When to Paint Your Home Yellow
Be a cheer leader with this color that captures the sun and radiates a warm welcome
Houzz Contributor. My name is Bud Dietrich and I am an architect located in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. I am licensed to practice architecture in Illinois, Florida, New Jersey & Wisconsin and I am a certificate holder from the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB). Since 1996 I have worked from my home office and provide full architectural services exclusively to the single family residential market. My passion is to transform my clients' houses into their homes. I strive to have the "new" home accommodate my clients' lives without fighting them at every junction. I look to add curb appeal to encourage a beautiful streetscape. And I design any addition to look and feel like it has always been there.
Our projects have won numerous design awards as well as having...
Houzz Contributor. My name is Bud Dietrich and I am an architect located... More »
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Thinking of making your home's exterior color evoke summertime and sunshine? Then consider yellow. Ranging from soft and earth toned to more electric and brash, yellow serves a home's exterior well. Whether they're set off by winter's snow and gray skies or summer's green landscape and blue skies, yellow homes make their presence known.
I find that the color yellow is best used for traditional-style homes. From the more ocher yellows of stuccoed exteriors on Tuscan villas to the bright, almost neon palette of some 19th-century exteriors, yellow keeps a home warm, welcoming and cheerful.
So let's leave white to those most rational and platonic of home styles, such as colonial and modernist, and explore using some joyous yellow.
I find that the color yellow is best used for traditional-style homes. From the more ocher yellows of stuccoed exteriors on Tuscan villas to the bright, almost neon palette of some 19th-century exteriors, yellow keeps a home warm, welcoming and cheerful.
So let's leave white to those most rational and platonic of home styles, such as colonial and modernist, and explore using some joyous yellow.
Bright, contrasting trim enriches a yellow exterior so the eye can dance around, picking up details here and there.
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| A soft yellow stuccoed body works very well for a Tuscan-style home. Add some burnt oranges and antique reds, and you'll have the makings of a warm and inviting exterior. Yellow also acts as a nice complement to green landscaping. |
| Yellow, a lively color to begin with, gets more energy when combined with contrasting trim colors. Dark brown stains for wood doors and windows as well as accents in bright blues or greens will enliven the exterior. |
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| Yellow also works well when the home has a traditional form while incorporating more modern and minimalist details. A soft yellow makes large masses of simple, almost Monopoly-like forms seem less rigid. |
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Yellow is also an excellent choice for a board and batten house. Reminiscent of farmhouses and a rural landscape, yellow gives the house some stature and definition while still being homey and inviting.
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| A really wonderful color palette for the tropics is a soft yellow home set against a lush green landscape and bright, painterly sky. In fact, tropical light enriches the yellow, turning the color almost gold. |
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| Colors can also be used to break up and scale down the overall size of a home. The combination of a soft yellow body, white trim and black accents keeps this large home from being overwhelming. |
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And yellow, especially in its more electric hue, can be a lot of fun. While this may not be the color of choice for a really large home, it can certainly work well on a smaller, more two-dimensional structure.
While yellow isn't the preferred choice of modernism, there are cases where it's the right color. (Yes, there are exceptions that prove the rule.) So in the right setting and with the right material choices, such as wood and stucco with large expanses of glass, a soft, more earth-toneCan we get yellow is highly appropriate.
Show us: Do you have a yellow house? Please share your photo below!
Show us: Do you have a yellow house? Please share your photo below!
Ideabook updated on Nov. 20, 2012.
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Frannieannie, embrace your yellow walls! They really are the perfect backdrop for almost any color furniture. No need to repaint... Good luck.
First thing I noticed is the lack of any roof overhang, which would add some much needed definition. The existing roof also appears to be similar in color to the walls, however that could be a result of the camera angle relative to the sun (glare). Might consider painting the trim around the roof a darker shade. Next I think the windows are small in comparison to the wall area. Short of enlarging all the windows, not an economical choice, you could add shutters or decorative iron work to "expand" the windows visually.
Kind of a quickie post process of your photo, but it gives you an idea, complete with snow :)
How about a creamy yellow for the entire house, with slate blue/grey shutters or trim that pick up the roof color?
Or, if you want to go blue, blue for the house, with a couple of other accent colors for the trim??
Very pretty house, by the way...
But actually, all you really need now is landscaping. How about some strategically-placed trellises with flowering climbing plants? Voila -- color and vibrancy galore!
@victoria27, we are actually meeting with some landscapers this week to do a master plan. I personally think this will help a great deal as well as painting boarders around the windows.
@defever, yes our family has loads of artistic ability, might need to put them to work!
Thanks for all the ideas!