GREYS

Driftwood

#9E938E

RGB 158, 147, 142 · HSL 19°, 8%, 59% · CMYK 0, 7, 10, 38

Driftwood is #9E938E in HEX — rgb(158, 147, 142), hsl(19°, 8%, 59%), cmyk(0%, 7%, 10%, 38%).

Driftwood pulls into the mid-tone end of the greys spectrum — HSL 19°, 8%, 59%. 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#9E938E

RGB158, 147, 142

HSL19°, 8%, 59%

HSV19°, 10%, 62%

CMYK0, 7, 10, 38

Decimal10392462

CSS RGBrgb(158, 147, 142)

CSS HSLhsl(19, 8%, 59%)

Paint Matches — this color across 16 brands

Dulux

Driftwood S07A4

Exact match

Valspar

Channel Seal Gray 1001-9C

ΔE 0.7 · #9F938F

PPG

Talavera 1018-5

ΔE 1.7 · #A0928B

Sherwin-Williams

Armadillo SW9160

ΔE 1.9 · #9E9089

IKEA

IKEA168 168

ΔE 2.5 · #9E9893

Dunn-Edwards

Monsoon DE6039

ΔE 2.6 · #A49593

Behr

Country Club 770B-5

ΔE 2.6 · #998E86

Farrow & Ball

Charleston Gray 243

ΔE 2.8 · #9F9389

Kilz

Urban Chateau RL150

ΔE 2.9 · #97938D

Benjamin Moore

Soho CSP-10

ΔE 3 · #9A9593

Dutch Boy

Camel's Hump DCP-0219

ΔE 3.4 · #989187

Vista Paint

Sparrow C-553

ΔE 3.6 · #999594

Hallman-Lindsay

Sparrow 554

ΔE 3.7 · #999494

RAL

Telegrey 1 7045

ΔE 5.5 · #909090

Colorhouse

Metal .04 Metal-04

ΔE 6.9 · #9FA198

Kobra

Grey 42

ΔE 11 · #889099

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

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

#9E938E

#8E9A9F

Analogous

#9F8E91

#9E938E

#9F9C8E

Triadic

#9E938E

#8E9F93

#938E9F

Split-Complementary

#9E938E

#8E9F9C

#8E919F

Tetradic

#9E938E

#919F8E

#8E9A9F

#9C8E9F

Monochromatic

#504844

#796D67

#9E938E

#C2BBB7

#E5E2E1

Rectangle

#9E938E

#9A9F8E

#8E9A9F

#938E9F

Compound

#9E938E

#9F9C8E

#8E9A9F

#8E919F

Variations

Lighter

#B2A9A5

#C5BFBC

#DCDAD8

Darker

#82756E

#5A504B

#352F2C

Saturation

#999694

#9F938E

#CF825E

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

2.99:1

Fail

vs Black

7.02:1

AAA

Deuteranopia

#9E938E

#99968E

Original → Simulated

Protanopia

#9E938E

#95958F

Original → Simulated

Tritanopia

#9E938E

#9E9293

Original → Simulated

Color Psychology

Quiet · Versatile

Driftwood 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

#B69B86

Warm Bulb 2700K

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

#9E938E

Daylight 5500K

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

#A3A0AA

Cool Bulb 6500K

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

Pairs With

#EBEAEA

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.

#608CA0

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: #9E938E;

CSS — background

background-color: #9E938E;

CSS Variable

--color-driftwood: #9E938E;

Tailwind v3 — config

colors: { 'driftwood': '#9E938E' }

Tailwind — arbitrary

bg-[#9E938E] text-[#9E938E]

SCSS

$driftwood: #9E938E;

Similar Colors

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#999492 · ΔE 2.9

Gothic Arch

#9D968C · ΔE 3.2

Galveston Gray

#99958C · ΔE 3.6

Studio Clay

#9F8E84 · ΔE 4.1

Escarpment

#A29D96 · ΔE 4.2

Vintage Pewter

#A09E97 · ΔE 5.0

Ashley Gray

#A59A8D · ΔE 5.0

Castle Gate

#908980 · ΔE 5.1

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 #9E938E?

#9E938E is Driftwood, a mid-tone grey with a cool undertone.

Is #9E938E warm or cool?

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

What rooms work best with Driftwood?

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

What colors pair well with Driftwood?

Driftwood 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 Driftwood?

You can download Driftwood 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 Driftwood?

The hex code is #9E938E. In RGB it's 158, 147, 142, and in HSL it's 19°, 8%, 59%.

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