    What exterior trim colors would you suggest with a Swiss Coffee exterior?
    Should the window trim and shutters be the same color?
    We’re getting a new roof. What color shingles go the best with Swiss Coffee?

    Reply

  5. Can you please tell us what the trim color is that you used? It looks slightly darker than Swiss coffee, really like it and would love to know? Please respond if possible, thanks

    Reply

  6. My daughter used Swiss Coffee paired with Tricorn black trim on her exterior. I haven’t seen it but she doesn’t sound thrilled-says she sees green & yellow in areas. Should she add a 3rd lighter facia color? Maybe Swiss Coffee 50%.

    Reply

  8. I don’t think the title of your article matches the content lol. Just kidding, mainly because I had some doubts after reading the article.

    Reply

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