ORANGES

Earl Gray

#A6978A

RGB 166, 151, 138 · HSL 28°, 14%, 60% · CMYK 0, 9, 17, 35

Earl Gray is #A6978A in HEX — rgb(166, 151, 138), hsl(28°, 14%, 60%), cmyk(0%, 9%, 17%, 35%).

Earl Gray pulls into the light end of the oranges spectrum — HSL 28°, 14%, 60%. The neutral saturation makes it near-neutral and forgiving, and the hue reads warm. In interior projects it shines on main walls, ceilings, soft fabrics, large surfaces, particularly within kitchens, living rooms, dining rooms. Reads best alongside cream walls, walnut furniture, terracotta tile, brass.

Color Codes

HEX#A6978A

RGB166, 151, 138

HSL28°, 14%, 60%

HSV28°, 17%, 65%

CMYK0, 9, 17, 35

Decimal10917770

CSS RGBrgb(166, 151, 138)

CSS HSLhsl(28, 14%, 60%)

Paint Matches — this color across 16 brands

PPG

Earl Gray 1020-5

Exact match

Behr

Studio Taupe PPU5-7

ΔE 0.4 · #A5978A

Sherwin-Williams

Sticks & Stones SW7503

ΔE 0.6 · #A49689

Hallman-Lindsay

Rain Barrel historic-rain-barrel

ΔE 0.8 · #A49688

Vista Paint

Rain Barrel C-1429

ΔE 1.1 · #A39688

Dulux

Porcelain Figurines S11B4

ΔE 1.1 · #A9988C

Benjamin Moore

Creekbed 1006

ΔE 1.5 · #AA9B8E

Farrow & Ball

Charleston Gray 243

ΔE 2.7 · #9F9389

Valspar

Coastal Villa 6005-2A

ΔE 3.1 · #A1998E

Kilz

Art Museum TB-17

ΔE 3.3 · #A89E93

Dunn-Edwards

Bison Beige DEC750

ΔE 3.4 · #9F9180

IKEA

IKEA176 176

ΔE 3.7 · #9D978A

Dutch Boy

Camel's Hump DCP-0219

ΔE 4.7 · #989187

Colorhouse

Nourish .04 Nourish-04

ΔE 6.2 · #A3977F

RAL

Signal Grey 7004

ΔE 8 · #969992

Kobra

Grey 42

ΔE 15.7 · #889099

Light Reflectance & Undertone

Light Reflectance Value (LRV)

32/100

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

#A6978A

#8B9AA7

Analogous

#A78B8C

#A6978A

#A7A68B

Triadic

#A6978A

#8BA798

#988BA7

Split-Complementary

#A6978A

#8BA7A6

#8B8CA7

Tetradic

#A6978A

#8CA78B

#8B9AA7

#A68BA7

Monochromatic

#574C42

#837263

#A6978A

#C8BFB6

#E9E5E2

Rectangle

#A6978A

#9AA78B

#8B9AA7

#988BA7

Compound

#A6978A

#A7A68B

#8B9AA7

#8B8CA7

Variations

Lighter

#B9ADA2

#C9C1BB

#DFDBD8

Darker

#8C7968

#615347

#393029

Saturation

#9D9995

#A7988B

#D3955F

Interior Use

Best Rooms

kitchens, living rooms, dining rooms

Best Uses

main walls, ceilings, soft fabrics, large surfaces

Pairs With

cream walls, walnut furniture, terracotta tile, brass

Accessibility (WCAG)

vs White

2.83:1

Fail

vs Black

7.42:1

AAA

Deuteranopia

#A6978A

#9F9B8A

Original → Simulated

Protanopia

#A6978A

#9A9A8C

Original → Simulated

Tritanopia

#A6978A

#A69597

Original → Simulated

Color Psychology

Warm · Inviting

Earl Gray reads warm and lived-in — orange-leaning tones invite conversation and slow the room down without dulling it. They flatter wood, linen, and brass, and they brighten north-facing rooms that otherwise tip cold.

SymbolismCreativity, hospitality, harvest

PersonalityFriendly, optimistic, grounded

warmthhospitalitycreativitycomfortsocialearthy

How it looks under different light

#BC9E83

Warm Bulb 2700K

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

#A6978A

Daylight 5500K

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

#A9A3A7

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.

#6384A1

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: #A6978A;

CSS — background

background-color: #A6978A;

CSS Variable

--color-earl-gray: #A6978A;

Tailwind v3 — config

colors: { 'earl-gray': '#A6978A' }

Tailwind — arbitrary

bg-[#A6978A] text-[#A6978A]

SCSS

$earl-gray: #A6978A;

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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 #A6978A?

#A6978A is Earl Gray, a soft orange with a warm undertone.

Is #A6978A warm or cool?

Earl Gray reads warm, which influences how it interacts with surrounding tones and natural light.

What rooms work best with Earl Gray?

Earl Gray works well in kitchens, living rooms, dining rooms. Designers typically use it for main walls, ceilings, soft fabrics, large surfaces.

What colors pair well with Earl Gray?

Earl Gray pairs naturally with cream walls, walnut furniture, terracotta tile, brass. Its complementary color is also a strong contrast option for accents.

Where can I download Earl Gray?

You can download Earl Gray 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 Earl Gray?

The hex code is #A6978A. In RGB it's 166, 151, 138, and in HSL it's 28°, 14%, 60%.

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