GREYS

Portsmouth Bay

#A1ADAD

RGB 161, 173, 173 · HSL 180°, 7%, 65% · CMYK 7, 0, 0, 32

Portsmouth Bay is #A1ADAD in HEX — rgb(161, 173, 173), hsl(180°, 7%, 65%), cmyk(7%, 0%, 0%, 32%).

Portsmouth Bay pulls into the light end of the greys spectrum — HSL 180°, 7%, 65%. 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#A1ADAD

RGB161, 173, 173

HSL180°, 7%, 65%

HSV180°, 7%, 68%

CMYK7, 0, 0, 32

Decimal10595757

CSS RGBrgb(161, 173, 173)

CSS HSLhsl(180, 7%, 65%)

Paint Matches — this color across 16 brands

Vista Paint

Waterby K-852

ΔE 0.4 · #A0ADAD

PPG

Polaris 10-04

ΔE 0.9 · #A0AEAD

Colorhouse

Wool .03 Wool-03

ΔE 0.9 · #A1ABAB

Sherwin-Williams

Breezy SW7616

ΔE 0.9 · #A0AEAF

Behr

Portsmouth Bay QE-52

ΔE 1.1 · #A0ACAE

Hallman-Lindsay

Citadel Blue historic-citadel-blue

ΔE 1.4 · #9EABAD

Valspar

Blue Arrow 5001-3C

ΔE 1.7 · #A0B0B1

Benjamin Moore

Kentucky AC-16

ΔE 1.8 · #A4B1AF

Dulux

Pukaki NZ9B6

ΔE 3.2 · #ABB2AF

IKEA

IKEA164 164

ΔE 3.9 · #ABB7B9

Dunn-Edwards

Galway Bay DE6305

ΔE 4 · #95A7A4

Kilz

Sensual Silver RK240

ΔE 4.4 · #9EA7AE

RAL

White Aluminium 9006

ΔE 4.9 · #A5A5A5

Farrow & Ball

Dix Blue 82

ΔE 4.9 · #99B0AB

Dutch Boy

Dusky Mood DCP-1318

ΔE 7 · #A6ACB8

Kobra

Grey 42

ΔE 11.7 · #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

TemperatureNeutral MasstoneTeal UndertoneGreen

A near-neutral with a subtle neutral green undertone — it will pick up colour from surrounding surfaces and shift noticeably under different light.

Color Theory

Complementary

#A1ADAD

#ACA0A0

Analogous

#A0ACA6

#A1ADAD

#A0A6AC

Triadic

#A1ADAD

#ACA0AC

#ACACA0

Split-Complementary

#A1ADAD

#ACA0A6

#ACA6A0

Tetradic

#A1ADAD

#A6A0AC

#ACA0A0

#A6ACA0

Monochromatic

#535F5F

#778888

#A1ADAD

#C8D0D0

#F1F3F3

Rectangle

#A1ADAD

#A0A0AC

#ACA0A0

#ACACA0

Compound

#A1ADAD

#A0A6AC

#ACA0A0

#ACA6A0

Variations

Lighter

#B3BDBD

#C6CDCD

#DEE1E1

Darker

#7C8E8E

#546262

#313939

Saturation

#A4A8A8

#A0ACAC

#76D5D5

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

2.31:1

Fail

vs Black

9.10:1

AAA

Deuteranopia

#A1ADAD

#A8A9AE

Original → Simulated

Protanopia

#A1ADAD

#ABABAD

Original → Simulated

Tritanopia

#A1ADAD

#A1ADAC

Original → Simulated

Color Psychology

Quiet · Versatile

Portsmouth Bay 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

#B8AE9D

Warm Bulb 2700K

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

#A1ADAD

Daylight 5500K

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

#A5B3C1

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.

#A97070

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: #A1ADAD;

CSS — background

background-color: #A1ADAD;

CSS Variable

--color-portsmouth-bay: #A1ADAD;

Tailwind v3 — config

colors: { 'portsmouth-bay': '#A1ADAD' }

Tailwind — arbitrary

bg-[#A1ADAD] text-[#A1ADAD]

SCSS

$portsmouth-bay: #A1ADAD;

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#A7B2B0 · ΔE 2.2

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#A8AFB0 · ΔE 2.2

Gull Wing Gray

#A7AEB0 · ΔE 2.3

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#AAB2B0 · ΔE 2.8

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#A3A8A8 · 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 #A1ADAD?

#A1ADAD is Portsmouth Bay, a soft grey with a cool undertone.

Is #A1ADAD warm or cool?

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

What rooms work best with Portsmouth Bay?

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

What colors pair well with Portsmouth Bay?

Portsmouth Bay 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 Portsmouth Bay?

You can download Portsmouth Bay 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 Portsmouth Bay?

The hex code is #A1ADAD. In RGB it's 161, 173, 173, and in HSL it's 180°, 7%, 65%.

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