#383126 is a mid neutral with only a whisper of temperate cast. On the Color Lab it reads quietly premium, restrained and easy to live with. It is too muted to lead as a primary accent and reproduces cleanly in print.
Not just a swatch — here's how #383126 works with other colors. Named schemes with #383126 in its natural role, and a note on why the supporting colors balance it.
Bistre plays the worn-leather lead, deepened by saddle brown and an oxblood anchor, softened by aged cream and cooled by a muted forest green.
This palette keeps Bistre as the dominant warm neutral, balanced by muted terracotta and olive earth tones and grounded by a deep espresso anchor.
Bistre sets a calm, sun-bleached base here, wrapped in bone and paper off-whites and a soft greige, with a single ink accent for wabi-sabi restraint.
Bistre carries the depth in this luxury scheme, offset by a brass accent and near-black and held together by a deep neutral and an off-white surface.
Bistre is the single accent in this high-contrast editorial system — set on near-white paper against near-black ink, with a warm grey and a desaturated tint of Bistre carrying the quiet middle.
How #383126 actually behaves in design work — read from its OKLCH lightness, chroma and hue, not just its raw numbers. Ten signals to help you decide where this color earns its place.
Not a swatch to memorise — a color to build with. Here is #383126 at work across the surfaces designers actually ship.
:root {
--color-base: #383126;
--color-base-rgb: 56 49 38;
--color-base-oklch: oklch(31.7% 0.021 79.0);
--color-50: #F9F8F6;
--color-100: #EFECE7;
--color-200: #DED8CE;
--color-300: #C4BAAB;
--color-400: #A99D89;
--color-500: #8B7E6A;
--color-600: #6D6455;
--color-700: #4F4940;
--color-800: #35322C;
--color-900: #211F1C;
--color-on-base: #FFFFFF;
}
// tailwind.config.js
colors: {
bistre: {
50: '#F9F8F6',
100: '#EFECE7',
200: '#DED8CE',
300: '#C4BAAB',
400: '#A99D89',
500: '#8B7E6A',
600: '#6D6455',
700: '#4F4940',
800: '#35322C',
900: '#211F1C',
},
}
$base: #383126; $base-ink: #FFFFFF; $base-50: #F9F8F6; $base-100: #EFECE7; $base-200: #DED8CE; $base-300: #C4BAAB; $base-400: #A99D89; $base-500: #8B7E6A; $base-600: #6D6455; $base-700: #4F4940; $base-800: #35322C; $base-900: #211F1C; $base-hover: #2C261E; $base-subtle: #C9C2B7;
{
"color": {
"base": {
"value": "#383126",
"type": "color"
},
"onBase": {
"value": "#FFFFFF",
"type": "color"
},
"scale": {
"50": {
"value": "#F9F8F6",
"type": "color"
},
"100": {
"value": "#EFECE7",
"type": "color"
},
"200": {
"value": "#DED8CE",
"type": "color"
},
"300": {
"value": "#C4BAAB",
"type": "color"
},
"400": {
"value": "#A99D89",
"type": "color"
},
"500": {
"value": "#8B7E6A",
"type": "color"
},
"600": {
"value": "#6D6455",
"type": "color"
},
"700": {
"value": "#4F4940",
"type": "color"
},
"800": {
"value": "#35322C",
"type": "color"
},
"900": {
"value": "#211F1C",
"type": "color"
}
}
}
}