Color spec
| Brand | Benjamin Moore |
| Name | Knoxville Gray |
| SKU | HC-160 |
| Hex | #5C6266 |
| RGB | 92, 98, 102 |
| HSL | 204°, 5%, 38% |
| LRV | 13 |
| Undertone | cool blue tone |
| Family | Gray |
What Color Is Knoxville Gray, Really?
Knoxville Gray HC-160 is a dark blue-gray. Its LRV is 13, near the bottom of the usable wall range, so it absorbs most of the light in a room and reads as a deep, solid color rather than a shade of gray. The blue in it is restrained: the hue sits at about 204 degrees with only around 5 percent saturation, which makes it a charcoal that leans cool instead of an obvious navy or slate.
The HC prefix puts it in Benjamin Moore's Historical Collection, and it behaves like one of those colors. Knoxville Gray gives the weight of black without the flatness, and it holds detail on paneling, built-ins, and shutters where a true black would swallow the shadows. People pick it when they want a serious, quiet dark that still shows its shape. Benjamin Moore sells through independent dealers, so samples come from a local store rather than a big-box aisle.
The catch is light. At LRV 13 the color has almost nothing to give back, so a north-facing room with small windows will make it look nearly black and drain the blue out of it. Check it after dark under your own bulbs as well as at midday, because warm lamps and cool daylight pull it in opposite directions.
Knoxville Gray hides a cool blue. The hue reads at roughly 204 degrees, the same neighborhood as a clear sky, but saturation is only about 5 percent, so almost none of that blue survives as visible color. What you get is a charcoal with a cool cast.
The blue shows in three situations. In bright daylight on a large surface, where area amplifies a weak hue. Next to a warm neutral or a wood tone, where the difference in temperature makes the blue obvious. And on an exterior, where open sky light adds blue of its own on top of the paint.
Company changes the reading. Next to a green-gray it can look almost navy, and next to an actual navy it collapses back to plain gray. Compare it directly with City Shadow CSP-60 at #626463 and LRV 13, which carries no blue at all, to see how much cool Knoxville Gray really holds.
Best Rooms and Uses for Knoxville Gray
Knoxville Gray is a color for surfaces that want weight. Cabinetry is one of its most common uses, especially a kitchen island or a lower run under lighter uppers, where the depth grounds the room without going black. Built-ins, bookcases, and paneled libraries take it for the same reason.
On full walls it is a commitment. It suits dining rooms, home offices, powder rooms, and bedrooms where you want an enclosed, quiet feel. It fails in small rooms with one small window, which will simply go dark and lose the color entirely.
Outside it earns its keep. At LRV 13 it is a strong shutter, front door, and sash color against a light body, and it works as a full body color on homes with enough white trim to break it up. Interior doors painted Knoxville Gray against white casings are the easiest way to use it in small doses.
How Lighting Changes Knoxville Gray
With an LRV of 13, Knoxville Gray keeps very little light in play, so the size and direction of your windows matter more than usual. North-facing rooms give cool, indirect light that suits the blue but pushes the wall close to black in the corners. South-facing rooms are where it works best: strong daylight lifts it enough that you read it as a gray-blue rather than a dark mass.
East-facing rooms look coolest in the morning and duller through the afternoon. West-facing rooms stay flat early and then take on warmth late in the day, which briefly softens the blue.
Bulbs decide the evening. Warm 2700K lamps neutralize the blue and turn the color toward a soft charcoal, usually the friendlier look in a living room or study. Cooler 3500K to 4000K bulbs keep the blue and can feel severe indoors. Plan on more light fixtures than the room seems to need.
Most complaints about Knoxville Gray 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.
TEST IT IN YOUR LIGHT →Knoxville Gray vs Similar Colors
Anchor Gray 2126-30 at #5C6167 and LRV 14 is the closest Benjamin Moore neighbor, one point lighter and effectively the same on a wall. Powell Gray CW-665 at #5A656C and LRV 13 carries more blue, so it edges toward slate. Nocturnal Gray 2135-30 at #55656B and LRV 14 is bluer still with a green tilt that shows in daylight. Stormy Sky 1616 at #626568 and LRV 14 is a touch lighter and softer. City Shadow CSP-60 at #626463 and LRV 13 is the neutral version, with the blue removed.
