BLUES

Payne’s Grey

#536878

RGB 83, 104, 120 · HSL 206°, 18%, 40% · CMYK 31, 13, 0, 53

Payne’s Grey is #536878 in HEX — rgb(83, 104, 120), hsl(206°, 18%, 40%), cmyk(31%, 13%, 0%, 53%).

Payne’s Grey pulls into the rich end of the blues spectrum — HSL 206°, 18%, 40%. The neutral saturation makes it near-neutral and forgiving, and the hue reads cool. In interior projects it shines on bedrooms, bathrooms, home offices — for calm, focused environments. Reads best alongside warm white trim, oak or walnut, brass or matte black hardware.

Color Codes

HEX#536878

RGB83, 104, 120

HSL206°, 18%, 40%

HSV206°, 31%, 47%

CMYK31, 13, 0, 53

Decimal5466232

CSS RGBrgb(83, 104, 120)

CSS HSLhsl(206, 18%, 40%)

Paint Matches — this color across 16 brands

Valspar

Prussian Cadet 4008-6C

ΔE 0.7 · #526877

Dunn-Edwards

Turbulent Sea DE5803

ΔE 1.2 · #536A79

Dulux

Scholarship S37C6

ΔE 2 · #586B7D

Vista Paint

Cape Cod Bay C-632

ΔE 2.6 · #556E7F

Behr

Rush Hour MQ5-25

ΔE 3.1 · #526873

Sherwin-Williams

Distance SW6243

ΔE 3.2 · #5D6F7F

Benjamin Moore

Spellbound 1659

ΔE 3.4 · #4F6570

Hallman-Lindsay

Cape Cod Bay 633

ΔE 3.5 · #557080

PPG

Hatteras Gray 10-10

ΔE 3.5 · #5C707E

Kilz

Iron Medallion RD130-02

ΔE 4.3 · #537181

Dutch Boy

Ocean Blue D-6743

ΔE 5.1 · #4C6A74

Farrow & Ball

Stiffkey Blue 281

ΔE 5.4 · #4D5B6A

IKEA

IKEA154 154

ΔE 6.2 · #667480

Colorhouse

Wool .06 Wool-06

ΔE 7.8 · #485761

RAL

Pigeon Blue 5014

ΔE 9.6 · #606E8C

Kobra

Blue 31

ΔE 17.7 · #334059

Light Reflectance & Undertone

Light Reflectance Value (LRV)

13/100

Dark

0 · DarkLight · 100

Soaks up light and feels moody and intimate. Great for studies, dining rooms and accent walls; pair with ample lighting.

Undertone

TemperatureCool MasstoneBlue UndertoneViolet

Reads as a cool blue with a violet undertone showing through, especially in daylight. Pair trim and adjacent colours to either calm or amplify that undertone.

Color Theory

Complementary

#536878

#786454

Analogous

#547876

#536878

#545678

Triadic

#536878

#785468

#687854

Split-Complementary

#536878

#785456

#787654

Tetradic

#536878

#765478

#786454

#567854

Monochromatic

#151A1E

#34414B

#536878

#788FA1

#A5B4C0

Rectangle

#536878

#645478

#786454

#687854

Compound

#536878

#545678

#786454

#787654

Variations

Lighter

#6F889B

#95A5B1

#C3CAD0

Darker

#425461

#2D3A43

#1A2227

Saturation

#60676C

#546878

#2A6EA2

Interior Use

Best Rooms

bedrooms, bathrooms, home offices

Best Uses

main walls, ceilings, trim, cabinetry

Pairs With

warm white trim, oak or walnut, brass or matte black hardware

Accessibility (WCAG)

vs White

5.80:1

vs Black

3.62:1

AA Large

Deuteranopia

#536878

#5D6379

Original → Simulated

Protanopia

#536878

#656576

Original → Simulated

Tritanopia

#536878

#526A68

Original → Simulated

Color Psychology

Focused · Cooling

Payne’s Grey lowers the temperature of a room — useful in south-facing rooms that overheat visually, and in home offices where you want a clear head. Pair with warm wood and brass to keep it from reading clinical.

