Behr Dark Shadows MQ5-02

Contents

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What are Behr Dark Shadows undertones?
Is Dark Shadows MQ5-02 cool or warm?
How light temperature affects on Dark Shadows
Monochromatic color scheme
Complementary color scheme
Color comparison and matching
LRV of Dark Shadows MQ5-02
Color codes
Color equivalents

Code:	MQ5-02
Name:	Dark Shadows
Brand:	Behr

What color is Behr Dark Shadows?

Behr Dark Shadows MQ5-02 is a deep charcoal gray with a faint cool, violet-leaning cast visible in balanced daylight. Its low-lightness value gives walls a grounded, enveloping look without reading as absolute black. In bright rooms, the subtle color variation may appear more apparent, while evening light can make Dark Shadows feel closer to a softened black-gray. Use it on a study, dining room, powder room, exterior trim, or built-in cabinetry where a dark neutral is wanted with a little more character than plain charcoal. It pairs well with clean white, pale gray, muted lavender, weathered wood, black metal, and brushed nickel.

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What are Behr Dark Shadows undertones?

Dark Shadows is a deep, near-neutral charcoal gray. Its chroma is so low that assigning a specific hue-based undertone would be misleading. Because it is close to neutral, nearby surfaces and the color of the light can noticeably change how warm or cool it appears.

HEX value:

#5B595D

RGB code:

91, 89, 93

Is Behr Dark Shadows cool or warm?

warm

cool

With a hue of 270°, this black shade sits right in the neutral zone on the HSL color wheel—neither warm nor cool.

MQ5-02 Dark Shadows HSL code: 270, 2%, 36%

Hue - degree on a color wheel from 0 to 360. 0 is red, 120 is green, and 240 is blue.
Saturation is expressed as a percentage. At 0%, it appears as a shade of grey, and at 100%, it is in full color.
Lightness is also a percentage value. 0% is black, and 100% is white.

How light temperature affects Dark Shadows

Natural Lighting. During the day, natural light shifts from about 2000 K at sunrise/sunset to 5500–6500 K at noon.

Sunrise

Morning

Noon

Afternoon

Sunset

In addition, natural-light temperature depends on its direction:

Direction of sunlight	Visible temp.	Hue	Duration
North	Cool	Bluish	All day
East	Warm	Yellow	Before noon
West	Warm	Orange-red	After noon
South	Warm	Orange-yellow	All day

Artificial Lighting. When choosing bulbs, pay attention to their color temperature in Kelvins.
Use the slider to see how this black shade looks under different lighting:

4000K

2000K

3000K

4000K

5000K

6000K

7000K

Coordinating colors.
Colors that go with Behr Dark Shadows:

Monochromatic color scheme

This scheme consists of various shades, tints, and tones of a single color. While it offers a perfect combination of hues, without accent décor it may become monotonous.

Lighter shades

MQ5-02
Dark Shadows

N550-6
Alter Ego

Complementary color scheme

This color scheme is a combination of two shades that are opposite each other on the color wheel. The high contrast between these colors creates a vibrant and dynamic visual effect. For the color Dark Shadows with a purple hue, complementary colors are those with a yellow hue close to 90, such as Behr Summer Green and Shy Green.

MQ5-02
Dark Shadows

Compare
Behr
Dark Shadows MQ5-02
to any other colors

Behr
Dark Shadows MQ5-02
color equivalents

LRV of Dark Shadows

Dark Shadows has an LRV of 10.43% and refers to Medium Dark which means that this color reflects very little light. Why LRV is important?

Light Reflectance Value scale illustration

Light Reflectance Value measures the amount of visible and usable light that reflects from a painted surface.
Simply put, the higher the LRV of a paint color, the brighter the room you will get.
The scale goes from 0% (absolute black, absorbing all light) to 100% (pure white, reflecting all light).

Act like a pro: When choosing paint with an LRV of 10.43%, pay attention to your bulbs' brightness. Light brightness is measured in lumens. The lower the paint's LRV, the higher lumen level you need. Every square foot of room needs at least 40 lumens. That means for a 200 ft² living room you'll need about 8000 lumens of light – e.g., eight 1000 lm bulbs.

Color codes

We have collected almost every possible color code you could ever need.
Not sure what the difference between HEX and RGB is? We break down color models in plain language. Understanding color models

Format	Code
HEX	#5b595d
RGB Decimal	91, 89, 93
RGB Percent	35.69%, 34.90%, 36.47%
HSV	Hue: 270° Saturation: 4.3% Value: 36.47%
HSL	hsl(270, 2, 36)
CMYK	Cyan: 2.15 Magenta: 4.3 Yellow: 0.0 Key: 63.53
YIQ	Y: 90.054 I: -0.094 Q: 1.668
XYZ	X: 9.862 Y: 10.159 Z: 11.794
CIE Lab	L:38.127 a:1.648 b:-2.017
CIE Luv	L:38.127 u:0.874 v:-2.824
Decimal	5986653
Hunter Lab	31.874, -0.549, 0.372