It all started because my rug got ruined. I won’t go into how because that is a story all on its own. But lets just say I needed a new rug.
“Well, if we are getting a new rug we might as well recover the bench and if we are doing that we might as well paint the walls…… and so on and so forth. We have all been there, right?
I have always loved my family room. And even though I am changing things up a bit, that does not mean everything is getting hauled off. We have plans to finish our attic someday and to me an attic would be the perfect place for my Americana inspired decor. So I will store what I don’t repurpose for the new family room and use it in the future for the attic space.
I have loved my golden walls. They are so rich and warm and make our family room seem so homey. But the new look begged for something a little lighter. I still want to stay in the yellow family though.
If you have ever tried to pick out a yellow paint color you KNOW how hard it can be. Those little paint cards lie. LIE, I tell ya. They tell you they are a nice buttery yellow and then you paint your room and they scream bright lemon.
So here are my tips for picking out a yellow color that won’t overwhelm you.
*Always go more tan than you think you want. It may look like it is too tan but trust me, you get it on the whole wall and it will brighten up. If you choose the perfect color on the paint chip, it will come out too bright.
*ALWAYS buy a sample can. Those half pint little jars of paint are huge life savers. And for less than $5.00 it is a cheap way to ensure you have the right color before you buy a couple of gallons of the stuff. If you don’t want to paint a section of your wall then get cardboard or plywood and paint that. Put the plywood in your space and live with it for a few days. You need to see how it will look in the morning, evening, and at night with your lights.
*Yellow, like most colors, has an undertone. There are yellows with a blueish green undertone, yellows with an orange undertone and yellows with a brown undertone. And sometimes you can really tell until you get them in your home and hold them up to the wall in natural light. Another way to tell is if the paint card has multiple shades of the color, look at the darkest color and you should be able to tell if it is cool or warm.
*Be okay with the fact that you may have to buy several sample cans of paint before you find the right one. Yellow is tricky to get right. Just go into it with low expectations. And if you do get it right the first time then you can reward yourself with some chocolate that you bought with the money you would have spent on other sample cans :)
Here is my wall full of color choices……. Some of which are very wrong. In my defense they looked much better in the store. Which is why you never pick a color and buy the paint all in one trip.
And here are my top two choices. I actually may pour both sample cans together stir them up and call it good. Because I can’t decided.
Aside from painting and getting a new rug, I will be building a few things, getting pillows (mine got ruined in the wash by he who shall remain nameless), adding more pictures, and recovering my bench. I haven’t convinced my hubby that the ceiling fan needs to go yet. But maybe……ummmm…. something will happen to it………payback for the pillows?
Here is a tiny peek at some of the elements that may or may not make the final cut.
You will also like:
This is my favorite part of a home project the planning. Warm monochromatic color pallete, will you be adding an accent color too?
Love the yellow-golds! I hear you on the “don’t look the same on the card.” Every time I look at my walls I see too much orange. It is though we live in a Mexican restaurant! Good Luck, can’t wait to see the finished product. Paint is wonderful for a cheap change!
Have a great day,
Susan West
Great advice as I think yellows are the hardest color to get right. I once picked a lovely yellow color only to discover that it was too bright and, worse, had a GREEN undertone that made the walls look mucus colored every day after dark. GROSS! The advice to go with a more tan shade of yellow is sound!
I hear ya with the yellows! They are a tough one. I like the lower one in the photo of the 2 your deciding between. The top one reminds me of the color we had in our living room. After a while I felt like we were in a bottle of dijon mustard. Whatever you choose, I’m sure it will turn out lovely.
I can’t wait to see it when you have it done. And with the yellows, you say they lie, well so does gray. I painted 4 or 5 different colors of gray samples in 6 different places in the room, picked the one I liked, and painted the room. Now it looks blue. :( One of these days I will try again and hope to get a better color. I wish I would have gone with gray that had a brown undertone, but I didn’t even realize there was a blue undertone on the one I picked. Good luck getting the color just right. :)
Hey there. I had a bright yellow room as a teenager, and loved it. Yellow is such a happy color. I must say that I really love the top color of the two swatches you chose. Be bold.
I’m not sure what colors you have narrowed it down to – but I have half my house painted Behr’s “Calm Air” – it is an awesome color! Good luck to you.
Pretty! Can’t wait to see it. I think those two paint colors combined would look fantastic!!!
I love the colors you’re choosing between! Hmmm, the blend of both might just be perfect. And I love the other elements you’re considering…harlequin, vase perhaps? And that stencil pattern is beautiful! I can’t wait to see how it all turns out.
Looking good!!
Nice plan so far! I bought 27 sample cans to pick a yellow for my little cabin. Yes, 27!! And you know what I finally picked, the very first one that I so admired and got me to even thinking about yellow. At that point, I was so sick of even thinking of paint, I told the painter to paint the whole house the same color. He did, ceilings included (guess I wasn’t too clear). At least the trim is white. Someday when I’m feeling especially energetic, the ceilings will get painted…or maybe the next owner can do that.
I agree yellow is super hard!! I painted my kitchen a tan color, at least that’s what I thought it was but then it turned out mustard yellow. I ended up loving it, but it was not at all what I expected. It’s great advice to go a bit more tan!!
Picking a yellow can be tricky. You have given great advice on how to pick the right yellow. It is not a color I would naturally pick myself for my home. I tend to be drawn in by blues. But I think the same advice given for picking a yellow could be applied for picking any color.
Have a wonderful day!
Painting test samples on a colored surface can REALLY change the way that you see the color, even when you’re simply choosing a different shade of the same color. I’ve found that I’m better off either doing a large, thin coat of white primer and then testing or putting the colors on a large white board.
(In one room, I ended up with a grey that was far more blue than I thought it was going to be (I wanted a green undertone), because the surrounding yellow/maize background color made the blue tint appear significantly more green that it really was! Live & learn :o)
Some great choices. I personally liked the bottom color best, but then, I’m not much of a risk taker, and it seems a little safe. I can see you making the top choice awesome. I love how paint changes everything yet is relatively inexpensive. I wish you had posted this a few months ago. We just painted our bathroom yellow and it came out a little brighter than I intended. I still like it much better than before. There’s not natural light in there so I wanted something light and happy. Just not blinding… can’t wait to see what you do.
I just painted my living room a golden tan and at night it looks green to me. Not sure if I’m going to like it much. I may need to change my lightbulbs. Good luck.
I suggest a warm golden yellow eggshell finish paint color on the walls. I painted my walls on this color and it looks great a good combination for dark colors.