Paint colors · Behr, as published by the brand

Behr French Silver PPU18-05: hex #B8BCBC, LRV and undertone

French Silver (PPU18-05) from Behr is #B8BCBC with an LRV of 50. It reads as a true neutral gray with almost no undertone; black text on it reaches 10.95:1.

By Paul Gunder. Every value is computed from published standards; see how ColorPlum works.

Updated November 11, 2026

BehrFrench SilverPPU18-05

Hex: #B8BCBC
RGB: 184, 188, 188
LRV: 50
Undertone: True neutral

LRV 50. Mid-tone: noticeably colored; best in rooms with good daylight.

Almost no undertone (chroma 0.004): it reads as a clean gray in most light.

Coordinating colors Behr suggests

Fig PreservesN110-3
Blue SquareS460-5
Distant ShoreS500-1
Sage Gray710F-4
Lite CocoaMQ1-55
MasterpieceMQ5-08

Closest colors from other brands

ΔE is the CIEDE2000 difference between the published values: under 2 is hard to tell apart on a wall, 2 to 5 is a visible but related shade. Always compare real chips before you buy.

Name, code, LRV and color value as published by Behr on its color page (checked 2026-11-11). A screen can only approximate paint: sheen, lighting and the screen itself all change it, so check a physical sample. ColorPlum is not affiliated with Behr.

ColorPlum swatchFrench Silverlight gray

HEX: #B8BCBC
RGB: rgb(184, 188, 188)
HSL: hsl(180, 3%, 73%)

Best text on it: black at 10.95:1

Build a palette Make a gradient Check contrast Wallpaper

French Silver#B8BCBC

Every code for French Silver

HEX#B8BCBC
RGBrgb(184, 188, 188)
HSLhsl(180, 3%, 73%)
HSV180°, 2%, 74%
CMYK2%, 0%, 0%, 26%
Lablab(75.9% -1.4 -0.5)
OKLCHoklch(79.2% 0.004 197.1)
Decimal12106940

Tints, shades and tones

From white to black in 10% steps, with French Silver in the middle. Tap a code to copy it.

90%#F8F8F8
80%#F1F2F2
70%#EAEBEB
60%#E3E4E4
50%#DCDEDE
40%#D4D7D7
30%#CDD0D0
20%#C6C9C9
10%#BFC3C3
Base#B8BCBC
10%#A6A9A9
20%#939696
30%#818484
40%#6E7171
50%#5C5E5E
60%#4A4B4B
70%#373838
80%#252626
90%#121313

Tones (mixed with gray)

10%#B2B6B6
20%#ADB0B0
30%#A7AAAA
40%#A2A4A4
50%#9C9E9E
60%#969898
70%#919292
80%#8B8C8C
90%#868686

Matching colors

Complementary

#B8BCBC
#BCB8B8

Analogous

#B8BCBA
#B8BCBC
#B8BABC

Triadic

#B8BCBC
#BCB8BC
#BCBCB8

Split complementary

#B8BCBC
#BCB8BA
#BCBAB8

Tetradic (square)

#B8BCBC
#BAB8BC
#BCB8B8
#BABCB8

Monochromatic

#6A7171
#919797
#B8BCBC
#DFE1E1
#F5F5F5

French Silver in 3D color space

OKLab, the space ColorPlum does its math in: lightness runs up the pole, hue goes around it and saturation grows outward. The faint shell is every color a screen can show (saturation is drawn wider than lightness so hues separate). Drag to turn it.

French Silver with its complement, its triad and its tint and shade

French Silver
Triad #BCB8BC
Triad #BCBCB8
Complement
50% tint
50% shade

French Silver in use

New collectionAutumn edit

Card body text stays dark for reading; french silver carries the header and the button.

Shop nowTag

Headline in French Silver

A paragraph with a link in dark text, because this color is too light for text on white; use it for fills instead.

How it looks with color-vision deficiency

A simulation (Machado and colleagues, 2009) of how the color and its complement read without one type of cone.

Typical color vision#B8BCBC
Protanopia (no red cones)#BBBCBC
Deuteranopia (no green cones)#BBBBBC
Tritanopia (no blue cones)#B7BCBC

Contrast and readability

Pairing	Ratio	WCAG 2.2
as text on white	1.91:1	AA AA large AAA
as text on black	10.95:1	AA AA large AAA
white text on it	1.91:1	AA AA large AAA
black text on it	10.95:1	AA AA large AAA
on your background	1.67:1	AA AA large AAA

Try a background

Export

:root {
  --french-silver: #b8bcbc;
  --french-silver-rgb: 184 188 188;
  --french-silver-on: #000000;
}

On this page

French Silver is Behr PPU18-05, filed under the brand's "Our Most Popular Living Room Colors" group. The hex is #B8BCBC and the RGB is 184, 188, 188, so green and blue tie and red sits only four steps lower. That near-tie is why the color looks like a plain, quiet gray instead of leaning toward any hue.

What the numbers say

Written out, HSL is hsl(180, 3%, 73%) and OKLCH is oklch(79.2% 0.004 197.1). With chroma at 0.004, French Silver measures as a true neutral, close to the lowest cast you will see in a paint deck. Lab comes out at lab(75.9% -1.4 -0.5), only a hair off the gray axis.

The LRV is 50, which puts it squarely in the mid-tone band. It absorbs about as much light as it returns, so it looks clearly colored on a wall and does best where daylight is generous.

A gray this level is easy to place. It will not turn green beside a sage or pink beside a blush, which is more than you can say for grays with a measurable cast. That predictability is the main reason to reach for a color like this when other elements in the room are doing the talking, such as a patterned rug, a wood-toned table or a wall of books.

Neighbors on the Behr list

Behr names six coordinating colors: Fig Preserves (N110-3), Blue Square (S460-5), Distant Shore (S500-1), Sage Gray (710F-4), Lite Cocoa (MQ1-55) and Masterpiece (MQ5-08). Behr gives no page link for these, so they are listed by name and code alone.

Within Behr, the closest page is Absolute Zero (N490-1) at ΔE 5.9, which is clearly different. Silver Drop (790C-2) lands at 9.6 and Blank Canvas (DC-003) at 13.4, so neither is a stand-in.

Worked example

Picture a hallway with one small window and a white ceiling. Painting the walls French Silver gives a mid-tone backdrop that does not push warm or cool, which is useful when the flooring and the front door already carry strong color. Because the LRV is only 50, plan on adding a lamp or two; the hall will feel calmer than bright.

If you are mocking up the same hallway on a screen, label text over a French Silver panel should be black. The measured ratio is 10.95:1 for black and 1.91:1 for white, and only black clears the usual body-text threshold of 4.5:1.

There is one more screen detail worth noting. Because black text clears 10.95:1 and white only 1.91:1, any label placed on a French Silver chip should be dark. If you want to test other pairings, the color converter turns the hex into whatever format your design tool wants.

Cross-brand options

Sherwin-Williams Light French Gray (SW 0055) is the nearest at ΔE 4.0, a related but visible shift. Benjamin Moore Smoke (2122-40) sits at 5.1, and Sherwin-Williams Oyster Bay (SW 6206) at 5.6. Copen Blue (SW 0068) is 6.1 away.

Nothing here falls under 2, so no cross-brand color is a swap you can make blind. Tape up sample cards of each beside French Silver and check them in morning and evening light before you buy a full quart.