Ancient Oak
940 · #E6E1CB · LRV 73 — warm yellow tone, light — bounces daylight without going clinical.
- 1Agreeable Gray60
- 2Balboa Mist66
- 3Ancient Oak73
- 4Shoelace78
- 5Dover White83
What Color Is Ancient Oak, Really?
Ancient Oak reads as a warm yellow tone — light — bounces daylight without going clinical. The notes below cover how Benjamin Moore 940 behaves in different light and the closest matches at competing US brands.
Best Rooms and Uses for Ancient Oak
Ancient Oak is an easy whole-room color for living spaces and bedrooms, and light enough to carry onto trim or a ceiling if you want a soft, seamless look. Greige-leaning neutrals like this are the safe whole-home choice when you want warmth without committing to a color.
How Lighting Changes Ancient Oak
At LRV 73, Ancient Oak is a light color that bounces daylight around a room without tipping into stark white. Its yellow undertone is the part to watch: it gets picked up by whatever sits next to it, so test it against your trim, floor and the room's main light before committing. It holds its undertone in most exposures, which is what makes light shades like this so forgiving room to room.
Most complaints about Ancient Oak are a light mismatch. Upload a photo of your actual room and see it on your walls — then ask for the same wall in north light or evening lamps before you buy a single sample.
Need It From Another Brand?
Any paint counter can custom-tint Benjamin Moore 940 directly. If you would rather stay in one brand's own deck, these are the closest stock matches, measured as ΔE2000. Under 2 is a difference you will not see on the wall.
| Brand | Closest color | ΔE | LRV | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sherwin-Williams | Restoration IvorySW 6413 · Sherwin-Williams | 1.4 | 75 | Color page → |
| Behr | Cool HoneydewS350-1A · Behr | 0.8 | 75 | Color page → |
| Valspar | Dream Grass8003-27A · Valspar | 0.6 | 74 | Color page → |
| PPG / Glidden | Vanilla LovePPG1099-2 · PPG / Glidden | 0.4 | 74 | Color page → |
| Glidden | Vanilla LovePPG1099-2 · Glidden | 1.0 | 74 | Color page → |
| Dutch Boy | Aged Linen012W · Dutch Boy | 3.5 | 75 | Color page → |
Similar Benjamin Moore Colors
The nearest shades to Ancient Oak within Benjamin Moore's own range, ranked by perceptual color distance — useful when you want the same look a touch lighter, darker, or warmer.
WCAG 2.1: AA is 4.5 : 1 for normal text, 3 : 1 for large text, AAA is 7 : 1.
Coordinated palette
Generated by hue-rotating #E6E1CB in HSL space. Pair Ancient Oak with one accent and one neutral — the swatches below are starting points, not final picks.
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