Color spec
| Brand | Benjamin Moore |
| Name | Stone Hearth |
| SKU | 984 |
| Hex | #A09478 |
| RGB | 160, 148, 120 |
| HSL | 42°, 17%, 55% |
| LRV | 30 |
| Undertone | warm red-orange tone |
| Sheens | walls eggshell · trim semi-gloss · cabinets satin · exterior low-lustre |
| Family | Neutral |
Stone Hearth is a grayed warm khaki with real weight — at LRV 30 it is the color of the room, not the background. In good daylight it looks settled and expensive next to wood, stone and brass. In a dim room it gives nothing back and turns muddy, and next to orange-toned oak it can flip to a soft green. Sample it big, on two walls, and look at it after dark.
What Color Is Stone Hearth, Really?
A warm neutral with most of the warmth grayed out. The hue sits in the tan and gold range, but saturation is low, so it never reads as gold or as beige-from-2004. What you get instead is an earth tone — the color of dry grass, oiled canvas, a stone hearth, which is a rare case of a paint name being honest. On a chip it looks like a safe greige. On four walls it looks like a deliberate color choice, and that surprises people.
At LRV 30 it is a genuine mid-tone. That number matters more here than the undertone. Put it beside a normal warm neutral like Benjamin Moore Ashen Tan 996 and Stone Hearth is roughly half as bright — it absorbs light instead of bouncing it around. That is exactly why it looks rich in a sunny dining room and heavy in a north bedroom. It is closer in depth to a saturated accent color than to the pale greiges most people are shopping when they land on it.
Undertone in one line: warm tan with the warmth grayed down, which is why it can read khaki, greige, or soft olive depending entirely on what sits next to it.
Where It Shines
It wants light and it wants natural materials. In a south-facing dining room, on an island under white uppers, or on siding next to real stone, the grayed warmth stops looking like paint and starts looking like part of the house.
Where It Fails — the Honest Part
The unhappy stories about Stone Hearth are all the same three stories, and every one of them is predictable from the numbers. If your room matches one, no primer, no second coat, and no better lighting plan will rescue it.
A small room with one window. At LRV 30 the walls take light and keep it. In a small bedroom, powder room, or interior office with a single window, the earthy warmth stops reading as warm and starts reading as dim and muddy, especially on overcast days. If you want this feeling in a low-light room, step up to Benjamin Moore Ashen Tan 996 — same family, far more light back.
Against orange-toned oak floors. Builder oak, honey-stained cabinets and caramel LVP all sit warmer and more orange than Stone Hearth. Next to them the eye rebalances and the wall swings green. It is the single most common surprise with this color. If your floors are orange, use Benjamin Moore Alexandria Beige HC-77 instead — it is slightly pinker and holds its tan next to orange wood.
Every wall of the whole house. A mid-tone this deep is great in a room you enter and terrible in a hallway you pass through. Windowless halls and stairwells painted Stone Hearth close in fast and make the doors feel narrow. Keep it to destination rooms and run the connecting spaces in Benjamin Moore Pashmina AF-100, which is the same mood a few steps lighter.
Room by Room
Dining room — its best room
Depth is a feature here, since dining rooms are used at night and lit by lamps and candles anyway. Eggshell walls with Benjamin Moore White Dove OC-17 trim in semi-gloss. Brass, walnut and a dark hutch all sharpen it.
Study or library — yes
A small room reads intentional in this color rather than cramped, as long as there is a window and a good lamp. Paint the built-ins the same color in satin so the shelves recede and the books carry the room.
Kitchen cabinets and island — very good
On lowers and islands it separates cleanly from white uppers without going dark, and it hides scuffed toe kicks better than any white. Use satin, pair with White Dove OC-17 uppers, and choose brass or matte black over chrome.
Bedroom — only with daylight
In a bright bedroom it is genuinely restful and reads soft under 2700K lamps. In a north bedroom with one window it is the exact room in the fails photo below. Test on the darkest wall, not the sunniest.
