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Yellow represents happiness, glory, wisdom and royalty in China — it was worn by the emperors of ancient times. It is also considered a masculine color — used to depict the yang, while black and white symbolize the feminine yin.

Mixing the masculine yellow and feminine black together gives this Asian-inspired space balance.
by modern house architects
Feng shui practitioner Rodika Tchi says, "Golds and yellows are the darlings of a good feng shui home. Gold is very popular in feng shui because of its association with money and wealth, and yellow is the absolute color of happiness and warmth. The right use of these colors will bring a vibrant, warm but also gentle energy."

Yellow works beautifully with contrasting blue to give a cool and relaxing vibe to this elegant bedroom.
by Cristi Holcombe  
In Hinduism yellow is the color of the solar plexus chakra, which is representative of vitality and will. The belief is that when this chakra is open, it acts to empower a person to find personal strength.

These lovely soft yellows and golds are very easy on the eye — a perfect backdrop for rejuvenating at the end of the day.
by Paula Grace Designs, Inc.
Yellow is the easiest color to see from a distance — that's why taxis are usually yellow, and the yellow flag in car races signals caution. Historically, women across many cultures used to tie a yellow ribbon in their hair or around a tree to welcome their men home from war.

Make your home welcoming with a yellow front door. There's no way your visitors will accidentally drive past your house!
by LDa Architecture & Interiors
Despite all of its benefits, the experts at Color Matters tell us that yellow is the most fatiguing of colors. More light is reflected by this bright color, excessively stimulating the eyes. Try to use bright yellow in small amounts, especially in task areas.

Yellow is a sunny and cheerful color in softer shades. In this office it works wonderfully as an accent to turquoise.
by Story & Space - Interior Design and Color Guidance  
Artist and University of Alberta, Canada, professor Harry Wohlfarth conducted research in the 1980s that showed that blood pressure, pulse and respiration rates increased the most under yellow light.

If you love those bright lemon yellows, then maybe reserve them for a powder room, where you're unlikely to spend enough time for it to become a problem.
by Crisp Architects  
While old wives' tales claim that babies cry more in a yellow room and partners will argue more in a yellow kitchen, but these have yet to be scientifically proven. I say if you like it, go with it — but perhaps exercise caution and steer clear of those vivid lemon yellows.
by Birdhouse Interior Design
Vincent van Gogh was a particular admirer of yellow. In 1888 he wrote to his sister from the South of France: "Now we are having beautiful warm, windless weather that is very beneficial to me. The sun, a light that for lack of a better word I can only call yellow, bright sulfur yellow, pale lemon gold. How beautiful yellow is!"

Surely the sun makes us all feel better. There is nothing quite like a warm yellow for creating a Mediterranean aesthetic with terra-cotta tiles and warm woods, as shown here.

See how to work with bright yellow

Tell us: Is yellow your friend or foe, and how have you used it? Tell us in the Comments!
by Vanni Archive/Architectural Photography

