The Color Digest · Compare
Settled, side by side
Moonlight
Benjamin Moore · 2020-60
The yellow that lights a room from inside
Pure White
Sherwin-Williams · SW 7005
The white that stays out of the way
In real rooms
Every room, each colorMoonlight
1 roomThe difference
Read from the numbersPure White is the lighter of the two at LRV 84, 0.6 points above Moonlight at LRV 83.37. Moonlight leans warm where Pure White reads neutral. Moonlight 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 Moonlight is the bolder pick.
How they read
In their own wordsMoonlight — now sold by Benjamin Moore under the name Sicilian Lemon, same number 2020-60 — is a pale, clear butter yellow with an LRV of 83. It is light enough to behave like a tinted white in a bright room and cheerful enough to make a north-facing one feel as if the sun came out.
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.