Shadow Blue (Behr N480-3)

Shadow Blue Behr N480-3#A6B5BD, LRV 44.8 (estimated)
Living room with walls painted Behr Shadow Blue N480-3 (simulated)
Living room, walls in Shadow Blue

Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.

Shadow Blue (Behr N480-3) is a medium, cool gray from Behr: LRV 44.8, so it reflects about 45 percent of the light that hits it.

Colors that go with Shadow Blue

Four Behr colors picked for Shadow Blue by this site's color math: a trim white, a deeper gray, 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 Shadow Blue, 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.

BrandClosest colorCodeLRVdeltaEHow close
Sherwin-WilliamsDockside BlueSW 7601431.6very close
Benjamin MooreCeltic BlueES-31451.1very close
ValsparPalisade Blue4006-3B462.7noticeably different
PPG PaintsPeace10-28431.6very close

Lighter and darker in Behr

Color data

BrandBehr
Color codeN480-3
Hex#A6B5BD
RGB166, 181, 189
HSL201°, 15%, 70%
LRV (light reflectance value)44.8 (estimated from the hex)
Lab L*, a*, b*72.8, -3.5, -5.8
UndertoneCool
Temperaturecool
Color familyGray

Same paint, two kinds of light

Shadow Blue (Behr N480-3), published as #A6B5BD

North light (cool, indirect)
#94ABBB
South light (warm, direct)
#B9BFBD

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 Shadow Blue (Behr N480-3)?
Shadow Blue has an LRV of 44.8 (estimated from its hex value). LRV runs from 0 (black) to 100 (pure white) and measures the share of light a surface reflects, so Shadow Blue is a medium color.
What is the closest match to Shadow Blue in another brand?
Celtic Blue (BM ES-31) from Benjamin Moore, at a deltaE of 1.1 (very close).
Is Shadow Blue warm or cool?
Behr lists Shadow Blue as cool, with a Cool undertone. Its Lab b* value is -5.8; 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.

Published . Updated .