{bits & pieces: bossy color goes yellow}

 Annie Elliot, an interior designer in Washington DC, spent seven years waiting, and wanting, to fall in love with her living room. Benjamin Moore helped seal the deal with Sunrays 343.

You can read more about her yellow living room and entire home on her blog, Bossy Color. Check out what the living room looked like a year ago; it gives me hope, as my rooms are always evolving.

What do you think of Annie’s yellow living room?

Here’s what you can do to find the perfect colors for your home:

•  shop at Hirshfield’s
•  take advantage of Hirshfield’s infinite color knowledge
•  sample a color at home with the Hirshfield’s Big Swatch, color sample pints, quarts and selected 2oz. Benjamin Moore colors

Let Hirshfield’s help you fall in love with your home all over again.

{bits & pieces: east-facing rooms}

 

Benjamin Moore Weston Flax HC-5

“Up here in Minnesota you see a lot of this flax color at harvest time. It has yellow as well as a bit of greenish tone, that crosses over between those two colors in an unusual way. The yellowness of the sun makes it look bright in the morning, but as the day goes on it sort of softens down yet still keeps that nice, warm feeling. I see it in a kitchen or a family room or a bedroom.  It’s so neutral that it could handle itself pretty much anywhere.

What to do in an East-facing room? This suggestion is from Tom Gunkleman, established Minneapolis designer. His response and 10 others are found in the April issue of House Beautiful’s monthly Color column.

{what works with yellow?}

Yellow to most people means sunshine and warmth. That would seemingly make it a perfect color to brighten up your home décor, but it can be difficult to know how to use it well, especially along with other colors.

Decorpad

Yellow is a great companion. Include it with a cool palette of blues and grays to perk things up, alongside orange for a summery theme, or combine blue and yellow together for an eye-catching duo. If you want your look to be exciting, and red or orange are too much, bright yellow is the ticket. But you can also mix red and yellow for an electric combination.

House Beautiful

Very pale yellows can be considered neutral, and go nicely with darker or richer colors. To create contemporary design, add yellow to neutral grays and black. Olive green, brown and yellow will create a deeper earthy look, and bright or light greens can be paired with yellow if you are going for a natural, fruity color palette.

Thibaut paper

Thibaut paper from Home Heist

So step out into the sunshine with yellow – with these perfect compliments to suit your tastes and home.

Still want to try? House Beautiful will help you get started in the right direction with tips from designers and their favorite yellows.

Images:

Decorpad, HB apartment, Thibaut wallpaper

{choosing paint colors?}

Choosing paint colors: Why so hard?

Rhonda Prast, Star Tribune columnist, shares her frustration in selecting the elusive yellow for her home.

“For months, I have been looking for the perfect yellow/wheat color for our bedroom wall…Color specialist Mark Masica from Hirshfield’s explains that the biggest problem with choosing paint color is… ” read more here at Star Tribune’s HOMEGIRLS blog.

image source

{best uses of yellow in your home}

Yellow was one of the most popular colors of 2009, and with good reason – it is considered to be bright and cheery, and who couldn’t use some cheering up every once in a while? Here are some of the best ways to use yellow in your home and some things to consider when doing so:

• Liven Up A Cold Room: Yellow can be very effective in a north-facing room, adding warmth to a space that might usually feel cold due to the lack of natural sunlight. It also works great on the walls in a lower level to help warm up and bring life into the space.
• You Are What You Wear: It can be tough to find the right shade of yellow to adorn your walls, so a good rule of thumb is that if you wouldn’t wear it, you probably won’t like it on your walls.
• Natural is Best: When contemplating using yellow in a room, think natural – shades like straw, butter and sunshine yellow are best. I love Hirshfield’s Good Looking (#0918), and Benjamin Moore’s Safari (AF335) is a great butter tone.


Hirshfield's Good Looking



Benjamin Moore's Safari




• Accent Pieces: Yellow is a great accent color to liven up a room without making drastic changes or overwhelming your senses. It’s amazing what bringing in just a touch of yellow will do for a room — think pillows, art and fresh flowers.

Also, remember that when you look at colors online, they’re always a little off, so it’s best to check out samples in the store to determine what shade is perfect for your home.

Painting With Yellow: Buttery is Best

Before our first baby arrived, my husband I painted the nursery summer yellow with a light blue ceiling and clouds. Of course, we made the choice because we didn’t know if we were having a boy or a girl. Yellow, in the baby world, is the gender-neutral color of choice. There is nothing like a nice, buttery yellow to warm the room and create a soft place for a baby to land in this world.

When we remodeled our vintage 1940 Dutch colonial the color that covered our walls was a deep, faux painted goldenrod yellow. The glow ran wall to wall and embraced the living room with an inviting hospitality that relaxed our visitors. Each of our homes since then has had at least one room painted in a version of this same glowing tint.

What I am not mentioning is how many samples of yellow I went through to arrive at these ideal tones. The best yellow is chosen with care by a critical eye. If it airs on the side of greenish yellow it can become cold or flat. If it airs on the side of brownish yellow it can become uncomfortable and trigger the gag reflex. And if it airs on the side of fluorescent yellow it can become loud and distracting. Yes, yellow can be temperamental but when you get it just right it will travel with you from house to house like a favorite quilt to keep you warm. Check back next week for some tips on using yellow in your home from Kathy Basil of Hirshfield’s Design Studio.

Photos from Great Interior Design.

{best yellows}

If yellow is on your radar for a new wall color, let Suzanne get you started in the right direction. Psst!  Yellow is a hard color to get right, so pay attention my friends;  don’t make the mi$take$ I have!

color theory – best yellows

This post is used with permission and courtesy of good bones, great pieces.

By far, the most frequently asked question to designers like me is: “What color should I paint my bedroom, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, hallway…?” So today, we’re sharing our best recommendations for tried and true yellows. But, hold on! Before you run out to the paint store, remember this: whenever we paint rooms yellow, we always use creamy white moldings. My favorite creamy white is Benjamin Moore Acadia White (OC-38). It has a hint of red in it, which really complements any yellow wall. And if you’re feeling really ambitious, paint the ceiling of any yellow room a silvery gray, like Benjamin Moore Gray Mist (OC-30). Perfect combinations, every time.