Paean Black (No. 294)

Paean Black (No. 294) is a dramatic, near-dark, neutral paint color from Farrow & Ball (#494248, LRV 5.8). See how it shifts in different light, the colors it pairs with, and its closest matches in other brands.

Paean Black (No. 294) is a dramatic, near-dark, true-neutral paint color from Farrow & Ball. It brings depth and a sense of intention, and looks its richest in rooms with good natural light. Below you'll see it in real rooms, the colors it pairs with, the finishes that suit it, and its closest matches in other brands — everything you need before you commit a wall to it.

The kind of dramatic, near-dark shade that makes a room feel considered rather than accidental — easy to live with, and hard to get wrong.

Paean Black at a glance

Brand: Farrow & Ball
Color code: No. 294
Hex: #494248
RGB: 73, 66, 72
HSL: 309°, 5%, 27%
LRV (Light Reflectance Value): 5.8 — very dark and light-absorbing
Undertone: near-neutral undertone leaning red
Color family: dark, neutral, red

How it behaves in light

Paean Black is deep enough that light has a real say in how it reads — crisp and saturated in bright rooms, moodier and more enveloping where light is low. The honest test is simple: paint a poster-board sample, move it to the wall you care about, and look at it in the morning, midday, and after dark. Undertones almost always show up more on a full wall than they do on a tiny chip.

Where it works

Paean Black is an easy color to build a home around. Let it carry the main living spaces and keep trim a step lighter in the same warm-or-cool family, so the room feels intentional rather than busy. It flows nicely from an entry through to bedrooms, and it gives deeper accent colors something calm to sit against in dining rooms, studies, and media spaces.

What to pair it with

For a little contrast — a front door, a single accent wall — reach for a color on the opposite side of the wheel. For a calm, flowing palette, stay with its close neighbors so rooms blend gently into one another. And the fastest way to plan trim, walls, and cabinets is to use lighter and deeper versions of Paean Black itself; that built-in range almost always reads as harmonious because it shares the same DNA.

How it compares across brands

No two paint lines mix a color quite the same way, so a "match" from another brand is rarely identical on the wall. We line up the closest options from Sherwin-Williams, Benjamin Moore, Behr, and others and rank them by how close they actually look — not by similar-sounding names. If you're switching an existing palette over to Farrow & Ball, that ranking is the shortcut: start from the closest match and sample from there.

Before you commit

Sample on two walls — Brush Paean Black on a wall that gets morning light and one that gets afternoon light before you order gallons. Color shifts more than a swatch ever suggests.
Get the trim right — With a deeper wall color, a soft off-white trim keeps the room from feeling heavy or boxed in.
Match the finish to the room — Satin — dark colors need some sheen to avoid looking flat and chalky.
Order it by code — Ask for No. 294 at the paint counter. Names drift between fan decks, but the code keeps your touch-ups matching for years.

Paean Black, answered

Is Paean Black warm or cool?

Neither, really — Paean Black is a true neutral with very little underlying warmth or coolness, so it stays even next to both wood tones and cool metals.

What undertone does Paean Black have?

True neutral with minimal underlying color. It can read flatter in low light and against warm fixtures — worth sampling on your own wall before you commit.

What is Paean Black's LRV?

5.8.

What trim goes with Paean Black walls?

A lighter, neutral off-white trim keeps a wall this deep from feeling boxed in — stay in the same neutral family so the two don't fight.

Does Paean Black make a room feel smaller?

Not on its own — depth reads as coziness, not confinement, as long as the room has decent light or a lighter ceiling to balance it. It's the color to reach for when you want a room to feel enveloping rather than expansive.