What are Valspar Café Au Lait undertones?
Café Au Lait has a clear red undertone based on its position in the color space. We identify undertones by isolating the pure hue (separating it from lightness and saturation), which avoids distortions caused by tints, tones, and shades.
This method is generally more reliable than judging undertones on a white background.
HEX value:
#DBC6A8
RGB code:
219, 198, 168
Is Valspar Café Au Lait M118 cool or warm?
warm
cool
At 35° on the HSL hue wheel, this Yellow sits firmly on the warm side.
M118 Café Au Lait HSL code: 35, 41%, 76%
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 Café Au Lait
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 (Kelvins).
Use the slider to see how this Yellow shade looks under different lighting:
4000K
Coordinating colors.
Colors that go with Valspar Café Au Lait:
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
M118
Café Au Lait
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 Café Au Lait with a orange hue, complementary colors are those with a blue hue close to 215, such as Valspar Highlights and Plot Twist.
LRV of Café Au Lait
Café Au Lait has an LRV of 58.01% and refers to Light colors that reflect most 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 58.01%, 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. To copy the code, just click the icon to the right of it.
| Format | Code | |
|---|---|---|
| HEX | #dbc6a8 |  |
| RGB Decimal | 219, 198, 168 | |
| RGB Percent | 85.88%, 77.65%, 65.88% | |
| HSV | Hue: 35° Saturation: 23.29% Value: 85.88% | |
| HSL | hsl(35, 41, 76) | |
| CMYK | Cyan: 0.0 Magenta: 9.59 Yellow: 23.29 Key: 14.12 | |
| YIQ | Y: 200.859 I: 22.154 Q: -4.894 | |
| XYZ | X: 56.475 Y: 58.277 Z: 45.309 | |
| CIE Lab | L:80.893 a:2.708 b:17.741 | |
| CIE Luv | L:80.893 u:14.684 v:24.636 | |
| Decimal | 14403240 | |
| Hunter Lab | 76.339, -1.542, 18.248 | |
Valspar M118 Café Au Lait
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Color equivalents
3005-10B
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NCS
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