The verdict in three lines. Simply White OC-117 (LRV 91.7) is the warmer bright white: a soft yellow base that flatters wood floors, cream textiles, and brass, and stays friendly in low light.
Chantilly Lace OC-65 (LRV 90.04) is the purer, cooler white: almost no visible yellow, so it reads crisp and gallery-clean next to marble, black frames, and chrome.
Brightness is a tie: both sit at the top of the LRV scale. Undertone decides this duel, so the only real tiebreaker is seeing both on a photo of your own room.
Benjamin Moore Simply White (OC-117) and Chantilly Lace (OC-65) are the two brightest whites on almost every Benjamin Moore shortlist. One was the company's 2016 Color of the Year; the other is the white designers specify when the brief says "clean, not creamy." On chips they look interchangeable; on a full wall they split into two different rooms. This head-to-head puts the numbers side by side, walks the duel room by room and exposure by exposure, and tells you exactly when each white wins. For the general method behind any two-color decision, start with our side-by-side method for comparing paint colors.
The numbers side by side
| Attribute | Simply White OC-117 | Chantilly Lace OC-65 |
|---|---|---|
| Family | Warm bright white | Crisp near-neutral white |
| LRV | 91.7 | 90.04 |
| Approximate hex | #F7F7EE | #F5F7F2 |
| Approximate RGB | 247, 247, 238 | 245, 247, 242 |
| Undertone | Soft yellow warmth, no gray or pink | Almost none; can tip slightly cool in flat light |
| Loves | Oak floors, cream linen, brass, warm bulbs | Marble, black window frames, chrome, strong daylight |
| Watch out for | Can read faintly creamy under warm evening light | Can read stark or chilly in a dim north-facing room |
| Overall vibe | Warm, classic, forgiving | Clean, modern, gallery-crisp |
Try it on your house
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LRV values are the published Benjamin Moore figures. Hex and RGB are approximate digital renderings; the authoritative reference is a physical Benjamin Moore chip or sample. Simply White is also sold under the code 2143-70.
Read that table once and the shape of the duel is clear. Brightness is a wash: at 91.7 versus 90.04, both whites reflect nearly all the light that hits them. Everything that matters happens in the undertone row. Simply White carries a soft but real yellow base, which keeps it from feeling sterile. Chantilly Lace strips that yellow out almost entirely, which makes it read so clean. Hold each chip against a plain sheet of white printer paper and the split jumps out in seconds: Simply White shows its warmth, Chantilly Lace stays quiet and neutral. That white-paper trick, plus the two-coat sample rule, comes straight from the comparison method in the pillar guide linked above.
Upload one photo, get a photorealistic render, then swap to Chantilly Lace in one click. Free, no signup.
Room by room, exposure by exposure
Because the brightness gap is negligible, the same room can crown either white depending on its light and its fixed finishes. Here is how the duel typically plays out across the most common situations.
| Situation | Usual winner | Why |
|---|---|---|
| North-facing living room | Simply White | Its yellow base survives cool, flat light; Chantilly Lace can turn stark |
| Bright south-facing room | Chantilly Lace | Strong sun pushes Simply White toward cream; Chantilly Lace stays composed |
| Kitchen with wood floors and brass | Simply White | The warm base joins oak and brass instead of fighting them |
| White-on-white kitchen with marble or quartz | Chantilly Lace | Its near-neutral base matches cool stone and white fixtures cleanly |
| Trim under warm wall colors | Simply White | Bright contrast without the hard edge a colder white would create |
| Trim under cool or saturated wall colors | Chantilly Lace | The cleanest frame for blues, greens, charcoals, and black doors |
If your shortlist includes Benjamin Moore's third heavyweight white, the softer and slightly deeper White Dove, the same logic gets its own head-to-heads: the White Dove vs Simply White duel settles the warm-white bracket, and the White Dove vs Chantilly Lace face-off covers the soft-versus-crisp question.
