ORANGES

Desert Dune

#B5AB9C

RGB 181, 171, 156 · HSL 36°, 14%, 66% · CMYK 0, 6, 14, 29

Desert Dune is #B5AB9C in HEX — rgb(181, 171, 156), hsl(36°, 14%, 66%), cmyk(0%, 6%, 14%, 29%).

Desert Dune pulls into the light end of the oranges spectrum — HSL 36°, 14%, 66%. 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#B5AB9C

RGB181, 171, 156

HSL36°, 14%, 66%

HSV36°, 14%, 71%

CMYK0, 6, 14, 29

Decimal11905948

CSS RGBrgb(181, 171, 156)

CSS HSLhsl(36, 14%, 66%)

Paint Matches — this color across 16 brands

PPG

Desert Dune 1023-4

Exact match

Vista Paint

Marshy Habitat C-203

ΔE 1 · #B6AD9F

Hallman-Lindsay

Langdon Dove historic-langdon-dove

ΔE 1.1 · #B5AB9A

Benjamin Moore

Rocky CC-470

ΔE 1.3 · #B8AB9B

Dulux

Tapestry Beige S13C3

ΔE 1.3 · #B7AB9E

IKEA

IKEA169 169

ΔE 1.5 · #B7AE9D

Behr

Saturn Gray UL190-7

ΔE 1.6 · #B7AF9F

Kilz

Cottage Stone LL210

ΔE 1.7 · #B8AB9A

Sherwin-Williams

Gateway Gray SW7644

ΔE 1.7 · #B2AC9C

Farrow & Ball

Hardwick White 5

ΔE 2 · #B5AFA0

Valspar

Ivory Brown 6006-1C

ΔE 2.2 · #BCB0A1

Dunn-Edwards

Shaggy Barked DEC771

ΔE 2.3 · #B3AB98

Colorhouse

Stone .05 Stone-05

ΔE 3.7 · #AAA593

Dutch Boy

Drifting Sand DCP-0218

ΔE 4.7 · #B6B2A9

RAL

Silk Grey 7044

ΔE 9.2 · #CAC4B0

Kobra

Silver 47

ΔE 15.1 · #CDCECD

Light Reflectance & Undertone

Light Reflectance Value (LRV)

41/100

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

#B5AB9C

#9CA6B4

Analogous

#B49F9C

#B5AB9C

#B2B49C

Triadic

#B5AB9C

#9CB4AB

#AB9CB4

Split-Complementary

#B5AB9C

#9CB2B4

#9F9CB4

Tetradic

#B5AB9C

#9CB49F

#9CA6B4

#B49CB2

Monochromatic

#695E4F

#948671

#B5AB9C

#D5D0C8

#F4F3F0

Rectangle

#B5AB9C

#A6B49C

#9CA6B4

#AB9CB4

Compound

#B5AB9C

#B2B49C

#9CA6B4

#9F9CB4

Variations

Lighter

#C3BCB0

#D1CCC5

#E4E1DE

Darker

#988A75

#6B5F4E

#3F382D

Saturation

#ACA9A5

#B4AB9C

#DAB277

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

2.27:1

Fail

vs Black

9.27:1

AAA

Deuteranopia

#B5AB9C

#B1AD9D

Original → Simulated

Protanopia

#B5AB9C

#ADAD9E

Original → Simulated

Tritanopia

#B5AB9C

#B6A9AB

Original → Simulated

Color Psychology

Warm · Inviting

Desert Dune 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

#C7AD90

Warm Bulb 2700K

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

#B5AB9C

Daylight 5500K

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

#B4B2B4

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.

#7389AB

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: #B5AB9C;

CSS — background

background-color: #B5AB9C;

CSS Variable

--color-desert-dune: #B5AB9C;

Tailwind v3 — config

colors: { 'desert-dune': '#B5AB9C' }

Tailwind — arbitrary

bg-[#B5AB9C] text-[#B5AB9C]

SCSS

$desert-dune: #B5AB9C;

Similar Colors

Rocky Road

#B7AA9A · ΔE 1.3

Evening Gown

#B5A99D · ΔE 1.8

Cobblestone

#B7A99C · ΔE 1.9

Kid Gloves

#B2AB99 · ΔE 2.0

Finnie Gray

#B4AC99 · ΔE 2.3

Upper West Side

#AFA79B · ΔE 2.4

Sandy Hook Gray

#AEA897 · ΔE 2.4

Valley Forge Tan

#B6AFA3 · ΔE 2.4

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 #B5AB9C?

#B5AB9C is Desert Dune, a soft orange with a warm undertone.

Is #B5AB9C warm or cool?

Desert Dune reads warm, which influences how it interacts with surrounding tones and natural light.

What rooms work best with Desert Dune?

Desert Dune 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 Desert Dune?

Desert Dune 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 Desert Dune?

You can download Desert Dune 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 Desert Dune?

The hex code is #B5AB9C. In RGB it's 181, 171, 156, and in HSL it's 36°, 14%, 66%.

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