Colors That Go With Brown
#7B5233 · a warm mid-brown
Brown (#7B5233) — a warm mid-brown — is a warm, gently muted deep and grounding colour. It pairs best with complementary accent #3a698d, analogous (warmer) #7a7b33, and grounding neutrals, drawn from 988 historically-grounded combinations across 13 settings below.
Colour reference
- Hex
- #7B5233
- RGB
- 123, 82, 51
- CMYK
- 0, 33, 59, 52
- Temperature
- warm
- Lightness
- deep and grounding (34%)
- Contrast on black text
- 6.5:1 (AA)
Brown by setting
Brown for walls
On walls, use terracotta & clay. 76 matching combinations.
Brown for a wedding
For a wedding, pair it with terracotta & clay. 76 matching combinations.
Brown for a bedroom
In a bedroom, layer it with terracotta & clay. 76 matching combinations.
Brown for a living room
In a living room, ground it with terracotta & clay. 76 matching combinations.
Brown for a kitchen
In a kitchen, contrast it with terracotta & clay. 76 matching combinations.
Brown for clothes
To wear with it, reach for ochre & gold. 76 matching combinations.
Brown for an outfit
Build the outfit around terracotta & clay. 76 matching combinations.
Brown for cabinets
With cabinets, match it to terracotta & clay. 76 matching combinations.
Brown for a bathroom
In a bathroom, pair it with terracotta & clay. 76 matching combinations.
Brown for a nursery
In a nursery, soften it with terracotta & clay. 76 matching combinations.
Brown for a front door
On a front door, contrast it with terracotta & clay. 76 matching combinations.
Brown for an accent wall
On an accent wall, pair it with terracotta & clay. 76 matching combinations.
Brown for curtains
For curtains, choose terracotta & clay. 76 matching combinations.
Combinations with brown, from the 1933 Dictionary
Cinnamon Buff & Pale Raw Umber +1
Plate 234 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Cinnamon Buff, Pale Raw Umber, Pale King's Blue.
Light Pink & Tea
A whisper of pink against tea brown — the tone of an Edo-period lacquer sweet box.
Matcha & Raw Silk
Whisked matcha green against the color of raw silk — the still life of a tea bowl.
Sulpher Yellow & Ochraceous Salmon +2
Plate 296 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Sulpher Yellow, Ochraceous Salmon, Pale Raw Umber, Slate Color.
Kite Brown & Gold
The warm brown of a kite's wing lit by afternoon gold.
Sulphine Yellow & Pale Raw Umber +1
Plate 160 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Sulphine Yellow, Pale Raw Umber, Dark Medici Blue.
FAQ
What colors go with brown?
Brown (#7B5233) — a warm mid-brown — is a warm, gently muted deep and grounding colour. It pairs best with complementary accent #3a698d, analogous (warmer) #7a7b33, and grounding neutrals, drawn from 988 historically-grounded combinations across 13 settings below.
Is brown warm or cool?
Brown is a warm colour — 41% saturation, 34% lightness. Balance it with #7b333e or another cool/neutral partner.
What is the hex code for brown?
Brown is #7B5233 — RGB(123, 82, 51), CMYK(0, 33, 59, 52).
Other colors
Studio
Work with this colour
You have the hex code, the RGB/CMYK values and the computed partners for Brown. These are the materials a colour study like this actually gets made with.
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Calibrite
ColorChecker Studio spectrophotometer
A spectrophotometer profiles the whole chain — display, printer, projector, scanner — so the colour you picked is the colour that comes out the other end. The full-fidelity option for work that ends up printed.
Listed on Amazon as Calibrite ColorChecker Studio Spectrophotometer for Complete Color Management for Display, Projector, Printer and Scanner Profiling
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Calibrite
Display Plus HL colorimeter kit
A colorimeter calibrates the monitor itself. Worth saying plainly: an uncalibrated screen is the most common reason a palette that looked right on your desk looks wrong everywhere else.
Listed on Amazon as Calibrite Video Photo Kit with Display Plus HL Colorimeter and ColorChecker Passport Video 2, 10,000 Nit Monitor Calibration, Camera Color Matching
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Library
Go deeper on colour
The colour-theory books behind pairings like Brown — history, reference and the science of what works together.
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Torn between the two Wada dictionaries? Vol 1 vs Vol 2, compared plate by plate →
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