Mountain Olive vs Balboa Mist
Where Mountain Olive belongs to Behr's range, Balboa Mist is a Benjamin Moore color. Hue-wise, Mountain Olive belongs to the greige-grey family and Balboa Mist to the beige-greige family. Balboa Mist (LRV 66) reflects noticeably more light than Mountain Olive (LRV 12), a difference of 53 points that becomes especially apparent in rooms with limited natural light. Mountain Olive runs yellow while Balboa Mist is decidedly red, which means they'll respond very differently to warm vs cool light sources. With a ΔE of 44.7, the contrast is hard to miss. These aren't variations on a theme — they're two different answers to the same question. Below you'll find 5 real-room photo comparisons where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Mountain Olive vs Balboa Mist in Real Spaces
5 real rooms side by side. Seeing Mountain Olive and Balboa Mist in actual rooms makes the difference concrete; browse the spaces below to get a feel for how each color lives on a wall.
Bedroom
The context that matters most in a bedroom is how a color reads under a bedside lamp at night, not under noon daylight. Balboa Mist reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Mountain Olive.
Dining Room
A dining room lit by a dimmed pendant or candles is one of the most forgiving environments for paint — warm light softens almost everything. Balboa Mist returns significantly more light to the room — in a smaller or darker space, that difference in perceived brightness is hard to miss.
Bathroom
Bathrooms are one of the few spaces where you're genuinely enclosed by the paint color, which makes the choice between these two more consequential. Balboa Mist reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Mountain Olive.
House
Seen across an entire facade, subtle tonal differences become pronounced. What reads as nearly the same on a chip often reads as clearly different at scale. Balboa Mist reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Mountain Olive.
Kitchen Cabinets
Kitchen cabinets are constantly compared against adjacent materials, which means subtle differences between these two become much more visible. Balboa Mist reflects noticeably more light off the walls, making the space read more open than Mountain Olive.
Color Details
Mountain Olive vs Balboa Mist Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Mountain Olive on one side and Balboa Mist on the other.
Digital color is approximate. These simulations are generated from the manufacturer's hex values and overlaid on grayscale room photos — your screen's calibration, brightness, and viewing angle all affect how they render. Before committing to either color, test physical samples in your own space under the light you actually live with.
More Mountain Olive comparisons
See how Mountain Olive stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