Comments

Tile-Stones It's been said that yellow is also a color that will make you depressed over time. Yellow accents work well in a room, but an overly yellow room, with yellow paint on the walls for example, is too much.
3 months ago · ·
Marie Anne Just when I thought I had picked the best tile for our mid-century modern kitchen, le sigh
3 months ago · ·
Julia Pockett Hi Tile Stones - I hadn't realised, until I researched this article, what a negative affect yellow has on me and explains why I have never picked it for any projects I have done. I like the colour and certainly love seeing it used for accents but too much gives me a headache!
3 months ago · ·
A. Peltier Interiors I love yellow and have for years, although i prefer a more golden or ocher tone and in smaller doses. Funny enough, when i interview a new client I always ask which colors they DONT like and I hear yellow the most often!
3 months ago · ·
Bonnie This article is interesting. I have a soft yellow kitchen and at first I really liked it but lately I have been feeling irritated by the decor and thinking about redecorating, and now I read this...
3 months ago · ·
kellystevens Years ago I painted my bedroom a bright, sunny yellow and had to repaint it due to lack of sleep and increased anxiety! I still love yellow but now limit it to just the door, or decor item, not walls. I do think it looks great in kitchens, where energy is necessary to get the dishes done.
3 months ago · ·
B&B Landscapes My interpretation on the yin and yang is that they are not completely black or white just as thing are in life and can't exist without one another. Not Yellow.. Great colour tho :)
3 months ago ·
Crane & Canopy Great article! With the color of gray, it's definitely a friend. :) Yellow cheers up any room!
3 months ago · ·
Paul D'Amico - Period Design Yellow is the sun, yellow is cheerful and I live in grey England. Yes Crane& Canopy, Yellow and Grey go very well together and so do some blues and yellow. A long time ago I tiled a kitchen for a client with Emaux de Briare yellow tiles. It was a north facing dark kitchen overlooking a dark courtyard. It was just the right colour. All these images selected by Julia testify do the cheerfulness of yellow but it's a colour that requires a contrasting other colour - I wouldn't have everything yellow.
3 months ago · ·
Paul D'Amico - Period Design forgot my lemons.
3 months ago · ·
Michele Lister Yep, in the British grey weather I find yellow a tonic. I have an amazing shade of it on my fence in a north facing garden and it creates a light of its own.
3 months ago · ·
Pamela Gatens Fine Art Yellow is such a great accent color. I use it often as a secondary color in many of my paintings. Here is an abstract with just a bit of Naples yellow.
3 months ago · ·
susanintoronto We have had yellow walls for several years. Most of our small house is painted yellow and I've loved it. However, we're in the midst of repainting the living and dining rooms and we decided to go with something completely different - most of the walls will be Benjamin Moore Cloud White, with an accent wall of Bahaman Sea Blue. We'll keep the kitchen and TV room yellow - there isn't a lot of wall space in either of those rooms and besides, we love yellow!
3 months ago · ·
jamrs5 We have Benjamin Moore cork in our sunroom and living room and I am putting it in our new house. So beautiful. A neighbor liked it so much she did her kitchen walls and cabinets and it looked amazing.
3 months ago · ·
jamma33 We are renovating a lake house near sunless Syracuse, NY. I have used yellow in many rooms and have to stop myself from putting it in EVERY room. My kitchen will have pale yellow cabinets and a gray-blue island, my granite is even called Yellow River! Clearly I love living with the color.
3 months ago · ·
midmodfan Throughout my whole childhood, my room was painted a bright, sunny yellow. I was a very happy child and became an equally happy adult. No depression ever. :-)
3 months ago · ·
patricia beharry The outside of my house is painted sunflower yellow. Everyone loves it. About being overstimulating, My yardman spends most of the day sleeping under a tree. Normal island life. So I guess the overstimulating does not work in this neck of the woods.
3 months ago · ·
tasma I have my day bed in a yellow painted room. The sun shines through into the room beautifully and if I feel the need to rest during the day, I choose this room over my bedroom as I always feel really refreshed after.
3 months ago · ·
Casart Coverings I always learn something new here. I never knew taxis were painted yellow because that's the easiest color to see from a distance. Applicable to both trying to flag one down and dodging in traffic. Thanks, Julia for the edification.
3 months ago · ·
