PURPLES

Plum Shade

#A181A5

RGB 161, 129, 165 · HSL 293°, 17%, 58% · CMYK 2, 22, 0, 35

Plum Shade is #A181A5 in HEX — rgb(161, 129, 165), hsl(293°, 17%, 58%), cmyk(2%, 22%, 0%, 35%).

Plum Shade pulls into the mid-tone end of the purples spectrum — HSL 293°, 17%, 58%. The neutral saturation makes it near-neutral and forgiving, and the hue reads warm. In interior projects it shines on accent walls, dressing rooms, creative studios — for character without shouting. Reads best alongside warm whites, walnut, brass, deep velvet textiles.

Color Codes

HEX#A181A5

RGB161, 129, 165

HSL293°, 17%, 58%

HSV293°, 22%, 65%

CMYK2, 22, 0, 35

Decimal10584485

CSS RGBrgb(161, 129, 165)

CSS HSLhsl(293, 17%, 58%)

Paint Matches — this color across 16 brands

Valspar

Plum Shade 1003-5B

Exact match

Kilz

Fruit Smoothie RA170-02

ΔE 0.8 · #9F80A5

Dulux

Joyful Lilac S49E5

ΔE 1.6 · #A683A8

Sherwin-Williams

Baroness SW6837

ΔE 2.2 · #A785A7

PPG

Violet Eclipse 1176-5

ΔE 2.6 · #A387AC

Benjamin Moore

Naples 1391

ΔE 3.2 · #A07DA6

Hallman-Lindsay

Screen Gem 1206

ΔE 4.5 · #9D7798

Vista Paint

Screen Gem C-1205

ΔE 5.2 · #9A7595

Behr

Lilac Intuition MQ4-61

ΔE 5.2 · #967CA7

Dunn-Edwards

Pale Eggplant DE5956

ΔE 7 · #8A779A

Kobra

Violet 24

ΔE 7.5 · #9B8CB5

RAL

Pearl Violet 4011

ΔE 10 · #8673A1

IKEA

IKEA088 88

ΔE 12 · #8B859D

Farrow & Ball

Brassica 271

ΔE 17 · #8D8089

Dutch Boy

Celestial Horizon DCP-0589

ΔE 21.9 · #8FA4BF

Colorhouse

Wool .04 Wool-04

ΔE 22.6 · #8B8A8C

Light Reflectance & Undertone

Light Reflectance Value (LRV)

26/100

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

TemperatureNeutral MasstonePink UndertoneRed

Reads as a neutral pink with a red undertone showing through, especially in daylight. Pair trim and adjacent colours to either calm or amplify that undertone.

Color Theory

Complementary

#A181A5

#86A682

Analogous

#9082A6

#A181A5

#A68298

Triadic

#A181A5

#A6A282

#82A6A2

Split-Complementary

#A181A5

#98A682

#82A690

Tetradic

#A181A5

#A69082

#86A682

#8298A6

Monochromatic

#513B54

#7C5B80

#A181A5

#C3AEC6

#E4DBE6

Rectangle

#A181A5

#A68286

#86A682

#82A6A2

Compound

#A181A5

#A68298

#86A682

#82A690

Variations

Lighter

#B49BB8

#C6B5C8

#DDD5DE

Darker

#87618B

#5D4261

#362639

Saturation

#988E99

#A282A6

#C455D3

Interior Use

Best Rooms

dressing rooms, creative studios, accent walls

Best Uses

feature walls, cabinetry, textiles

Pairs With

warm whites, walnut, brass, deep velvet textiles

Accessibility (WCAG)

vs White

3.39:1

AA Large

vs Black

6.20:1

Deuteranopia

#A181A5

#8A90A5

Original → Simulated

Protanopia

#A181A5

#8787A1

Original → Simulated

Tritanopia

#A181A5

#9E8886

Original → Simulated

Color Psychology

Sophisticated · Imaginative

Plum Shade carries history — long associated with luxury and contemplation. It works in low-light, intimate rooms (dressing rooms, dens, accent walls) where its complexity gets time to unfold. Pair with brass and walnut.

SymbolismLuxury, intuition, creativity

PersonalityRefined, mysterious, artistic

luxurycreativeintuitionintimateaccentrefined

How it looks under different light

#B88D97

Warm Bulb 2700K

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

#A181A5

Daylight 5500K

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

#A592BB

Cool Bulb 6500K

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

Pairs With

#EBEAEB

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.

#669D5E

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: #A181A5;

CSS — background

background-color: #A181A5;

CSS Variable

--color-plum-shade: #A181A5;

Tailwind v3 — config

colors: { 'plum-shade': '#A181A5' }

Tailwind — arbitrary

bg-[#A181A5] text-[#A181A5]

SCSS

$plum-shade: #A181A5;

Similar Colors

Naples Sunset

#9F7CA5 · ΔE 3.4

Purple Hyacinth

#AA7FA5 · ΔE 4.4

Carolina Plum

#9A83A0 · ΔE 5.2

Wild Orchid

#957E99 · ΔE 6.4

Hydrangea

#B498BD · ΔE 8.6

Victorian Purple

#BD90AE · ΔE 9.2

Purple Heart

#897EAA · ΔE 9.5

Spring Purple

#8782A6 · ΔE 10.2

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 #A181A5?

#A181A5 is Plum Shade, a mid-tone purple with a warm undertone.

Is #A181A5 warm or cool?

Plum Shade reads warm, which influences how it interacts with surrounding tones and natural light.

What rooms work best with Plum Shade?

Plum Shade works well in dressing rooms, creative studios, accent walls. Designers typically use it for feature walls, cabinetry, textiles.

What colors pair well with Plum Shade?

Plum Shade pairs naturally with warm whites, walnut, brass, deep velvet textiles. Its complementary color is also a strong contrast option for accents.

Where can I download Plum Shade?

You can download Plum Shade 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 Plum Shade?

The hex code is #A181A5. In RGB it's 161, 129, 165, and in HSL it's 293°, 17%, 58%.

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