The Color Digest · Compare
Settled, side by side
Le Cygne
Ressource · R238
The Paris apartment white
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 numbersLe Cygne leans warm where Pure White reads neutral. Both belong to the whites family.
How they read
In their own wordsLe Cygne — the swan — is a warm, matte ivory from the French house Ressource. It has the chalky, light-absorbing quality of old lime plaster, which is why it looks so at home on Haussmann panelling and ceiling roses: it softens the light rather than bouncing it around. Cream is present, yellow is not.
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.