Color spec
| Brand | Valspar |
| Name | Du Jour |
| SKU | 7002-6 |
| Hex | #F1EFE9 |
| RGB | 241, 239, 233 |
| HSL | 45°, 22%, 93% |
| LRV | 86 |
| Undertone | near-white with a hint of color |
| Sheens | walls eggshell · trim semi-gloss · cabinets satin |
| Family | White |
Du Jour is the warm white Lowe's shoppers reach for when they want the BM White Dove look without leaving the store. It carries a faint whisper of beige-yellow — enough to feel soft, not enough to read cream — which makes it the cleanest of Valspar's three near-white siblings (Dove White, Swiss Coffee, Du Jour). At LRV 86 it is genuinely bright, and it has real design-world backing: HGTV's Erin Napier has used it on cabinets and called it warm and welcoming. Just know it has two very similar-looking cousins on the same paint chip rack, and that confusion causes more regret than the color itself does.
What Color Is Du Jour, Really?
A warm off-white with a faint beige-yellow undertone — the key word is faint. Valspar sells three near-identical whites in the same family at Lowe's: Dove White (the creamiest and warmest of the three), Swiss Coffee (the middle ground, noticeably more cream than white), and Du Jour, which reads the cleanest and least buttery of the trio. That makes Du Jour the safest pick for anyone who wants a soft, not-stark white without committing to a heavier cream.
At LRV 86 it reflects the great majority of the light that hits it, which puts it in the same brightness territory as Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee (LRV 84) and Sherwin-Williams Alabaster (LRV 82) — the tier of whites designers reach for when a client says "soft white, nothing stark, nothing yellow." It has genuine design credibility for a store-brand color: HGTV's Erin Napier has used Du Jour on cabinetry and described it on Instagram as feeling warm and welcoming, especially paired with brass hardware, and it shows up repeatedly in kitchen-cabinet round-ups as the go-to Valspar answer to a designer white.
Undertone in one line: warm, a whisper of beige-yellow — never pink, never green. If your sample looks flat or slightly cool, that is your room's light working against it, not a different paint underneath.
Where It Shines
It is built for kitchens. On cabinets, paired with brass or matte black hardware, it delivers the exact warm-but-not-cream look Erin Napier and a long list of kitchen-remodel bloggers keep reaching for — and because it is a Lowe's Signature color, it is one of the cheapest ways to get a designer-white cabinet without a specialty paint order. On walls with real daylight it reads soft and finished, and it makes an easy trim white for hallways and living rooms that already carry a mid-tone wall color.
Where It Fails — the Honest Part
Almost every disappointed review of Du Jour traces back to one of three situations, and none of them are really about the paint. If your room or your plan matches one of these, sample first — a swatch will save you a second gallon.
A dim, north-facing room. Cool daylight strips out the faint warmth Du Jour depends on, and because it is already the cleanest of the three Valspar cousins, it has the least cream to lose — readers describe it going flat, almost sterile. If the room is dim, step up to the creamier Swiss Coffee or Dove White instead.
Next to a creamier white. Because Du Jour, Swiss Coffee, and Dove White sit on the same Valspar rack and look nearly identical on a chip, it is easy to end up with Du Jour walls next to a creamier trim white bought separately. The creamier white wins and Du Jour reads grayish and unwashed by comparison — pick one white for the whole room, or go a full step apart on purpose.
Buying it as an exact dupe for a designer white. Du Jour gets compared online to Benjamin Moore White Dove and Swiss Coffee constantly, and it is close in spirit — but it is not a color-matched dupe. Bring the actual sample home before you commit if you are trying to match trim or cabinets already painted in a specific designer color; "basically the same" whites are the number-one source of a visible seam.
Room by Room
Living room — yes, with real daylight
In a bright room it is a calm, soft backdrop that stays out of the way of furniture and art. Eggshell on walls; same color on trim in semi-gloss if you want the one-color look.
Kitchen & cabinets — its best room
This is the color's whole reputation. Brass and matte-black hardware both look intentional against it, and at LRV 86 it hides everyday scuffs and handprints better than a starker white. Satin cabinet enamel wipes clean.
Bedroom — yes, under warm bulbs
Soft and restful with 2700K lamps at night. In a north-facing bedroom that stays dim all day, the warmth can read thin — Dove White holds its cream better in that situation.
Bathroom — depends on the counters
With warm stone, wood vanities and brass it is easy and clean. Against cool grey quartz or marble it can look slightly dingy by comparison — sample against the actual counter before committing.
Trim & doors — a solid, unfussy choice
Semi-gloss Du Jour trim under a mid-tone wall color (greige, sage, soft navy) gives a clean edge without the stark cut of a bright white. Keep it as the only white in the room to avoid the mismatch problem above.
Exterior — sample first, no strong track record
Nothing in the research turns up a well-documented exterior reputation for Du Jour the way there is for its Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams equivalents. The physics say it should behave like any bright warm white outdoors — crisper in full sun — but get a large exterior sample before committing a whole house to it.
The Scorecard
What it gets right
- +Soft, warm white without a heavy cream cast
- +The cleanest, least buttery of Valspar's three near-white siblings
- +A genuine kitchen-cabinet favorite, brass and matte black both work
- +LRV 86 — bright, hides scuffs better than a starker white
- +Widely available and inexpensive at Lowe's for a designer-white look
Where it struggles
- −Goes flat and a little sterile in dim, north-facing rooms
- −Easy to mismatch against its own creamier siblings (Swiss Coffee, Dove White)
- −Not an exact color-match dupe for BM White Dove or Swiss Coffee, despite the comparisons
- −Thin, undocumented exterior track record — sample before a whole house
Light by Light
Most complaints about Du Jour 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 →Du Jour vs the Colors You're Also Considering
Every Du Jour 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.
