See your vanity and the walls in their own colors, and how much the vanity stands out. Start from Benjamin Moore's vanity and wall pairs, on a sample bathroom or your photo, which never leaves your device.
Pick the vanity or the walls, then a color
1Your bathroom
2The vanity or the walls?
- Vanity: Newburg Green#445962 · LRV 9Find the paint
- Walls: Swiss Coffee#EFEDE2 · LRV 84Find the paint
LRV gap between the vanity and the walls: 75, the vanity stands apart from the walls in any light.
3Pick a color
4Vanity and wall pairs from Benjamin Moore
The three bathroom cabinet color schemes Benjamin Moore's own bathroom page names. One tap paints the vanity and the walls.
5Your own photo
On a sample bathroom the vanity and the walls are painted for you. On your own photo, pick Vanity, then tap each door, drawer and the frame between them; then pick Walls and tap each wall. Missed a strip? Tap it too, or use the brush.
Quick answer: pick the vanity color by how much you want it to stand out from the walls. A dark vanity (navy, forest green, black, espresso) on light walls stands apart in any light; a sage or greige vanity on gray or beige walls reads soft and tonal. Benjamin Moore’s own pairs are a green vanity on off-white walls (Newburg Green with Swiss Coffee), a deep taupe-brown with a warm beige (Silhouette with Pashmina) and a white vanity on blue walls (White Heron with Spa Day). Try them above on a sample bathroom or a photo of yours.
How to use the vanity color visualizer
- Pick a sample bathroom, or Upload or take a photo of yours.
- Choose what to paint: Vanity or Walls. Each keeps its own color.
- Pick a color from the board, type its code, or tap one of Benjamin Moore’s pairs to set both at once.
- Read the gap. The picker says how far the vanity’s LRV is from the walls’, and whether it stands apart or blends in.
- On your own photo, tap each door, drawer and the frame between them, then pick Walls and tap each wall. Thin strips are easier with the Brush. Find the paint under each color lists the closest Sherwin-Williams, Benjamin Moore and Behr paints.
Benjamin Moore’s vanity and wall pairs
Benjamin Moore’s bathroom page has a section on repainting bathroom cabinets: Paint cabinets with a fresh new color scheme for a refreshing update in your bathroom.
It notes that Countertops, backsplashes, fixtures, and flooring all play a role in color selection.
and names three schemes, a cabinet color and a wall color each:
| Vanity | Walls | LRV gap |
|---|---|---|
| Newburg Green HC-158 | Swiss Coffee OC-45 | 75, stands apart in any light |
| Silhouette AF-655 | Pashmina AF-100 | 38, stands apart in any light |
| White Heron OC-57 | Spa Day CSP-635 | 56, stands apart in any light |
Two of the three are a dark vanity on light walls; the third turns it round, a white vanity on a saturated blue-green wall.
Stands apart, or blends in
The picker measures how far apart the vanity and the walls are in LRV (light reflectance value: how much light a color reflects, 0 black to 100 white). The yardstick is the UK’s Approved Document M, paragraph 0.26, which calls two surfaces contrasting when the difference in light reflectance value between the two surfaces is greater than 30 points
, or at least 20 in good light. It was written so people can find a door, not to choose a vanity; here it only answers “will the vanity read as its own piece”.
Sherwin-Williams: In a small bathroom without a lot of architectural detail, the vanity takes center stage.
A clear gap makes it the focal point; a tonal one lets the tile or the mirror lead.
Vanity colors on white, light and mid-gray walls
Each vanity color with its LRV gap from Swiss Coffee walls (LRV 84), Light Gray Walls (#C9CAC6, LRV 59, the same as a light beige) and mid-gray walls (#A3A5A1, LRV 37). Color names are the picker’s own, not a paint maker’s: tap Find the paint for the nearest real paints.
| Vanity | LRV | White walls | Light gray walls | Mid-gray walls |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Navy #2B3A55 | 4 | 80, stands apart | 55, stands apart | 33, stands apart |
| Forest #3E5446 | 8 | 76, stands apart | 51, stands apart | 29, in good light |
| Sage #A9B59B | 44 | 40, stands apart | 15, tonal | 7, tonal |
| Blue Gray #7D8C96 | 25 | 59, stands apart | 34, stands apart | 12, tonal |
| Soft Black #2A2A2A | 2 | 82, stands apart | 57, stands apart | 35, stands apart |
| Charcoal #45484A | 6 | 78, stands apart | 53, stands apart | 31, stands apart |
| Espresso #3B2F2A | 3 | 81, stands apart | 56, stands apart | 34, stands apart |
| Greige #D6CFC4 | 63 | 21, in good light | 4, tonal | 26, in good light |
| Soft White #F4F1EA | 88 | 4, tonal | 29, in good light | 51, stands apart |
The pattern: dark vanities stand apart from nearly any painted wall; sage and greige blend with gray and beige; a white vanity disappears against white walls and stands out from gray.
