Benjamin Moore Cotton Balls / 2145-70 / OC-122

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Official page:Cotton Balls OC-122
Code:OC-122
Name:Cotton Balls
Brand:Benjamin Moore

What color is Benjamin Moore Cotton Balls?

Benjamin Moore Cotton Balls OC-122 is a very pale off-white with a lightly creamy, yellow-leaning cast visible beneath its high brightness. The subtle warmth keeps it from reading like a stark white, while its faintly softened quality suits ceilings, trim, and full-room walls alike. In daylight, this color can appear clean and nearly white; under warm lamps, its gentle cream note becomes more noticeable. Pair Cotton Balls with natural oak, linen upholstery, woven textures, and muted olive or clay accents for a layered, lived-in look. It is especially useful in kitchens and bedrooms where a bright backdrop is wanted without the sharper contrast of a pure white.

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What are Benjamin Moore Cotton Balls undertones?

Cotton Balls OC-122 reads as a bright, near-white with very low saturation and only a subtle yellow-leaning bias in the supplied digital sample. It has a clean overall character, but it is not a stark blue-white; the faint warmth may make it feel a touch softer alongside cooler whites. Benjamin Moore describes it as a bright white with a trace of yellow undertone, which fits its visibly white main family while explaining its slight warm direction. Warm artificial light may bring out that gentle warmth, while cool daylight can make it appear cleaner and more neutral.

Manufacturer information used in this description: official color page.

HEX value:

#F5F6EB

RGB code:

245, 246, 235

Is Benjamin Moore Cotton Balls cool or warm?

warm
cool
Color wheel

With a hue of 65°, this Grey reads warm on the HSL color wheel.

OC-122 Cotton Balls HSL code: 65, 38%, 94%

Hue - degree on a color wheel from 0 to 360. 0 is red, 120 is green, and 240 is blue.
Saturation is expressed as a percentage. At 0%, it appears as a shade of grey, and at 100%, it is in full color.
Lightness is also a percentage value. 0% is black, and 100% is white.

How light temperature affects Cotton Balls

Natural Lighting. During the day, natural light shifts from about 2000 K at sunrise/sunset to 5500–6500 K at noon.

Sunrise
Morning
Noon
Afternoon
Sunset

In addition, natural-light temperature depends on its direction:

Direction of sunlightVisible temp.HueDuration
NorthCoolBluishAll day
EastWarmYellowBefore noon
WestWarmOrange-redAfter noon
SouthWarmOrange-yellowAll day

Artificial Lighting. When choosing bulbs, pay attention to their color temperature in Kelvins.
Use the slider to see how this Grey shade looks under different lighting:

2000K
3000K
4000K
5000K
6000K
7000K

Coordinating colors.
Colors that go with Benjamin Moore Cotton Balls:

Monochromatic color scheme

Monochromatic color scheme

This scheme consists of various shades, tints, and tones of a single color. While it offers a perfect combination of hues, without accent décor it may become monotonous.

Lighter shades

OC-122
Cotton Balls

Darker shades

Complementary color scheme

Complementary color scheme

This color scheme is a combination of two shades that are opposite each other on the color wheel. The high contrast between these colors creates a vibrant and dynamic visual effect. For the color Cotton Balls with a orange hue, complementary colors are those with a blue hue close to 245, such as Benjamin Moore Approaching Storm and Violet Sparkle.

LRV of Cotton Balls

Cotton Balls has an LRV of 88.95% and refers to White colors that reflect almost all light. Why LRV is important?

Light Reflectance Value scale illustration

Light Reflectance Value measures the amount of visible and usable light that reflects from a painted surface.
Simply put, the higher the LRV of a paint color, the brighter the room you will get.
The scale goes from 0% (absolute black, absorbing all light) to 100% (pure white, reflecting all light).

Act like a pro: When choosing paint with an LRV of 88.95%, pay attention to your bulbs' brightness. Light brightness is measured in lumens. The lower the paint's LRV, the higher lumen level you need. Every square foot of room needs at least 40 lumens. That means for a 200 ft2 living room you'll need about 8000 lumens of light – e.g., eight 1000 lm bulbs.

Color codes

We have collected almost every possible color code you could ever need.
Not sure what the difference between HEX and RGB is? We break down color models in plain language. Understanding color models

FormatCode
HEX#F5F6EB
RGB Decimal245, 246, 235
RGB Percent96.08%, 96.47%, 92.16%
HSVHue: 65° Saturation: 4.47% Value: 96.47%
HSLhsl(65, 38, 94)
CMYKCyan: 0.41 Magenta: 0.0 Yellow: 4.47 Key: 3.53
YIQY: 244.447 I: 2.939 Q: -3.635
XYZX: 85.604 Y: 91.322 Z: 91.692
CIE LabL:96.543 a:-2.237 b:5.173
CIE LuvL:96.543 u:0.037 v:8.296
Decimal16119531
Hunter Lab95.563, -7.337, 10.005

Color equivalents