BLUES

Bureaucracy

#746C8F

RGB 116, 108, 143 · HSL 254°, 14%, 49% · CMYK 19, 24, 0, 44

Bureaucracy is #746C8F in HEX — rgb(116, 108, 143), hsl(254°, 14%, 49%), cmyk(19%, 24%, 0%, 44%).

Bureaucracy pulls into the mid-tone end of the blues spectrum — HSL 254°, 14%, 49%. 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#746C8F

RGB116, 108, 143

HSL254°, 14%, 49%

HSV254°, 24%, 56%

CMYK19, 24, 0, 44

Decimal7629967

CSS RGBrgb(116, 108, 143)

CSS HSLhsl(254, 14%, 49%)

Paint Matches — this color across 16 brands

Dulux

Bureaucracy S43D6

ΔE 0.4 · #736C8F

Behr

Wine Frost 690F-6

ΔE 1.5 · #716B8C

Vista Paint

Queen of Sheba C-1297

ΔE 3.8 · #807497

PPG

Purple Rain 1174-6

ΔE 4.2 · #736A86

Dunn-Edwards

Purple Gumball DE5950

ΔE 4.2 · #6A6283

Kilz

Purple RB140-02

ΔE 4.2 · #6A678F

Hallman-Lindsay

Queen Of Sheba 1298

ΔE 4.4 · #817699

Valspar

Purple Valley 1001-5A

ΔE 4.6 · #6F6183

Sherwin-Williams

Wood Violet SW6557

ΔE 5.9 · #7A6B85

Benjamin Moore

Cupid's 1385

ΔE 6.2 · #7E6786

RAL

Pearl Black Berry 4012

ΔE 6.4 · #6C6881

Farrow & Ball

Pitch Blue 220

ΔE 7 · #636E8F

IKEA

IKEA088 88

ΔE 11.6 · #8B859D

Kobra

Violet 24

ΔE 13.7 · #9B8CB5

Colorhouse

Create .06 Create-06

ΔE 20.3 · #5E3D5A

Dutch Boy

Ocean Blue D-6743

ΔE 21.5 · #4C6A74

Light Reflectance & Undertone

Light Reflectance Value (LRV)

16/100

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

#746C8F

#868E6B

Analogous

#6B758E

#746C8F

#856B8E

Triadic

#746C8F

#8E746B

#6B8E74

Split-Complementary

#746C8F

#8E856B

#758E6B

Tetradic

#746C8F

#8E6B75

#868E6B

#6B8E85

Monochromatic

#2D2A37

#504B63

#746C8F

#9C96B0

#C5C2D1

Rectangle

#746C8F

#8E6B86

#868E6B

#6B8E74

Compound

#746C8F

#856B8E

#868E6B

#758E6B

Variations

Lighter

#8F88A6

#ACA8BA

#CFCDD6

Darker

#5C5573

#3F3A4F

#25222E

Saturation

#7A7882

#746B8E

#5736C4

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

4.90:1

vs Black

4.28:1

AA Large

Deuteranopia

#746C8F

#69728F

Original → Simulated

Protanopia

#746C8F

#6D6D8B

Original → Simulated

Tritanopia

#746C8F

#71736F

Original → Simulated

Color Psychology

Focused · Cooling

Bureaucracy 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

#967E86

Warm Bulb 2700K

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

#746C8F

Daylight 5500K

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

#8483AB

Cool Bulb 6500K

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

Pairs With

#EAEAEB

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.

#788550

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: #746C8F;

CSS — background

background-color: #746C8F;

CSS Variable

--color-bureaucracy: #746C8F;

Tailwind v3 — config

colors: { 'bureaucracy': '#746C8F' }

Tailwind — arbitrary

bg-[#746C8F] text-[#746C8F]

SCSS

$bureaucracy: #746C8F;

Similar Colors

Cupid's Dart

#7D6685 · ΔE 6.3

French Violet

#696D86 · ΔE 7.6

Darkest Grape

#5C5A7C · ΔE 8.1

Spring Purple

#8782A6 · ΔE 8.5

Pinot Grigio Grape

#6F6177 · ΔE 8.9

Purple Heart

#897EAA · ΔE 9.0

Blue Nova

#5B6D92 · ΔE 9.1

Queen's Wreath

#7C819D · ΔE 9.7

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 #746C8F?

#746C8F is Bureaucracy, a mid-tone blue with a cool undertone.

Is #746C8F warm or cool?

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

What rooms work best with Bureaucracy?

Bureaucracy works well in bedrooms, bathrooms, home offices. Designers typically use it for main walls, ceilings, trim, cabinetry.

What colors pair well with Bureaucracy?

Bureaucracy 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 Bureaucracy?

You can download Bureaucracy 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 Bureaucracy?

The hex code is #746C8F. In RGB it's 116, 108, 143, and in HSL it's 254°, 14%, 49%.

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