You know the IKEA Hemnes 8 drawer dresser I was talking about last week that was a lot bigger than I thought it would be? Well, there are a few other things I’d like to paint to match it. But what paint colour is IKEA Hemnes white?
The IKEA Hemnes White Colour Matching Challenge
I did a few Google searches and the most popular matching paint colour was Acadia White, OC-38, by Benjamin Moore. But I wanted to see for myself – and it’s a good thing I did, because Acadia White isn’t nearly as close to the IKEA white as I would like.
I went to Benjamin Moore, Home Depot and Lowes and picked up as many white/neutral paint chips as I could find. It was surprisingly difficult because without the dresser in front of you, the paint chips closest to its actual colour look way off! Who knew the IKEA white is actually very cream rather than white?
I pulled out one of the drawers from the dresser and started setting up paint chips on it. I started with the Benjamin Moore paint chips:
You can see above that Acadia White by Benjamin Moore is fine, but it’s definitely not bang on.
So I moved on to the Behr colours:
And then holding the swatches up to the dresser drawer (the photo directly above) you can compare the closest match, which is Clear Moon PWN-30. Definitely closer than any of the Benjamin Moore colours, in my opinion.
Then I compared the CIL colours, but none of those were even close:
And then the Valspar colours:
The closest Valspar match was 7002-8 and I would say out of all the colours by the paint companies, this was the winner, but even still, it wasn’t bang on.
And then I remembered that all of these hardware stores can do colour matching! Duh! I don’t know why I didn’t think of that sooner!? So out I trekked to Home Depot with the front of the dresser drawer to have the paint colour matched.
And this is what I ended up buying:
So just to compare the paint companies’ colours with the matched paint on the end of the wooden stir stick, here’s what they look like.
Closest Benjamin Moore match, Acadia White, OC-38 (but not really a great match):
The closest Behr match, Clear Moon, PWN-30:
And closest Valspar match, 7002-8:
If you don’t actually have an IKEA Hemnes piece of furniture and you are just trying to copy the look, any one of these would work. But if you have something in IKEA white, and you want to match it closely, then don’t waste your time trying to find a matching paint colour. Normally you can just remove a drawer, a shelf, or a leg from that piece of furniture and take it on down to the nearest Home Depot, or anywhere that sells paint, and get them to colour match for you!
Happy painting!
Ann says
Thanks Debbie, We had a carpentar make us new kitchen cupboard fronts. However, I did not like the color of white used nor the finish. I will go buy the Behr paint to get the IKEA finish.
Debbie @ One Little Project says
I think IKEA uses some kind of melamine paint, which you can’t get at the hardware store. So the Behr paint will get you the right colour, but the finish will still be somewhat different.
Sandy Sutherland says
I got this from another pin that I just finished reading: Decorchick.com is the link I got this from. Semi gloss is what they recommend. It was a Sherwin
Williams paint match. Don’t know if this helps, but you can probably get a small can to start?
Stephanie Hopkins says
IKEA uses Zinsser brand paint in a shellac base.
Stephanie says
Hi. I recently bought a white ikea hemnes dresser and I also bought two hemnes nightstands, however they’re not white, they’re a light brown color. Do you think I can paint it with the color you’re suggesting? Will people be able to tell that I painted it?
Debbie @ One Little Project says
If you have never painted furniture before they will probably be able to tell if they look closely at it. The colour is identical, but the IKEA finish is hard to match in standard paint. I’m sure it’s possible to get that super glossy finish, I just don’t know how to yet. I would recommend trying a glossy spray paint for a better finish if you are a beginner. Or just sell the brown ones you have and buy new white ones. 🙂 Good luck!
PacificCoasting says
If I took the numbers from your Behr paint can would my Home Depot be able to match it? I have a Hemnes sofa table that I just bought so I don’t want to take it apart. I have another white painted cabinet in the room and I thought it would be nice to paint it to match the Hemnes. Thanks for all the work you’ve done on this project.
MK says
Ikea Glazing Paint
http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/00329059/#/60329056
Habib says
Glazing paint is not the same as typical wall/cabinet paint and won’t result in anywhere close to the same look. Glazing paint is for when you want to wood grain to show through, almost like a white wash for wood.
Cynthia says
You can bring in a drawer to LOWES and they will color match it for you. Behr paint is low coverage, poor quality paint. Spend a little extra and use Sherwin Williams. You well save time and like the results better.
Jeff Brown says
Hello Debbie,
I found an article about the Ikea Hemnes dresser and your attempt at matching the paint. I just bought a used white dresser and it needs a little touch up. We have 2 other Hemnes dressers in our room so I’d like to get as close to the paint color as possible.
So if I read your article right you ended up using the Behr premium plus semi-gloss paint, correct? I thank you for doing all the leg work and research for us armatures.
Thanks for your response. Jeff
Michelle says
I know this is an old post, but…
For anyone that prefers Benjamin Moore and wants to use a pre-existing color, I’ve found Simply White OC-117 to be a very close match.
Thanks for the post!
Stephanie Hopkins says
Is the number for the Behr IKEA white under CL a 15 or 16? Thanks
Debra says
Thanks for posting this. We bought a used Hamnes daybed that needed a repair. Unfortunately, we left the drawer at the college apartment and could not color match it ourselves. I just picked up some of the Behr enamel paint based on the color match label you posted. We will find out in a week or so if the guy typed in the label correctly. Because the label was “old”, he had to enter the info manually. At least that’s what he said.
Allisa says
Just wanna say its over 8 years later and I just paint matched using your code for my Ikea Hemnes Daybed, and the match is perfect! Thank you for this blog!