Behr Elemental Tan MQ2-21
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| Code: | MQ2-21 |
| Name: | Elemental Tan |
| Brand: | Behr |
What color is Behr Elemental Tan?
Behr Elemental Tan MQ2-21 is a light, muted tan with a clear warm cast and a softly sandy beige appearance. Its low saturation keeps it from reading overly yellow, making it a practical neutral for living rooms, bedrooms, and open-plan spaces. In bright daylight, this color looks lighter and more softly beige, while evening or low artificial light can bring out its warmer, earthier side. Pair it with creamy whites, deep brown wood, aged brass, linen upholstery, and matte black accents for contrast. It is especially well suited to full walls and can also give cabinetry a relaxed, natural finish.
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What are Behr Elemental Tan undertones?
Elemental Tan is a mid-light, muted golden beige. The HEX sample leans yellow-orange; this describes its measurable digital hue direction, not a hidden paint pigment. Warm bulbs can make it look creamier or more golden, while cool daylight may mute that warmth and pull it closer to beige or greige.
HEX value:
RGB code:
202, 183, 156
Is Behr Elemental Tan cool or warm?
warm
cool
With a hue of 35°, this Beige reads warm on the HSL color wheel.
MQ2-21 Elemental Tan HSL code: 35, 30%, 70%
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 Elemental Tan
Natural Lighting. During the day, natural light shifts from about 2000 K at sunrise/sunset to 5500–6500 K at noon.
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 Beige shade looks under different lighting:
4000K
Coordinating colors.
Colors that go with Behr Elemental Tan:
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
MQ2-21
Elemental Tan
Darker shades
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 Elemental Tan with a orange hue, complementary colors are those with a blue hue close to 215, such as Behr Icicles and Shaved Ice.
LRV of Elemental Tan
Elemental Tan has an LRV of 48.88% and refers to Light Medium colors that reflect half of the incident light. Why LRV is important?
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 48.88%, 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 | #cab79c |
| RGB Decimal | 202, 183, 156 |
| RGB Percent | 79.22%, 71.76%, 61.18% |
| HSV | Hue: 35° Saturation: 22.77% Value: 79.22% |
| HSL | hsl(35, 30, 70) |
| CMYK | Cyan: 0.0 Magenta: 9.41 Yellow: 22.77 Key: 20.78 |
| YIQ | Y: 185.603 I: 19.998 Q: -4.383 |
| XYZ | X: 47.291 Y: 48.825 Z: 38.377 |
| CIE Lab | L:75.342 a:2.485 b:16.212 |
| CIE Luv | L:75.342 u:13.286 v:22.286 |
| Decimal | 13285276 |
| Hunter Lab | 69.875, -1.473, 16.349 |
Color equivalents
CSP-280
Warm Sand
Benjamin Moore
SW 6142
Macadamia
Sherwin Williams
1053
Sierra Hills
Benjamin Moore
SW 9536
Lamb's Wool
Sherwin Williams
M129
Calfskin
Valspar US
V134-3
Sandy Trail
Valspar US
710C-3
Gobi Desert
Behr
1039
Stone House
Benjamin Moore
SW 0011
Crewel Tan
Sherwin Williams
SW 7528
Windsor Greige
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T569
In for the Night
Valspar US
1075
Fairway Oaks
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SW 7530
Barcelona Beige
Sherwin Williams
1032
Bar Harbor Beige
Benjamin Moore
3008-10A
Freshly Baked
Valspar US
SW 9120
Tumblin' Tumbleweed
Sherwin Williams
MQ2-26
Windsor Tan
Behr
PPU4-07
Mushroom Bisque
Behr
