Sage Bud (Valspar 5003-3A)
Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
Sage Bud (Valspar 5003-3A) is a light, neutral gray from Valspar: LRV 65, so it reflects about 65 percent of the light that hits it.
Colors that go with Sage Bud
Four Valspar colors picked for Sage Bud by this site's color math: a trim white, a deeper gray, a quiet contrast from another family, a dark accent. Valspar did not choose these pairings.
Closest match in every other brand
Each brand's closest color to Sage Bud, 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 | Piedmont | SW 9657 | 60 | 2.0 | very close |
| Benjamin Moore | Swept Away | 701 | 62.9 | 0.9 | indistinguishable |
| Behr | Breezeway | MQ3-21 | 66.5 | 0.7 | indistinguishable |
| PPG Paints | Blue Lullaby | 1143-2 | 66 | 1.5 | very close |
Lighter and darker in Valspar
The Valspar gray colors nearest to Sage Bud (LRV 65) by LRV.
Lighter than Sage Bud
Darker than Sage Bud
Color data
| Brand | Valspar |
|---|---|
| Color code | 5003-3A |
| Hex | #C9D6CE |
| RGB | 201, 214, 206 |
| HSL | 143°, 14%, 81% |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 65 |
| Lab L*, a*, b* | 84.5, -5.9, 2.4 |
| Undertone | Cool Green |
| Temperature | neutral |
| Color family | Gray |
Same paint, two kinds of light
Sage Bud (Valspar 5003-3A), published as #C9D6CE
#B7CCCC
#DBE0CE
These swatches and the rooms above are a simulation, not a measurement. How the visualizer works
Similar shades from Valspar
More from Valspar
Common questions
- What is the LRV of Sage Bud (Valspar 5003-3A)?
- Sage Bud has an LRV of 65. LRV runs from 0 (black) to 100 (pure white) and measures the share of light a surface reflects, so Sage Bud is a light color.
- What is the closest match to Sage Bud in another brand?
- Breezeway (Behr MQ3-21) from Behr, at a deltaE of 0.7 (indistinguishable).
- Is Sage Bud warm or cool?
- Valspar lists Sage Bud as neutral, with a Cool Green undertone. Its Lab b* value is 2.4; 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.