GREYS

Soft Charcoal

#838298

RGB 131, 130, 152 · HSL 243°, 10%, 55% · CMYK 14, 14, 0, 40

Soft Charcoal is #838298 in HEX — rgb(131, 130, 152), hsl(243°, 10%, 55%), cmyk(14%, 14%, 0%, 40%).

Soft Charcoal pulls into the mid-tone end of the greys spectrum — HSL 243°, 10%, 55%. 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#838298

RGB131, 130, 152

HSL243°, 10%, 55%

HSV243°, 14%, 60%

CMYK14, 14, 0, 40

Decimal8618648

CSS RGBrgb(131, 130, 152)

CSS HSLhsl(243, 10%, 55%)

Paint Matches — this color across 16 brands

Dunn-Edwards

Soft Charcoal DE5935

Exact match

Behr

Gothic Purple N110-4

ΔE 1.8 · #88869D

Benjamin Moore

Purple 1413 · CC-980

ΔE 2 · #838093

Valspar

Rapture 4001-6B

ΔE 2.4 · #85839D

IKEA

IKEA088 88

ΔE 2.7 · #8B859D

Dulux

Mandrake S42C4

ΔE 3.1 · #888AA0

Hallman-Lindsay

Violet Vibes 1290

ΔE 3.2 · #898098

Vista Paint

Violet Vibes C-1289

ΔE 3.4 · #877E96

Kilz

Magical Twilight RB280-01

ΔE 3.7 · #7B8193

PPG

Violet Verbena 1169-5

ΔE 3.9 · #898CA3

Sherwin-Williams

Soulful Blue SW6543

ΔE 4.2 · #757C91

Farrow & Ball

Brassica 271

ΔE 8.7 · #8D8089

Kobra

Grey 42

ΔE 9.4 · #889099

RAL

Telegrey 2 7046

ΔE 10 · #82898F

Colorhouse

Wool .04 Wool-04

ΔE 11.8 · #8B8A8C

Dutch Boy

Natural Gray VS-9332

ΔE 12.7 · #878787

Light Reflectance & Undertone

Light Reflectance Value (LRV)

23/100

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

#838298

#979881

Analogous

#818B98

#838298

#8D8198

Triadic

#838298

#988281

#819882

Split-Complementary

#838298

#988D81

#8B9881

Tetradic

#838298

#98818B

#979881

#81988D

Monochromatic

#3A3946

#5D5C70

#838298

#ACABBA

#D5D5DD

Rectangle

#838298

#988197

#979881

#819882

Compound

#838298

#8D8198

#979881

#8B9881

Variations

Lighter

#9B9AAC

#B5B4C0

#D4D4DA

Darker

#66647C

#464556

#282832

Saturation

#898990

#828198

#534DCB

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

3.74:1

AA Large

vs Black

5.61:1

Deuteranopia

#838298

#7F8598

Original → Simulated

Protanopia

#838298

#828295

Original → Simulated

Tritanopia

#838298

#818684

Original → Simulated

Color Psychology

Quiet · Versatile

Soft Charcoal 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

#A28E8D

Warm Bulb 2700K

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

#838298

Daylight 5500K

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

#8F93B1

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.

#929559

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: #838298;

CSS — background

background-color: #838298;

CSS Variable

--color-soft-charcoal: #838298;

Tailwind v3 — config

colors: { 'soft-charcoal': '#838298' }

Tailwind — arbitrary

bg-[#838298] text-[#838298]

SCSS

$soft-charcoal: #838298;

Similar Colors

Purple Haze

#827F92 · ΔE 2.1

Tropical Dusk

#857D8F · ΔE 3.7

Queen's Wreath

#7C819D · ΔE 4.1

Irises

#84899A · ΔE 4.3

In the Twilight

#747D92 · ΔE 4.6

Faded Violet

#8D8FA1 · ΔE 5.4

Flower Box

#8690A4 · ΔE 6.2

Stratford Blue

#7685A1 · ΔE 6.4

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 #838298?

#838298 is Soft Charcoal, a mid-tone grey with a cool undertone.

Is #838298 warm or cool?

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

What rooms work best with Soft Charcoal?

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

What colors pair well with Soft Charcoal?

Soft Charcoal 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 Soft Charcoal?

You can download Soft Charcoal 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 Soft Charcoal?

The hex code is #838298. In RGB it's 131, 130, 152, and in HSL it's 243°, 10%, 55%.

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