Gardener's Soil (Behr MQ2-54)
Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
Gardener's Soil (Behr MQ2-54) is a very deep, neutral brown from Behr: LRV 9, so it reflects about 9 percent of the light that hits it.
Colors that go with Gardener's Soil
Three Behr colors picked for Gardener's Soil by this site's color math: a trim white, 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 Gardener's Soil, 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 | Prelude | SW 9620 | 9 | 2.7 | noticeably different |
| Benjamin Moore | Stone Brown | 2112-30 | 10.2 | 1.2 | very close |
| Valspar | Journey | 6010-1 | 8 | 1.6 | very close |
| PPG Paints | Cabin Fever | 1021-7 | 9 | 2.1 | very close |
Lighter and darker in Behr
The Behr brown colors nearest to Gardener's Soil (LRV 9 (estimated)) by LRV.
Lighter than Gardener's Soil
Darker than Gardener's Soil
Color data
| Brand | Behr |
|---|---|
| Color code | MQ2-54 |
| Hex | #5C534D |
| RGB | 92, 83, 77 |
| HSL | 24°, 9%, 33% |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 9 (estimated from the hex) |
| Lab L*, a*, b* | 36.0, 2.5, 4.9 |
| Undertone | Warm |
| Temperature | neutral |
| Color family | Brown |
Same paint, two kinds of light
Gardener's Soil (Behr MQ2-54), published as #5C534D
#4E4A4B
#6B5C4D
These swatches and the rooms above are a simulation, not a measurement. How the visualizer works
Similar shades from Behr
More from Behr
Common questions
- What is the LRV of Gardener's Soil (Behr MQ2-54)?
- Gardener's Soil has an LRV of 9 (estimated from its hex value). LRV runs from 0 (black) to 100 (pure white) and measures the share of light a surface reflects, so Gardener's Soil is a very deep color.
- What is the closest match to Gardener's Soil in another brand?
- Stone Brown (BM 2112-30) from Benjamin Moore, at a deltaE of 1.2 (very close).
- Is Gardener's Soil warm or cool?
- Behr lists Gardener's Soil as neutral, with a Warm undertone. Its Lab b* value is 4.9; 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.