Color guide · Dutch Boy · Gray

Elephant Trunk

436-3DB · #BBBEBF · LRV 51 · neutral with no strong undertone

436-3DB · #BBBEBF · LRV 51 — neutral with no strong undertone, light — bounces daylight without going clinical.

Elephant TrunkDutch Boy · 436-3DB
The color, edge to edge.Use your own photo →
Elephant Trunk
DUTCH BOY · 436-3DB · #BBBEBF
Brand · codeDutch Boy436-3DB · all Dutch Boy grays
LRV51Light — bounces daylight without going clinical.
Undertoneneutral with no strong undertone
FamilyGray
Hex · RGB · HSL#BBBEBF · 187, 190, 191 · 195°, 3%, 74%Display values from the brand. Match it at another brand
Sheen we recommendEggshell on walls · satin on trim and cabinetsWhich sheen where, explained
Where it sits, light to dark
  1. 1Retreat21
  2. 2Stardew43
  3. 3Elephant Trunk51
  4. 4Upward57
  5. 5Sea Salt63
Undertone and depth

What Color Is Elephant Trunk, Really?

Elephant Trunk reads as a neutral with no strong undertone — light — bounces daylight without going clinical. The notes below cover how Dutch Boy 436-3DB behaves in different light and the closest matches at competing US brands.

Room by room

Best Rooms and Uses for Elephant Trunk

Elephant Trunk is an easy whole-room color for living spaces and bedrooms, and light enough to carry onto trim or a ceiling if you want a soft, seamless look. Grays like this read as a modern neutral and sit comfortably alongside both warm woods and cool metals.

Light by light

How Lighting Changes Elephant Trunk

At LRV 51, Elephant Trunk is a light color that bounces daylight around a room without tipping into stark white. Because it carries almost no measurable hue, it stays a true neutral and pairs cleanly with nearly any trim or floor. It holds its undertone in most exposures, which is what makes light shades like this so forgiving room to room.

Test it in your light, not a showroom's

Most complaints about Elephant Trunk 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.

Upload a photoPainted in about a minuteFree, no account
Visualize in your room
Same color, different store

Need It From Another Brand?

Any paint counter can custom-tint Dutch Boy 436-3DB 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.

Same deck, next chip over

Similar Dutch Boy Colors

The nearest shades to Elephant Trunk within Dutch Boy's own range, ranked by perceptual color distance — useful when you want the same look a touch lighter, darker, or warmer.

Contrast, for text and signage
Black text on Elephant Trunk · 11.2 : 1 · passes AA and AAAWhite text on Elephant Trunk · 1.9 : 1 · fails for text

WCAG 2.1: AA is 4.5 : 1 for normal text, 3 : 1 for large text, AAA is 7 : 1.

Coordinated palette

Generated by hue-rotating #BBBEBF in HSL space. Pair Elephant Trunk with one accent and one neutral — the swatches below are starting points, not final picks.

COMPLEMENTARY
#BBBEBF + #BFBCBB
TRIADIC
#BBBEBF · #BFBBBE · #BEBFBB
ANALOGOUS
#BBBFBE · #BBBEBF · #BBBCBF

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Jessica Williams

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