Using Yellow in Your Home

I didn’t think I liked yellow that much until I got a garden, then realised that I actually do like yellow.  It truly comes into its own at this time of year with the daffodils, primroses and forsythia at the beginning of Spring.  I have a beautiful laburnum tree that is resplendent at the moment  and many many welsh poppies that self seed all over the place.  It’s a sunshine colour and I never thought that I would be adding it to my interiors but here we are.

Slowly over the last few years I’ve been drawn to earthy colours, palettes that mimic nature and the changing seasons.  Without really realising I’ve been adding accessories that fall into the yellow spectrum, from a beautiful vintage French bowl to linens.  So it was a natural progression that something was going to get painted in a warming shade like my little kitchen cupboard.  The inspiration was the bowl I have just mentioned, which has sat on my kitchen table for a couple of years, I wanted to replicate it in paint and I think I managed it quite well.

When you say yellow you instant see bright and a bit garish but it is truly a very versatile shade, from the bright greenish acid tone right through to ochre/mustards that have brown undertones.  It works beautifully with dirty pinks and murky greens.  I love the rhubarb and custard combinations that Lisa Mehydene of Edit58 has in her kitchen in the Cotswolds and the Cote de Folk kitchen project that has a similar combination.

If you are brave a wall painted in a deep mustard would work wonderfully with worn woods and ticking stripes.  Painting an entrance hall in a cheery yellow, or pick out a cupboard as an accent amongst paler tones, its the perfect shade for all of these ideas.  Atelier Ellis have a superb collection of natural yellows among their collection, pollen being a favourite of mine.

Linens are the perfect way to add yellow to a scheme, tablecloths, napkins and tea towels in gingham or stripes.  Piglet in Bed do a wonderful range of different combinations of yellow linens, I do have my eye on some of them to add to the green and berry gingham I already have.

So now its not when but what can I paint yellow next!

Images 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 & 16