GREYS

Elephant Ear

#988F85

RGB 152, 143, 133 · HSL 32°, 8%, 56% · CMYK 0, 6, 12, 40

Elephant Ear is #988F85 in HEX — rgb(152, 143, 133), hsl(32°, 8%, 56%), cmyk(0%, 6%, 12%, 40%).

Elephant Ear pulls into the mid-tone end of the greys spectrum — HSL 32°, 8%, 56%. 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#988F85

RGB152, 143, 133

HSL32°, 8%, 56%

HSV32°, 12%, 60%

CMYK0, 6, 12, 40

Decimal9998213

CSS RGBrgb(152, 143, 133)

CSS HSLhsl(32, 8%, 56%)

Paint Matches — this color across 16 brands

Sherwin-Williams

Elephant Ear SW9168

Exact match

Dutch Boy

Camel's Hump DCP-0219

ΔE 1 · #989187

PPG

Eiffel Tower 1022-5

ΔE 1 · #998E83

Hallman-Lindsay

Sultry Castle 562

ΔE 1.3 · #948D84

Behr

Country Club 770B-5

ΔE 1.4 · #998E86

Vista Paint

Granite Cliff K-931

ΔE 1.5 · #948E85

Dulux

Stony Creek S15A4

ΔE 1.8 · #948E82

Valspar

Artichoke 6003-2A

ΔE 2.1 · #928D82

Farrow & Ball

Charleston Gray 243

ΔE 2.2 · #9F9389

Benjamin Moore

Castle CSP-75

ΔE 2.3 · #918A81

Kilz

Heirloom Brooch TB-18

ΔE 2.4 · #9A9284

IKEA

IKEA176 176

ΔE 3.4 · #9D978A

Dunn-Edwards

Calico Rock DE6229

ΔE 4.4 · #9C9584

RAL

Pearl Mouse Grey 7048

ΔE 5.6 · #898176

Colorhouse

Metal .04 Metal-04

ΔE 7.4 · #9FA198

Kobra

Grey 42

ΔE 12.5 · #889099

Light Reflectance & Undertone

Light Reflectance Value (LRV)

28/100

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

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

#988F85

#868E98

Analogous

#988686

#988F85

#979886

Triadic

#988F85

#86988F

#8F8698

Split-Complementary

#988F85

#869798

#868698

Tetradic

#988F85

#869886

#868E98

#988697

Monochromatic

#48433D

#716960

#988F85

#BBB5AF

#DEDBD8

Rectangle

#988F85

#8E9886

#868E98

#8F8698

Compound

#988F85

#979886

#868E98

#868698

Variations

Lighter

#ACA69E

#C0BCB7

#DAD8D6

Darker

#7C7369

#554F48

#322E29

Saturation

#918F8C

#988F86

#CB9352

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

3.18:1

AA Large

vs Black

6.60:1

Deuteranopia

#988F85

#949186

Original → Simulated

Protanopia

#988F85

#919186

Original → Simulated

Tritanopia

#988F85

#988E8F

Original → Simulated

Color Psychology

Quiet · Versatile

Elephant Ear 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

#B1987F

Warm Bulb 2700K

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

#988F85

Daylight 5500K

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

#9F9DA3

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.

#5B7798

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: #988F85;

CSS — background

background-color: #988F85;

CSS Variable

--color-elephant-ear: #988F85;

Tailwind v3 — config

colors: { 'elephant-ear': '#988F85' }

Tailwind — arbitrary

bg-[#988F85] text-[#988F85]

SCSS

$elephant-ear: #988F85;

Similar Colors

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#908980 · ΔE 2.6

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#9D968C · ΔE 2.6

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#99958C · ΔE 2.9

Cathedral Gray

#938A7C · ΔE 3.1

Studio Clay

#9F8E84 · ΔE 3.3

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#8E897C · ΔE 3.6

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#9F9282 · ΔE 4.0

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#8D8C7F · ΔE 4.1

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 #988F85?

#988F85 is Elephant Ear, a mid-tone grey with a cool undertone.

Is #988F85 warm or cool?

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

What rooms work best with Elephant Ear?

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

What colors pair well with Elephant Ear?

Elephant Ear 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 Elephant Ear?

You can download Elephant Ear 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 Elephant Ear?

The hex code is #988F85. In RGB it's 152, 143, 133, and in HSL it's 32°, 8%, 56%.

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