GREYS

Nile Clay

#8B8074

RGB 139, 128, 116 · HSL 31°, 9%, 50% · CMYK 0, 8, 17, 45

Nile Clay is #8B8074 in HEX — rgb(139, 128, 116), hsl(31°, 9%, 50%), cmyk(0%, 8%, 17%, 45%).

Nile Clay pulls into the mid-tone end of the greys spectrum — HSL 31°, 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#8B8074

RGB139, 128, 116

HSL31°, 9%, 50%

HSV31°, 17%, 55%

CMYK0, 8, 17, 45

Decimal9142388

CSS RGBrgb(139, 128, 116)

CSS HSLhsl(31, 9%, 50%)

Paint Matches — this color across 16 brands

Dulux

Nile Clay S13B5

Exact match

Kilz

Bohemian Earth LL130

ΔE 1.3 · #8F8276

RAL

Pearl Mouse Grey 7048

ΔE 1.4 · #898176

Valspar

Safari Beige 6006-2B

ΔE 1.5 · #8A7E70

Benjamin Moore

Iron 1545

ΔE 1.7 · #8C8375

Sherwin-Williams

Spalding Gray SW6074

ΔE 1.7 · #8D7F75

Behr

Mocha Accent 720D-5

ΔE 1.9 · #8E8273

PPG

Ghost Ship 15-20

ΔE 2.1 · #887B6E

Hallman-Lindsay

Fireplace Mantel 569

ΔE 2.2 · #847C70

Vista Paint

Hidcote Manor K-930

ΔE 2.5 · #837B6F

IKEA

IKEA198 198

ΔE 3.6 · #89807A

Dunn-Edwards

River Rocks DE6061

ΔE 4.2 · #897870

Farrow & Ball

Mole's Breath 276

ΔE 4.4 · #8B857F

Dutch Boy

Silver Gray D-6730

ΔE 6.1 · #857F69

Colorhouse

Stone .07 Stone-07

ΔE 8.8 · #848A86

Kobra

Gold 45

ΔE 12.5 · #8E7A5A

Light Reflectance & Undertone

Light Reflectance Value (LRV)

22/100

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

TemperatureWarm MasstoneOrange UndertoneYellow

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

Color Theory

Complementary

#8B8074

#747F8B

Analogous

#8B7474

#8B8074

#8B8B74

Triadic

#8B8074

#748B80

#80748B

Split-Complementary

#8B8074

#748B8B

#74748B

Tetradic

#8B8074

#748B74

#747F8B

#8B748B

Monochromatic

#38332E

#615A51

#8B8074

#AEA69E

#D1CCC7

Rectangle

#8B8074

#7F8B74

#747F8B

#80748B

Compound

#8B8074

#8B8B74

#747F8B

#74748B

Variations

Lighter

#A29990

#B8B3AD

#D5D2D0

Darker

#70665C

#4D463F

#2D2925

Saturation

#83807C

#8B8074

#C5823A

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

3.86:1

AA Large

vs Black

5.44:1

Deuteranopia

#8B8074

#868374

Original → Simulated

Protanopia

#8B8074

#828276

Original → Simulated

Tritanopia

#8B8074

#8B7E80

Original → Simulated

Color Psychology

Quiet · Versatile

Nile Clay 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

#A88D72

Warm Bulb 2700K

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

#8B8074

Daylight 5500K

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

#959296

Cool Bulb 6500K

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

Pairs With

#EBEBEA

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.

#516B87

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: #8B8074;

CSS — background

background-color: #8B8074;

CSS Variable

--color-nile-clay: #8B8074;

Tailwind v3 — config

colors: { 'nile-clay': '#8B8074' }

Tailwind — arbitrary

bg-[#8B8074] text-[#8B8074]

SCSS

$nile-clay: #8B8074;

Similar Colors

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#8B8274 · ΔE 1.5

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#918578 · ΔE 2.1

Taos Taupe

#8C847A · ΔE 2.2

Porcini

#867A6D · ΔE 2.4

Randolph Stone

#847D6F · ΔE 2.6

Sparrow

#837C6E · ΔE 2.8

Carter Gray

#827C6F · ΔE 3.0

River Silt

#827B6D · ΔE 3.1

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 #8B8074?

#8B8074 is Nile Clay, a mid-tone grey with a cool undertone.

Is #8B8074 warm or cool?

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

What rooms work best with Nile Clay?

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

What colors pair well with Nile Clay?

Nile Clay 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 Nile Clay?

You can download Nile Clay 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 Nile Clay?

The hex code is #8B8074. In RGB it's 139, 128, 116, and in HSL it's 31°, 9%, 50%.

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