Hello, friends, I am back with a review of Benjamin Moore Pearl (CW-640). FYI, there are several Benjamin Moore paint colors with “pearl” in the name, so please don’t be confused. This Pearl is a lovely mid-toned gray-blue. It’s part of BM’s Colonial Williamsburg collection, which is a collaboration with Colonial Williamsburg’s WILLIAMSBURG Brand, and is inspired by a color used in 18th century wallpaper.
You may recall that our 2024 home project plans included a revamp of my home office, and I had the office walls and trim painted Pearl in February of last year. (I love color-drenching; however, I left the ceiling white for two reasons: the presence of recessed lighting, and doing so makes the super-chunky crown moulding pop against the white ceiling.) Working from home, I spend lots of time in this room. I love being surrounded by the soft blue/gray/green Pearl. It’s cozy and is just a touch moody, without being dark. Read on for a full review.
PEarl lrv
Pearl has a light reflective value (LRV) of 43.07. LRV is measured on a scale of 0-100, with 100 reflecting all light and therefore being the lightest (click here for more on LRV). A LRV of 43 puts Pearl almost smack in the middle of the dark to light spectrum. It’s a lovely balance – plenty of richness and depth without coming across as a dark or heavy color. As sunlight pours in during the daytime, Pearl looks saturated yet fairly bright. When evening sets in, the moodiness turns on. Totally par for the course for a paint with this LRV.
Pearl undertones
Pearl is a gray-blue color with strong green undertones (click here for more on undertones). Those colors would obviously tend to lean cool, but there is a subtle warmth, almost a touch of beige, sneaking around in the background that gets some expression in my office due to warm natural light from Western exposure. Pearl is a gray-blue for sure, but is one of those chameleon colors where the undertones may pop more or less given the setting (more on that below).
pearl applications
As mentioned, I used Pearl in my home office, but this paint color would be stunning in a number of applications. It would be cozy and serene in a bedroom. Warm white/ivory, camel, medium-toned wood and brass are lovely with this paint color. Pearl would also look beautiful in a bathroom, and would be complemented by calacatta gold marble and unlacquered brass or polished nickel fixtures. 2022 Colonial Williamsburg Designer-in-Residence Heather Chadduck Hillegas specified Pearl for the kitchen cabinetry of the Nelson-Galt House, demonstrating that this versatile color can work even in unexpected places.
Sample!
I say this in every paint color review, but I’ll say it again: it is critical that you actually sample potential paint colors in your space. There are many factors that affect how a color expresses itself in a room, such as exposure and other elements in the space. How a color looks in your neighbor’s home will not predict how that same color looks in yours. In addition, never rely on images on a screen! One cannot trust that the color that appears on a screen is a true representation of the actual color. Note the images above — Pearl looks different in the photos of my office vs. the Nelson Galt house, and I promise they are the same color!
So sample, sample, sample! I personally love Samplize peel-and-stick samples. They use real paint to make them (not color-matched), so you will see what the actual paint will look like on your walls. Slap a few possibilities on a white background and move it around the room to test the color thoroughly.
Drop a note in the comments below if you have any questions!