Essential Brown (Behr BNC-03)
Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
Essential Brown (Behr BNC-03) is a medium, warm beige from Behr: LRV 46.7, so it reflects about 47 percent of the light that hits it.
Colors that go with Essential Brown
Four Behr colors picked for Essential Brown by this site's color math: a trim white, a deeper beige, a quiet contrast from another family, a dark accent. Behr did not choose these pairings.
Closest match in every other brand
Each brand's closest color to Essential Brown, ranked by CIEDE2000 (deltaE): under 1.0 is indistinguishable, 1.0 to 2.3 very close, 2.3 to 5 noticeably different, over 5 clearly different.
| Brand | Closest color | Code | LRV | deltaE | How close |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sherwin-Williams | Windsor Greige | SW 7528 | 47 | 0.5 | indistinguishable |
| Benjamin Moore | Kangaroo | AF-145 | 43.9 | 1.4 | very close |
| Valspar | Oregon Coast | 6007-1C | 48 | 1.3 | very close |
| PPG Paints | Best Beige | 1085-4 | 47 | 1.3 | very close |
Lighter and darker in Behr
The Behr beige colors nearest to Essential Brown (LRV 46.7 (estimated)) by LRV.
Lighter than Essential Brown
Darker than Essential Brown
Color data
| Brand | Behr |
|---|---|
| Color code | BNC-03 |
| Hex | #C3B49D |
| RGB | 195, 180, 157 |
| HSL | 36°, 24%, 69% |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 46.7 (estimated from the hex) |
| Lab L*, a*, b* | 74.0, 1.6, 13.7 |
| Undertone | Warm Yellow |
| Temperature | warm |
| Color family | Beige |
Same paint, two kinds of light
Essential Brown (Behr BNC-03), published as #C3B49D
#B3AA9B
#D4BE9D
These swatches and the rooms above are a simulation, not a measurement. How the visualizer works
Similar shades from Behr
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Common questions
- What is the LRV of Essential Brown (Behr BNC-03)?
- Essential Brown has an LRV of 46.7 (estimated from its hex value). LRV runs from 0 (black) to 100 (pure white) and measures the share of light a surface reflects, so Essential Brown is a medium color.
- What is the closest match to Essential Brown in another brand?
- Windsor Greige (SW 7528) from Sherwin-Williams, at a deltaE of 0.5 (indistinguishable).
- Is Essential Brown warm or cool?
- Behr lists Essential Brown as warm, with a Warm Yellow undertone. Its Lab b* value is 13.7; a higher b* is warmer and yellower, a lower one cooler and bluer.
Sources: hex as published by the manufacturer, via PaintDB (CC BY 4.0); LRV is not published by Behr for this color and is estimated here from the color's own hex value. Color differences are CIEDE2000 values computed by this site from the hex values (data snapshot 2026-10-01). Color names and codes belong to their manufacturers.