Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee Paint Review

As an interior designer, I’m always on the hunt for the perfect off-white paint color.

Lately, Swiss Coffee by Benjamin Moore has been growing in popularity. And I can understand why.

It’s a stunning creamy, off-white paint color.

But like any paint color, it has certain nuances that make it work beautifully in some settings and less so in others.

So in this Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee review, I’ll break down its undertones, talk about how it looks in different lighting, and give you some suggestions on where it might work in your home.

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Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee LRV

If you’re not sure what LRV is, it’s short for Light Reflectance Value and it measures how much light a color reflects. The closer a paint color is to 100, the brighter white it is.

The Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee LRV is 81.91. So it’s not a bright, crisp white.

It’s actually very much an off-white.

Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee undertones

Swiss Coffee has subtle undertones that lean slightly yellow and beige.

In north-facing rooms, these yellow undertones will settle down and Swiss Coffee can look like a soft white.

But in south-facing rooms, the warmth of those undertones really comes through.

Because Swiss Coffee has such a creamy warmth, it’s essential to test it in your space first.

Where to use Swiss Coffee in your home

Now here’s the thing…Swiss Coffee is NOT a paint color I’d recommend to use all over your house as part of a whole house color scheme.

Because of it’s lower LRV and it’s warm undertones, I’d recommend being really strategic on where you use it.

Swiss Coffee walls and trim

Swiss Coffee’s warm undertones help offset the cool, grey light that comes in from north-facing windows, so it could help a north-facing bedroom feel warmer and cozier.

I actually like Swiss Coffee for trim and interior doors for a flip on the traditional crisp white trim/dark walls look.

However, I absolutely would NOT recommend using a bright white trim if you’re painting your walls Swiss Coffee!

The crisp trim would end up making the Swiss Coffee walls look even creamier.

If you’re painting the walls in Swiss Coffee, I’d recommend also painting the trim Swiss Coffee. You could just adjust the paint sheen for the trim to create the tiniest bit of visual differentiation.

Swiss Coffee cabinets

Swiss Coffee can be a GORGEOUS choice for kitchen cabinets, but you’ve got to be ok with your kitchen cabinets potentially having a creamy look.

Again, this comes down to personal preference.

The off-white, creamy, mushroom-y kitchen cabinet style has been trending for a couple of years now. And it does look really beautiful in homes with more of a traditional or transitional style.

But I probably wouldn’t recommend Swiss Coffee for a kitchen cabinet paint color in homes that lean more contemporary or modern.

Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee exterior

If your home has a Tudor or even French Country style, Swiss Coffee can be a really beautiful exterior color choice.

Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee color palette

Swiss Coffee can pair beautifully with both warm and cool colors. Again, I wouldn’t recommend using Swiss Coffee as your main color in a whole home color scheme.

But there are some colors that go with Swiss Coffee:

• Benjamin Moore Pashmina – This warm greige can be a lovely complementary color to Swiss Coffee.
• Benjamin Moore Kendall Charcoal – If you’re wanting to pair Swiss Coffee with a dark neutral, check out Kendall Charcoal, a deep gray that brings depth to a room.
• Benjamin Moore Hale Navy – This deep, classic navy that contrasts beautifully with Swiss Coffee.

Sherwin Williams Alabaster vs. Swiss Coffee

• LRV: Alabaster has an LRV of 82, which makes it just a tad brighter than Swiss Coffee.
• Undertones: Alabaster has warm, subtle yellow undertones.
• Comparison: As you can see in the comparison below, these two paint colors are VERY alike! While it’s hard to see on screen, you’d actually see more of a difference when you’re sampling these side-by-side in a room. Then you’d see that Swiss Coffee is just a skoosh darker.

White Dove vs Swiss Coffee

• LRV: The LRV of White Dove by Benjamin Moore is 85.38, making it brighter than Swiss Coffee.
• Undertones: White Dove has soft gray undertones that keep it from going too creamy-looking.
• Comparison: White Dove is crisper and has a touch of gray, making it feel less creamy than Swiss Coffee. If you want a soft white that doesn’t lean too warm, White Dove might be a better fit.

When it comes down to it, I would usually recommend White Dove over Swiss Coffee for most situations.

Sherwin Williams Shoji White vs Swiss Coffee

• LRV: Shoji White has an LRV of 74, so it’s a little darker than Swiss Coffee.
• Undertones: The undertones of Shoji White a mix of warm beige and grey.
• Comparison: Shoji White is less creamy than Swiss Coffee, thanks to its neutralizing undertones.

Here’s why I probably wouldn’t recommend Swiss Coffee

While I think Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee can look absolutely stunning in the right lighting conditions and in the home styles that lean more traditional and transitional, it’s still not one of my favorite white paint colors to recommend.

If a client wanted a soft warm white, I’d probably end up recommending either Pure White by Sherwin Williams or White Dove by Benjamin Moore.

Because both Pure White and White Dove bring a similar warmth that Swiss Coffee has, but they’re also much more flexible. And that flexibility is really important when you’re wanting to create a color palette scheme for your whole home.