Smokey Pink
N150-2 · #CEBDB4 · LRV 53 — warm red-orange tone, light — bounces daylight without going clinical.
- 1Dorian Gray39
- 2Mindful Gray48
- 3Smokey Pink53
- 4Agreeable Gray60
- 5Pale Oak69
What Color Is Smokey Pink, Really?
Smokey Pink (N150-2) is a pale, dusty pink that behaves almost like a neutral. Its hex value is #CFC2C2 and its LRV is 56, which sits in the upper middle of the scale, so it gives back a decent amount of light and keeps a room soft rather than bright. The undertone is a warm red at hue 0, but the saturation is only about 12 percent. That is why the color is grouped with the mauves and reads as a warm gray with a blush in it rather than as a pink.
People choose it when they want warmth without color commitment. A plain greige can feel cold and a real pink can feel like a decision; this sits between them. On walls it gives a quiet, flattering wash that works with white trim, black metal, and both warm and cool woods, which is why it turns up in bedrooms, bathrooms, and hallways.
The catch is that it will not stay decided. At 12 percent saturation the pink appears or vanishes depending on light and neighbors. In warm afternoon sun it can look clearly rosy, and under cool bulbs at night it can look like plain gray. If you need it to read pink, this is too subtle. If you need it to read gray, it may surprise you.
The base is warm red, sitting at hue 0 with only about 12 percent saturation. That tiny amount of color is the whole story. Enough is there to warm a room and to keep the color from feeling cold or clinical, but not enough for the eye to name it pink without prompting.
What sits next to it decides which side you see. Against a pure white trim the pink comes forward clearly. Against a warm beige or a cream it loses the blush and reads gray and slightly cool. Against a true gray it looks distinctly rosy. Next to a saturated pink it disappears into neutral territory altogether.
Because it is a red-based near-neutral, it also warms whatever it touches. Woodwork, floors, and stone nearby will look a shade warmer than they did before. Sample it against your trim and your flooring at the same time, since those two surfaces will do most of the deciding.
Best Rooms and Uses for Smokey Pink
This is a whole-room wall color. An LRV of 56 keeps a space light without the glare of a white, and the faint warm red makes the light on skin softer, which is why the color suits bedrooms, bathrooms, dressing rooms, and nurseries. In a hallway or stairwell it gives more character than a plain greige while behaving just as calmly.
On ceilings it works too. A soft blush overhead warms a room in a way that flat white does not, especially in a bedroom with white walls.
For cabinetry and millwork it is subtle rather than showy, which suits a bathroom vanity, a dressing room, or built-ins that you want to blend rather than announce. Outside it can serve as a light body color on smaller houses, where sun will make the pink more obvious than it looks indoors. Trim in a separate white keeps the edges clean, since the color is too close to a neutral to provide contrast on its own.
How Lighting Changes Smokey Pink
At LRV 56 Smokey Pink reflects a good share of light without going pale, so it stays soft in most rooms. The direction of the light is what changes its personality. North-facing rooms get cool, flat daylight that cancels most of the warm red, leaving something that reads as a gentle warm gray. That is often the safest version of this color.
South and west rooms bring the pink out. In direct afternoon sun the blush is obvious, and on a large wall it can look rosier than the chip suggested. East rooms show warmth in the morning and settle into gray by afternoon.
Bulbs finish the job. Warm 2700K lamps push it toward a soft rose at night, which is flattering in a bedroom or bathroom. Neutral 3500K to 4000K light strips the color out and leaves it flat and gray. Because the whole effect hangs on 12 percent saturation, check a sample under your own fixtures after dark.
Most complaints about Smokey Pink are a light mismatch. Upload a photo of your actual room and see it on your walls — then ask for the same wall in north light or evening lamps before you buy a single sample.
Need It From Another Brand?
Any paint counter can custom-tint Behr N150-2 directly. If you would rather stay in one brand's own deck, these are the closest stock matches, measured as ΔE2000. Under 2 is a difference you will not see on the wall.
| Brand | Closest color | ΔE | LRV | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sherwin-Williams | Bungalow BeigeSW 7511 · Sherwin-Williams | 3.7 | 53 | Color page → |
| Benjamin Moore | Hampshire Taupe990 · Benjamin Moore | 3.6 | 51 | Color page → |
| Valspar | Boardwalk Sashay8004-7B · Valspar | 1.3 | 55 | Color page → |
| PPG / Glidden | Forever FairytalePPG1016-4 · PPG / Glidden | 2.1 | 52 | Color page → |
| Glidden | PuebloPPG1073-4 · Glidden | 1.6 | 52 | Color page → |
| Dutch Boy | Bluffwood405-2DB · Dutch Boy | 4.0 | 53 | Color page → |
Similar Behr Colors
The nearest shades to Smokey Pink within Behr's own range, ranked by perceptual color distance — useful when you want the same look a touch lighter, darker, or warmer.
