The closest match, up front. The Benjamin Moore color most designers reach for when they want Drift of Mist SW 9166 (LRV 69) is Balboa Mist OC-27 (approx LRV 67), a light warm greige that lands within a hair of Drift of Mist on depth and shares its habit of flickering faintly violet in dim light.
On the Behr side, the widely recommended stand-in is Silver Drop 790C-2 (approx LRV 72), a light warm gray that reads a touch lighter and a hair cleaner, with a little less green.
Every one of these deltas is small (two to three LRV points and a subtle undertone shift), which is exactly why a chart cannot settle it. The only way to be sure is to test the match on your own wall.
Sherwin-Williams Drift of Mist (SW 9166) is the light warm gray half the internet calls "almost white" and the other half swears went purple in the hallway, so the question that follows right behind "should I use it?" is usually "what is it in Benjamin Moore?" The honest answer opens with a caveat: no paint brand publishes official cross-brand equivalents, and none ever will. Matching a color across decks is not a lookup, it is a judgment call about which chip lands closest on two axes at once: light reflectance value (LRV) and undertone. Drift of Mist sits high and airy at LRV 69 with a soft warm cast and a whisper of green that can tip violet, so a good match has to hold both the lightness and that quiet undertone together, not just one. For the full method behind any of these calls, start with our guide to how cross-brand paint matching works.
The closest matches, side by side
| Color | Brand and code | Approx LRV | Undertone vs Drift of Mist | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drift of Mist (reference) | Sherwin-Williams SW 9166 | 69 | The benchmark: light warm gray-greige with a whisper of green that can flip violet in low light (approx hex #D9D7CD, RGB 217, 215, 205) | The color you are matching |
| Balboa Mist | Benjamin Moore OC-27 | 67 | Very close: near-identical depth, a warm greige that leans a touch more taupe and shares the same violet flicker in dim rooms (approx hex #D6D1C8, RGB 214, 209, 200) | Closest widely recommended BM match |
| Classic Gray | Benjamin Moore OC-23 | 74 | A few points lighter and softer, reads closer to a warm off-white with less visible gray (approx hex #E4DFD5, RGB 228, 223, 213) | Best BM alternative if you want it airier |
| Silver Drop | Behr 790C-2 | 72 | Slightly lighter and a hair cleaner, a little less green and a shade cooler on a full wall (approx hex #DBD9D2, RGB 219, 217, 210) | Closest widely recommended Behr match |
Try it on your house
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LRVs above are approximations of each brand's published figures, and the hex and RGB values are digital renderings that shift with your screen. None of them is authoritative. A physical paint chip, viewed in your own room, is the only reference that decides a match.
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Why there is no exact Drift of Mist equivalent
Two brands can print two chips that measure the same LRV and still look different on a wall, because LRV only captures how much light a color bounces back. It says nothing about the colorants underneath. Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore mix from different base and tint systems, with different pigments doing the warming, so even a careful match drifts on the undertone axis. Drift of Mist carries a green whisper that flips violet in weak light; Balboa Mist leans a shade more taupe and mauve; Classic Gray reads cleaner and closer to a warm white. Those are not defects, they are simply what happens when you cross decks. On a Drift of Mist match the gap is usually a couple of LRV points and one small undertone step, which is invisible on a sample card and obvious on a sunlit wall.
A color this light punishes the mismatch more, not less. The higher the LRV, the more a wall throws surrounding color back at you, so Drift of Mist and its matches pick up the floor, the trim, and the sky through the window. Sheen compounds it: a flat finish mutes undertone and hides small differences, while a satin or eggshell in a bright room amplifies them. Add your exposure (north light cools everything, west light warms it late in the day) and the "same" soft gray can read greige in one room and faintly lavender in the next. This is why we never call any of these an exact or official equivalent. The right phrase is the closest widely recommended match, and the closest match still has to be tested against the exact light where it will live.
When the Benjamin Moore match works (and when to stay Sherwin-Williams)
- Go with Balboa Mist or Classic Gray when your contractor already stocks Benjamin Moore, or your trim and ceiling are BM, and you would rather run one paint system than chase a cross-brand tint.
- Stay Sherwin-Williams when other rooms are already Drift of Mist. Batch and brand consistency across a whole home beats a two-point LRV preference every time.
- Lean to Balboa Mist if you want the closest match on depth and are comfortable with a slightly more taupe undertone; lean to Classic Gray if Drift of Mist felt a touch gray for you and you want it lighter and more off-white. For how Drift of Mist itself behaves by room and exposure, see Drift of Mist undertones and best rooms.
- Do not expect the BM match to fix an undertone you already dislike. If Drift of Mist goes too violet in your hallway, a match that shares that flicker will too. When you are weighing two finalists, our walkthrough on how to compare paint colors the right way keeps the test honest.
Related matches
Matching one soft neutral usually means matching its neighbors too. If your palette is drifting warmer and creamier, here is the Benjamin Moore match for Creamy. And if you are cross-shopping the warm greige-white that sits right beside Drift of Mist, we did the same exercise for the Benjamin Moore match for White Duck. Each uses the same LRV-plus-undertone method, and each ends the same way: confirm the finalist on your own wall before you commit a gallon.
Frequently asked questions
What is the closest Benjamin Moore equivalent of Drift of Mist?
The closest widely recommended Benjamin Moore match is Balboa Mist OC-27, at an approximate LRV of 67 against Drift of Mist's LRV of 69. It is a light warm greige that sits within a hair of Drift of Mist on depth and shares its faint violet flicker in dim light, though it leans a touch more taupe. Classic Gray OC-23 (approx LRV 74) is a close alternative that reads lighter and more like a warm off-white. Neither is an official or exact equivalent, so treat both as strong starting points to test, not guaranteed twins.
Is there a Behr version of Drift of Mist?
There is no official Behr version, but the match homeowners most often reach for is Behr Silver Drop 790C-2, at an approximate LRV of 72. It sits close to Drift of Mist on lightness while reading a hair cleaner, a shade cooler, and a little less green on a full wall. Because Behr mixes from its own tint system, expect a small undertone shift rather than an identical color, and confirm it with a sample in your own light.
Is Balboa Mist the same color as Drift of Mist?
No, they are close cousins, not the same color. Balboa Mist OC-27 measures about two LRV points darker and carries a slightly more taupe, occasionally mauve cast, while Drift of Mist SW 9166 leans a touch greener before it flips violet. On a small chip the difference is nearly invisible; on a sunlit wall, next to white trim, it is easy to see. That is why we call Balboa Mist the closest match rather than a duplicate.
Will the Benjamin Moore match look identical to Drift of Mist on my wall?
Not exactly. Two light warm grays at nearly the same LRV can still diverge on undertone because each brand uses different pigments, and a color this pale bounces back your floor, trim, and window light on top of that. The delta between Drift of Mist and its Benjamin Moore match is small, but small is not zero. The reliable move is to preview both on a photo of your actual room, or sample them side by side, before you buy.
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Trademark notice. Sherwin-Williams and Drift of Mist, Benjamin Moore, and Behr are trademarks of their respective owners. FacadeColorizer is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by these companies. Brand and color names are used descriptively (nominative fair use). Hex and RGB values are approximate digital renderings; the only authoritative reference is a physical paint chip.
Trademarks mentioned (Sherwin-Williams, Benjamin Moore, Behr, Caparol, Brillux, Sto, Alpina, Valspar, PPG, Glidden, Dulux, Crown Trade, Sandtex, Farrow & Ball, Johnstone's, Leyland) are property of their respective owners. FacadeColorizer is independent and not affiliated with any of them. Nominative fair use under Lanham Act §1125.