SymbolismTrust, depth, stability

PersonalityClear-headed, dependable, contemplative

focustrustcalmofficebedroomdepth

How it looks under different light

#7E7B75

Warm Bulb 2700K

Incandescent / soft white LED — pulls colour toward yellow/amber.

#536878

Daylight 5500K

Midday natural light or daylight-spec LED — closest to the paint chip.

#6B8099

Cool Bulb 6500K

Cool white LED / overcast daylight — pulls colour toward blue.

Pairs With

#EAEBEB

Trim

Matched off-white

Same hue at 92% lightness — trim reads coordinated, not stark.

#F7F7F7

Ceiling

Whisper tint

Near-white with a hint of the hero's undertone — ceiling feels intentional.

#6C5441

Accent

Complementary punch

Hue +180°, slightly muted for paint vs. screen — use on a door, frame, or single piece.

#574738

Floor

Walnut neutral

Warm mid-brown grounds the scheme regardless of hero hue.

Paint Info

Brand · Product Line

Benjamin Moore / Regal Select Interior

Recommended Finishes

Eggshell (walls) · Pearl (trim) · Matte (ceiling)

Eggshell hides imperfections on main walls while keeping the color rich; pearl on trim adds subtle sheen and easier cleaning; flat matte on ceilings prevents glare.

Best Surfaces

Primary walls · Cabinetry · Doors · Mouldings

Coverage & Dry Time

Typical coverage 350-400 sq ft per gallon over a primed surface.

Touch-dry in ~1 hour. Recoat after 4 hours. Full cure 7-14 days.

Primer

Standard primer is adequate.

Application Tip

Use a 9" microfiber roller on walls and a 2.5" angled sash brush for trim cuts. Two coats minimum for even depth.

Paint Calculator

Wall area (m²)

Coats

Coverage (m² / L)

You'll need

4.0 litres

1.06 US gallons · room for one touch-up coat. Buy slightly more to ensure single-batch match.

Code Snippets

CSS — color

color: #536878;

CSS — background

background-color: #536878;

CSS Variable

--color-payne’s-grey: #536878;

Tailwind v3 — config

colors: { 'payne’s-grey': '#536878' }

Tailwind — arbitrary

bg-[#536878] text-[#536878]

SCSS

$payne’s-grey: #536878;

Similar Colors

Spellbound

#4E646F · ΔE 3.6

Andes Summit

#586471 · ΔE 3.6

Vermont Slate

#4C636E · ΔE 4.0

Georgian Bay

#537284 · ΔE 4.8

Thousand Oceans

#5E7480 · ΔE 5.3

Van Deusen Blue

#485B6E · ΔE 5.6

Blue Gaspe

#5C6274 · ΔE 5.8

Nocturnal Gray

#55656B · ΔE 6.3

Built by DSGN.HOUSE Updated 2026

Our color tools run on our own catalogue of 26,000+ real paint colors across 16 brands — Benjamin Moore, Sherwin-Williams, Behr, Dulux, RAL and more — with the color math (HSL and CIELAB matching) computed in-house, not scraped from summaries. Every color you pick maps to a real, buyable paint with its code, so what you see here you can actually take to the store. We review and update these tools and their data regularly.

Created by Denis Kataev, founder of DSGN.HOUSE — a software engineer and digital entrepreneur building professional color-design tools for everyone.

Frequently Asked Questions

What color is #536878?

#536878 is Payne’s Grey, a mid-tone blue with a cool undertone.

Is #536878 warm or cool?

Payne’s Grey reads cool, which influences how it interacts with surrounding tones and natural light.

What rooms work best with Payne’s Grey?

Payne’s Grey works well in bedrooms, bathrooms, home offices. Designers typically use it for main walls, ceilings, trim, cabinetry.

What colors pair well with Payne’s Grey?

Payne’s Grey pairs naturally with warm white trim, oak or walnut, brass or matte black hardware. Its complementary color is also a strong contrast option for accents.

Where can I download Payne’s Grey?

You can download Payne’s Grey on DSGN.HOUSE in 15 designer formats including CSS gradient, Figma, Procreate swatches, Tailwind config, Adobe ASE, SVG, and 4K wallpapers — all free.

What's the hex code for Payne’s Grey?

The hex code is #536878. In RGB it's 83, 104, 120, and in HSL it's 206°, 18%, 40%.

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