GREYS

Tarnished Silver

#797B80

RGB 121, 123, 128 · HSL 223°, 3%, 49% · CMYK 5, 4, 0, 50

Tarnished Silver is #797B80 in HEX — rgb(121, 123, 128), hsl(223°, 3%, 49%), cmyk(5%, 4%, 0%, 50%).

Tarnished Silver pulls into the mid-tone end of the greys spectrum — HSL 223°, 3%, 49%. 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#797B80

RGB121, 123, 128

HSL223°, 3%, 49%

HSV223°, 5%, 50%

CMYK5, 4, 0, 50

Decimal7961472

CSS RGBrgb(121, 123, 128)

CSS HSLhsl(223, 3%, 49%)

Paint Matches — this color across 16 brands

Dunn-Edwards

Tarnished Silver DE6355

Exact match

Kilz

Whale Tail RB280-02

ΔE 1 · #7C7D82

Dulux

Franz Josef Double NZ10G9

ΔE 1.7 · #767C80

Benjamin Moore

Steel 2121-20

ΔE 1.8 · #797C7E

Behr

Complex Gray N140-5

ΔE 2 · #76777A

Sherwin-Williams

Special Gray SW6277

ΔE 2.1 · #7B787D

Valspar

Iron Frost 4007-2B

ΔE 2.5 · #727A80

PPG

Favorite Flannel 10-19

ΔE 3 · #70777E

IKEA

IKEA184 184

ΔE 3.3 · #788082

Hallman-Lindsay

Ocean Frigate 555

ΔE 3.3 · #7A7778

Vista Paint

Subtle Shadow C-533

ΔE 3.4 · #7E8080

RAL

Pearl Dark Grey 9023

ΔE 4.1 · #828282

Dutch Boy

Natural Gray VS-9332

ΔE 5.6 · #878787

Farrow & Ball

De Nimes 299

ΔE 6.2 · #6A7C80

Colorhouse

Wool .04 Wool-04

ΔE 6.4 · #8B8A8C

Kobra

Grey 42

ΔE 8.4 · #889099

Light Reflectance & Undertone

Light Reflectance Value (LRV)

20/100

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

#797B80

#817F79

Analogous

#797F81

#797B80

#7B7981

Triadic

#797B80

#81797B

#7B8179

Split-Complementary

#797B80

#817B79

#7F8179

Tetradic

#797B80

#81797F

#817F79

#79817B

Monochromatic

#2F3032

#545659

#797B80

#A0A2A6

#C8C9CB

Rectangle

#797B80

#7F7981

#817F79

#7B8179

Compound

#797B80

#7B7981

#817F79

#7F8179

Variations

Lighter

#94969A

#AFB0B3

#D1D1D2

Darker

#616367

#424447

#272729

Saturation

#7C7C7E

#797B81

#3D61BD

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

4.24:1

AA Large

vs Black

4.96:1

Deuteranopia

#797B80

#797B81

Original → Simulated

Protanopia

#797B80

#7B7B7F

Original → Simulated

Tritanopia

#797B80

#797C7B

Original → Simulated

Color Psychology

Quiet · Versatile

Tarnished Silver 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

#9A897B

Warm Bulb 2700K

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

#797B80

Daylight 5500K

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

#878E9F

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.

#857650

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: #797B80;

CSS — background

background-color: #797B80;

CSS Variable

--color-tarnished-silver: #797B80;

Tailwind v3 — config

colors: { 'tarnished-silver': '#797B80' }

Tailwind — arbitrary

bg-[#797B80] text-[#797B80]

SCSS

$tarnished-silver: #797B80;

Similar Colors

Charcoal Linen

#7C7F84 · ΔE 1.5

Steel Wool

#787B7D · ΔE 1.8

Smoke Gray

#757B82 · ΔE 1.9

Silver Streak

#757B83 · ΔE 2.3

Eclipse

#717980 · ΔE 2.8

Wolf Gray

#727C83 · ΔE 3.2

Rock Gray

#7F8386 · ΔE 3.3

Tempest

#7A767E · ΔE 3.3

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 #797B80?

#797B80 is Tarnished Silver, a mid-tone grey with a cool undertone.

Is #797B80 warm or cool?

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

What rooms work best with Tarnished Silver?

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

What colors pair well with Tarnished Silver?

Tarnished Silver 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 Tarnished Silver?

You can download Tarnished Silver 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 Tarnished Silver?

The hex code is #797B80. In RGB it's 121, 123, 128, and in HSL it's 223°, 3%, 49%.

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