Decatur Buff (BM HC-38)
Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
Decatur Buff (BM HC-38) is a deep, warm yellow from Benjamin Moore: LRV 39.8, so it reflects about 40 percent of the light that hits it.
Colors that go with Decatur Buff
Four Benjamin Moore colors picked for Decatur Buff by this site's color math: a trim white, a deeper yellow, a quiet contrast from another family, a dark accent. Benjamin Moore did not choose these pairings.
Closest match in every other brand
Each brand's closest color to Decatur Buff, 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 | Camelback | SW 6122 | 42 | 2.0 | very close |
| Behr | Pocket Watch | N290-5 | 40.7 | 1.4 | very close |
| Valspar | Caraway Seed | 3005-9C | 40 | 1.2 | very close |
| PPG Paints | Antiquity | 1093-5 | 41 | 0.8 | indistinguishable |
Lighter and darker in Benjamin Moore
The Benjamin Moore yellow colors nearest to Decatur Buff (LRV 39.8) by LRV.
Lighter than Decatur Buff
Darker than Decatur Buff
Color data
| Brand | Benjamin Moore |
|---|---|
| Color code | HC-38 |
| Hex | #C1A77D |
| RGB | 193, 167, 125 |
| HSL | 37°, 35%, 62% |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 39.8 |
| Lab L*, a*, b* | 69.8, 3.4, 25.3 |
| Undertone | Warm Yellow |
| Temperature | warm |
| Color family | Yellow |
Same paint, two kinds of light
Decatur Buff (BM HC-38), published as #C1A77D
#B29D7C
#D1B17C
These swatches and the rooms above are a simulation, not a measurement. How the visualizer works
Similar shades from Benjamin Moore
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Common questions
- What is the LRV of Decatur Buff (BM HC-38)?
- Decatur Buff has an LRV of 39.8. LRV runs from 0 (black) to 100 (pure white) and measures the share of light a surface reflects, so Decatur Buff is a deep color.
- What is the closest match to Decatur Buff in another brand?
- Antiquity (PPG 1093-5) from PPG Paints, at a deltaE of 0.8 (indistinguishable).
- Is Decatur Buff warm or cool?
- Benjamin Moore lists Decatur Buff as warm, with a Warm Yellow undertone. Its Lab b* value is 25.3; a higher b* is warmer and yellower, a lower one cooler and bluer.
Sources: LRV and hex as published by the manufacturer, via PaintDB (CC BY 4.0). 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.