BLUES

Smoke on the Water

#9BACB3

RGB 155, 172, 179 · HSL 197°, 14%, 65% · CMYK 13, 4, 0, 30

Smoke on the Water is #9BACB3 in HEX — rgb(155, 172, 179), hsl(197°, 14%, 65%), cmyk(13%, 4%, 0%, 30%).

Smoke on the Water pulls into the light end of the blues spectrum — HSL 197°, 14%, 65%. 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#9BACB3

RGB155, 172, 179

HSL197°, 14%, 65%

HSV197°, 13%, 70%

CMYK13, 4, 0, 30

Decimal10202291

CSS RGBrgb(155, 172, 179)

CSS HSLhsl(197, 14%, 65%)

Paint Matches — this color across 16 brands

Behr

Power Gray N530-4

ΔE 1.3 · #9CAFB7

Dunn-Edwards

Irogon Blue DEC796

ΔE 1.4 · #9DACB5

Sherwin-Williams

Meditative SW6227

ΔE 1.6 · #96AAB0

Benjamin Moore

Winter 2129-50

ΔE 1.8 · #9DAEB8

Dulux

Blue Balm SG5C2

ΔE 2.2 · #A0B2B9

PPG

How Handsome 1040-4

ΔE 2.3 · #A0AEB8

Vista Paint

Indian Tears C-503

ΔE 2.5 · #9CAFBA

Hallman-Lindsay

Indian Tears 504

ΔE 2.7 · #9EB0BB

Kilz

Sensual Silver RK240

ΔE 3.1 · #9EA7AE

Valspar

Silver Fox 4008-3C

ΔE 3.2 · #93A6B1

IKEA

IKEA155 155

ΔE 4.4 · #AAB1B8

Colorhouse

Wool .03 Wool-03

ΔE 4.5 · #A1ABAB

Dutch Boy

Dusky Mood DCP-1318

ΔE 5 · #A6ACB8

RAL

Window Grey 7040

ΔE 5.7 · #9DA1AA

Farrow & Ball

Dix Blue 82

ΔE 7.1 · #99B0AB

Kobra

Grey 42

ΔE 10.4 · #889099

Light Reflectance & Undertone

Light Reflectance Value (LRV)

40/100

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

#9BACB3

#B2A099

Analogous

#99B2AD

#9BACB3

#999FB2

Triadic

#9BACB3

#B299AB

#ABB299

Split-Complementary

#9BACB3

#B2999F

#B2AD99

Tetradic

#9BACB3

#AD99B2

#B2A099

#9FB299

Monochromatic

#4D5F66

#6E8791

#9BACB3

#C5CFD3

#F0F3F4

Rectangle

#9BACB3

#A099B2

#B2A099

#ABB299

Compound

#9BACB3

#999FB2

#B2A099

#B2AD99

Variations

Lighter

#AEBCC2

#C3CCD0

#DDE1E3

Darker

#738C97

#4D6169

#2D393E

Saturation

#A2A7A9

#99ABB2

#73BCD9

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

2.35:1

Fail

vs Black

8.95:1

AAA

Deuteranopia

#9BACB3

#A4A7B4

Original → Simulated

Protanopia

#9BACB3

#A9A9B2

Original → Simulated

Tritanopia

#9BACB3

#9BADAB

Original → Simulated

Color Psychology

Focused · Cooling

Smoke on the Water 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

#B4AEA1

Warm Bulb 2700K

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

#9BACB3

Daylight 5500K

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

#A1B3C6

Cool Bulb 6500K

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

Pairs With

#EAEBEB

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.

#A98170

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: #9BACB3;

CSS — background

background-color: #9BACB3;

CSS Variable

--color-smoke-on-the-water: #9BACB3;

Tailwind v3 — config

colors: { 'smoke-on-the-water': '#9BACB3' }

Tailwind — arbitrary

bg-[#9BACB3] text-[#9BACB3]

SCSS

$smoke-on-the-water: #9BACB3;

Similar Colors

Winter Lake

#9CADB7 · ΔE 1.7

Little Falls

#9EADB7 · ΔE 1.9

French Toile

#A2B0B7 · ΔE 2.0

Nimbus Gray

#A1B0B4 · ΔE 2.4

Solitude

#A3AEB4 · ΔE 2.5

Pike's Peak Gray

#A0AAB1 · ΔE 2.5

Early Morning

#9BB1BB · ΔE 2.8

Nantucket Fog

#A2B4BA · ΔE 2.9

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 #9BACB3?

#9BACB3 is Smoke on the Water, a soft blue with a cool undertone.

Is #9BACB3 warm or cool?

Smoke on the Water reads cool, which influences how it interacts with surrounding tones and natural light.

What rooms work best with Smoke on the Water?

Smoke on the Water works well in bedrooms, bathrooms, home offices. Designers typically use it for main walls, ceilings, trim, cabinetry.

What colors pair well with Smoke on the Water?

Smoke on the Water 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 Smoke on the Water?

You can download Smoke on the Water 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 Smoke on the Water?

The hex code is #9BACB3. In RGB it's 155, 172, 179, and in HSL it's 197°, 14%, 65%.

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