Read about Benjamin Moore Natural Cream, and see 11 real homes that use it!
Benjamin Moore OC-14 Natural Cream is a light and soft light warm greige. This member of the off-white collection is a popular shade that makes a space feel calming and elegant while keeping it looking fresh and interesting.
Neutrals are safe – like that feeling you get when you come home after dealing with the challenges of the world all day.
They are safe because their versatility means there’s a lot of play in color pairings and use around the home. In other words, they are WAY easier to use than colors are.
And while grays may at times be too chilly and beiges can be too warm, greiges hit that sweet spot that even Goldilocks would approve of.
If you’re looking for a GREAT go-to neutral, I am reviewing a color today that I just know you’ll love! Benjamin Moore Natural Cream is a popular shade that slides right into that “not too hot, not too cool” spot with ease.
If you want to give your home a refresh with a new coat of paint but feel heart palpitations at the thought of picking colors, my extensive paint color review post series will help you find that ideal shade with ease. Each “paint post” highlights a single hue and covers all the deets you need. I’ve even sprinkled in a few “best of” posts to help you narrow down the plethora of choices!
Let’s check out Benjamin Moore Natural Cream and see all that it has to offer so you can determine if it’s right for your home.
What color is Natural Cream?
Natural Cream (BM OC-14) is a light and gentle cream color with a good blend of gray and beige undertones to create a balanced, gorgeous, and inviting shade you’ll love to look at all day long.
If you want a light shade that adds more depth and body to a room than white paint does, Natural Cream could be the ultimate neutral for you! It’ll add sophistication with a nice dose of tranquility and make small spaces (like your hallway) or even the largest spaces feel cozy and welcoming.
And this gorgeous shade oozes charm without being weighed down by unpleasant yellow undertones.
And to move you quickly from paint zero to hero, I have a great, free resource for you. Grab a copy of 5 Massive Paint Mistakes to Avoid…because when all else fails, as long as you stay away from these 5 cardinal painting sins, you’re probably doing A-OK!
FAQs about Benjamin Moore Natural Cream
What other colors are similar to Natural Cream?
Due to differences in the color blending process of each paint company, trying to match paint colors in different brands of paint is next to impossible and will only result in frustration.
If you want a similar color to Natural Cream from a different paint brand, I recommend Sherwin Williams Taupe of the Morning (which leans more taupe) or Behr’s Arid Landscape.
Is Sherwin Williams’s Natural Cream warm or cool?
Natural Cream has both cool and warm undertones to create a very balanced shade. You’ll notice that it seems warmer in warm-toned lighting and slightly cooler in passive or shadowy lighting.
Its endless versatility means that it pairs well with both warm and cool shades!
Where should I use Benjamin Moore Natural Cream?
Let Natural Cream add sophistication and grace to your:
Walls (throughout the home!)
Accents (built-ins, board and batten, etc.)
Kitchen cabinets
Mudroom built-ins
Laundry room cabinets
Bathroom vanities
Doors and trim
Exteriors
Thanks to its versatility, Natural Cream successfully works in ANY style of home, including French Country, Traditional, Coastal, Transitional, Modern Farmhouse, Mid-Century Modern, and more. 
Benjamin Moore Natural Cream Undertones
There’s a reason this beautiful shade is quickly gaining momentum and becoming a favorite among homeowners and interior designers!
It has gray and yellow undertones that balance each other out well to give this hue flexibility without glaring hard-to-work with undertones. And you may notice just a hint of green every now and then. It’s subtle, but it can show up occasionally.
Want to avoid that green undertone? Before you add this (or any) paint to your cart, use my no-paint-regret secret weapon: these peel-and-stick paint samples. They are the MOST EFFECTIVE way to see (and avoid) any unpleasant undertones in paint colors and purchase-regrets!
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How Different Types of Lighting Affect Sherwin Williams’s Natural Cream
As sure as the sun comes up in the morning, moves across the sky, and sets in the evening, the way it looks changes. And that constantly shifting appearance has a huge impact on how paint looks.
There’s no way to change the fact that EVERY paint color will display some variation throughout the day. It’s up to you to figure out which shades (and changes) work for you and which ones don’t.
Here’s a breakdown of how different natural light exposures will influence Benjamin Moore Natural Cream.
- North-facing light – Hello, gray undertones! Cool, gray, northern lighting will highlight Natural Cream’s gray undertones and make it appear its darkest.
- South-facing light – Hello, warmth! By contrast, bright, consistently warm southern exposure will make Natural Cream appear lighter, warmer, and softer.
- West-facing light – This shifty lighting is shadowy early in the day and warm later in the day. You’ll see Natural Cream do quite a bit of shifting in western exposure, looking darker and cooler in the morning before warming and brightening up in the afternoon.
