Smokey Taupe

983 · Benjamin Moore

Benjamin Moore

Smokey Taupe

983

Hex code

#CDC4B5

Light reflectance value (LRV)

54.5Light-medium, light with some depth

0 black100 white

Undertone

Noticeable yellow-beige, a warm color

Color family: Neutral
Sold for: Interior and exterior

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Benjamin Moore Smokey Taupe 983 is a mid taupe, a beige with enough gray in it to stay quiet and a trace of red that the greiges do not have. An LRV of 55 sets it at the top of the light-medium band, a wall color that reads clearly against white trim without darkening a room. It is the third step on a seven-color strip, which is why it turns up in schemes built on one strip from ceiling to cabinet.

Is Smokey Taupe warm or cool? Undertones by the numbers

leans yellow

Undertone

Noticeable yellow-beige

graysaturated

A visible lean you see in daylight.

Measured, Smokey Taupe holds a solid amount of yellow and a small amount of red, and the red is the whole story. It is what makes this a taupe rather than a greige: at the same lightness Revere Pewter HC-172 sits a shade toward green and Smokey Taupe sits a shade toward pink, and on adjacent walls the difference is plain. Against white trim it reads warm and settled. Beside warm oak the red comes up and it can look faintly rosy in the afternoon. Beside cool gray tile it keeps its beige better than the greiges manage.

Smokey Taupe in north, south, east and west light

A north room takes the pink out of Smokey Taupe and leaves a cool, plain taupe. Unlike the greiges it does not turn green there, so the risk in north light is dullness rather than a color change. South light brings the red forward and the walls can look faintly rosy through the afternoon, which is the version that surprises people. East light is warm and even in the morning. West light is where the rosy cast runs strongest. Bulbs at 2700K to 3000K hold the balance, and anything cooler drains both the yellow and the red and leaves a flat gray-brown.

Watch for

Can look faintly rosy on a west-facing wall in late afternoon sun
Goes dull rather than green in a north room, so it wants warm wood nearby
Sits close to pink-beige travertine and the two surfaces blur together

Best rooms and surfaces for Smokey Taupe

Smokey Taupe is a living room and bedroom color: warm enough to sit with wood floors, deep enough that a big room does not read as an off-white, and steady enough to run through connected spaces. On kitchen cabinets it does better on a lower run or an island than on a full wall of doors, since a whole kitchen at this depth goes flat under overhead light. It is a good dining room color under warm bulbs. Skip it in a bathroom with pink-toned marble or beige travertine, where the red in it doubles up and both surfaces look muddy. Above wainscoting it reads warmer than it does floor to ceiling.

Smokey Taupe on an exterior

Benjamin Moore lists Smokey Taupe for exterior use, where it behaves as a mid-tone body color rather than a light one. Full sun lifts it toward a plain beige and the red disappears, while shaded walls and a porch ceiling keep the taupe. It goes with a cream trim rather than a bright white, since a cool white outdoors makes the red read pink. Briarwood HC-175, from its own coordinating list, is the darker color for shutters.

Try Smokey Taupe on your own walls

Upload a photo of your room, or the outside of your house, and TryMyHome renders Smokey Taupe onto the walls so you can judge it in your light, with your floors and furniture. Your first five renders are free.

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Smokey Taupe vs Accessible Beige, Revere Pewter, Stone Hearth and Edgecomb Gray

Living room walls rendered in Sherwin-Williams Accessible Beige SW 7036, white trim, ceiling and wood floor unchanged

Smokey Taupe vs Accessible Beige SW 7036

Smokey Taupe is noticeably darker; both have a noticeable yellow-beige undertone.

Accessible Beige SW 7036 is the closest thing to Smokey Taupe outside Benjamin Moore, near enough that most people could not name which is which on a wall. It is three points lighter and both measure a noticeable yellow-beige. Choosing between them comes down to what your store carries and what else is in the room rather than to the color: Accessible Beige has the marginally brighter read, Smokey Taupe the marginally deeper one.

Living room walls rendered in Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter HC-172, white trim, ceiling and wood floor unchanged

Smokey Taupe vs Revere Pewter HC-172

Smokey Taupe is a touch darker; undertone noticeable yellow-beige vs subtle yellow-beige.

Revere Pewter HC-172 and Smokey Taupe measure the same lightness, so a photograph will not separate them. Stand in front of both and the difference is a trace of green against a trace of red. Rooms with gray-toned tile, black metal or a cool floor go to Revere Pewter. Rooms with warm oak, cream stone or brass go to Smokey Taupe, which will not turn murky against any of them.

Living room walls rendered in Benjamin Moore Stone Hearth 984, white trim, ceiling and wood floor unchanged

Smokey Taupe vs Stone Hearth 984

Smokey Taupe is noticeably lighter; both have a noticeable yellow-beige undertone.

Stone Hearth 984 is the next step down the same strip, six points darker, and it is built from the same mix, so nothing changes except weight. Smokey Taupe stays a wall color for a room with average light. Stone Hearth starts to close a room in and shows better on cabinets or in rooms with more than one window. Plenty of houses use both, walls above and cabinets below.

Living room walls rendered in Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray HC-173, white trim, ceiling and wood floor unchanged

Smokey Taupe vs Edgecomb Gray HC-173

Smokey Taupe is noticeably darker; both have a noticeable yellow-beige undertone.

Edgecomb Gray HC-173 is nine points lighter and reads as a warm off-white where Smokey Taupe reads as a taupe with some pink in it. This pairing is rarely a straight choice: people run Edgecomb Gray through the light rooms and Smokey Taupe in the ones they want warmer. If the whole house has to be one color, Edgecomb Gray is the safer of the two.

Questions about Smokey Taupe

What colors go with Smokey Taupe?

Its coordinating colors are Cloud White OC-130 and White Down OC-131 for the whites, with Briarwood HC-175 and Mink Violet 1252 as the accents, which tells you it takes a plum better than a blue. Warm oak, rattan, aged brass and cream stone all suit it. Cool gray tile and blue-toned marble are what make it look dirty.

Is Smokey Taupe good for kitchen cabinets?

It works on part of a kitchen rather than all of it. A full run of doors at this depth flattens under overhead light and loses the red that makes the color interesting, while an island or a lower run keeps it. Use a light counter and a cream backsplash rather than a beige one, since beige stone this close in tone erases the line between cabinet and wall.

Does Smokey Taupe look pink?

In warm afternoon light on a west wall, a little. There is a real trace of red in the measurement, which is what separates it from the greiges, and strong warm light brings that forward. It is never a pink wall, but next to a cool white trim the lean shows. A warmer white on the trim removes the effect almost entirely.

What is the Sherwin-Williams equivalent of Smokey Taupe?

By measurement the nearest are Slumber Sloth SW 9606 and Mushroom SW 9587, both close enough that a wall in either would pass for this color. Neither has a page here. Of the Sherwin-Williams colors that do, Accessible Beige SW 7036 is nearest and is what most people end up buying. The nearest colors here are worked out by distance, not taken from a brand chart.

Get a sample before you paint

Use the visualizer to narrow your shortlist, then confirm the finalist on your actual wall. A peel-and-stick sample of Smokey Taupe, checked in morning and evening light, is the last step before a gallon.