GREYS

Beautiful Darkness

#686D70

RGB 104, 109, 112 · HSL 203°, 4%, 42% · CMYK 7, 3, 0, 56

Beautiful Darkness is #686D70 in HEX — rgb(104, 109, 112), hsl(203°, 4%, 42%), cmyk(7%, 3%, 0%, 56%).

Beautiful Darkness pulls into the rich end of the greys spectrum — HSL 203°, 4%, 42%. The neutral saturation makes it near-neutral and forgiving, and the hue reads cool. In interior projects it shines on walls, soft furniture, hard surfaces — as the project's quiet backbone. Reads best alongside white trim, natural wood, brass, soft black accents.

Color Codes

HEX#686D70

RGB104, 109, 112

HSL203°, 4%, 42%

HSV203°, 7%, 44%

CMYK7, 3, 0, 56

Decimal6843760

CSS RGBrgb(104, 109, 112)

CSS HSLhsl(203, 4%, 42%)

Paint Matches — this color across 16 brands

Benjamin Moore

Trout 2124-20

ΔE 0.6 · #6A6E71

Valspar

High-Speed Steel 4005-2B

ΔE 1 · #6B6E71

Behr

Dark Ash 770F-5

ΔE 1 · #6A6D6F

PPG

In The Shadows 1039-6

ΔE 1.6 · #656E72

Dulux

Guild Grey SG6G5

ΔE 2 · #656C72

Vista Paint

Grafton Grey K-810

ΔE 2.1 · #63686A

Sherwin-Williams

Wall Street SW7665

ΔE 2.1 · #656D73

Hallman-Lindsay

Polished Pewter historic-polished-pewter

ΔE 2.4 · #636869

Kilz

Sooty RM160

ΔE 2.4 · #6A6B6B

Dunn-Edwards

Battleship Gray DEC797

ΔE 2.8 · #6F7476

Farrow & Ball

Down Pipe 26

ΔE 4.2 · #626664

IKEA

IKEA156 156

ΔE 4.6 · #676973

RAL

Mouse Grey 7005

ΔE 6.8 · #646B63

Dutch Boy

Seal of Grey VS-9301

ΔE 9.1 · #575757

Colorhouse

Wool .05 Wool-05

ΔE 9.9 · #587675

Kobra

Grey 42

ΔE 14.1 · #889099

Light Reflectance & Undertone

Light Reflectance Value (LRV)

15/100

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

TemperatureNeutral MasstoneBlue UndertoneViolet

A near-neutral with a subtle neutral violet undertone — it will pick up colour from surrounding surfaces and shift noticeably under different light.

Color Theory

Complementary

#686D70

#6F6A67

Analogous

#676F6E

#686D70

#67686F

Triadic

#686D70

#6F676C

#6C6F67

Split-Complementary

#686D70

#6F6768

#6F6E67

Tetradic

#686D70

#6E676F

#6F6A67

#686F67

Monochromatic

#1D1F20

#424548

#686D70

#8D9296

#B5B8BA

Rectangle

#686D70

#6A676F

#6F6A67

#6C6F67

Compound

#686D70

#67686F

#6F6A67

#6F6E67

Variations

Lighter

#848A8D

#A3A7A9

#CACCCD

Darker

#525759

#383C3D

#212324

Saturation

#6A6B6C

#676C6F

#3378A3

Interior Use

Best Rooms

living rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms

Best Uses

walls, soft furniture, hard surfaces

Pairs With

white trim, natural wood, brass, soft black accents

Accessibility (WCAG)

vs White

5.24:1

vs Black

4.01:1

AA Large

Deuteranopia

#686D70

#6A6C71

Original → Simulated

Protanopia

#686D70

#6C6C70

Original → Simulated

Tritanopia

#686D70

#686D6D

Original → Simulated

Color Psychology

Quiet · Versatile

Beautiful Darkness gets out of the way so the architecture and the people in the room do the work. The right neutral is never a default — it reads warm or cool, dusty or sharp depending on its undertone, and that undertone is what makes or breaks the room.

SymbolismBalance, sophistication, calm

PersonalityAdaptable, considered, timeless

versatileneutraltimelessbackdroptrimwall

How it looks under different light

#8D7E6F

Warm Bulb 2700K

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

#686D70

Daylight 5500K

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

#7B8393

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.

#725644

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: #686D70;

CSS — background

background-color: #686D70;

CSS Variable

--color-beautiful-darkness: #686D70;

Tailwind v3 — config

colors: { 'beautiful-darkness': '#686D70' }

Tailwind — arbitrary

bg-[#686D70] text-[#686D70]

SCSS

$beautiful-darkness: #686D70;

Similar Colors

Trout Gray

#696D70 · ΔE 0.4

Ashland Slate

#696D72 · ΔE 1.3

Gunmetal

#6A6F70 · ΔE 1.4

Rocky Coast

#6C7171 · ΔE 2.3

Arctic Seal

#6C6B6D · ΔE 2.5

Charcoal Slate

#646769 · ΔE 2.5

Gray Shower

#6D7378 · ΔE 2.7

Stormy Sky

#626568 · ΔE 3.2

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 #686D70?

#686D70 is Beautiful Darkness, a mid-tone grey with a cool undertone.

Is #686D70 warm or cool?

Beautiful Darkness reads cool, which influences how it interacts with surrounding tones and natural light.

What rooms work best with Beautiful Darkness?

Beautiful Darkness works well in living rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms. Designers typically use it for walls, soft furniture, hard surfaces.

What colors pair well with Beautiful Darkness?

Beautiful Darkness pairs naturally with white trim, natural wood, brass, soft black accents. Its complementary color is also a strong contrast option for accents.

Where can I download Beautiful Darkness?

You can download Beautiful Darkness 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 Beautiful Darkness?

The hex code is #686D70. In RGB it's 104, 109, 112, and in HSL it's 203°, 4%, 42%.

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