#C8A9AE is a muted, temperate red. On the Color Lab it reads 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 #C8A9AE works with other colors. Named schemes with #C8A9AE in its natural role, and a note on why the supporting colors balance it.
Dark 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.
This palette keeps Dark Gray as the dominant warm neutral, balanced by muted terracotta and olive earth tones and grounded by a deep espresso anchor.
Dark Gray anchors this café scheme as the warm mid-tone, lifted by latte cream and a muted sage accent and grounded by espresso brown and a warm charcoal.
Dark Gray opens this coastal palette with sea-glass and warm sand alongside it, grounded by driftwood grey and a deep-navy anchor.
Dark 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 Dark Gray carrying the quiet middle.
How #C8A9AE 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 #C8A9AE at work across the surfaces designers actually ship.
:root {
--color-base: #C8A9AE;
--color-base-rgb: 200 169 174;
--color-base-oklch: oklch(76.4% 0.037 7.0);
--color-50: #F9F6F6;
--color-100: #EFE6E7;
--color-200: #DFCDD0;
--color-300: #C6A9AE;
--color-400: #AB878D;
--color-500: #8E676D;
--color-600: #6F5358;
--color-700: #503F41;
--color-800: #362B2D;
--color-900: #221C1D;
--color-on-base: #141310;
}
// tailwind.config.js
colors: {
dark-gray: {
50: '#F9F6F6',
100: '#EFE6E7',
200: '#DFCDD0',
300: '#C6A9AE',
400: '#AB878D',
500: '#8E676D',
600: '#6F5358',
700: '#503F41',
800: '#362B2D',
900: '#221C1D',
},
}
$base: #C8A9AE; $base-ink: #141310; $base-50: #F9F6F6; $base-100: #EFE6E7; $base-200: #DFCDD0; $base-300: #C6A9AE; $base-400: #AB878D; $base-500: #8E676D; $base-600: #6F5358; $base-700: #503F41; $base-800: #362B2D; $base-900: #221C1D; $base-hover: #AB7B83; $base-subtle: #EDE6E7;
{
"color": {
"base": {
"value": "#C8A9AE",
"type": "color"
},
"onBase": {
"value": "#141310",
"type": "color"
},
"scale": {
"50": {
"value": "#F9F6F6",
"type": "color"
},
"100": {
"value": "#EFE6E7",
"type": "color"
},
"200": {
"value": "#DFCDD0",
"type": "color"
},
"300": {
"value": "#C6A9AE",
"type": "color"
},
"400": {
"value": "#AB878D",
"type": "color"
},
"500": {
"value": "#8E676D",
"type": "color"
},
"600": {
"value": "#6F5358",
"type": "color"
},
"700": {
"value": "#503F41",
"type": "color"
},
"800": {
"value": "#362B2D",
"type": "color"
},
"900": {
"value": "#221C1D",
"type": "color"
}
}
}
}