Benjamin Moore Soot

Ohhhhh I am so excited to share this color with you today! It is a gorgeous dark paint color that is true to its name, Benjamin Moore Soot.

For the last decade or so the world has gone light and bright in relation to paint colors. We want our homes to feel airy and light-filled. But there has been a subtle shift to dark and moody and I have to be honest, I am loving it!

Don’t get me wrong, I love light and airy. I recently painted my entire first floor of common spaces in Benjamin Moore Paper White to achieve this light and bright look. But there are definitely spaces in my home that I have gone dark and moody and I just love the look and feel of it.

Where did I use darker colors? You can check out my master bedroom where I went with Sherwin Williams Smokey Blue and my Coastal Powder Room where I used Sherwin Williams Serious Gray. The darker colors just give you a feel of coziness and warmth.

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What Color is Benjamin Moore Soot?

Benjamin Moore Soot is a gorgeous black paint color! Black?! Yes black is a gorgeous paint color and you will see in the photos below how gorgeous black can be and get ideas on where to use this color.

There are definitely areas of your home that I suggest using Soot and others where you probably shouldn’t. Light is definitely an important factor.

Because Soot is such a dark color I don’t suggest using it in a room on all the walls that has few to no windows (such as a basement). That room will feel like a cave and I don’t think you will be happy with it.

A room with ample natural light is a great place to use soot. Another option is to use Soot on an accent wall instead of all four walls. Or maybe on cabinets or furniture. There are a ton of options which you will see below.

What are the undertones of Soot?

Soot has slight blue undertones which makes it more of a cool black paint color. But to be honest the blue is very subtle and really won’t be seen much unless you pair it with a true blue paint color.

What is the LRV of Soot?

Let’s review what LRV is. LRV stands for Light Reflective Value and it’s a scale from 0-100. Zero being the darkest black and 100 being the brightest white. The higher the number the more light a paint color reflects.

Soot has one of the lowest LRV’s of any of the paint colors we have discussed here at At Lane and High. It’s LRV is 4.11. Yep, that is one dark paint color!

How to know if a paint color is right for you?

The best way to judge if a color is good for you then you will want to put a swatch on the wall and look at it over a few days. Look at it in different lights and decide if you really like it.

You can do this by getting a sample from the paint store and using a brush to put it up on the walls, but then you are left with a can that you can’t do anything with. Those samples are used with poor-quality paint and aren’t meant for use on your walls permanently.

I recommend going with Samplize. They are a company that will send you a 12X12 peel-and-stick swatch of a paint color that you can stick to the wall. When you are done just peel it off and throw it away.

It’s easy and much less messy!

The Best White to pair with Soot

Benjamin Moore has a few white paint colors that I think will go perfectly with Soot. You can use these colors on trim which will make Soot stand out beautifully.

• Benjamin Moore White Dove
• Benjamin Moore Decorators White
• Benjamin Moore Simply White

Benjamin Moore Soot Coordinating Colors

I could go on and on and on when it comes to coordinating colors. I mean really the possibilities are endless with a gorgeous color like Soot.

Here are the color combinations that Benjamin Moore recommends for Soot.

Soot, Icicle, and Gray Cashmere are beautiful colors. Gray Cashmere will slightly bring out the blue undertones where Icicle is a touch on the warm side and will keep them from becoming too blue.

Soot, White Dove, and Cumulous Cloud are stunning! I love the warmth in Cumulous Cloud and it looks amazing next to Soot. White Dove is perfect for a white that will make the other colors really pop!

Benjamin Moore Soot Whole Home Color Palette

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Soot in Real Homes

Is this kitchen gorgeous or what?! They have totally embraced with black feel with not only Soot on the cabinets but the counters, sink, and appliances are black too. Not to mention the backsplash.

I love all the gold touches, they pair so nicely with Soot. I also think that black is a great backdrop for color, such as the fruits used on the counter. In this way black is very similar to white.

You can see that this bathroom gets a ton of natural light, which makes it a perfect contender for using a dark color on the walls. I also love when people paint their shiplap black, it adds so much depth of not only color but texture.

Soot goes so incredibly well with he light wood tones too! And again, the gold hardware just pops!

This is another stunning kitchen but instead of going all black they kept the rest of the kitchen light and bright.

Again you can see how well the color Soot goes with light wood tones and gold hardware. It’s like a trend I am thinking…;)

Dark and moody master bedrooms are all the rage and this one is perfect! The walls obviously have soot on them but the windows and bedding are still in light bright colors.

I just adore dark colored exteriors and this one is to die for! The color soot is used on the majority of the exterior with stone accents on the lower third and medium toned wood trim accents. I love the way it looks with the wood tones. It really accentuates the lines of the roof.

If you are interested in more black paint colors then you might want to check out my post titled The Best Black Paint Colors for Any Room in Your Home.

Other dark colors you might like:

• Benjamin Moore Van Deusen Blue
• Sherwin Williams Grizzle Gray
• Sherwin Williams Naval
• Benjamin Moore Hale Navy
• Sherwin Williams Urbane Bronze

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