phall0106 I love yellow--not sure why, but something draws me to it. My living room, hallways, guest room, kitchen and master bedroom are all yellow! I have noticed as I get older that my favorite hue of yellow has shifted from lighter, almost pastel yellows, to deeper, more dusky gold shades of yellow. The yellows bring a sense of "being home" to me that I've not found with other colors.
3 months ago · ·
leay I am a coastal girl by heart but landlocked beyond belief along with being in the far north of Canada. I have used "candlewax yellow" throughout my home along with blues and whites to bring the coast indoors. There are moments when I look about my living room, kitchen or master bedroom and as long as I don't look out a window I feel like I am on the coast once again. My yellow is soft and warm and I don't tire of it at all.
3 months ago · ·
grannygown School Buses are also Yellow for the same reason,easy to see...
3 months ago · ·
ittybittykitty When I painted my bedroom yellow a few years ago, I had no idea how much it would help with seasonal depression. I live in the Pacific NW.
3 months ago · ·
tasma @ittybittykitty- I completely agree with you about yellow and seasonal depression! I live in Sweden (where it goes from dark and grey to just grey) and I think that having warm coloured walls (among other things) really helps with my mood. Swedes love all white- I guess for the lightness- but for me, I need some warmth.
3 months ago · ·
ittybittykitty We are remodeling right now and I really wanted to put yellow tile in the master bath, which is on the north side of my house. I was a little afraid to do it, but a decorator friend told me to go for it. I'll post photos here when it is done.
3 months ago · ·
emnemn We recently built a house on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington and I choose a soft yellow (Benjamin Moore "Sol") for the great room and kitchen, with a contrasting wall of Benjamin Moore "Tumeric." My granite is Yellow River. The cabinets are sapele, with quarter sawn oak floors. All I know is that it makes me smile when I walk into the room, and that I feel warm and comforted even on a gray rainy day.
3 months ago · ·
ittybittykitty I'll have to look for those! I used Pittsburgh Paint Butterfly Bush in the bedroom. It makes me smile.
3 months ago · ·
sandra1942 I love yellow, soft in a bedroom. We have a more mustard type in kitchen/family room; it is so cozy feeling. Yellow is the sun. Humans like sun. They turn their faces up to it. If something yellow speaks to you, it's your yellow.
3 months ago · ·
Chris Daugert My kitchen has the old 4ft. of tile all around in a light green color. The walls are a lemon yellow as are my counter tops. To me this is the happiest, greatest, most comfortable place on earth. I could actually feel the smile on my face when I walked in after working all day. Now that I am retired I seem to spend most of my time there. Friends and family all gravitate to my kitchen. More than once I heard friends comment that they felt so welcome and at ease in my kitchen and wished they could just stay there. My yellow kitchen makes sunny days sunnier and really helps during the gray days of winter. The rest of my home is mostly in shades of green with only small touches of yellow. Yellow kitchens get my vote.
3 months ago · ·
Francesca Oh, dear, and I just adore my yellow bathroom. It's the only bathroom in the house. The first time I saw it when I moved in about a month and a half ago, I remarked that I had to change it, but after living with it for that time, I have loved it. But I still think that it is more white than yellow. But the yellow is very yellow (and don't ask me the paint color, it was here years ago... I still love it though).
3 months ago · ·
Jaci I have soft creamy yellow walls thoughout my cottage. I wouldn't change it for anything. It is a perfect backdrop for almost all color palettes. I change accessories a lot. Plus, I had my colors done once and was told to wear yellow as its my "happy color". I believe it is.
3 months ago · ·
dlapollo I personally stay away from yellow
As my husband is painting the entire house in yellow
Im thinking NO!
its the color of urine..
I know its gross...but that was all I can think of..
yellow does not work
3 months ago · ·
fauxlala I totally agree that yellow is tricky, but we love living with a color by Benjamin Moore called Montgomery White. In a north facing room, windows on 3 sides, it changes color in a subtle way all day and reads as very neutral and warm, and cheery, We have it in our foyer, hallways and dining room as well (a darker room) and no one can believe it is all the same shade of paint.
3 months ago · ·
patricia beharry @dlapolo-------You cracked me up. LOL. But I guess you can say that of any colour. Green=bile; Brown = %#@&; Red=Blood; White=Dead flesh; Grey= give the person some oxygen, and on and on.
