NEUTRALS

Silver Thistle Down

#CAC9C2

RGB 202, 201, 194 · HSL 53°, 7%, 78% · CMYK 0, 0, 4, 21

Silver Thistle Down is #CAC9C2 in HEX — rgb(202, 201, 194), hsl(53°, 7%, 78%), cmyk(0%, 0%, 4%, 21%).

Silver Thistle Down pulls into the airy end of the neutrals spectrum — HSL 53°, 7%, 78%. The neutral saturation makes it near-neutral and forgiving, and the hue reads cool. In interior projects it shines on main walls, trims, ceilings — versatile across nearly any style. Reads best alongside soft whites, natural wood, matte black trim, linen.

Color Codes

HEX#CAC9C2

RGB202, 201, 194

HSL53°, 7%, 78%

HSV53°, 4%, 79%

CMYK0, 0, 4, 21

Decimal13289922

CSS RGBrgb(202, 201, 194)

CSS HSLhsl(53, 7%, 78%)

Paint Matches — this color across 16 brands

Kilz

Antique Sterling TB-33

ΔE 0.4 · #CBC9C2

Valspar

Notre Dame 5006-1B

ΔE 0.6 · #C9C9C3

Behr

Dolphin Fin 790C-3

ΔE 0.8 · #CCCAC4

Dulux

Vanilla Quake S14A1

ΔE 0.9 · #CBC8C2

PPG

Early Evening 1006-3

ΔE 1.1 · #CAC7BF

Sherwin-Williams

Front Porch SW7651

ΔE 1.1 · #CCCCC5

Benjamin Moore

Harbor AC-25

ΔE 1.2 · #C8C8C3

Vista Paint

Snowglory C-530

ΔE 1.3 · #C7C7C2

Hallman-Lindsay

Snowglory 531

ΔE 1.7 · #C8C8C4

Dunn-Edwards

Silhouette DE6276

ΔE 1.9 · #CBCDC4

Farrow & Ball

Cornforth White 228

ΔE 2.2 · #D1CBC3

Dutch Boy

Laguna White 7411

ΔE 2.9 · #C8CDC9

Colorhouse

Stone .04 Stone-04

ΔE 3.3 · #C9CABD

Kobra

Silver 47

ΔE 3.7 · #CDCECD

IKEA

IKEA187 187

ΔE 3.9 · #BEBFB8

RAL

Agate Grey 7038

ΔE 4.3 · #C3C3C3

Light Reflectance & Undertone

Light Reflectance Value (LRV)

58/100

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

TemperatureNeutral MasstoneYellow UndertoneGreen

A near-neutral with a subtle neutral green undertone — it will pick up colour from surrounding surfaces and shift noticeably under different light.

Color Theory

Complementary

#CAC9C2

#C3C4CB

Analogous

#CBC6C3

#CAC9C2

#C8CBC3

Triadic

#CAC9C2

#C3CBCA

#CAC3CB

Split-Complementary

#CAC9C2

#C3C8CB

#C6C3CB

Tetradic

#CAC9C2

#C3CBC6

#C3C4CB

#CBC3C8

Monochromatic

#838172

#A7A69A

#CAC9C2

#EEEEEC

#F3F3F1

Rectangle

#CAC9C2

#C4CBC3

#C3C4CB

#CAC3CB

Compound

#CAC9C2

#C8CBC3

#C3C4CB

#C6C3CB

Variations

Lighter

#D5D5CF

#DFDFDB

#ECECEA

Darker

#A6A598

#767465

#45443B

Saturation

#C8C8C6

#CBCAC3

#E5DEA9

Interior Use

Best Rooms

living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens

Best Uses

main walls, trim, accents

Pairs With

soft whites, natural wood, brass, matte black trim

Accessibility (WCAG)

vs White

1.66:1

Fail

vs Black

12.64:1

AAA

Deuteranopia

#CAC9C2

#CAC9C3

Original → Simulated

Protanopia

#CAC9C2

#C9C9C3

Original → Simulated

Tritanopia

#CAC9C2

#CBC8C9

Original → Simulated

Color Psychology

Quiet · Versatile

Silver Thistle Down 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

#D7C3AD

Warm Bulb 2700K

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

#CAC9C2

Daylight 5500K

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

#C4C8D1

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.

#9499BF

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 · 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 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: #CAC9C2;

CSS — background

background-color: #CAC9C2;

CSS Variable

--color-silver-thistle-down: #CAC9C2;

Tailwind v3 — config

colors: { 'silver-thistle-down': '#CAC9C2' }

Tailwind — arbitrary

bg-[#CAC9C2] text-[#CAC9C2]

SCSS

$silver-thistle-down: #CAC9C2;

Similar Colors

Stonington Gray

#CACBC5 · ΔE 1.1

Harbor Gray

#C7C7C2 · ΔE 1.3

Nimbus

#CFCCC4 · ΔE 1.5

Wish

#CFCAC2 · ΔE 1.7

Apparition

#CCC8BE · ΔE 2.0

London Fog

#CCC7BD · ΔE 2.2

Sleigh Bells

#CBCFC9 · ΔE 2.6

Abalone

#D3CFC7 · ΔE 2.7

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 #CAC9C2?

#CAC9C2 is Silver Thistle Down, a soft neutral with a cool undertone.

Is #CAC9C2 warm or cool?

Silver Thistle Down reads cool, which influences how it interacts with surrounding tones and natural light.

What rooms work best with Silver Thistle Down?

Silver Thistle Down works well in living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens. Designers typically use it for main walls, trim, accents.

What colors pair well with Silver Thistle Down?

Silver Thistle Down pairs naturally with soft whites, natural wood, brass, matte black trim. Its complementary color is also a strong contrast option for accents.

Where can I download Silver Thistle Down?

You can download Silver Thistle Down 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 Silver Thistle Down?

The hex code is #CAC9C2. In RGB it's 202, 201, 194, and in HSL it's 53°, 7%, 78%.

← All colors