BLUES

Nefarious Blue

#C5CED8

RGB 197, 206, 216 · HSL 212°, 20%, 81% · CMYK 9, 5, 0, 15

Nefarious Blue is #C5CED8 in HEX — rgb(197, 206, 216), hsl(212°, 20%, 81%), cmyk(9%, 5%, 0%, 15%).

Nefarious Blue pulls into the airy end of the blues spectrum — HSL 212°, 20%, 81%. The muted saturation makes it quiet but present, 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#C5CED8

RGB197, 206, 216

HSL212°, 20%, 81%

HSV212°, 9%, 85%

CMYK9, 5, 0, 15

Decimal12963544

CSS RGBrgb(197, 206, 216)

CSS HSLhsl(212, 20%, 81%)

Paint Matches — this color across 16 brands

Dulux

Elusive Blue Half S38B1H

ΔE 0.7 · #C5CFD8

PPG

Memory Lane 1163-2

ΔE 1.1 · #C7D1DB

Dunn-Edwards

Polished Silver DE5820

ΔE 1.5 · #C5D1DA

Benjamin Moore

Violet 1437 · CC-880

ΔE 1.7 · #CAD1D9

Vista Paint

Kecia K-93

ΔE 2.1 · #C5CAD6

Behr

Blue Gossamer MQ3-60

ΔE 2.2 · #CAD4DF

Hallman-Lindsay

Serene Setting 622

ΔE 2.4 · #C5D2D9

Valspar

Tinsel Beam 4005-3A

ΔE 2.5 · #CAD5DE

Sherwin-Williams

Upward SW6239

ΔE 2.5 · #BFC9D0

Kilz

Twilight Spell RB200-02

ΔE 3.2 · #CECFDB

Dutch Boy

Calamities DCP-1315

ΔE 3.3 · #CDCDD5

IKEA

IKEA096 96

ΔE 3.9 · #CFD9E4

Colorhouse

Sprout .03 Sprout-03

ΔE 5.1 · #CCDCE7

Farrow & Ball

Calluna 270

ΔE 5.2 · #CCC8CE

RAL

Telegrey 4 7047

ΔE 6.2 · #D0D0D0

Kobra

Silver 47

ΔE 6.4 · #CDCECD

Light Reflectance & Undertone

Light Reflectance Value (LRV)

61/100

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 MasstoneBlue UndertoneViolet

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

Color Theory

Complementary

#C5CED8

#D8CFC5

Analogous

#C5D8D8

#C5CED8

#C6C5D8

Triadic

#C5CED8

#D8C5CE

#CED8C5

Split-Complementary

#C5CED8

#D8C6C5

#D8D8C5

Tetradic

#C5CED8

#D8C5D8

#D8CFC5

#C5D8C6

Monochromatic

#69809B

#97A7BA

#C5CED8

#F0F2F5

Rectangle

#C5CED8

#CFC5D8

#D8CFC5

#CED8C5

Compound

#C5CED8

#C6C5D8

#D8CFC5

#D8D8C5

Variations

Lighter

#D0D8E0

#DDE2E7

#ECEEF0

Darker

#92A4B8

#59708B

#334151

Saturation

#CCCED1

#C5CED8

#B1CDEC

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

1.59:1

Fail

vs Black

13.19:1

AAA

Deuteranopia

#C5CED8

#C9CCD9

Original → Simulated

Protanopia

#C5CED8

#CDCDD7

Original → Simulated

Tritanopia

#C5CED8

#C4CFCE

Original → Simulated

Color Psychology

Focused · Cooling

Nefarious Blue 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

#D3C7BD

Warm Bulb 2700K

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

#C5CED8

Daylight 5500K

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

#C0CCE1

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.

#F7F7F8

Ceiling

Whisper tint

Near-white with a hint of the hero's undertone — ceiling feels intentional.

#C3B19C

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) · Semi-gloss (trim) · Flat (ceiling)

Light tones absorb less light than expected — eggshell adds warmth on walls, semi-gloss gives trim crisp definition against pale walls.

Best Surfaces

Primary walls · Trim · Ceilings · 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; pale colors typically need 2 coats for full opacity.

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: #C5CED8;

CSS — background

background-color: #C5CED8;

CSS Variable

--color-nefarious-blue: #C5CED8;

Tailwind v3 — config

colors: { 'nefarious-blue': '#C5CED8' }

Tailwind — arbitrary

bg-[#C5CED8] text-[#C5CED8]

SCSS

$nefarious-blue: #C5CED8;

Similar Colors

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#C9D0D8 · ΔE 1.5

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#C1CAD1 · ΔE 2.2

Lake Placid

#C5D3DF · ΔE 2.5

Mt. Rainier Gray

#C1CDD3 · ΔE 2.5

Misty Memories

#CACCD3 · ΔE 2.9

Feather Gray

#C4CBD0 · ΔE 2.9

Angel's Wings

#C5C8D4 · ΔE 2.9

Sweet Innocence

#C7CDD1 · ΔE 3.3

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 #C5CED8?

#C5CED8 is Nefarious Blue, a soft blue with a cool undertone.

Is #C5CED8 warm or cool?

Nefarious Blue reads cool, which influences how it interacts with surrounding tones and natural light.

What rooms work best with Nefarious Blue?

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

What colors pair well with Nefarious Blue?

Nefarious Blue 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 Nefarious Blue?

You can download Nefarious Blue 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 Nefarious Blue?

The hex code is #C5CED8. In RGB it's 197, 206, 216, and in HSL it's 212°, 20%, 81%.

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