Terracotta and Cream color palette
chocolate · 0.029
lemonchiffon · 0.007
Outdoor weddings in late summer often need a palette that reads warm without feeling heavy, and this pairing handles that well. Terracotta #C66B3D brings the earthy, baked-clay warmth, while cream #FFFDD0 keeps the overall look light and airy instead of saturated.
The two sit 59 degrees apart on the color wheel, so they feel related rather than contrasting. Terracotta does the heavy lifting as the accent, and cream acts as a soft backdrop that lets it breathe. Their midpoint is a warm sandy beige (#E6B486), which is why blended details like dried florals or linen runners look natural between them. measures 3.63 to 1, enough for large headings on cream but not for body text.
In interiors, think clay pots against plaster walls, or terracotta upholstery on cream rugs. For branding, the pair suits bakeries, ceramics studios, and small wellness labels that want warmth without going bright orange.
See Terracotta and Cream in use
better
Terracotta Tailwind scale (50-900)
Cream Tailwind scale (50-900)
Terracotta to Cream blend
A continuous interpolation from Terracotta to Cream, sampled into the 10 steps below. Tap any swatch to copy its hex.
Why Terracotta and Cream blend best in OKLab
The same two colors blended three ways. This site uses OKLab, which keeps the blend smooth and evenly lit. The other two are shown so you can see what to avoid: sRGB darkens and muddies the middle, and HSL detours through colors that are not in your palette.
Accessibility
Do not place Terracotta text on Cream (or the reverse) for body copy. For readable text, pair a dark scale step such as terracotta-800 or cream-900 with a light one like cream-50.
Contrast pairing grid
Rows are Terracotta steps, columns are Cream steps. Each mark is a Terracotta step shown on a Cream step: a check means it clears WCAG AA for text (4.5:1). If you can read the mark, the pairing is legible.
| 50 | 100 | 200 | 300 | 400 | 500 | 600 | 700 | 800 | 900 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 100 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 200 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 300 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| 400 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| 500 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| 600 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| 700 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| 800 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| 900 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
✓ passes AA ✗ fails AA
Copy for Tailwind
Tailwind v4 — @theme (paste into your CSS)
@theme {
--color-terracotta-50: #FCF6F3;
--color-terracotta-100: #FAEDE7;
--color-terracotta-200: #F5DED4;
--color-terracotta-300: #EECAB9;
--color-terracotta-400: #E3AE95;
--color-terracotta-500: #C66B3D;
--color-terracotta-600: #A25630;
--color-terracotta-700: #7A3F22;
--color-terracotta-800: #472210;
--color-terracotta-900: #1D0B03;
--color-cream-50: #FFFFFC;
--color-cream-100: #FFFFFA;
--color-cream-200: #FFFFF5;
--color-cream-300: #FFFEEE;
--color-cream-400: #FFFEE6;
--color-cream-500: #FFFDD0;
--color-cream-600: #D1CFAA;
--color-cream-700: #9E9D80;
--color-cream-800: #5D5D4B;
--color-cream-900: #29281F;
}
Tailwind v3 — tailwind.config.js
// tailwind.config.js
module.exports = {
theme: {
extend: {
colors: {
'terracotta': {
50: '#FCF6F3',
100: '#FAEDE7',
200: '#F5DED4',
300: '#EECAB9',
400: '#E3AE95',
500: '#C66B3D',
600: '#A25630',
700: '#7A3F22',
800: '#472210',
900: '#1D0B03',
},
'cream': {
50: '#FFFFFC',
100: '#FFFFFA',
200: '#FFFFF5',
300: '#FFFEEE',
400: '#FFFEE6',
500: '#FFFDD0',
600: '#D1CFAA',
700: '#9E9D80',
800: '#5D5D4B',
900: '#29281F',
},
},
},
},
};
CSS variables
:root {
--terracotta-50: #FCF6F3;
--terracotta-100: #FAEDE7;
--terracotta-200: #F5DED4;
--terracotta-300: #EECAB9;
--terracotta-400: #E3AE95;
--terracotta-500: #C66B3D;
--terracotta-600: #A25630;
--terracotta-700: #7A3F22;
--terracotta-800: #472210;
--terracotta-900: #1D0B03;
--cream-50: #FFFFFC;
--cream-100: #FFFFFA;
--cream-200: #FFFFF5;
--cream-300: #FFFEEE;
--cream-400: #FFFEE6;
--cream-500: #FFFDD0;
--cream-600: #D1CFAA;
--cream-700: #9E9D80;
--cream-800: #5D5D4B;
--cream-900: #29281F;
}SCSS variables
$terracotta-50: #FCF6F3; $terracotta-100: #FAEDE7; $terracotta-200: #F5DED4; $terracotta-300: #EECAB9; $terracotta-400: #E3AE95; $terracotta-500: #C66B3D; $terracotta-600: #A25630; $terracotta-700: #7A3F22; $terracotta-800: #472210; $terracotta-900: #1D0B03; $cream-50: #FFFFFC; $cream-100: #FFFFFA; $cream-200: #FFFFF5; $cream-300: #FFFEEE; $cream-400: #FFFEE6; $cream-500: #FFFDD0; $cream-600: #D1CFAA; $cream-700: #9E9D80; $cream-800: #5D5D4B; $cream-900: #29281F;
JSON tokens
{
"terracotta": {
"50": "#FCF6F3",
"100": "#FAEDE7",
"200": "#F5DED4",
"300": "#EECAB9",
"400": "#E3AE95",
"500": "#C66B3D",
"600": "#A25630",
"700": "#7A3F22",
"800": "#472210",
"900": "#1D0B03"
},
"cream": {
"50": "#FFFFFC",
"100": "#FFFFFA",
"200": "#FFFFF5",
"300": "#FFFEEE",
"400": "#FFFEE6",
"500": "#FFFDD0",
"600": "#D1CFAA",
"700": "#9E9D80",
"800": "#5D5D4B",
"900": "#29281F"
}
}How we name colors
There is no single official authority for naming colors. We use the common, widely recognized name as the primary label for each color (here, Terracotta and Cream); many common names are themselves W3C CSS named colors. For transparency we also show the nearest W3C CSS named color and the perceptual distance, ΔE, measured in OKLab. A small ΔE means the name is essentially exact; a larger one means it is the closest standard name rather than a perfect match.
Sources: W3C CSS Color Module Level 4 and the open color-name-list dataset, used to verify every color sits near a recognized name.