Colors That Go With Purple
#7D5BA6 · a balanced purple
Purple (#7D5BA6) — a balanced purple — is a balanced, gently muted mid-toned colour. It pairs best with complementary accent #90ae6a, analogous (warmer) #a65ba3, and grounding neutrals, drawn from 325 historically-grounded combinations across 13 settings below.
Colour reference
- Hex
- #7D5BA6
- RGB
- 125, 91, 166
- CMYK
- 25, 45, 0, 35
- Temperature
- balanced
- Lightness
- mid-toned (50%)
- Contrast on black text
- 5.1:1 (AA)
Purple by setting
Purple for walls
On walls, use terracotta & clay. 25 matching combinations.
Purple for a wedding
For a wedding, pair it with muted red. 25 matching combinations.
Purple for a bedroom
In a bedroom, layer it with muted red. 25 matching combinations.
Purple for a living room
In a living room, ground it with muted red. 25 matching combinations.
Purple for a kitchen
In a kitchen, contrast it with muted red. 25 matching combinations.
Purple for clothes
To wear with it, reach for muted red. 25 matching combinations.
Purple for an outfit
Build the outfit around muted red. 25 matching combinations.
Purple for cabinets
With cabinets, match it to muted red. 25 matching combinations.
Purple for a bathroom
In a bathroom, pair it with terracotta & clay. 25 matching combinations.
Purple for a nursery
In a nursery, soften it with muted red. 25 matching combinations.
Purple for a front door
On a front door, contrast it with muted red. 25 matching combinations.
Purple for an accent wall
On an accent wall, pair it with muted red. 25 matching combinations.
Purple for curtains
For curtains, choose muted red. 25 matching combinations.
Combinations with purple, from the 1933 Dictionary
Royal Purple & Silver
Imperial purple set against lunar silver — Heian courtly luxury at its quietest.
Citron Yellow & Pale King's Blue +1
Plate 196 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Citron Yellow, Pale King's Blue, Blue Violet.
Cinnamon Buff & Pistachio Green +1
Plate 127 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Cinnamon Buff, Pistachio Green, Dark Soft Violet.
Eosine Pink & Dark Soft Violet +1
Plate 197 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Eosine Pink, Dark Soft Violet, Neutral Gray.
Pinkish Cinnamon & Olive Buff +1
Plate 175 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Pinkish Cinnamon, Olive Buff, Blue Violet.
Spectrum Red & Brick Red +2
Plate 322 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Spectrum Red, Brick Red, Eupatorium Purple, Blue Violet.
FAQ
What colors go with purple?
Purple (#7D5BA6) — a balanced purple — is a balanced, gently muted mid-toned colour. It pairs best with complementary accent #90ae6a, analogous (warmer) #a65ba3, and grounding neutrals, drawn from 325 historically-grounded combinations across 13 settings below.
Is purple warm or cool?
Purple is a balanced colour — 30% saturation, 50% lightness. It reads as a backdrop colour — pair it with one saturated accent for contrast.
What is the hex code for purple?
Purple is #7D5BA6 — RGB(125, 91, 166), CMYK(25, 45, 0, 35).
Other colors
Studio
Work with this colour
You have the hex code, the RGB/CMYK values and the computed partners for Purple. These are the materials a colour study like this actually gets made with.
-
Calibrite
ColorChecker Passport Photo 2
A pocket target for fixing white balance and exposure at the moment of capture — the step before any colour correction, if your palette starts from a photograph rather than a screen.
Listed on Amazon as Calibrite ColorChecker Passport Photo 2 Portable Color Calibration Kit for Photo and Video, 4 Target Set for White Balance, Exposure and Creative Look
View on Amazon -
Kuretake
Gansai Tambi 24 — Art Nouveau
Gansai are traditional Japanese watercolour pans — dense, matte and easy to mix, the closest everyday medium to the flat printed colour Wada's plates were made in. This is the Art Nouveau-themed 'II' edition, a different 24 to the standard set.
Listed on Amazon as Kuretake GANSAI TAMBI Watercolor Paint Set 24 Colors II - Art Nouveau
View on Amazon
Amazon Associates affiliate links — your price is unchanged and a small commission keeps the archive free. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
From the archive
Support the archive The full catalog, on your disk, as a thank-you.
- All 378 palettes (348 Wada + 30 editorial) in five formats
- Figma design tokens (W3C-spec JSON, drag into any file)
- Tailwind v4 + v3 configs — drop into any project
- CSS custom properties — every plate, one stylesheet
- 378 museum SVG plates — print-ready at any size
- Full JSON — colors, names, eras, moods, dominant hues
Launching soon. The free archive stays free, always.
Library
Go deeper on colour
The colour-theory books behind pairings like Purple — history, reference and the science of what works together.
Book links are Amazon Associates affiliate links. Your price is unchanged; a small commission supports the archive. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Torn between the two Wada dictionaries? Vol 1 vs Vol 2, compared plate by plate →
Book links are Amazon Associates affiliate links. Your price is unchanged; a small commission supports the archive. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.