BLUES

Afloat

#78A3C2

RGB 120, 163, 194 · HSL 205°, 38%, 62% · CMYK 38, 16, 0, 24

Afloat is #78A3C2 in HEX — rgb(120, 163, 194), hsl(205°, 38%, 62%), cmyk(38%, 16%, 0%, 24%).

Afloat pulls into the light end of the blues spectrum — HSL 205°, 38%, 62%. The muted saturation makes it quiet but present, 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#78A3C2

RGB120, 163, 194

HSL205°, 38%, 62%

HSV205°, 38%, 76%

CMYK38, 16, 0, 24

Decimal7906242

CSS RGBrgb(120, 163, 194)

CSS HSLhsl(205, 38%, 62%)

Paint Matches — this color across 16 brands

Dulux

Afloat S36E3

ΔE 1.5 · #78A5C2

Benjamin Moore

San 802

ΔE 2 · #7AA8C6

Dunn-Edwards

Wandering River DE5850

ΔE 2.2 · #73A4C6

Hallman-Lindsay

Key West Zenith 646

ΔE 2.3 · #759FC1

PPG

Serene Sea 1158-4

ΔE 2.6 · #78A7C3

Vista Paint

Key West Zenith C-645

ΔE 2.9 · #749DBF

Behr

Jean Jacket Blue S510-4

ΔE 3 · #6FA0BC

Kilz

Florentine Blue RC260-01

ΔE 3.5 · #83A9C4

Valspar

Soft Skies 4006-6A

ΔE 4.9 · #80ABC3

Sherwin-Williams

Bluesy Note SW9064

ΔE 5 · #7C9AB5

IKEA

IKEA084 84

ΔE 5.3 · #83AAC1

Dutch Boy

Celestial Horizon DCP-0589

ΔE 7.1 · #8FA4BF

Farrow & Ball

St Giles Blue 280

ΔE 7.7 · #599EC4

Kobra

Blue 28

ΔE 15.3 · #4EB3CD

Colorhouse

Water .05 Water-05

ΔE 15.4 · #82979D

RAL

Window Grey 7040

ΔE 16.9 · #9DA1AA

Light Reflectance & Undertone

Light Reflectance Value (LRV)

34/100

Medium

0 · DarkLight · 100

Balanced reflectance — holds colour without washing out. Versatile for most rooms and the most forgiving range for true-to-chip results.

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

#78A3C2

#C39879

Analogous

#79C3BD

#78A3C2

#797FC3

Triadic

#78A3C2

#C379A4

#A4C379

Split-Complementary

#78A3C2

#C3797F

#C3BD79

Tetradic

#78A3C2

#BD79C3

#C39879

#7FC379

Monochromatic

#335771

#4A7FA5

#78A3C2

#AEC8DB

#E3ECF2

Rectangle

#78A3C2

#9879C3

#C39879

#A4C379

Compound

#78A3C2

#797FC3

#C39879

#C3BD79

Variations

Lighter

#94B6CF

#B2C8D8

#D4DFE6

Darker

#4C87B1

#335D7B

#1C3649

Saturation

#93A0A9

#79A4C3

#5BA9E1

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

2.69:1

Fail

vs Black

7.82:1

AAA

Deuteranopia

#78A3C2

#8C9AC3

Original → Simulated

Protanopia

#78A3C2

#9D9DBE

Original → Simulated

Tritanopia

#78A3C2

#75A8A3

Original → Simulated

Color Psychology

Focused · Cooling

Afloat 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

#99A7AD

Warm Bulb 2700K

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

#78A3C2

Daylight 5500K

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

#87ACD1

Cool Bulb 6500K

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

Pairs With

#E9EBEC

Trim

Matched off-white

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

#F7F7F8

Ceiling

Whisper tint

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

#AD805F

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: #78A3C2;

CSS — background

background-color: #78A3C2;

CSS Variable

--color-afloat: #78A3C2;

Tailwind v3 — config

colors: { 'afloat': '#78A3C2' }

Tailwind — arbitrary

bg-[#78A3C2] text-[#78A3C2]

SCSS

$afloat: #78A3C2;

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#79A7C5 · ΔE 1.7

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Lafayette Blue

#6CA6C4 · ΔE 4.3

I've Got the Blues

#6AA4BE · ΔE 5.5

Steel Blue

#879EBF · ΔE 6.4

Colonial Blue

#81A2B6 · ΔE 6.5

Denim Wash

#85A0B6 · ΔE 6.5

Pressed Violet

#8EA3C5 · ΔE 7.3

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 #78A3C2?

#78A3C2 is Afloat, a soft blue with a cool undertone.

Is #78A3C2 warm or cool?

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

What rooms work best with Afloat?

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

What colors pair well with Afloat?

Afloat 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 Afloat?

You can download Afloat 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 Afloat?

The hex code is #78A3C2. In RGB it's 120, 163, 194, and in HSL it's 205°, 38%, 62%.

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