Hague Blue

No. 30 · Farrow & Ball

Farrow & Ball

Hague Blue

No. 30

Hex code

#3F4D57

Light reflectance value (LRV)

7.1Very dark, close to black on a wall

0 black100 white

Undertone

Noticeable blue, a cool color

Color family: Blue
Sold for: Interior and exterior

Try it on your walls Get a sample

Farrow & Ball Hague Blue No. 30 is a very dark blue on a gray base, close to black in a room that has little light to give it. Its LRV of 7 means almost nothing comes back off the wall, so the color only appears where the light actually lands. Kitchen cabinets are what it is best known for, followed by paneling, libraries, front doors and joinery.

Is Hague Blue warm or cool? Undertones by the numbers

leans blue

Undertone

Noticeable blue

graysaturated

A visible lean you see in daylight.

Measured, Hague Blue holds a clear blue lean with a trace of green beneath it, and that trace is what separates it from a navy. Most navies run toward violet; this one runs toward teal, and in strong daylight the green edge is visible on whichever surface faces the window. At this depth the undertone only turns up where light strikes directly, so a room lit by a single lamp shows a near-black while a room with a big window shows a blue. Brass and warm wood make it read richer, and chrome and gray stone take it closer to charcoal.

Hague Blue in north, south, east and west light

In a north-facing room Hague Blue gives up nearly all its blue and reads as a soft black, which suits a small study and is a harder sell in a bedroom that already feels cold. South light is where the color actually turns up, and a south-facing kitchen will show the teal edge on the cabinet fronts nearest the window. East and west rooms each get one good hour, warm in the morning or the late afternoon and near-black through the rest of the day. Lamps at 2700K warm it and 4000K sharpens the blue, so choose the bulbs and the paint together.

Watch for

Reads as a soft black in any room the daylight does not reach
Shows its teal edge only on the surfaces the window can find
Shows dust, drips and roller marks more than a mid-tone does

Best rooms and surfaces for Hague Blue

Hague Blue is at home on joinery: paneling, a wall of library shelves, a boot room, a stair rail, a run of doors. Across four walls it turns a small room into a dark one on purpose, which works for a study, a dining room used at night or a powder room with no window. It is a hard color for a family bathroom, where the light is cool and every splash shows on the wall. Warm metals, oak and cane keep it from reading cold. A ceiling in a warm white above it does more for the room than a bright white, which only sharpens the contrast.

Hague Blue on an exterior

Farrow & Ball sells Hague Blue for exterior use, and outside is where its blue is easiest to see, since daylight carries more than any lamp will. On a front door against pale stucco or brick it reads as a deep blue rather than a black, and full sun brings the teal in it forward. On window frames and railings it sinks into the shadow, which is usually the intention. A pale trim such as Skylight No. 205 or a plain off-white keeps the outline readable.

Try Hague Blue on your own walls

Upload a photo of your room, or the outside of your house, and TryMyHome renders Hague Blue 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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Hague Blue vs Hale Navy, Sea Serpent, Naval and Charcoal Blue

Living room walls rendered in Benjamin Moore Hale Navy HC-154, white trim, ceiling and wood floor unchanged

Hague Blue vs Hale Navy HC-154

Hague Blue is a touch darker; undertone noticeable blue vs subtle blue.

Hale Navy HC-154 is the color set against this one most often, and it is a point lighter, 8 to 7. The difference is in the lean: Hale Navy measures a subtle blue and reads grayer and more like a navy, while Hague Blue keeps the trace of green that shows as teal in daylight. Hale Navy is the calmer navy for a whole room, and Hague Blue gives more to look at wherever the light reaches.

Living room walls rendered in Sherwin-Williams Sea Serpent SW 7615, white trim, ceiling and wood floor unchanged

Hague Blue vs Sea Serpent SW 7615

Hague Blue is a touch lighter; undertone noticeable blue vs subtle blue.

Sea Serpent SW 7615 is the closest match to Hague Blue in any American deck, near enough that a wall painted in one and patched with the other would take a good eye to catch. The two land on the same LRV, and Sea Serpent is fractionally less blue in its lean. If the decision is only about color, either will do, since the pair differ by less than the same wall does at two times of day.

Living room walls rendered in Sherwin-Williams Naval SW 6244, white trim, ceiling and wood floor unchanged

Hague Blue vs Naval SW 6244

Hague Blue is a touch lighter; both have a noticeable blue undertone.

Naval SW 6244 is darker again and a truer blue, an LRV of 5 against 7, with none of the green that gives Hague Blue its teal edge. Naval reads as a navy in almost any light and goes closer to black on cabinets at night. Naval is the pick for a classic navy kitchen. Hague Blue is the pick when the blue should turn slightly green as the daylight moves across it.

Living room walls rendered in Sherwin-Williams Charcoal Blue SW 2739, white trim, ceiling and wood floor unchanged

Hague Blue vs Charcoal Blue SW 2739

Hague Blue is a touch lighter; both have a noticeable blue undertone.

Charcoal Blue SW 2739 is the grayer of the two, an LRV of 6 to 7, with its blue held further back. On a wall Charcoal Blue comes across as a dark slate that happens to be blue, and Hague Blue as a blue that happens to be dark. A room with little daylight flattens them both, though Charcoal Blue was never trying to show a color in the first place.

Questions about Hague Blue

Is Hague Blue a good color for kitchen cabinets?

Yes. Kitchen cabinets are where Hague Blue turns up most, and where most people first see it. At this depth the doors and drawer fronts keep their shadow lines, and the blue shows on the fronts nearest the window while the rest read near-black. Keep the walls and ceiling light, choose warm metal for the handles if you want the blue to read, and expect fingerprints to show around them.

Is there a dupe for Farrow & Ball Hague Blue?

Sea Serpent SW 7615 is the nearest by measurement and has its own page here. Blue Note 2129-30 and Brush Blue CW-675 at Benjamin Moore come next, both within a shade. Gale Force SW 7605 is the darker option when a sample reads too light on the wall. Order a physical sample, because near-blacks separate in daylight and look identical on a screen.

Does Hague Blue look black?

In most rooms it does for most of the day, and that is a function of how little light it returns. Away from a window it reads as a soft black with a blue cast to it. Direct daylight is what brings out the blue and the green underneath. If the color has to be visible all day, a lighter blue such as Stiffkey Blue No. 281 does more of the work.

What colors go with Hague Blue?

Farrow & Ball's own scheme keeps it inside the blue family: Lulworth Blue No. 89 on the woodwork, then Parma Gray No. 27, Skylight No. 205 and Borrowed Light No. 235 as the light partners. Warm whites, brass, oak and cane all hold up against it. Cool grays and chrome push it toward black, which is fine if that is what you are after.

What is one shade lighter than Hague Blue?

Stiffkey Blue No. 281 is the step up its strip, a few points lighter with a softer blue, and it is the color most often weighed against this one. Inchyra Blue No. 289 is the rung above that, lighter again and greener. De Nimes No. 299 is two steps up and reads as a mid-tone instead of a dark. Nothing on the strip goes darker.

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 Hague Blue, checked in morning and evening light, is the last step before a gallon.