GREYS

Nut Shell

#9C8F83

RGB 156, 143, 131 · HSL 29°, 11%, 56% · CMYK 0, 8, 16, 39

Nut Shell is #9C8F83 in HEX — rgb(156, 143, 131), hsl(29°, 11%, 56%), cmyk(0%, 8%, 16%, 39%).

Nut Shell pulls into the mid-tone end of the greys spectrum — HSL 29°, 11%, 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#9C8F83

RGB156, 143, 131

HSL29°, 11%, 56%

HSV29°, 16%, 61%

CMYK0, 8, 16, 39

Decimal10260355

CSS RGBrgb(156, 143, 131)

CSS HSLhsl(29, 11%, 56%)

Paint Matches — this color across 16 brands

PPG

Nut Shell 14-02

Exact match

Sherwin-Williams

Chatura Gray SW9169

ΔE 1.4 · #A09287

Dulux

Fudge S10B4

ΔE 1.6 · #998B80

Vista Paint

Old English Castle K-1179

ΔE 1.7 · #978B80

Farrow & Ball

Charleston Gray 243

ΔE 1.9 · #9F9389

Benjamin Moore

Studio CSP-380

ΔE 2 · #A08F85

Behr

Country Club 770B-5

ΔE 2.4 · #998E86

Kilz

Heirloom Brooch TB-18

ΔE 2.4 · #9A9284

Dutch Boy

Camel's Hump DCP-0219

ΔE 2.8 · #989187

Valspar

Stone Manor 6006-2A

ΔE 2.8 · #9D9180

Dunn-Edwards

Bison Beige DEC750

ΔE 2.9 · #9F9180

Hallman-Lindsay

Rain Barrel historic-rain-barrel

ΔE 2.9 · #A49688

IKEA

IKEA176 176

ΔE 3.8 · #9D978A

RAL

Pearl Mouse Grey 7048

ΔE 6.2 · #898176

Colorhouse

Nourish .04 Nourish-04

ΔE 7.1 · #A3977F

Kobra

Grey 42

ΔE 14.4 · #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

#9C8F83

#828F9B

Analogous

#9B8283

#9C8F83

#9B9B82

Triadic

#9C8F83

#829B8E

#8E829B

Split-Complementary

#9C8F83

#829B9B

#82839B

Tetradic

#9C8F83

#839B82

#828F9B

#9B829B

Monochromatic

#4A423B

#74685D

#9C8F83

#BDB5AD

#DFDBD7

Rectangle

#9C8F83

#8F9B82

#828F9B

#8E829B

Compound

#9C8F83

#9B9B82

#828F9B

#82839B

Variations

Lighter

#AFA59B

#C2BBB5

#DBD8D5

Darker

#7F7265

#584E45

#332E28

Saturation

#938F8B

#9B8E82

#CD8D51

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

3.15:1

AA Large

vs Black

6.67:1

Deuteranopia

#9C8F83

#969383

Original → Simulated

Protanopia

#9C8F83

#919185

Original → Simulated

Tritanopia

#9C8F83

#9C8D8F

Original → Simulated

Color Psychology

Quiet · Versatile

Nut Shell 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

#B4987D

Warm Bulb 2700K

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

#9C8F83

Daylight 5500K

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

#A29DA2

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.

#5B7A98

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: #9C8F83;

CSS — background

background-color: #9C8F83;

CSS Variable

--color-nut-shell: #9C8F83;

Tailwind v3 — config

colors: { 'nut-shell': '#9C8F83' }

Tailwind — arbitrary

bg-[#9C8F83] text-[#9C8F83]

SCSS

$nut-shell: #9C8F83;

Similar Colors

Studio Clay

#9F8E84 · ΔE 2.0

Weimaraner

#9F9282 · ΔE 2.4

Cathedral Gray

#938A7C · ΔE 3.0

Deer Granite

#9E8C7C · ΔE 3.3

Gothic Arch

#9D968C · ΔE 3.5

Cabot Trail

#9F8E7C · ΔE 3.8

Briarwood

#A09889 · ΔE 3.9

Flagstone

#968777 · ΔE 3.9

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 #9C8F83?

#9C8F83 is Nut Shell, a mid-tone grey with a cool undertone.

Is #9C8F83 warm or cool?

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

What rooms work best with Nut Shell?

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

What colors pair well with Nut Shell?

Nut Shell 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 Nut Shell?

You can download Nut Shell 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 Nut Shell?

The hex code is #9C8F83. In RGB it's 156, 143, 131, and in HSL it's 29°, 11%, 56%.

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