Statuesque (7002-5), LRV 84, sits in the same warm-white family but is a hair softer and slightly lower in reflectance. The practical difference is subtle: Du Jour reads a touch brighter and cleaner, while Statuesque feels marginally more grounded. Choose Du Jour when you want maximum light, Statuesque when you want a little more body on the wall.
Polar White (7003-16), LRV 83.7, is another close warm white but reads a shade quieter and less yellow, making it a good option if Du Jour's cream feels too obvious in a very sunny room.
Dairy Belle (V164), LRV 85.1, is close in lightness but carries its own soft warmth. All three are near neighbors, so the deciding factor is usually your light and trim rather than the color out of the can. Sample the two you are torn between side by side.
Need It From Another Brand?
Any paint counter can custom-tint Valspar 7002-6 directly — but if you would rather stay in one brand's own deck, these are the closest stock matches:
Similar Valspar colors
closest in the Valspar deckThe nearest shades to Du Jour within Valspar's own range, ranked by perceptual color distance — useful when you want the same look a touch lighter, darker, or warmer.
Du Jour Coordinating Colors
Du Jour stays on the warm side of the fence, the same as most soft whites: it flatters warm greiges, warm wood, and near-blacks, and it can look grayish next to anything cooler or creamier than itself. These are the partners that show up again and again in rooms built around it:
Du Jour's Own Story: A Lowe's Cabinet Favorite With HGTV Backing
Du Jour is one of three near-identical whites Valspar sells at Lowe's — Dove White, Swiss Coffee, and Du Jour — and it is the one that keeps turning up in kitchen-remodel round-ups as the store-brand answer to designer whites like Benjamin Moore White Dove and Swiss Coffee. It picked up real design-world credibility when HGTV's Erin Napier used it on cabinetry and described it on Instagram as feeling warm and welcoming, especially with brass hardware — a genuine, verifiable endorsement rather than marketing copy.
That popularity is also the color's biggest practical trap: because Dove White, Swiss Coffee, and Du Jour sit on the same Valspar chip display and read nearly identically in a store's lighting, homeowners and even painters mix them up. Multiple independent color-comparison sites exist purely to sort out which of the three is which — a sign of real, common confusion, not a rare mistake. Buy the actual sample can, not the memory of a chip.
Du Jour With Wood Tones and Floors
Warm wood is the natural partner here: oak, walnut, and butcher block all sit comfortably against Du Jour's faint beige-yellow warmth, and on cabinets it is a proven match for brass hardware in particular. Because it is the cleanest of Valspar's three white siblings, it also handles slightly cooler wood tones better than the creamier Dove White would.
The floor to test first is cool grey LVP or grey-washed wood — as with most warm near-whites, a grey floor can pull Du Jour's faint warmth into relief and make the wall look a step more yellow than it does on the chip. A big sample taped up above the actual floor, checked in the room's real light, is the fastest way to know before painting.
Three Ready Palettes Built on Du Jour
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.
Agreeable Gray keeps the walls quiet so the Du Jour cabinets and brass hardware do the talking; the navy island adds the one dark note the room needs to feel finished, not flat.
TRY THIS PALETTE →One color at two sheens gives a small house depth without contrast lines, and it avoids the sibling-white mismatch that trips up so many Du Jour rooms. The near-black door is the single dark accent the scheme needs — and it is the true black already on the same Lowe's shelf.
TRY THIS PALETTE →Revere Pewter is the warm greige Du Jour trims cleanly against; the near-black frame and door give the bedroom one crisp, deliberate accent instead of letting the whole room stay soft and shapeless.
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
Is Du Jour warm or cool?
Warm, but only faintly — it carries a whisper of beige-yellow rather than the fuller cream of its siblings Swiss Coffee and Dove White. In cool light it can read close to neutral; it never tips pink or green.
What is the difference between Du Jour, Swiss Coffee, and Dove White?
All three are Valspar's near-white family sold at Lowe's, ranked by how much cream shows: Dove White is the warmest and creamiest, Swiss Coffee sits in the middle, and Du Jour reads the cleanest and least buttery of the three. On a paint chip they look almost the same — on four walls the difference is real, so sample before choosing.
Is it good for kitchen cabinets?
Yes — this is the color's best-known use, including a public endorsement from HGTV's Erin Napier. It flatters brass and matte-black hardware and hides handprints better than a starker white. Use a satin cabinet enamel, not a wall paint.
What trim color goes with Du Jour walls?
Du Jour itself, in semi-gloss, is the safest choice — it avoids the sibling-white mismatch that is the color's most common complaint. If you want contrast, go with a mid-tone greige rather than a different, creamier white.
Does it work on exteriors?
There is no strong documented track record for Du Jour outdoors specifically, unlike some of the more famous Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams warm whites. It should behave like any bright warm white in full sun, but get a large exterior sample before committing a whole house to it.
Is Du Jour the same as Benjamin Moore White Dove or Swiss Coffee?
Close in spirit, not identical. Du Jour is frequently compared to both online because it occupies the same "soft warm white" territory at a similar LRV, but it is a different formula. If you are matching existing trim or cabinets painted in a specific designer white, bring the actual sample home rather than assuming a match.
Will It Work in YOUR Room?
No page can promise how Du Jour behaves in your light. Upload a photo and see it on your own walls in seconds — before you spend a cent on samples.
TRY DU JOUR ON YOUR ROOM →
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