GREYS

Dowager

#838C82

RGB 131, 140, 130 · HSL 114°, 4%, 53% · CMYK 6, 0, 7, 45

Dowager is #838C82 in HEX — rgb(131, 140, 130), hsl(114°, 4%, 53%), cmyk(6%, 0%, 7%, 45%).

Dowager pulls into the mid-tone end of the greys spectrum — HSL 114°, 4%, 53%. 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#838C82

RGB131, 140, 130

HSL114°, 4%, 53%

HSV114°, 7%, 55%

CMYK6, 0, 7, 45

Decimal8621186

CSS RGBrgb(131, 140, 130)

CSS HSLhsl(114, 4%, 53%)

Paint Matches — this color across 16 brands

Hallman-Lindsay

Dowager 442

Exact match

Vista Paint

Dowager C-441

ΔE 1.3 · #838B7F

Benjamin Moore

Intrigue 1580

ΔE 1.4 · #828A82

Kilz

Lincoln Green TB-68

ΔE 1.8 · #818A83

Dunn-Edwards

Stone Craft DE6292

ΔE 2.3 · #7D867C

Behr

Woodcraft N200-5

ΔE 2.4 · #84887D

PPG

Gray Heron 1033-5

ΔE 2.6 · #89928A

Dulux

Viridis SG5F4

ΔE 2.6 · #8B9188

Valspar

Cottage Lattice Green 5003-2A

ΔE 2.6 · #868A7D

Farrow & Ball

Card Room Green 79

ΔE 3.3 · #899081

IKEA

IKEA180 180

ΔE 3.4 · #81857E

Colorhouse

Stone .07 Stone-07

ΔE 3.7 · #848A86

RAL

Traffic Grey A 7042

ΔE 3.8 · #8D948D

Sherwin-Williams

Underseas SW6214

ΔE 3.8 · #7C8E87

Dutch Boy

Smoky Gray VS-9305

ΔE 5.7 · #95958D

Kobra

Grey 42

ΔE 11 · #889099

Light Reflectance & Undertone

Light Reflectance Value (LRV)

25/100

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

TemperatureNeutral MasstoneGreen UndertoneBlue

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

Color Theory

Complementary

#838C82

#8B828C

Analogous

#888C82

#838C82

#828C86

Triadic

#838C82

#82838C

#8C8283

Split-Complementary

#838C82

#86828C

#8C8288

Tetradic

#838C82

#82888C

#8B828C

#8C8682

Monochromatic

#393D38

#5E655D

#838C82

#ABB1AA

#D2D5D2

Rectangle

#838C82

#828C8B

#8B828C

#8C8283

Compound

#838C82

#828C86

#8B828C

#8C8288

Variations

Lighter

#9CA39B

#B5BAB5

#D4D6D4

Darker

#687168

#484E47

#2A2D29

Saturation

#868986

#838C82

#55C549

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

3.48:1

AA Large

vs Black

6.04:1

Deuteranopia

#838C82

#8A8883

Original → Simulated

Protanopia

#838C82

#8B8B83

Original → Simulated

Tritanopia

#838C82

#848A8B

Original → Simulated

Color Psychology

Quiet · Versatile

Dowager 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

#A2967D

Warm Bulb 2700K

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

#838C82

Daylight 5500K

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

#8F9BA1

Cool Bulb 6500K

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

Pairs With

#EAEBEA

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.

#8A5690

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: #838C82;

CSS — background

background-color: #838C82;

CSS Variable

--color-dowager: #838C82;

Tailwind v3 — config

colors: { 'dowager': '#838C82' }

Tailwind — arbitrary

bg-[#838C82] text-[#838C82]

SCSS

$dowager: #838C82;

Similar Colors

Carolina Gull

#858D81 · ΔE 1.3

Intrigue

#818981 · ΔE 1.6

Cos Cob Stonewall

#898C83 · ΔE 2.5

Duxbury Gray

#7F867F · ΔE 2.8

Garden Oasis

#7D8D81 · ΔE 3.0

Secret

#888983 · ΔE 3.9

Night Train

#7A847F · ΔE 4.2

Rushing River

#8B978E · ΔE 4.2

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 #838C82?

#838C82 is Dowager, a mid-tone grey with a cool undertone.

Is #838C82 warm or cool?

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

What rooms work best with Dowager?

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

What colors pair well with Dowager?

Dowager 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 Dowager?

You can download Dowager 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 Dowager?

The hex code is #838C82. In RGB it's 131, 140, 130, and in HSL it's 114°, 4%, 53%.

← All colors