- East-facing light – Eastern lighting goes through the same process (in the opposite order) as western lighting. Expect Natural Cream to look warm and bright in the morning before shifting to it’s cooler gray side in the afternoon.
When to Avoid BM Natural Cream
One of the very best reasons to love this shade is that there aren’t many times to avoid it!
I would recommend avoiding pairings with other off-whites (which can be notoriously hard to pair) and light yellows because the gray undertones can make Natural Cream look a tad dingy.
Also, if you want to avoid those green undertones, avoid using Natural Cream in areas near large windows that have lots of green grass or trees.
Don’t mind a hint of green? You’re in luck! This shade can often pair well with green paint colors!
Great Coordinating Colors for Natural Cream
Natural Cream is flexible enough that is a delight to pair with other shades. In general, I recommend sticking with richer hues such as blue grays, earthy shades, sage greens, grays, darker greiges, browns, and blacks.
And when choosing hardware or metal accents, this shade looks stunning with brass, matte black, and brushed nickel finishes!
If you need a few specific color ideas that work with Benjamin Moore Natural Cream, try:
- Cloud Cover
- Thunder
- Woodlawn Blue
- Granite
- Gauntlet Gray
- Boothbay Gray
- Smoke
- Krypton
- Peppercorn
- Soft Chamois
- Charcoal Slate
- Algonquin Trail
- Crestwood Tan
- Chelsea Gray
For trim and ceiling paint colors to pair with Natural Cream, I recommend Chantilly Lace, White Dove, or Super White, so that you avoid shades with strong yellow undertones.
Paint Sheens and Finishes
Finding the right paint finish is crucial for any surface you paint, whether it’s the heart of your home kitchen or low traffic bedrooms.
If you want the perfect interior paint job for your home, here are the different paint finishes available on the market to help you find the sheen of your choice.
- High gloss – although it offers an easy-to-clean surface, high gloss paint is shiny and shows less-than-perfect surfaces.
- Semi-gloss – this sheen is great for small spaces, rooms with low light levels, and high-humidity environments (like bathrooms).
- Satin – this middle of the sheen spectrum is the most popular finish. Satin is ideal for a wide variety of surfaces, high traffic areas, and offers color rub-off resistance when you wash away grime with soap and water.
- Eggshell – the slight sheen of eggshell is a little more durable than flat paint and can withstand VERY gentle scrubbing.
- Flat (or matte) – most people love a luxurious matte finish, but it’s not ideal for every surface. Flat paint’s shine-free appearance provides excellent hiding abilities for imperfections, but I only recommend using it in low-traffic areas since it can only withstand minimal washing without losing paint coverage.
In other words, the perfect sheen will meet all your precise paint needs! To learn all the ins and out of paint finishes, check out this article.
LRV of Benjamin Moore Natural Cream (OC-14)
LRV (or Light Reflectance Value) is a scale that measures the reflection of light a color has, with 0 being totally black and 100 being totally white.
The LRV of Benjamin Moore Natural Cream = 64.78
What does that mean? BM Natural Cream has more depth than many off-white shades, so it often appears greige. It will wash out and act off-white in bright lighting, but it will also add body and a soft richness to the space.
LRV…what? Don’t worry, I’ve got you! Grab a FREE copy of my new guide to avoid the paint color picking mistakes people make! Click here or enter your email below. I’ll send the tips right away!⤵️
Natural Cream Compared to Other Colors
How does Natural Cream stand out from other pale greige paints on the market? Let’s find out!
Benjamin Moore Natural Cream vs. Edgecomb Gray
To start, let’s compare Natural Cream with Ben Moore’s enduring Edgecomb Gray (HC-173). Although Edgecomb Gray has a similar depth (LRV 63), it has more pronounced green undertones and even a hint of pink that will peek through occasionally.
If you crave depth and don’t mind undertones, go with Edgecomb Gray. But if you want flexible versatility as part of your color palette, opt for Natural Cream.
Benjamin Moore Natural Cream vs. Pale Oak
Pale Oak (OC-20) is another similar Benjamin Moore paint shade, but it comes in much brighter than Natural Cream with an LRV of almost 70.
That’s not their only difference, either. Pale Oak has noticeable pink-purple undertones and reads cooler than Natural Cream does.
Benjamin Moore Natural Cream vs. Creamy White
Benjamin Moore’s Creamy White (OC-7) is the lightest comparison color on this list, coming in with an LRV of almost 71.
In addition to the lighter LRV, Creamy White has stronger yellow undertones (with an occasional noticeable hint of green), so it will read much warmer for your interior paint job than Natural Cream’s balanced tone.
