QUESTION
We are in the process of remodeling & redecorating the interior of our home. I am going bonkers over trying to pick out a soft yellow color to put on the walls of our Kitchen, Dining Room, Living Room & Hallway. These rooms have an open floor plan so I feel its best to keep the color the same in these rooms. I want our home to feel warm & friendly and I have always wanted to paint it yellow, but the colors I've sampled all seem to be too bright. My husband insists on Benjamin Moore paint, so if you could suggest a yellow paint to try from BM, that would be perfect. Thank You So Much!
ANSWER
Choosing a perfect yellow is not as easy as you might expect. Yellow intensifies when painted on walls more so than many other colors. What looks like a soft hue on the small swatch can appear much brighter when covering the entire room as it seems you have already experienced.
I recommend looking for a very pale gold rather than a yellow. While yellow invites friendly conversation around the dinner table, I think the soft glow of a golden hue would be a better choice for your living and dining rooms because it has a more sophisticated look. The soft gold will still be warm and welcoming in you hallways and kitchen.
Without knowing anything about the style of your home, your families personality or the lightening I prefer not to give you a specific color to use but can point you to a few of the Benjamin Moore paint colors that have worked well for me in the past. From their collection of historic colors #HC-5 'weston flax' is a wonderful light golden yellow, and #HC-6 'windham cream' is a soft yellow that is a tad warmer. Colors from their standard paint collection you might like are #302 'you are my sunshine' or #309 'ambiance'.
Since the same color can look completely different depending on the natural and artificial lightening I always recommend sampling the paint and looking at it in your home at different times of the day. I have put together a special report specifically outlining the steps to take the beautiful color vision in your head and see it on your walls. Click here to get the special report: 'Sample Your Way to Paint Color Success'
