GREYS

Plum Shade

#78738B

RGB 120, 115, 139 · HSL 252°, 9%, 50% · CMYK 14, 17, 0, 45

Plum Shade is #78738B in HEX — rgb(120, 115, 139), hsl(252°, 9%, 50%), cmyk(14%, 17%, 0%, 45%).

Plum Shade pulls into the mid-tone end of the greys spectrum — HSL 252°, 9%, 50%. 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#78738B

RGB120, 115, 139

HSL252°, 9%, 50%

HSV252°, 17%, 55%

CMYK14, 17, 0, 45

Decimal7893899

CSS RGBrgb(120, 115, 139)

CSS HSLhsl(252, 9%, 50%)

Paint Matches — this color across 16 brands

PPG

Plum Shade 1173-6

Exact match

Dulux

Flying Carpet S43C5

ΔE 1.4 · #767389

Hallman-Lindsay

Dancing In The Spring 1291

ΔE 1.6 · #7B7289

Vista Paint

Dancing in the Spring C-1290

ΔE 1.9 · #7B7288

Sherwin-Williams

Mythical SW6550

ΔE 2 · #7E778E

Behr

Composers Magic MQ5-37

ΔE 3.9 · #7A6F82

Benjamin Moore

French 1427 · CC-960

ΔE 4.3 · #6A6E87

RAL

Pearl Black Berry 4012

ΔE 4.5 · #6C6881

Valspar

Turbid Amethyst 4002-4B

ΔE 4.6 · #7E7889

Dunn-Edwards

Blue Intrigue DE5928

ΔE 5.6 · #7F809C

Kilz

Jupiter RA290-01

ΔE 6.3 · #8B8095

IKEA

IKEA088 88

ΔE 7.2 · #8B859D

Farrow & Ball

Pitch Blue 220

ΔE 8.2 · #636E8F

Kobra

Grey 42

ΔE 14.3 · #889099

Colorhouse

Wool .04 Wool-04

ΔE 15.3 · #8B8A8C

Dutch Boy

Natural Gray VS-9332

ΔE 15.7 · #878787

Light Reflectance & Undertone

Light Reflectance Value (LRV)

18/100

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

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

Color Theory

Complementary

#78738B

#868B74

Analogous

#747B8B

#78738B

#84748B

Triadic

#78738B

#8B7974

#748B79

Split-Complementary

#78738B

#8B8474

#7B8B74

Tetradic

#78738B

#8B747B

#868B74

#748B84

Monochromatic

#302E38

#545161

#78738B

#A19EAE

#C9C7D1

Rectangle

#78738B

#8B7486

#868B74

#748B79

Compound

#78738B

#84748B

#868B74

#7B8B74

Variations

Lighter

#9390A2

#AFADB8

#D1D0D5

Darker

#605C70

#423F4D

#26252D

Saturation

#7D7C83

#79748B

#563AC5

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

4.54:1

vs Black

4.62:1

Deuteranopia

#78738B

#71778B

Original → Simulated

Protanopia

#78738B

#747488

Original → Simulated

Tritanopia

#78738B

#767775

Original → Simulated

Color Psychology

Quiet · Versatile

Plum Shade 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

#998383

Warm Bulb 2700K

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

#78738B

Daylight 5500K

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

#8788A8

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.

#7D8751

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 · Trim · Soft furniture

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: #78738B;

CSS — background

background-color: #78738B;

CSS Variable

--color-plum-shade: #78738B;

Tailwind v3 — config

colors: { 'plum-shade': '#78738B' }

Tailwind — arbitrary

bg-[#78738B] text-[#78738B]

SCSS

$plum-shade: #78738B;

Similar Colors

French Violet

#696D86 · ΔE 4.6

Amethyst Shadow

#6E7182 · ΔE 5.4

Purple Haze

#827F92 · ΔE 5.5

Tropical Dusk

#857D8F · ΔE 5.5

In the Twilight

#747D92 · ΔE 6.2

Nightfall Sky

#6F6578 · ΔE 6.3

Queen's Wreath

#7C819D · ΔE 6.4

Pinot Grigio Grape

#6F6177 · ΔE 7.5

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 #78738B?

#78738B is Plum Shade, a mid-tone grey with a cool undertone.

Is #78738B warm or cool?

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

What rooms work best with Plum Shade?

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

What colors pair well with Plum Shade?

Plum Shade 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 Plum Shade?

You can download Plum Shade 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 Plum Shade?

The hex code is #78738B. In RGB it's 120, 115, 139, and in HSL it's 252°, 9%, 50%.

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