When to choose Simply White
- Your fixed finishes are warm. Oak or walnut floors, cream tile, brass or bronze hardware, warm-toned countertops. Simply White's soft yellow base belongs to that family.
- The room faces north or gets little direct sun. Cool light strips warmth from every white; Simply White has warmth to spare and keeps the room from feeling like a walk-in freezer.
- You want bright but never sterile. It is the rare white that reads clean in daylight and cozy under evening bulbs, which is why it took Color of the Year honors in 2016.
- You are painting walls, trim, and ceiling one color. Its warmth keeps a full white-out scheme feeling lived-in rather than clinical.
For its full undertone breakdown, lighting behavior, and pairings, see the dedicated Simply White undertones and best rooms profile.
When to choose Chantilly Lace
- Your fixed finishes are cool. Marble or gray-veined quartz, black window frames, chrome or matte-black hardware, white fixtures. Chantilly Lace sits next to them without a hint of yellow.
- The room is bright and sun-filled. Full daylight is where its crispness shines; the same sun would nudge Simply White toward cream.
- You want the modern, gallery-white look. If the brief is "white walls that disappear behind the art and the architecture," this is the chip designers pull.
- You plan to pair it with saturated color. Navy islands, deep green cabinets, and charcoal doors all read sharper against a near-neutral white than against a warm one.
The full room-by-room treatment, including where its crispness helps and where it hurts, lives in the Chantilly Lace room-by-room profile.
Same wall, both whites, your actual light. Free render in about 30 seconds.
Frequently asked questions
What is the real difference between Simply White and Chantilly Lace?
Undertone, not brightness. Simply White OC-117 (LRV 91.7) carries a soft yellow warmth, while Chantilly Lace OC-65 (LRV 90.04) has almost no visible undertone and reads crisp and near-neutral. Both sit at the top of the brightness scale, so the warm-versus-clean character is what changes how a room feels.
Is Simply White warmer than Chantilly Lace?
Yes. Hold both chips against white printer paper and Simply White shows a clear soft-yellow warmth while Chantilly Lace stays quiet and neutral. That warmth makes Simply White the friendlier partner for wood floors, cream textiles, and brass, and the safer pick in rooms with little natural light.
Which is better for kitchen cabinets, Simply White or Chantilly Lace?
Match the cabinets to the kitchen's fixed finishes. With oak floors, warm counters, or brass hardware, Simply White joins the palette and keeps the kitchen inviting. With marble, gray-veined quartz, white tile, or black and chrome hardware, Chantilly Lace gives the cleaner, more current result. In a dim kitchen, lean Simply White; in a sun-drenched one, lean Chantilly Lace.
Can I use Simply White and Chantilly Lace together in the same house?
In separate rooms, yes. On touching surfaces, be careful: side by side, Chantilly Lace makes Simply White look yellow and Simply White makes Chantilly Lace look cold, so walls and trim in the two whites can read like a mistake. A cleaner plan is one white per zone, or the same white on walls, trim, and ceiling in different sheens.
Settle it on your photo
Whites are the cruelest colors to judge from chips: the differences are tiny on a card and enormous on four walls. The fastest honest answer to Simply White vs Chantilly Lace is to test both on a photo of your actual room and let your own floors, counters, and windows pick the winner. If the duel widens into a full shortlist, the 2026 Benjamin Moore interior color guide maps the rest of the deck.
1 HD render plus 3 free color variations. Start with Simply White, swap to Chantilly Lace in one click.
Trademark notice. Benjamin Moore®, Simply White®, Chantilly Lace®, White Dove® and Cloud White® are trademarks of Benjamin Moore & Co. FacadeColorizer is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Benjamin Moore & Co. Brand and color names are used for descriptive and editorial purposes only, consistent with nominative fair use. Hex and RGB values are approximate digital renderings; the only authoritative reference is a physical Benjamin Moore color sample.
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