WCAG 2.1: AA is 4.5 : 1 for normal text, 3 : 1 for large text, AAA is 7 : 1.
Smokey Pink vs Similar Colors
PPG Ancestral (PPG1047-4) at LRV 55 and hex #CFC1C2 is effectively the same color, with a deltaE of 0.73. Sherwin-Williams Vaguely Mauve (SW 6015) at LRV 57, HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams Chaste Mauve (HGSW 3417) at LRV 57, and Benjamin Moore Porcelain (2113-60) at LRV 57 all land around deltaE 1, so they are visually identical in normal room light and sit a point higher on the light scale.
A step out, Valspar Puka Shell (8004-4B) at LRV 55 and deltaE 2.06 leans a little more beige, and Farrow and Ball Peignoir (No. 286) at LRV 57 and deltaE 2.47 is slightly cooler and more lilac. Both are very close, but sample first.
The ones that actually differ are Dunn-Edwards Dangerous Robot (DE6387) at LRV 53 and deltaE 3.04, which is grayer and darker, and Rust-Oleum Blush Pink (285142) at LRV 64 and deltaE 4.31, which is clearly lighter and pinker. That last pair is close but visibly different side by side.
Colors That Go With Smokey Pink
Within the Behr range the close neighbors are useful as calibration. Vintage Taupe (750A-3) at LRV 56 is the same lightness with the pink taken out, so it is a good adjoining-room neutral. Gray Ashlar (N170-3) at LRV 54 steps slightly darker and grayer, which suits trim-adjacent walls or a hallway that meets a pinker room. Josephine (MQ3-01) at LRV 57 leans a touch warmer and beiger, and Embroidery (PPU17-09) at LRV 55 pushes further into visible pink if you want the blush to be obvious.
For trim and ceilings, a clean white makes the pink show clearly, while a warm off-white blends with it and holds the room in neutral. Choose based on how much blush you want.
For everything else, black hardware, aged brass, walnut, and oak all work. Cool chrome and stark gray flooring tend to fight the warm red base and can leave the walls looking dingy.
Coordinated palette
Generated by hue-rotating #CEBDB4 in HSL space. Pair Smokey Pink with one accent and one neutral — the swatches below are starting points, not final picks.
Smokey Pink FAQ
Is Smokey Pink warm or cool?
Smokey Pink is warm. Its base is a warm red at hue 0, though the saturation is only about 12 percent, so the warmth is very quiet. In cool north light it can read as a plain warm gray, and in afternoon sun the pink comes forward clearly.
What LRV is Smokey Pink?
Smokey Pink has an LRV of 56. On a scale where 0 is black and 100 is pure white, 56 is in the upper middle. It reflects a good amount of light, so it keeps a room soft and open without the glare of a bright white.
Is Smokey Pink actually pink or is it gray?
It is both, depending on the day. At 12 percent saturation there is real warm red in it, but not enough for the eye to call it pink on its own. Next to a pure white it looks pink; next to a beige or under cool bulbs it looks like a warm gray.
Does Smokey Pink work in a north-facing room?
Yes, and north light is often where it looks best. Cool daylight cancels most of the blush, leaving a soft warm gray that keeps the room from feeling cold. If you want the pink to stay visible in that light, add warm 2700K bulbs for the evenings.
What white trim goes with Smokey Pink?
A clean, bright white makes the warm red undertone show, giving a clear soft-pink wall against crisp trim. A warm off-white blends with the color and keeps the whole room reading neutral. With the wall at LRV 56 there is enough contrast either way for the trim to read as trim.
Is Smokey Pink good for a bedroom or nursery?
It is a natural fit for both. At LRV 56 it keeps the room light, and the faint warm red makes the light falling on skin softer than a plain gray would. Because the pink is so understated, it also ages well and does not lock the room into a theme.
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