Behr Plum Smoke PPU16-14
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| Code: | PPU16-14 |
| Name: | Plum Smoke |
| Brand: | Behr |
What color is Behr Plum Smoke?
Behr Plum Smoke PPU16-14 is a muted mid-tone gray with very low saturation and a faint warm cast rather than an obvious plum hue. Its balanced, softened appearance makes it well suited to living room walls, bedrooms, or a quiet home office where a darker neutral would feel too heavy. In daylight, Plum Smoke reads as a straightforward soft gray; under warm bulbs, its subtle warmth becomes more noticeable. Pair it with clean white trim, pale oak, linen upholstery, and matte black hardware for a restrained, grounded look. This shade is especially effective across broad wall surfaces, where its gentle depth can define a room without creating sharp contrast.
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What are Behr Plum Smoke undertones?
Plum Smoke is a midtone, near-neutral medium 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:
RGB code:
146, 142, 142
Is Behr Plum Smoke cool or warm?
warm
cool
With a hue of 0°, this Grey leans warm, but it is close to neutral and can read cooler in some light.
PPU16-14 Plum Smoke HSL code: 0, 2%, 56%
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 Plum Smoke
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 Grey shade looks under different lighting:
Coordinating colors.
Colors that go with Behr Plum Smoke:
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
PPU16-14
Plum Smoke
Darker shades
PPU16-14
Plum Smoke
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 Plum Smoke with a red hue, complementary colors are those with a green hue close to 180, such as Behr Longmeadow and Greenwich Village.
LRV of Plum Smoke
Plum Smoke has an LRV of 27.73% and refers to Medium colors that reflect a lot of 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 27.73%, 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 | #928e8e |
| RGB Decimal | 146, 142, 142 |
| RGB Percent | 57.25%, 55.69%, 55.69% |
| HSV | Hue: 0° Saturation: 2.74% Value: 57.25% |
| HSL | hsl(0, 2, 56) |
| CMYK | Cyan: 0.0 Magenta: 2.74 Yellow: 2.74 Key: 42.75 |
| YIQ | Y: 143.196 I: 2.384 Q: 0.846 |
| XYZ | X: 26.408 Y: 27.41 Z: 29.483 |
| CIE Lab | L:59.352 a:1.473 b:0.527 |
| CIE Luv | L:59.352 u:2.3 v:0.501 |
| Decimal | 9604750 |
| Hunter Lab | 52.355, -1.583, 3.259 |
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