GREYS

Truly Taupe

#AC9E97

RGB 172, 158, 151 · HSL 20°, 11%, 63% · CMYK 0, 8, 12, 33

Truly Taupe is #AC9E97 in HEX — rgb(172, 158, 151), hsl(20°, 11%, 63%), cmyk(0%, 8%, 12%, 33%).

Truly Taupe pulls into the light end of the greys spectrum — HSL 20°, 11%, 63%. 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#AC9E97

RGB172, 158, 151

HSL20°, 11%, 63%

HSV20°, 12%, 67%

CMYK0, 8, 12, 33

Decimal11312791

CSS RGBrgb(172, 158, 151)

CSS HSLhsl(20, 11%, 63%)

Paint Matches — this color across 16 brands

Sherwin-Williams

Truly Taupe SW6038

Exact match

Vista Paint

Gypsum Gap K-1172

ΔE 1.1 · #A99C96

PPG

Winter's Nap 1018-4

ΔE 1.7 · #A99F97

Behr

Moleskin N180-4

ΔE 1.8 · #B1A198

Dunn-Edwards

Twilight Taupe DE6060

ΔE 2.1 · #A79994

Valspar

Wool Coat 1002-10A

ΔE 2.4 · #AF9D93

Kilz

Meadow Mauve TB-26

ΔE 2.7 · #B2A59F

Dulux

Putty Pearl S07B4

ΔE 2.8 · #A99791

Dutch Boy

Baby Sprout DCP-0134

ΔE 3 · #B6A39C

Hallman-Lindsay

Drifting Sand 218

ΔE 3.4 · #A89F93

Benjamin Moore

Mt. AC-39

ΔE 3.6 · #AA9B8E

IKEA

IKEA168 168

ΔE 4.4 · #9E9893

Farrow & Ball

Charleston Gray 243

ΔE 4.8 · #9F9389

Colorhouse

Metal .04 Metal-04

ΔE 6.4 · #9FA198

RAL

White Aluminium 9006

ΔE 6.9 · #A5A5A5

Kobra

Grey 42

ΔE 14 · #889099

Light Reflectance & Undertone

Light Reflectance Value (LRV)

35/100

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

#AC9E97

#96A4AB

Analogous

#AB969A

#AC9E97

#ABA896

Triadic

#AC9E97

#96AB9D

#9D96AB

Split-Complementary

#AC9E97

#96ABA8

#969AAB

Tetradic

#AC9E97

#9AAB96

#96A4AB

#A896AB

Monochromatic

#5D514B

#88766D

#AC9E97

#CDC5C1

#EFECEB

Rectangle

#AC9E97

#A4AB96

#96A4AB

#9D96AB

Compound

#AC9E97

#ABA896

#96A4AB

#969AAB

Variations

Lighter

#BCB1AB

#CCC5C1

#E1DDDB

Darker

#8F7C72

#63554E

#3A312D

Saturation

#A4A09E

#AB9D96

#D58F6C

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

2.60:1

Fail

vs Black

8.09:1

AAA

Deuteranopia

#AC9E97

#A5A297

Original → Simulated

Protanopia

#AC9E97

#A0A098

Original → Simulated

Tritanopia

#AC9E97

#AC9D9E

Original → Simulated

Color Psychology

Quiet · Versatile

Truly Taupe 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

#C0A38C

Warm Bulb 2700K

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

#AC9E97

Daylight 5500K

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

#AEA8B1

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.

#6B92A6

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: #AC9E97;

CSS — background

background-color: #AC9E97;

CSS Variable

--color-truly-taupe: #AC9E97;

Tailwind v3 — config

colors: { 'truly-taupe': '#AC9E97' }

Tailwind — arbitrary

bg-[#AC9E97] text-[#AC9E97]

SCSS

$truly-taupe: #AC9E97;

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#A69F93 · ΔE 3.9

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#A59A8D · ΔE 4.0

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#AEA497 · ΔE 4.0

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#B59D94 · ΔE 4.3

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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 #AC9E97?

#AC9E97 is Truly Taupe, a soft grey with a cool undertone.

Is #AC9E97 warm or cool?

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

What rooms work best with Truly Taupe?

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

What colors pair well with Truly Taupe?

Truly Taupe 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 Truly Taupe?

You can download Truly Taupe 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 Truly Taupe?

The hex code is #AC9E97. In RGB it's 172, 158, 151, and in HSL it's 20°, 11%, 63%.

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