Bathroom — depends on the counter
With travertine, wood vanities or warm quartz it looks like a spa. With cool gray marble or white subway tile and bright LED bars, it turns dull green-gray. Satin or a scrubbable eggshell.
Exterior siding — yes
Full sun lifts the warmth back out, so outside it behaves better than inside. Excellent with fieldstone, brick and cedar, with Benjamin Moore Wrought Iron 2124-10 shutters. Details in the exterior section below.
The Scorecard
What it gets right
- +A real color with weight — walls look designed, not defaulted
- +Flatters walnut, oak, leather, rattan, stone and brass
- +Excellent on lower cabinets, islands and built-ins
- +Full sun outside makes it richer, not washed out
- +Hides scuffs and marks far better than a light neutral
Where it struggles
- −Goes muddy in small or north-facing rooms — LRV 30 is unforgiving
- −Flips visibly green next to orange oak or honey wood
- −Cool 4000K bulbs strip the warmth and leave gray-green
- −Too heavy for windowless halls and stairwells
Light by Light
Most complaints about Stone Hearth 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.
TEST IT IN YOUR LIGHT →Stone Hearth vs the Colors You're Also Considering
Every Stone Hearth sample board has the same rivals on it. The numbers show the real lightness gap — then it comes down to which risk you would rather live with.
Within Benjamin Moore, At Home with Nature 1518 at #A29675 and LRV 30 is nearly the same color with a hair more yellow. Alexandria Beige HC-77 at #A3927C and LRV 29 is slightly pinker and less green. Nordic Gray CC-576 at #9E9079 and LRV 29 is a touch darker and grayer. Bed of Ferns 1511 and CC-632 at #999275 and LRV 28 lean the most green of the group. Beige Gray ES-51 at #A2947F is the outlier, since at LRV 41 it reads as a different color on a wall.
Across brands, Behr Caraway PMD-37 at deltaE 1.58, Dunn-Edwards Weather Board DE6222 at 1.72 and Diamond Vogel Whipcord 0338 at 1.74 are all visually identical to Stone Hearth in normal room light. Glidden Gristmill PPG1026-5 at 2.04, Sherwin-Williams San Antonio Sage SW 7731 at 2.66 and Valspar Brussels Sprouts 8004-22E at 2.75 are very close but worth sampling first. Farrow and Ball Green Stone No. 12 at 3.42 and Magnolia Home Countryside JG-52 at 4.36 are close but visibly different side by side, both pushing further toward green.
Need It From Another Brand?
Any paint counter can custom-tint Benjamin Moore 984 directly — but if you would rather stay in one brand's own deck, these are the closest stock matches:
Similar Benjamin Moore colors
closest in the Benjamin Moore deckThe nearest shades to Stone Hearth within Benjamin Moore's own range, ranked by perceptual color distance — useful when you want the same look a touch lighter, darker, or warmer.
Stone Hearth Coordinating Colors
The rule with a grayed warm mid-tone is to keep partners on the same side of the fence and let one of them carry the contrast. Stone Hearth wants warm whites above it, deeper earth tones beside it, and natural material — wood, stone, brass, leather — doing the rest. What it does not want is a cool blue-gray anywhere nearby, which drags it straight to olive.
These are the partners worth sampling first: two trim whites depending on how crisp you want the edges, a lighter step for connecting rooms, and two dark notes for doors, shutters and built-ins.
Stone Hearth on Exteriors
Outside is where this color relaxes. Full sun keeps feeding warmth into it all day, so the olive drift that worries people indoors mostly disappears on a facade. It is a natural fit on wooded lots, desert and mountain sites, and anywhere the house already has fieldstone, tan brick, or cedar posts to answer to.
The trim decides how modern it looks. Near-black shutters and a black front door in Wrought Iron 2124-10 give a clean contemporary edge. White Dove OC-17 trim reads softer and more traditional, and it will not glare the way a bright builder white does against a mid-tone field. Avoid cool blue-gray accents entirely — they are the fastest way to make Stone Hearth siding look green. Paint two boards on the shaded north elevation as well as the sunny side, because the difference between the two is bigger than most people expect at this depth.
