BROWNS

Old School

#686945

RGB 104, 105, 69 · HSL 62°, 21%, 34% · CMYK 1, 0, 34, 59

Old School is #686945 in HEX — rgb(104, 105, 69), hsl(62°, 21%, 34%), cmyk(1%, 0%, 34%, 59%).

Old School pulls into the rich end of the browns spectrum — HSL 62°, 21%, 34%. The muted saturation makes it quiet but present, and the hue reads warm. In interior projects it shines on trim, cabinetry, leather goods, wood accents — for warmth and weight. Reads best alongside cream walls, off-white linen, brass, soft black.

Color Codes

HEX#686945

RGB104, 105, 69

HSL62°, 21%, 34%

HSV62°, 34%, 41%

CMYK1, 0, 34, 59

Decimal6842693

CSS RGBrgb(104, 105, 69)

CSS HSLhsl(62, 21%, 34%)

Paint Matches — this color across 16 brands

Hallman-Lindsay

Old School 410

Exact match

Farrow & Ball

Bancha 298

ΔE 0.8 · #686A47

Benjamin Moore

Guacamole 2144-10

ΔE 1.2 · #656843

Vista Paint

Old School C-409

ΔE 1.4 · #666842

Dulux

Hellebore S20B8

ΔE 1.5 · #656944

Behr

Portsmouth Olive HDC-CL-20

ΔE 2 · #6B6A43

Valspar

Summer's End 6005-4C

ΔE 2.9 · #676443

Kilz

Anchorage Jacket LF110-02

ΔE 3.3 · #6F6A49

PPG

Gratefully Grass 1115-7

ΔE 3.4 · #71714E

Sherwin-Williams

Oakmoss SW6180

ΔE 4.8 · #65684C

Colorhouse

Glass .06 Glass-06

ΔE 5.2 · #696346

Dunn-Edwards

Secret Path DE6252

ΔE 6 · #737054

RAL

Reed Green 6013

ΔE 6.5 · #6C7156

IKEA

IKEA148 148

ΔE 9.4 · #676450

Kobra

Gold 45

ΔE 13 · #8E7A5A

Dutch Boy

Silver Gray D-6730

ΔE 13.2 · #857F69

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

TemperatureWarm MasstoneYellow UndertoneGreen

Reads as a warm yellow with a green undertone showing through, especially in daylight. Pair trim and adjacent colours to either calm or amplify that undertone.

Color Theory

Complementary

#686945

#464469

Analogous

#695844

#686945

#556944

Triadic

#686945

#446869

#694468

Split-Complementary

#686945

#445569

#584469

Tetradic

#686945

#446958

#464469

#694455

Monochromatic

#0F0F0A

#3A3B26

#686945

#959763

#B5B690

Rectangle

#686945

#446946

#464469

#694468

Compound

#686945

#556944

#464469

#584469

Variations

Lighter

#90925F

#ABAC88

#CCCDBB

Darker

#545536

#3A3B25

#222215

Saturation

#5C5C51

#686944

#888B22

Interior Use

Best Rooms

living rooms, libraries, dens

Best Uses

trim, cabinetry, leather goods, wood accents

Pairs With

cream walls, off-white linen, brass, soft black

Accessibility (WCAG)

vs White

5.68:1

vs Black

3.70:1

AA Large

Deuteranopia

#686945

#6D6646

Original → Simulated

Protanopia

#686945

#69694B

Original → Simulated

Tritanopia

#686945

#6A6467

Original → Simulated

Color Psychology

Grounded · Earthy

Old School grounds a scheme — it gives the eye a place to rest and frames brighter colors around it. Use it on trim, cabinetry, leather goods, and structural wood elements; for walls it works in libraries and dens that want gravity.

SymbolismStability, comfort, tradition

PersonalityReliable, warm, considered

earthywarmlibrarytrimcabinetrygrounded

How it looks under different light

#8D7B4F

Warm Bulb 2700K

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

#686945

Daylight 5500K

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

#7B8073

Cool Bulb 6500K

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

Pairs With

#EBEBEA

Trim

Matched off-white

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

#F7F8F7

Ceiling

Whisper tint

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

#38375C

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: #686945;

CSS — background

background-color: #686945;

CSS Variable

--color-old-school: #686945;

Tailwind v3 — config

colors: { 'old-school': '#686945' }

Tailwind — arbitrary

bg-[#686945] text-[#686945]

SCSS

$old-school: #686945;

Similar Colors

Guacamole

#646742 · ΔE 1.5

Bonsai

#606241 · ΔE 3.3

Pine Brook

#6E7450 · ΔE 4.6

Palmer Green

#5F5D39 · ΔE 4.9

Shady Lane

#76754D · ΔE 5.4

Sage

#766C4B · ΔE 5.7

Turtle Green

#696449 · ΔE 5.8

Sterling Forest

#6D684E · 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 #686945?

#686945 is Old School, a deep brown with a warm undertone.

Is #686945 warm or cool?

Old School reads warm, which influences how it interacts with surrounding tones and natural light.

What rooms work best with Old School?

Old School works well in living rooms, libraries, dens. Designers typically use it for trim, cabinetry, leather goods, wood accents.

What colors pair well with Old School?

Old School pairs naturally with cream walls, off-white linen, brass, soft black. Its complementary color is also a strong contrast option for accents.

Where can I download Old School?

You can download Old School 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 Old School?

The hex code is #686945. In RGB it's 104, 105, 69, and in HSL it's 62°, 21%, 34%.

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