The Color Digest · Compare
Settled, side by side
Late Wheat
Benjamin Moore · CC-240
Straw, not butter
Pure White
Sherwin-Williams · SW 7005
The white that stays out of the way
In real rooms
Every room, each colorThe difference
Read from the numbersPure White is the lighter of the two at LRV 84, 36.6 points above Late Wheat at LRV 47.41. Late Wheat leans warm where Pure White reads neutral. Late Wheat is a yellows, Pure White a whites. For a whole room, Pure White is the safer, more forgiving choice thanks to its higher LRV, while Late Wheat is the bolder pick.
How they read
In their own wordsLate Wheat is a muted golden yellow with enough tan and green in it to stay quiet — the color of a field in September rather than a lemon. At LRV 47 it sits mid-tone, so on cabinetry it reads as a real color without ever shouting, and it has none of the acidity that makes most yellows hard to live with.
Pure White is one of Sherwin-Williams' most-specified whites for a simple reason: it has almost no agenda. A trace of grey keeps it from glaring, a trace of warmth keeps it from turning blue, and at LRV 84 it is bright without being stark. It is the white you choose when the art, the furniture or the view is the point.