#DCD8EA is a pale, temperate off-white. 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 #DCD8EA works with other colors. Named schemes with #DCD8EA in its natural role, and a note on why the supporting colors balance it.
Gainsboro 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.
Gainsboro opens this coastal palette with sea-glass and warm sand alongside it, grounded by driftwood grey and a deep-navy anchor.
Gainsboro keeps this Nordic scheme quiet — cool greys and a soft white around it, a muted-blue support and a charcoal anchor.
Gainsboro 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 Gainsboro carrying the quiet middle.
Gainsboro sits between cream and a deep berry here, softened by a blush accent and grounded by charcoal.
How #DCD8EA 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 #DCD8EA at work across the surfaces designers actually ship.
:root {
--color-base: #DCD8EA;
--color-base-rgb: 220 216 234;
--color-base-oklch: oklch(89.1% 0.025 296.1);
--color-50: #F6F5FA;
--color-100: #E7E4F1;
--color-200: #CFCAE2;
--color-300: #ADA4CB;
--color-400: #8B80B2;
--color-500: #6B6095;
--color-600: #564E74;
--color-700: #413B54;
--color-800: #2C2938;
--color-900: #1C1B23;
--color-on-base: #141310;
}
// tailwind.config.js
colors: {
gainsboro: {
50: '#F6F5FA',
100: '#E7E4F1',
200: '#CFCAE2',
300: '#ADA4CB',
400: '#8B80B2',
500: '#6B6095',
600: '#564E74',
700: '#413B54',
800: '#2C2938',
900: '#1C1B23',
},
}
$base: #DCD8EA; $base-ink: #141310; $base-50: #F6F5FA; $base-100: #E7E4F1; $base-200: #CFCAE2; $base-300: #ADA4CB; $base-400: #8B80B2; $base-500: #6B6095; $base-600: #564E74; $base-700: #413B54; $base-800: #2C2938; $base-900: #1C1B23; $base-hover: #A79DCA; $base-subtle: #F5F4F8;
{
"color": {
"base": {
"value": "#DCD8EA",
"type": "color"
},
"onBase": {
"value": "#141310",
"type": "color"
},
"scale": {
"50": {
"value": "#F6F5FA",
"type": "color"
},
"100": {
"value": "#E7E4F1",
"type": "color"
},
"200": {
"value": "#CFCAE2",
"type": "color"
},
"300": {
"value": "#ADA4CB",
"type": "color"
},
"400": {
"value": "#8B80B2",
"type": "color"
},
"500": {
"value": "#6B6095",
"type": "color"
},
"600": {
"value": "#564E74",
"type": "color"
},
"700": {
"value": "#413B54",
"type": "color"
},
"800": {
"value": "#2C2938",
"type": "color"
},
"900": {
"value": "#1C1B23",
"type": "color"
}
}
}
}