Muted Brown Hex Codes: 36 Muted, softly saturated shades
36 muted, softly saturated shades of brown with names, hex codes, contrast on white and the best text color for each.
These are the muted, softly saturated shades of brown in Tintly's color library: 36 of the 81 brown shades. Muted shades are calm and sophisticated. They suit large areas and brands that want to feel composed.
Muted brown shades with hex codes
| Name | Hex | On white | Text on it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dwarf Fortress | #1D0200 | 19.79:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Shadow Play | #2D1403 | 17.31:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Close but No Cigar | #361D0A | 15.70:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Medium Roast | #3C2005 | 14.99:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Secret Passage | #372A05 | 14.03:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Chocolate Castle | #452207 | 14.14:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Couch | #4E2A20 | 12.52:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Moelleux au Chocolat | #553311 | 11.24:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Madras | #473E23 | 10.59:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Avocado Stone | #4E3E1F | 10.33:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Grilled | #633F2E | 9.20:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Buckeye | #674834 | 8.22:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Brisket | #6E4534 | 8.19:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Cafe Royale | #6A4928 | 8.08:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Jungle Beat | #654F2D | 7.75:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Tobacco | #684F3C | 7.57:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Wild Chocolate | #665134 | 7.52:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Olive Bark | #5F5537 | 7.39:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Coffee | #6F4E37 | 7.44:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Bison | #6E4F3A | 7.38:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Bigfoot | #715145 | 7.08:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Toffee | #755139 | 7.01:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Chocolate Bells | #775130 | 6.99:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Oak Barrel | #715636 | 6.80:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Olivary | #6E592C | 6.71:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Roasted | #785246 | 6.78:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Baby Bear | #6F5944 | 6.58:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Cold Brew Coffee | #785736 | 6.53:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Ochicha Latte | #6B6047 | 6.19:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Acorn | #7F5E50 | 5.80:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Cocoa | #875F42 | 5.60:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Lizard | #7B6943 | 5.32:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Golem | #836E59 | 4.83:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Leather | #906A54 | 4.79:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Mossy | #857349 | 4.61:1 | #FFFFFF |
| Mink | #8A7561 | 4.37:1 | #000000 |
How to use them
Use a muted shade as the main brand surface and add a single vivid or light shade for emphasis, so the palette has a focal point.
Standouts in this group
- Darkest: Dwarf Fortress (#1D0200), at 15% lightness.
- Lightest: Mink (#8A7561), at 58% lightness.
- Most saturated: Chocolate Bells (#775130).
- Best text color on white: Dwarf Fortress (#1D0200), at 19.79:1.
What the numbers say
Across all 81 brown shades in the library, lightness runs from 15% to 58%. 76 of them reach 4.5 to 1 on white, so they can be used as text on a light page, and 0 reach 4.5 to 1 on near-black, so they can be used as text on a dark page. The rest are for fills, surfaces and large type, where the requirement is lower. Within the muted, softly saturated shades the figures are different: 35 of 36 pass on white.
Pairing with other families
The base brown (#7B4A2A) separates best from beige (5.23:1), yellow (4.47:1) and orange (2.79:1). Because brown stands for earth, wood and coffee, those pairings carry the most contrast of both color and meaning.
- Brown and beige: see the combinations in soft, bold and dark versions.
- Brown and yellow: see the combinations in soft, bold and dark versions.
- Brown and orange: see the combinations in soft, bold and dark versions.