BLUES

Soft Denim

#B9C6CA

RGB 185, 198, 202 · HSL 194°, 14%, 76% · CMYK 8, 2, 0, 21

Soft Denim is #B9C6CA in HEX — rgb(185, 198, 202), hsl(194°, 14%, 76%), cmyk(8%, 2%, 0%, 21%).

Soft Denim pulls into the light end of the blues spectrum — HSL 194°, 14%, 76%. The neutral saturation makes it near-neutral and forgiving, and the hue reads cool. In interior projects it shines on bedrooms, bathrooms, home offices — for calm, focused environments. Reads best alongside warm white trim, oak or walnut, brass or matte black hardware.

Color Codes

HEX#B9C6CA

RGB185, 198, 202

HSL194°, 14%, 76%

HSV194°, 8%, 79%

CMYK8, 2, 0, 21

Decimal12175050

CSS RGBrgb(185, 198, 202)

CSS HSLhsl(194, 14%, 76%)

Paint Matches — this color across 16 brands

Vista Paint

Water Droplet C-502

ΔE 1.2 · #BDC9CD

Dulux

Calandre SG5C1

ΔE 1.3 · #B8C3C8

Hallman-Lindsay

Water Droplet 503

ΔE 1.4 · #BDC9CE

Behr

Misty Morn PPU12-10

ΔE 1.9 · #BCC6C7

Benjamin Moore

Smoke 2122-40

ΔE 1.9 · #BBC9CA

Sherwin-Williams

Sleepy Blue SW6225

ΔE 1.9 · #BCCBCE

Valspar

Lighthouse Shadows 4008-3B

ΔE 2.3 · #BBC8D0

Kilz

Soothing Ocean RD160-01

ΔE 2.3 · #B7C7CF

Dunn-Edwards

Bay of Hope DE6331

ΔE 2.4 · #BFC9D0

Farrow & Ball

Parma Gray 27

ΔE 2.7 · #B2BFC5

PPG

Misty Surf 1034-4

ΔE 2.7 · #B5C8C9

Colorhouse

Wool .02 Wool-02

ΔE 3.3 · #C1CDCD

RAL

Agate Grey 7038

ΔE 5.1 · #C3C3C3

Dutch Boy

Savoy DCP-1316

ΔE 5.5 · #C8C8D0

IKEA

IKEA164 164

ΔE 5.6 · #ABB7B9

Kobra

Silver 47

ΔE 6.2 · #CDCECD

Light Reflectance & Undertone

Light Reflectance Value (LRV)

55/100

Light

0 · DarkLight · 100

Reflects plenty of light and keeps spaces feeling open and airy while still showing clear colour. A safe, flexible choice for living areas.

Undertone

TemperatureCool MasstoneTeal UndertoneGreen

Reads as a cool teal with a green undertone showing through, especially in daylight. Pair trim and adjacent colours to either calm or amplify that undertone.

Color Theory

Complementary

#B9C6CA

#CABDB9

Analogous

#B9CAC6

#B9C6CA

#B9BECA

Triadic

#B9C6CA

#CAB9C6

#C6CAB9

Split-Complementary

#B9C6CA

#CAB9BE

#CAC6B9

Tetradic

#B9C6CA

#C6B9CA

#CABDB9

#BECAB9

Monochromatic

#657E86

#8EA3A9

#B9C6CA

#E5EAEB

#F0F3F4

Rectangle

#B9C6CA

#BDB9CA

#CABDB9

#C6CAB9

Compound

#B9C6CA

#B9BECA

#CABDB9

#CAC6B9

Variations

Lighter

#C7D2D5

#D6DDDF

#E7EBEC

Darker

#8CA3AA

#5A737B

#344348

Saturation

#BFC3C4

#B9C6CA

#9FD4E5

Interior Use

Best Rooms

bedrooms, bathrooms, home offices

Best Uses

main walls, ceilings, trim, cabinetry

Pairs With

warm white trim, oak or walnut, brass or matte black hardware

Accessibility (WCAG)

vs White

1.75:1

Fail

vs Black

11.99:1

AAA

Deuteranopia

#B9C6CA

#C0C2CB

Original → Simulated

Protanopia

#B9C6CA

#C4C4C9

Original → Simulated

Tritanopia

#B9C6CA

#B9C6C5

Original → Simulated

Color Psychology

Focused · Cooling

Soft Denim lowers the temperature of a room — useful in south-facing rooms that overheat visually, and in home offices where you want a clear head. Pair with warm wood and brass to keep it from reading clinical.

SymbolismTrust, depth, stability

PersonalityClear-headed, dependable, contemplative

focustrustcalmofficebedroomdepth

How it looks under different light

#CAC1B3

Warm Bulb 2700K

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

#B9C6CA

Daylight 5500K

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

#B7C6D7

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.

#BB998E

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: #B9C6CA;

CSS — background

background-color: #B9C6CA;

CSS Variable

--color-soft-denim: #B9C6CA;

Tailwind v3 — config

colors: { 'soft-denim': '#B9C6CA' }

Tailwind — arbitrary

bg-[#B9C6CA] text-[#B9C6CA]

SCSS

$soft-denim: #B9C6CA;

Similar Colors

Smoke

#BAC8C9 · ΔE 1.8

Gentle Gray

#C0CACD · ΔE 2.0

Gray Timber Wolf

#BAC1C6 · ΔE 2.6

Yarmouth Blue

#B5C8C9 · ΔE 2.7

Iced Slate

#C1CAD1 · ΔE 2.8

Mt. Rainier Gray

#C1CDD3 · ΔE 2.9

Metallic Silver

#C3C9CD · ΔE 3.0

Blue Porcelain

#B1C7CB · ΔE 3.1

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 #B9C6CA?

#B9C6CA is Soft Denim, a soft blue with a cool undertone.

Is #B9C6CA warm or cool?

Soft Denim reads cool, which influences how it interacts with surrounding tones and natural light.

What rooms work best with Soft Denim?

Soft Denim works well in bedrooms, bathrooms, home offices. Designers typically use it for main walls, ceilings, trim, cabinetry.

What colors pair well with Soft Denim?

Soft Denim pairs naturally with warm white trim, oak or walnut, brass or matte black hardware. Its complementary color is also a strong contrast option for accents.

Where can I download Soft Denim?

You can download Soft Denim 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 Soft Denim?

The hex code is #B9C6CA. In RGB it's 185, 198, 202, and in HSL it's 194°, 14%, 76%.

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