#BDCED1 is a light neutral with only a whisper of temperate cast. On the Color Lab it reads clean and engineered, restrained and easy to live with. It holds up as a large surface and is too pale to lead as a primary accent.
Not just a swatch — here's how #BDCED1 works with other colors. Named schemes with #BDCED1 in its natural role, and a note on why the supporting colors balance it.
Pastel Gray 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.
Pastel Gray opens this coastal palette with sea-glass and warm sand alongside it, grounded by driftwood grey and a deep-navy anchor.
Pastel Gray is the vivid signal in this product UI — on a near-black surface with cool white, a slate grey and a lighter tint of Pastel Gray.
Pastel Gray keeps this Nordic scheme quiet — cool greys and a soft white around it, a muted-blue support and a charcoal anchor.
Pastel Gray 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 Pastel Gray carrying the quiet middle.
How #BDCED1 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 #BDCED1 at work across the surfaces designers actually ship.
:root {
--color-base: #BDCED1;
--color-base-rgb: 189 206 209;
--color-base-oklch: oklch(83.9% 0.019 209.4);
--color-50: #F6F8F9;
--color-100: #E7EDEE;
--color-200: #CFDBDE;
--color-300: #ACC0C3;
--color-400: #8AA3A8;
--color-500: #6B858A;
--color-600: #56696C;
--color-700: #404C4F;
--color-800: #2C3335;
--color-900: #1C2021;
--color-on-base: #141310;
}
// tailwind.config.js
colors: {
pastel-gray: {
50: '#F6F8F9',
100: '#E7EDEE',
200: '#CFDBDE',
300: '#ACC0C3',
400: '#8AA3A8',
500: '#6B858A',
600: '#56696C',
700: '#404C4F',
800: '#2C3335',
900: '#1C2021',
},
}
$base: #BDCED1; $base-ink: #141310; $base-50: #F6F8F9; $base-100: #E7EDEE; $base-200: #CFDBDE; $base-300: #ACC0C3; $base-400: #8AA3A8; $base-500: #6B858A; $base-600: #56696C; $base-700: #404C4F; $base-800: #2C3335; $base-900: #1C2021; $base-hover: #8EABB0; $base-subtle: #ECF0F0;
{
"color": {
"base": {
"value": "#BDCED1",
"type": "color"
},
"onBase": {
"value": "#141310",
"type": "color"
},
"scale": {
"50": {
"value": "#F6F8F9",
"type": "color"
},
"100": {
"value": "#E7EDEE",
"type": "color"
},
"200": {
"value": "#CFDBDE",
"type": "color"
},
"300": {
"value": "#ACC0C3",
"type": "color"
},
"400": {
"value": "#8AA3A8",
"type": "color"
},
"500": {
"value": "#6B858A",
"type": "color"
},
"600": {
"value": "#56696C",
"type": "color"
},
"700": {
"value": "#404C4F",
"type": "color"
},
"800": {
"value": "#2C3335",
"type": "color"
},
"900": {
"value": "#1C2021",
"type": "color"
}
}
}
}