Across brands, Rodda Ash Bed CA209 at deltaE 0.6, Dutch Boy Steely Expression 435-6DB at 0.64, and Valspar Carriage Wheel M330 at 0.84 are the same color for practical purposes. Behr Blue Metal HDC-AC-25 at 1.38 and Sherwin-Williams Grays Harbor SW 6236 at 1.8 are visually identical in normal room light. Dunn-Edwards Sheet Metal DE6356 at 2.08 is very close, worth sampling first. Farrow & Ball Down Pipe No. 26 at 3.84 gets named as an equivalent often, but at #626664 it is greener and visibly different side by side.
Colors That Go With Knoxville Gray
White trim is the default and the right call. Any clean or slightly warm white gives the contrast the color needs. Without it, Knoxville Gray reads heavy and the shape of the room disappears.
Within Benjamin Moore, its neighbors are more useful as alternates than as partners, since they sit at the same depth. If you want a second dark that shifts temperature rather than lightness, Bracken Slate CW-690 at #5E6363 and LRV 14 is the same weight with the blue taken out, and City Shadow CSP-60 at #626463 and LRV 13 is flatter and more neutral, which makes a quiet companion on adjacent millwork.
Wood is the other half of the answer. Oak, walnut, and warm floors counter the cool and stop the room feeling metallic. Brass and aged bronze hardware do the same, while polished chrome and stainless push it colder.
For the wall above dark lower cabinets or wainscoting, choose a warm off-white rather than a gray, so the scheme has one cool note and one warm one.
Need It From Another Brand?
Any paint counter can custom-tint Benjamin Moore HC-160 directly — but if you would rather stay in one brand's own deck, these are the closest stock matches:
Similar Benjamin Moore colors
closest in the Benjamin Moore deckThe nearest shades to Knoxville Gray within Benjamin Moore's own range, ranked by perceptual color distance — useful when you want the same look a touch lighter, darker, or warmer.
Coordinated palette
Generated by hue-rotating #5C6266 in HSL space. Pair Knoxville Gray with one accent and one neutral — the swatches below are starting points, not final picks.
Accessibility (WCAG contrast)
WCAG 2.1: AA = 4.5:1 normal text · AA Large = 3:1 large text · AAA = 7:1 normal text.
The Questions Everyone Asks
Is Knoxville Gray warm or cool?
Knoxville Gray is cool. Its hue sits at about 204 degrees, in the blue part of the wheel, though saturation is only around 5 percent so the blue stays subtle. At LRV 13 it behaves as a cool charcoal, and warm 2700K bulbs can neutralize most of the blue at night.
What LRV is Knoxville Gray?
Knoxville Gray has an LRV of 13. On a scale where 0 is black and 100 is pure white, that is a deep color: it reflects very little light and reads as a dark, solid surface. Expect it to take light out of a room rather than give any back, and plan lighting accordingly.
Is Knoxville Gray blue or gray?
Both, with gray winning most of the time. The hue is blue at roughly 204 degrees but the saturation is only about 5 percent, so on a chip it looks like plain charcoal. The blue becomes visible on a large wall, in bright daylight, on exteriors under open sky, and next to anything warm.
Does Knoxville Gray work in a dark room?
It is risky. At LRV 13 there is no reflected light to spare, so a small north-facing room with one window will render it close to black and lose the blue entirely. If you want it in a dim room, treat that as the intent and add generous warm lighting rather than expecting the color to brighten anything.
What white trim goes with Knoxville Gray?
Almost any clean or warm white works, and trim is not optional here. At LRV 13 the color needs a bright edge to define doors, casings, and panel lines, otherwise the whole surface reads as one heavy mass. A slightly warm white also counters the cool blue and keeps the pairing from feeling clinical.
Is Knoxville Gray the same as Farrow & Ball Down Pipe?
No, though the two are often swapped. Down Pipe No. 26 sits at #626664 and LRV 13 against Knoxville Gray at #5C6266 and LRV 13, a deltaE of 3.84. That is close but visibly different side by side, with Down Pipe reading greener and Knoxville Gray reading bluer. Sample both if the exact tone matters.
Will It Work in YOUR Room?
No page can promise how Knoxville Gray behaves in your light. Upload a photo and see it on your own walls in seconds — before you spend a cent on samples.
TRY KNOXVILLE GRAY ON YOUR ROOM →Ask a Question
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