More Colors to Consider
Can you see why Natural Cream is one of my favorites? If you aren’t quite sure whether this shade is the best fit for your home yet, check out these popular alternatives!
- Oyster White (Sherwin Williams) – a beige-leaning off-white with gray undertones.
- White Duck (Sherwin Williams) – a soft off-white with greige undertones.
- Dove Wing (Benjamin Moore) – a creamy warm white.
- Calm (Benjamin Moore) – a light off-white with mildly noticeable purple undertones.
- Eider White (Sherwin Williams) – an off-white that can look light gray.
- Big Chill (Sherwin Williams) – a gorgeous gray with mild beige undertones.
- Paper White (Benjamin Moore) – an off-white with gray and subtle green undertones.
- Shoji White (Sherwin Williams) – a light greige that often appears off-white.
- Ballet White (Benjamin Moore) – warm and agreeable off-white.
Feeling lost? I gotcha, boo! Grab a FREE copy of my new guide to avoid the paint color picking mistakes people make! Click here or enter your email below. I’ll send the tips right away!⤵️
11 Real Life Homes Using Benjamin Moore Natural Cream
It’s time to see this color in real life! Let’s check out 11 examples of Natural Cream that show a range of decor and lighting so you see for yourself how this color REALLY behaves.
BM Natural Cream Living Rooms
1. Cozy and Welcoming
Sometimes “white” living rooms can feel sterile and forced. But this example from @allywhalendesign is everything a white living room should be!
It’s stunning (of course), but it also give that soft and inviting appearance where guests feel comfortable or you can curl up on the couch and read a book.
2. A Vision in Neutral
If you want a natural color scheme and need a light shade to balance it out, you’re sure to get beautiful results with Natural Cream.
As you can see here from @dirtroaddwelling, this shade brightens the darker greiges to keep the room feeling light and airy.
3. Just Enough Depth
Many people struggle to add depth to their walls without making them feel dark or heavy.
Natural Cream was the ideal choice in this darker room from @henrycountyfarmhouse! Notice how it has enough contrast with the white trim.
Kitchens Painted Natural Cream
4. Creamy and Dreamy
I had to do a double take at this image from Emma Courtney Home!
The Natural Cream cabinets are subtle yet provide an elegant and timeless softly polished glow. Everything you want in a gorgeous kitchen!
5. Beautifully Neutral and Bright
This kitchen from @itstikigirl is cozy, welcoming, and beautiful without feeling too glam.
Natural Cream reads light and off-white thanks to the bright artificial lighting and pairs well with those gorgeous counters!
6. Brass Adds a Touch of Glam
Thanks to its natural warmth, brass hardware pairs exceptionally well with Natural Cream, as you can see in this image from Z Design at Home.
Doesn’t this shade provide great depth of color for an off-white shade?
Ben Moore’s Natural Cream Bedrooms
7. Darker Trim for the Win
Although most people paint their trim some version of white and have darker (or the same color) walls, there’s no rule that says trim has to be lighter than walls.
Take a page from Hearth Homes Interiors‘s book and try going with (slightly) darker trim for a new dimension of beauty (@hearthhomesinteriors on Instagram; photo credit: @erinfeinblatt)
8. Beautiful Ceiling Paint
Rooms with high ceilings like this one from Studio-McGee need a special touch to keep them from feeling TOO big.
Natural Cream adds the ideal depth and softness to make the high ceiling feel like an inclusive (and GORGEOUS) part of this space!
Bathrooms Using Natural Cream Paint
9. Greige Vanity
Look how well this bathroom vanity from Tiffany Leigh Designs pairs with the gold fixtures! Natural Cream provides some depth, and I absolutely love it with that flooring.
Benjamin Moore Natural Cream in Other Homes
10. Must-Have for Interior Doors
If you thought that Natural Cream looks amazing on trim, check out its prowess as an interior door color in this example from @holly_ca_girl!
I bet it would also look great as an exterior door color for houses with dark paint.
11. Great for Exteriors Too
Natural Cream has enough depth to make it a great choice for “white” exteriors!
This home from @meghanshadrickinteriors is just creamy enough that it will look bright, but not blinding, on a bright sunny day.
Does Benjamin Moore Natural Cream make you say, “Aaaaah,” or what? I hope you love that creamy, cozy vibe as much as I do!
Don’t forget to grab some peel and stick paint samples so you can thoroughly vet it out in your house before grabbing your paintbrush.
Pin this paint color for later! And if you use this paint shade, leave a comment on the pin! That helps others decide if they want to try this color, too!
Ready to show those boring, beige walls who’s the boss at home? Grab my free guide to help you sidestep the mistakes that almost everyone makes when it comes to picking paint! You’ll be on your way to perfect paint promptly…pinky swear.
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