Three worked examples
A navy vanity on white walls. Navy is 80 points from Swiss Coffee: the vanity is a deep block of color under the mirror, the look behind most “navy bathroom vanity” searches.
A sage vanity on gray walls. Sage is 15 points from a light gray wall: soft and tonal. On white walls the same sage stands apart at 40.
A white vanity on blue walls. Benjamin Moore’s White Heron on Spa Day is 56 points apart: the walls carry the color, the vanity stays crisp.
Common mistakes when choosing a vanity color
- Ignoring the fixed pieces. Benjamin Moore:
Countertops, backsplashes, fixtures, and flooring all play a role in color selection.
Valspar suggests the same starting point:You might look to style the rest of your space around your vanity, sink, and/or bathroom hardware.
- Judging in the wrong light. Benjamin Moore:
assessing lighting in your bathroom is critical as light directly affects how your paint color will appear on the wall.
Look at a sample in the light you get ready in. - Choosing from a screen. Valspar:
There’s no substitute for seeing paint on your walls – so no matter how much you love a color, you should always take the time to order and use paint chips and samples.
- A dark color in a dark room without a plan. Benjamin Moore suggests deep colors for small rooms with
the right lighting
, and saysBlack paint colors provide a striking contrast against white or off-white tile and walls.
Choosing the vanity itself? The vanity size finder fits it to the room and the vanity height and mirror size calculator sets the height and the mirror. Painting the kitchen too? The kitchen cabinet color visualizer does the same for cabinets. Planning the whole room? The free 2D room planner lays it out.
Find the vanity sizeRead next
- Green vanity bathroom ideas
- Black vanity bathroom designs
- Blue bathroom ideas
- A spa bathroom color palette
- Moody bathroom ideas
Bathroom vanity color questions
What color should I paint my bathroom vanity?
Start from the walls. A dark vanity (navy, green, black) on light walls stands out and becomes the focal point; a sage, greige or white vanity on walls close to it reads calm and tonal. Benjamin Moore’s own pairs are Newburg Green with Swiss Coffee walls, Silhouette with Pashmina and White Heron with Spa Day. Try them on your own photo above.
Is a blue or navy bathroom vanity a good idea?
A navy vanity is about 80 LRV points from off-white walls, so it stands apart in any light, the classic look with white tile and counters. A lighter blue-gray is 34 points from light gray walls and still reads as its own piece.
Does a green bathroom vanity work?
Yes: Benjamin Moore’s first bathroom cabinet scheme is a deep green vanity, Newburg Green HC-158, with Swiss Coffee OC-45 walls, 75 points apart. A sage vanity is softer: 15 points from a light gray wall, 40 from white.
What color vanity goes with gray walls?
On light gray walls a dark vanity (navy, charcoal, black, espresso) stands apart by 50 points or more; white stands apart in good light (29 points); sage and greige blend in. On a mid-gray wall navy, charcoal, black, espresso and white still stand apart; forest green does in good light (29 points).
Should the vanity match the walls?
It can: a vanity in the wall’s color is a quiet, all-in-one look and the tile or the mirror becomes the feature. Most of the schemes paint makers show contrast the two instead, like Benjamin Moore’s green vanity on off-white walls.
What paint finish is best for a bathroom vanity?
Use a cabinet paint in a wipeable finish: Benjamin Moore points to its Advance Interior, formulated specifically for cabinetry
, and Sherwin-Williams answers a reader with its Emerald Urethane for bathroom cabinets. Check the can for moisture and wet-area use.
Can I see my own vanity in a new color?
Yes. Upload a photo, pick Vanity, choose a color and tap each door and drawer; then pick Walls and tap the walls. Your photo never leaves your device: the painting happens in your browser.
Does the picker show real paint colors?
Benjamin Moore’s pairs are its own colors, read from its own palette files. The other board colors are screen colors with the picker’s own names; tap Find the paint under a color to see the closest Sherwin-Williams, Benjamin Moore and Behr paints, and always try a sample.