3 months ago · ·
Jaci Mustard color + baby p**p. LOL
3 months ago · ·
karenfae I once painted a family room a pale yellow and had a lot of blue-and-white accessories and draperies. It was fabulous, and I never got tired of it.
3 months ago · ·
sgahlon We have a yellow kitchen and dining room, and we love it! The color is called banana cream, and it looks good against our honey oak cabinets from 1986. Yellow is my favorite.
3 months ago · ·
Lynn McLean I love our newly painted yellow living room.It's located on the north-east corner of our home.
It is a pleasure to be in the room now.
3 months ago · ·
mallow Can anyone tell me the color of the paint on the walls in the first picture, that brown/grey? Love it. Thank you.
3 months ago ·
mountainglory Benjamin Moore 309 or 310 are great. I have used them in a coastal living room with lots of white woodwork and also in a guest bedroom with blue and white upholstered headboards and a large blue and white check drapery. On a sample 309 looks like a manila folder but is a nice soft yellow on the wall.
3 months ago ·
sjmom I love yellow but only when it is soft and serene. In the right room it can really brighten the atmosphere and make you smile, but when too bright it appears harsh. Get out the sunglasses!
3 months ago · ·
pittsburgheast Completely disagree. We have a bright golden yellow on the walls in our living room and front hall and have had for years. It's delightful.
3 months ago ·
Sarah Brooks We have a living room that always seemed too dark to read in until we had it painted in bright yellow. It is a great colour for a room with little sunlight, we and our friends seem to love it & no, it does not induce fights nor sleeplessness in babies!
3 months ago ·
epatrickphoto I had also heard that yellow rooms have the most disagreements/strife in them, so I was hesitant to use it in my dining room. But when I asked myself what color did I REALLY like the most, I kept coming back to a lion's mane shade of golden yellow. Caramel works great as a balancer while keeping the room feeling "warm" I have been told that my house feels very warm and inviting and we have "gold" colors in almost every room (drapes, paint, accessories, etc.).
3 months ago · ·
Jan C. I love yellow. Can't think of a better color to brighten up a room. What I find depressing is a room with grey walls.
3 months ago · ·
frenchcountryfan I had a banana pudding yellow in my LR, three tone yellow vertical strips in my hall and bright lemon yellow in my bathroom at my previous home. Moved to a new city an bought a home that is beige and browns from stem to stern. So depressing. I love color and can't wait until I can afford to paint my rooms with the purples, blues and yellows I love. I wish the article would have address making sure you have the proper primer for painting with yellow. I learned you should use a grayish primer to bring out the best of the color.
3 months ago · ·
lc29 I painted my garage interior suntan yellow to keep me energized in my workshop corner. A side benefit is when I come home after a long day it makes me smile when the garage door goes up :)
Oh and Marie Anne, I love that tile you picked, I think you should go for it!
3 months ago · ·
Nancy Canales I love when yellows morph into peach and pink- maybe those are warmer yellows.
3 months ago · ·
Dina Goebel Interesting article thanks! I have never successfully used a bright sunny yellow myself, mustard and ochres tones yes. I had a client which used golden yellow in their bedroom which worked well (pic attached). I also did an article for my blog about being inspired by wattle but it was hard to find many yellow decorating pics .. hats off to those who can manage it!
3 months ago · ·
Contempo Space We offer all our entertainment centers (and other furniture) in a glass color we call Sun Yellow, but it's a rare customer or designer indeed who takes advantage of this particular color choice.
3 months ago ·
nikilyn207 We chose a yellow paint for our eat-in kitchen and absolutely loved it....during the day. At night under the artificial lighting it took on a horrible shade. We decided to not change it too hastily because we were using CFL's during remodeling and planned on changing over to LED's. When the lighting was changed we loved the color again. Now we enjoying being in our sunny yellow kitchen day and night.
3 months ago · ·
rouxb I once rented a house with yellow walls in most of the house. I loved it so I replicated it in most of my teeny tiny house. I still love it.!
3 months ago · ·
PaintColorHelp.com Dallas The mistake most people make with yellow is in going too bright. Be aware that yellow paints almost always go up bolder than you expect, once you see a whole wall. A yellow that has a touch of brown or red undertone will still be sunny, but softer. And personally, I can't ever conceive of yellow being "depressing." Quite the opposite. It really cheers up a dark, north-facing room.
