BLUES

Charcoal Dust

#9497B3

RGB 148, 151, 179 · HSL 234°, 17%, 64% · CMYK 17, 16, 0, 30

Charcoal Dust is #9497B3 in HEX — rgb(148, 151, 179), hsl(234°, 17%, 64%), cmyk(17%, 16%, 0%, 30%).

Charcoal Dust pulls into the light end of the blues spectrum — HSL 234°, 17%, 64%. The neutral saturation makes it near-neutral and forgiving, 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#9497B3

RGB148, 151, 179

HSL234°, 17%, 64%

HSV234°, 17%, 70%

CMYK17, 16, 0, 30

Decimal9738163

CSS RGBrgb(148, 151, 179)

CSS HSLhsl(234, 17%, 64%)

Paint Matches — this color across 16 brands

Dunn-Edwards

Charcoal Dust DE5927

Exact match

Hallman-Lindsay

Lavender Spectacle 1283

ΔE 2.2 · #9392AD

Vista Paint

Barrymore K-51

ΔE 2.7 · #9A96B0

Behr

Fortune N100-4

ΔE 3.1 · #989EBD

Valspar

Twilight Fever 4002-6A

ΔE 3.2 · #909BB5

Kilz

Lavender Herb RB160-02

ΔE 3.4 · #9AA0BB

Benjamin Moore

Violet 2069-40

ΔE 3.9 · #8F90B1

IKEA

IKEA121 121

ΔE 4 · #8896B3

Dulux

Slipper Island NZ10F3

ΔE 4.5 · #8991B3

PPG

Violet Verbena 1169-5

ΔE 5.1 · #898CA3

Sherwin-Williams

Dusty Heather SW9073

ΔE 6.2 · #8990A3

Dutch Boy

Celestial Horizon DCP-0589

ΔE 7.2 · #8FA4BF

Kobra

Violet 24

ΔE 10.3 · #9B8CB5

RAL

Window Grey 7040

ΔE 11.2 · #9DA1AA

Farrow & Ball

Cook's Blue 237

ΔE 12.6 · #6A90B4

Colorhouse

Water .05 Water-05

ΔE 14.5 · #82979D

Light Reflectance & Undertone

Light Reflectance Value (LRV)

32/100

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

#9497B3

#B3B094

Analogous

#94A6B3

#9497B3

#A094B3

Triadic

#9497B3

#B39497

#97B394

Split-Complementary

#9497B3

#B3A094

#A6B394

Tetradic

#9497B3

#B394A6

#B3B094

#94B3A0

Monochromatic

#484B65

#686C92

#9497B3

#C0C2D3

#EDEEF2

Rectangle

#9497B3

#B094B3

#B3B094

#97B394

Compound

#9497B3

#A094B3

#B3B094

#A6B394

Variations

Lighter

#A9ACC2

#C0C2D0

#DBDCE3

Darker

#6C7199

#494C6B

#2A2C3E

Saturation

#9F9FA8

#9497B3

#6D78D9

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

2.86:1

Fail

vs Black

7.34:1

AAA

Deuteranopia

#9497B3

#9199B4

Original → Simulated

Protanopia

#9497B3

#9696B0

Original → Simulated

Tritanopia

#9497B3

#919C99

Original → Simulated

Color Psychology

Focused · Cooling

Charcoal Dust 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

#AE9EA1

Warm Bulb 2700K

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

#9497B3

Daylight 5500K

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

#9CA3C6

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.

#A8A26E

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: #9497B3;

CSS — background

background-color: #9497B3;

CSS Variable

--color-charcoal-dust: #9497B3;

Tailwind v3 — config

colors: { 'charcoal-dust': '#9497B3' }

Tailwind — arbitrary

bg-[#9497B3] text-[#9497B3]

SCSS

$charcoal-dust: #9497B3;

Similar Colors

Violet Stone

#8E8FB0 · ΔE 4.1

Blue Pearl

#93A0BD · ΔE 4.4

Dreamy

#9AA1B9 · ΔE 4.4

Flower Box

#8690A4 · ΔE 6.2

Faded Violet

#8D8FA1 · ΔE 6.4

Persian Violet

#929BC2 · ΔE 6.4

Heather Field

#A6A6BD · ΔE 6.5

Steel Blue

#879EBF · ΔE 7.1

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 #9497B3?

#9497B3 is Charcoal Dust, a soft blue with a cool undertone.

Is #9497B3 warm or cool?

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

What rooms work best with Charcoal Dust?

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

What colors pair well with Charcoal Dust?

Charcoal Dust 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 Charcoal Dust?

You can download Charcoal Dust 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 Charcoal Dust?

The hex code is #9497B3. In RGB it's 148, 151, 179, and in HSL it's 234°, 17%, 64%.

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