Color Conversion
#9b8f7aWeathered Sable
About this color
Earthy refinement with quiet reserve
A muted warm khaki with subtle golden undertones and a softly duskified olive edge. It feels quietly aged and dependable, like well-worn leather softened by sun and time.
Designer tip: Use Weathered Sable as a dominant mid-tone (covering ~40–60% of the palette) and introduce contrast with a cool slate blue accent for readability and to avoid a flat, monochrome feel.
Best use case: Boutique hospitality interiors — upholstery and textured wallcoverings where a sophisticated, welcoming neutral is needed to age gracefully.
Psychology
Psychological traits and emotional associations
Effect
In a space or identity, Weathered Sable calms and stabilizes the palette while suggesting age and authenticity. It reduces visual tension and invites slower, more considered engagement with surfaces and materials.
Emotional impact
Viewers typically feel soothed and reassured, perceiving the space or brand as established and trustworthy.
Meaning & symbolism
Cultural symbolism and significance
Cultural significance
In Western fashion and military history it reads as utilitarian and dependable (khaki/trench traditions); in Mediterranean contexts it evokes olive groves, dry earth, and rural craft; in Japanese aesthetics similar muted tones link to wabi-sabi ideas of imperfect beauty and quiet restraint.
Positive associations
Associated with heritage and craftsmanship in Western fashion (Burberry, Barbour) and with wabi-sabi modesty in Japan.
Negative associations
Can be read as drab or overly utilitarian in contexts that favor bright color — sometimes interpreted as 'military' or 'austere' in Western/military-linked contexts and as too muted in vibrant West African design preferences.
Design applications
How this color is used across different fields
Hospitality interiors
Use for sofas, drapery, and textured wall finishes to create a welcoming, ageable backdrop that pairs well with warm metal accents.
Menswear outerwear
Ideal for heavyweight cotton and waxed jackets where the muted khaki reads as both rugged and refined.
Packaging for artisanal food
Works as a primary carton or label color to signal handcrafted, earthy provenance when combined with cream labels and deep navy text.
Web UI accent/background
Use as a soft panel background behind imagery and cards to provide warmth without stealing focus; ensure high-contrast text is used.
Product design — leather goods
A perfect dye tone for vegetable-tanned leathers and suede, suggesting patina and longevity from first use.
Design guidance
Practical tips for using this color effectively in your designs
Do this
- + Pair Weathered Sable with a cool desaturated blue for contrast (complementary accent) to prevent muddiness.
- + Use textured materials (linen, suede, matte plaster) to reveal the color’s warmth and avoid glossy finishes that flatten it.
- + Reserve a darker anchor (deep charcoal or espresso) for small accents to give the eye a focal point and improve legibility.
Avoid this
- - Don’t set body text directly on large fields of Weathered Sable without verifying WCAG contrast — it’s often not dark enough for standard readable text.
- - Avoid pairing with overly warm, saturated oranges or reds that will compete and create visual noise.
- - Don’t use it as the sole color in a modern minimalist brand identity — it needs counterpoint (cool or dark accents) to read as refined rather than dull.
Fundamentals: Maintain clear contrast and material texture — use cool or dark accents to define hierarchy and prevent a flat tonal field.
Overuse risk: If Weathered Sable dominates a design, the result can feel tired or overly conservative; the space will read as too muted and may lose dimensionality without cooler or darker counterpoints. Carefully placed accents restore life and hierarchy.
Brand fit
Industries and brand archetypes that align with this color
Trust level
high
Seriousness
balanced
Trend
Color pairing
Colors that complement and enhance this shade
#7A8F9B
Muted slate blue (complementary): cool contrast that brightens the palette and creates balanced color tension.
#B79B6A
Warm antique gold (analogous): emphasizes the color’s golden undertone for a cohesive, vintage-inspired harmony.
#2E2B28
Deep espresso (neutral anchor): provides strong contrast and legibility while reinforcing the heritage, material feel (anchoring tone).
