BLUES
French Violet
#696D86
French Violet is #696D86 in HEX — rgb(105, 109, 134), hsl(232°, 12%, 47%), cmyk(22%, 19%, 0%, 47%).
French Violet pulls into the mid-tone end of the blues spectrum — HSL 232°, 12%, 47%. 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
Paint Matches — this color across 16 brands
Light Reflectance & Undertone
Light Reflectance Value (LRV)
16/100
Dark
Soaks up light and feels moody and intimate. Great for studies, dining rooms and accent walls; pair with ample lighting.
Undertone
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
Analogous
Triadic
Split-Complementary
Tetradic
Monochromatic
Rectangle
Compound
Shades & Tints
Shades and tints of French Violet run from a pale tint down to a deep shade — same hue and saturation, lightness stepped. Each rung below shows its exact HEX code; tap any to copy it.
Variations
Lighter
Darker
Saturation
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)
Deuteranopia
Protanopia
Tritanopia
Color Psychology
Focused · Cooling
French Violet 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.
How it looks under different light
Pairs With
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
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
color: #696D86;background-color: #696D86;--color-french-violet: #696D86;colors: { 'french-violet': '#696D86' }bg-[#696D86] text-[#696D86]$french-violet: #696D86;Similar Colors
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 #696D86?
#696D86 is French Violet, a mid-tone blue with a cool undertone.
Is #696D86 warm or cool?
French Violet reads cool, which influences how it interacts with surrounding tones and natural light.
What rooms work best with French Violet?
French Violet works well in bedrooms, bathrooms, home offices. Designers typically use it for main walls, ceilings, trim, cabinetry.
What colors pair well with French Violet?
French Violet 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 French Violet?
You can download French Violet 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 French Violet?
The hex code is #696D86. In RGB it's 105, 109, 134, and in HSL it's 232°, 12%, 47%.