Stone Hearth With Wood Tones and Floors
This is the question that decides whether you love this color or return the gallon. Walnut, white oak with a natural or gray-washed finish, weathered teak and rattan all sit beautifully with it, because they are warm without being orange. Against those, Stone Hearth stays clearly tan and looks expensive.
Orange is the enemy. Red oak, honey-stained builder floors, golden maple cabinets and orange-toned LVP all sit warmer than the wall, and the wall answers by going green. If that is your floor and you still want this depth, Alexandria Beige HC-77 does the same job while holding its tan. If your floors are a true cool gray instead, the opposite happens: Stone Hearth looks warmer and browner than the chip, which usually flatters it.
Metals follow the same logic. Brass, aged bronze and matte black all agree with it. Polished chrome and cool nickel look borrowed from another room.
Three Ready Palettes Built on Stone Hearth
A color is never alone on the wall — these are complete combinations in the 60-30-10 pattern, with the reason each one holds together.
Stone Hearth takes the 60 percent, a creamy trim white takes 30 and keeps the scheme warm rather than crisp, and the deep green hutch is the 10. Green reads as a natural partner here because the wall is already slightly grayed, so nothing fights.
TRY THIS PALETTE →The dark half of a two-tone kitchen is the 60 percent your eye actually lands on, and Stone Hearth gives that weight without the coldness of a charcoal. Simply White keeps the uppers bright, and the warm gray door adds one step darker without introducing a new temperature.
TRY THIS PALETTE →Outside, the field color is the 60 percent and full sun keeps Stone Hearth warm all day. White Dove softens the trim lines where a bright white would glare, and near-black shutters give the facade the single sharp edge it needs against stone.
TRY THIS PALETTE →Accessibility (WCAG contrast)
WCAG 2.1: AA = 4.5:1 normal text · AA Large = 3:1 large text · AAA = 7:1 normal text.
The Questions Everyone Asks
Why does Stone Hearth look green on my wall?
Something warmer is sitting next to it. Orange oak floors, honey cabinets, or a caramel leather sofa push your eye warmer, and the wall compensates by reading green. Hold the sample against your actual floor before you buy the gallon, not against a white counter.
Stone Hearth or Alexandria Beige?
They are almost the same depth, so this is only a temperature call. Alexandria Beige HC-77 is a touch pinker and stays tan next to orange wood. Stone Hearth is slightly cooler and greener, which looks better with gray stone, slate and cooler flooring.
Is it too dark for a small room?
Usually yes, if that room has one window. LRV 30 absorbs a lot of light and the corners go muddy fast. It can work in a small room you use at night — a study or a dining room — where you light it with lamps on purpose.
What trim white should I use?
There is plenty of contrast at LRV 30, so pick by temperature. White Dove OC-17 keeps the whole room warm and traditional. Chantilly Lace 2121-70 sharpens it and stops the space from reading all-tan, but it will also make the walls look a step darker.
Is it good for kitchen cabinets?
It is one of its best uses. On lowers and an island it gives real separation from white uppers without the cave effect of a charcoal, and it hides handprints and toe-kick scuffs. Use a satin cabinet enamel and pair it with brass or matte black pulls.
How many coats do I need?
Two over an existing light neutral, and it covers well because it has real pigment. Going over white or a much lighter beige, ask for a gray-tinted primer first — it saves a third coat and keeps the color from looking patchy in raking light.
Can I paint the ceiling too?
Only if the room is large and bright and you want a cocoon. In a normal room, keep the ceiling white — a flat white like White Dove OC-17 or a plain ceiling white. A 30 LRV ceiling will make an eight-foot room feel lower than it is.
Will It Work in YOUR Room?
No page can promise how Stone Hearth behaves in your light. Upload a photo and see it on your own walls in seconds — before you spend a cent on samples.
TRY STONE HEARTH ON YOUR ROOM →
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