Typography hints: For headings use a robust serif or slab (e.g., Playfair Display Bold or Sentinel SemiBold) to read as crafted; for UI and body copy use a neutral humanist sans (e.g., Avenir Next 400–600 or Proxima Nova 400) with high contrast (dark charcoal or near-white) and 16px+ base size for legibility.
Historical significance
The story and heritage of this color
Pigments producing Weathered Sable’s tone are rooted in ancient earth pigments — yellow ochres, raw umbers and siennas used by prehistoric painters and potters. Craftspeople blended iron-oxide ochres with carbon-rich darks to achieve muted, warm neutrals long before synthetic pigments existed.
Through the 18th–20th centuries similar tones entered military and utility wear (early khakis, trench coats) and the Arts & Crafts movement favored these subdued, material-forward colors in interiors and textiles. In fashion, mid-tan and khaki variants signaled practicality and later became associated with heritage labels and outdoor apparel.
Today the shade is valued for its timeless versatility: designers use it to convey sustainable, artisanal stories in branding, and architects and interior designers choose it for hospitality projects and residential spaces that aim to feel established and quietly luxurious rather than trendy.
Variations
The purpose of this section is to accurately produce tints (pure white added) and shades (pure black added) of your selected color in 10% increments.
Pro Tip: Use shades for hover states and shadows, tints for highlights and backgrounds.
Shades
Darker variations created by adding black to your base color.
Tints
Lighter variations created by adding white to your base color.
Common Use Cases
- • UI component states (hover, active, disabled)
- • Creating depth with shadows and highlights
- • Building consistent color systems
Design System Tip
These variations form the foundation of a cohesive color palette. Export them to maintain consistency across your entire project.
Color Combinations
Each harmony has its own mood. Use harmonies to brainstorm color combos that work well together.
How to Use
Click on any color to copy its hex value. These combinations are mathematically proven to create visual harmony.
Why It Matters
Color harmonies create balance and evoke specific emotions in your designs.
Complement
A color and its opposite on the color wheel, +180 degrees of hue. High contrast.
Split-complementary
A color and two adjacent to its complement, +/-30 degrees of hue from the value opposite the main color. Bold like a straight complement, but more versatile.
Triadic
Three colors spaced evenly along the color wheel, each 120 degrees of hue apart. Best to allow one color to dominate and use the others as accents.
Analogous
Three colors of the same luminance and saturation with hues that are adjacent on the color wheel, 30 degrees apart. Smooth transitions.
Monochromatic
Three colors of the same hue with luminance values +/-50%. Subtle and refined.
Tetradic
Two sets of complementary colors, separated by 60 degrees of hue.
Color Theory Principles
Balance
Use one dominant color, support with secondary, and accent sparingly.
Contrast
Ensure sufficient contrast for readability and accessibility.
Harmony
Colors should work together to create a unified visual experience.
Color Contrast Checker
Test color combinations to ensure they meet WCAG accessibility standards for text readability.
Text Color
Background Color
Contrast
WCAG Standards
Advanced Contrast Checker
Fine-tune with sliders, multiple previews & more
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Technical Formats
Practical Formats
Color Analysis
Blindness Simulator
Creative Aspects
Frequently asked questions
- What color is #9B8F7A?
- #9B8F7A is Weathered Sable – A muted warm khaki with subtle golden undertones and a softly duskified olive edge. It feels quietly aged and dependable, like well-worn leather softened by sun and time.
- What does Weathered Sable symbolize?
- heritage and longevity, practicality and utility, understated elegance, earth-rooted stability, aged authenticity. In Western fashion and military history it reads as utilitarian and dependable (khaki/trench traditions); in Mediterranean contexts it evokes olive groves, dry earth, and rural craft; in Japanese aesthetics similar muted tones link to wabi-sabi ideas of imperfect beauty and quiet restraint.
- Where is Weathered Sable used in design?
- In a space or identity, Weathered Sable calms and stabilizes the palette while suggesting age and authenticity. It reduces visual tension and invites slower, more considered engagement with surfaces and materials.