What Color Is Shale?

With all the color trends today, you must have heard a lot about neutral colors while browsing social media or reading articles online. But guess what? Neutral colors are more than just beige, gray, and white.

Have you ever heard of shale? This classic color is amazing to pair with other colors. But what color is shale? Let’s find out more about this neutral hue here.

What Color Is Shale?

In short, shale is a grey color with pink and red hues to it. Shale has a hexadecimal color value of #4a3f41. Shale’s RGB color coding is RGB (74,63,65). And shale’s cylindrical coordinate is 0.97, saturation is 0.08, and lightness value is 0.27.

If you’re going for a country-inspired aesthetic, try pairing it with shades of blue. If you’re going for a more romantic feel, try pairing it with delicate pink or gray tones. With gold accents or gold-toned furnishings, shale hues offer a wealthy and sophisticated atmosphere. Mixing shale and wood tones creates an earthy impression in a space. Accents of bright green or teal may brighten up a shale-colored space.

Shale as a Fine-Grained Rock

Clay particles and other minerals, such as quartz and calcite, are mixed together in mud to produce fine-grained clastic sedimentary rock known as shale. Shale can divide into tiny layers of less than one cm in width, an ability called fissility. The fissility of shale varies from place to place, depending on the quantities and combination of minerals.

The combination of minerals also influences the hue of the rock. For example, the ferric oxide will produce red, brown, and green hues within the gray. Black shale is formed when more than one percent carbonaceous material is present in the surroundings. And carbonate minerals commonly create pale blue to blue-green shale.

Tips for Using Shale in Home Decor

Learn the Basics of Shale

Color palette selection will be a lot easier if you can identify the chromaticity of the shale in question. When colors don’t seem “correct” with each other, warmth or undertone mismatch is nearly always to blame.

Know All Shales

If your first impression of shale is one of a chilly, enterprise environment, prepare yourself for a pleasant surprise. There’s a shale color for every home, but it may take multiple iterations to get the right shade for your place.

Shale as an Accent

If painting the entire space isn’t your style, you can incorporate shale into your design by using accessories. There is nothing like a gorgeous shale throw blanket or an ultra-modern coffee table to bring new life to your decor.

Be Creative With Shale

Shale hasn’t been considered boring or conservative for years. Even if you want a space with a lot of life and character, shale is an excellent choice. Infuse it with a dash of liveliness by adding a lot of patterns and unusual embellishments.

Use It as an Alternative for Black

Colors like shale can be used as dark color accents without becoming too harsh. You can also use shale for upholstery or carpets.

Things to Keep in Mind When Using the Color Shale

Textures

Shale is versatile in color and texture, and can be used in a wide range of materials. Textured materials such as aged hardwood or granite work well with a color scheme dominated by shale.

Remember, Shale Is Neutral

You can use shale and beige together in a color scheme, but it’s better if you stick to one or the other. Depending on the undertones of your shale, try pairing it with bolder blues, greens, pinks, or reds.

Takeaway

Shale is a nice neutral color, and it combines with other tones beautifully. When using shale, don’t be afraid to experiment and have fun with it—remember it’s a neutral color.