3 months ago · ·
Story & Space - Interior Design and Color Guidance Thanks for sharing my home office pic! Yep - yellow and turquoise are a fun pair, aren't they?
3 months ago · ·
Kathleen Dahl I am a huge fan of yellow in the home. I painted my living room a wheat yellow and I love it. I am now trying to decide what color would be a great friend to my beloved yellow walls.
3 months ago · ·
apriltini I'm intrigued by the yellow front door. I hope to be painting the exterior of our house very soon, and have been trying to decide on a color for the door. It is always in shade, and covered by a screen door, so I wanted something bright and eye catching.
3 months ago · ·
combees My whole house is painted (in 1992) "Cameo Creme" - Porter Paint - have loved it ever since, never get tired of it - and always get compliments. Don't have pictures to include.
3 months ago ·
jahilton So happy the comments have turned positive and that there are a whole bunch of you who share my love of yellow. My yellow bathroom and the newly painted sunny yellow on our bedroom walls cheer me up whenever I enter those rooms. Neither is strongly bathed in daylight, and I enjoy seeing the changing mood of the bedroom throughout the day. As for sleeping: shut the shutters or draw the drapes! But open your morning eyes to the idea of sun (only bedroom window faces west). Maybe yellow has always drawn me to it because I grew up in San Francisco. Lots of grey days there.
3 months ago · ·
creating2013 I have found Sundial by Benjamin Moore to be a warm relaxing colour and can be used throughout the house for a feeling of warmth, elegance, and cosiness all at the same time.
3 months ago · ·
lgjeltema Valspar tea room cream. A soft yellow that ranges from golden to sunny depending on yhe light. We have it in all the main living areas of our home with black toile and red accents. Both cheerful and calming.
3 months ago · ·
Scott Nelson friend
3 months ago · ·
twanger71 I do like yellow in interiors but think it depends on the satration and it's use and maybe what region. I saw an example of yellow bedroom walls in a Pennsylvanian bedroom that for me is out of place but perhaps would work in a caribbean bedroom or theme. To me yellow walls are more suited for a kitchen or dining room or cafe. Yellow accents less than a third of the color in a bedroom to me work well but to have the majority of the bedroom in yellow - I haven't seen a successful example of that so far but I could be swayed if done well. I've been surprised before. Yellow is a warm color with a warm reflective light that to me can make people look healthier and food look more appetising like all warm colors. So why not put it where it works best. Yellow can be a friend but it depends. Lately, I love teal rooms with pops of yellow like the one in this article. Very nice!
3 months ago ·
combees I was very fortunate in the color yellow (Cameo Creme) that I used. I wouldn't even think of changing it because it is so relaxing. My bedroom has cream carpeting and am using a wedgewood blue with it. It's amazing how the color changes from room to room, depending on the colors used in the furniture.
3 months ago ·
joidevivre29 We are on the final stages of a kitchen/family room/mud hall renovation. Our kitchen and family room are a soft green/grey (Benjamin Moore Nantucket Gray). Our new cabinets are cream on the perimeter and deep rich brown on the island. My decorator (who has never steered me wrong in ten years) suggested Benjamin Moore Stuart Gold for the mud hall. It was just painted today, and it's a big change!

We live in the usually cloudy northeast US, so I think we'll love the warm gold, but we're anxious to see how the whole project turns out. There are no windows in the hall, so the gold does brighten it. The floors will be 5" hickory planks in a dark brown, and hopefully it will all pull together into that warm Tuscan look we're after.
2 weeks ago · ·
sandra1942 There's yellow and there's yellow. Some of the article's pictures are more gold than yellow. A soft yellow is serene and calming. A bright yellow can overwhelm. But every room should have a touch of yellow, it's the sun, the most basic of our needs. A flower, vase, no matter the size, provides that need. I have had yellow of all values and hues in every home I've had. It always feels like a happy room.
2 weeks ago · ·
joidevivre29 Well, after looking at the Stuart Gold walls all weekend, we decided there was just too much resemblance to paprika! The painter is currently redoing in Concord Ivory HC12, and it's a lovely warm shade of gold, minus all the red tones. We like it better already!
2 weeks ago ·
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