YELLOWS

Sweet Carolina

#9C9480

RGB 156, 148, 128 · HSL 43°, 12%, 56% · CMYK 0, 5, 18, 39

Sweet Carolina is #9C9480 in HEX — rgb(156, 148, 128), hsl(43°, 12%, 56%), cmyk(0%, 5%, 18%, 39%).

Sweet Carolina pulls into the mid-tone end of the yellows spectrum — HSL 43°, 12%, 56%. The neutral saturation makes it near-neutral and forgiving, and the hue reads warm. In interior projects it shines on kitchens, breakfast nooks, kids' rooms, accent walls — bringing sunlight indoors. Reads best alongside white trim, natural linen, light oak, brushed brass.

Color Codes

HEX#9C9480

RGB156, 148, 128

HSL43°, 12%, 56%

HSV43°, 18%, 61%

CMYK0, 5, 18, 39

Decimal10261632

CSS RGBrgb(156, 148, 128)

CSS HSLhsl(43, 12%, 56%)

Paint Matches — this color across 16 brands

Dulux

Barnfloor S15B4

ΔE 0.7 · #9C9380

Dunn-Edwards

Union Springs DE6243

ΔE 1.4 · #9C9680

Benjamin Moore

Raccoon 978

ΔE 1.7 · #9E927E

Sherwin-Williams

Zeus SW7744

ΔE 1.8 · #99907E

PPG

Sylvan 1032-4

ΔE 2.1 · #979381

Behr

Rolling Pebble PPU7-23

ΔE 2.3 · #A09483

Valspar

Sweet Carolina 5008-2A

ΔE 2.3 · #96937E

IKEA

IKEA147 147

ΔE 2.8 · #9D947B

Colorhouse

Nourish .04 Nourish-04

ΔE 3.1 · #A3977F

Vista Paint

Utility Wear K-947

ΔE 3.1 · #989081

Hallman-Lindsay

Orestes 379

ΔE 3.2 · #9F9B84

Kilz

Heirloom Brooch TB-18

ΔE 3.4 · #9A9284

Farrow & Ball

Mouse's Back 40

ΔE 4.9 · #998976

RAL

Stone Grey 7030

ΔE 5.4 · #8B8C7A

Dutch Boy

Camel's Hump DCP-0219

ΔE 5.7 · #989187

Kobra

Gold 45

ΔE 13.1 · #8E7A5A

Light Reflectance & Undertone

Light Reflectance Value (LRV)

30/100

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

Reads as a warm orange with a yellow undertone showing through, especially in daylight. Pair trim and adjacent colours to either calm or amplify that undertone.

Color Theory

Complementary

#9C9480

#81899C

Analogous

#9C8781

#9C9480

#969C81

Triadic

#9C9480

#819C95

#95819C

Split-Complementary

#9C9480

#81969C

#87819C

Tetradic

#9C9480

#819C87

#81899C

#9C8196

Monochromatic

#4A463A

#756E5C

#9C9480

#BEB9AC

#E0DDD7

Rectangle

#9C9480

#899C81

#81899C

#95819C

Compound

#9C9480

#969C81

#81899C

#87819C

Variations

Lighter

#B0AA9A

#C3BFB5

#DBD9D4

Darker

#817864

#595344

#343027

Saturation

#93918B

#9C9581

#CEAA50

Interior Use

Best Rooms

kitchens, breakfast nooks, kids' rooms

Best Uses

accent walls, ceilings, cabinetry highlights

Pairs With

white trim, natural linen, light oak, brushed brass

Accessibility (WCAG)

vs White

3.02:1

AA Large

vs Black

6.96:1

Deuteranopia

#9C9480

#9A9581

Original → Simulated

Protanopia

#9C9480

#959583

Original → Simulated

Tritanopia

#9C9480

#9D9193

Original → Simulated

Color Psychology

Bright · Optimistic

Sweet Carolina brings light into spaces that lack it — kitchens, breakfast nooks, kids' rooms wake up under it. The trick with yellow is restraint: lean toward the muted/buttery end if you want it on walls; reserve high-chroma versions for accents and trim.

SymbolismSunlight, clarity, intellect

PersonalityCheerful, alert, sociable

sunlightclarityjoyalertnesskitchenmorning

How it looks under different light

#B49C7B

Warm Bulb 2700K

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

#9C9480

Daylight 5500K

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

#A2A19F

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.

#5B6C98

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: #9C9480;

CSS — background

background-color: #9C9480;

CSS Variable

--color-sweet-carolina: #9C9480;

Tailwind v3 — config

colors: { 'sweet-carolina': '#9C9480' }

Tailwind — arbitrary

bg-[#9C9480] text-[#9C9480]

SCSS

$sweet-carolina: #9C9480;

Similar Colors

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#9D917D · ΔE 1.9

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#9A9684 · ΔE 2.1

Cole Stone

#A29886 · ΔE 2.2

Taiga

#95917F · ΔE 2.4

Beige Gray

#A2947F · ΔE 2.6

Downtown

#A39A88 · ΔE 2.7

Creekside Green

#9A9885 · ΔE 2.8

River Gorge Gray

#A09A89 · 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 #9C9480?

#9C9480 is Sweet Carolina, a mid-tone yellow with a warm undertone.

Is #9C9480 warm or cool?

Sweet Carolina reads warm, which influences how it interacts with surrounding tones and natural light.

What rooms work best with Sweet Carolina?

Sweet Carolina works well in kitchens, breakfast nooks, kids' rooms. Designers typically use it for accent walls, ceilings, cabinetry highlights.

What colors pair well with Sweet Carolina?

Sweet Carolina pairs naturally with white trim, natural linen, light oak, brushed brass. Its complementary color is also a strong contrast option for accents.

Where can I download Sweet Carolina?

You can download Sweet Carolina 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 Sweet Carolina?

The hex code is #9C9480. In RGB it's 156, 148, 128, and in HSL it's 43°, 12%, 56%.

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