The Color Digest · Compare
Settled, side by side
Shoji White
Sherwin-Williams · SW 7042
Rice paper, in paint
Maritime White
Benjamin Moore · 963
The cream that behaves
In real rooms
Every room, each colorThe difference
Read from the numbersShoji White is the lighter of the two at LRV 74, 2.4 points above Maritime White at LRV 71.6. Both read warm. Both belong to the whites family. For a whole room, Shoji White is the safer, more forgiving choice thanks to its higher LRV, while Maritime White is the bolder pick.
How they read
In their own wordsShoji White is a warm off-white with a greige base — a little grey, a little pink, no yellow. At LRV 74 it is soft rather than bright, and it has the quality of light through a paper screen: even, warm, forgiving. It is the white for people who find true whites cold and creams too sweet.
Maritime White is a warm, creamy off-white with a green-grey base that stops it from tipping into yellow. At LRV 72 it is soft rather than bright — an ivory, not a white — and in a bedroom it makes everything feel calmer and slightly older, in the best way.