I'm agonizing over paint colors for the exterior of my house including an array of golds and yellows. I'm headed out right now to get a sample of BM Straw. Inside I have used Ellen Kennon Buttercream.

You might want to read Maria Killam's take on yellows:

Here is a link that might be useful: The Best Designer Yellows

I have Windham Cream in my bedroom, and it's much more yellow than I expected. A much softer yellow is what I have put in our little lake cottage--Cottonseed by Behr. If you're looking for a yellowy white, try Churchill Hotel Lace by Valspar. You only see the yellow cast when it's against white trim.

I have Windham Cream in my new kitchen and I love it. Yellow without screaming yellow. I think I got lucky though. It is one of the colors you can get a small sample of though at BM.

Allie

I loved BM Straw whan I painted it in a small room that was to serve as the kids playroom. The trim was 1 shade lighter in Filtered Sunlight and the built in bookshelves the next shade lighter, Vanilla Ice Cream. It was gorgeous!!!! I remeber thinking 'this is the most sophisticated playroom'. DS1 temporarily moved into the room and didn't want to leave it. He said it was warm and made him happy.

I didn't keep the color as there was no yellow anywhere else in my house but if I were to ever have a home that had accents of yellow, well I'd paint a room exactly the same way w/o hesitation!

I think Restoration Hardware had a light yellow paint called 'butter' but I don't even know if they still sell that, it has been a few years since I was in the store. Benjamin Moore Monroe Bisque looks like eggnog to me, maybe close to buttery?

SW Straw Doll is a butter color. I have it in my kitchen and it changes color to a very light yellow when the sun comes in to a nice mellow butter yellow at night. I love this color, it makes me relax.

Try BM 213 - Harp Strings (from the Classic deck). We have it in the living room and it looks great.

Sue

My LR/DR is BM Vellum. I know it depends on light, but in mine it is exactly that. . . a soft buttery yellow.

I was so excited about having found BM Straw. It looks so yummy in the can. Unfortunately, it looks like orange sherbet on my house. Back to the fan deck.

For a very soft yellow, try BM Simply Irresistible, or for a soft yellowy white, try goldtone. Goldtone is in the whites section of BM. There is another one I am thinking of that you might like--it's a Pottery Barn color--sand beach--I think--it's a beautiful neutral with just a bit of soft yellow.
I envy your bright, sunny space and would do the same with my house...unfortunately, my house is not so bright.

Thank you everyone!

Bronswynsmom, thanks for the advice about using a yellowy white. My normal MO is to choose the bold, brash, vibrant color. In my living area, I'd like to be a tad more...grown-up might be the word to use.lol Your thoughts on how yellow works on the walls is being taken to heart.

Jboling and Allie...windham cream sounds delish. I want a yellow that doesn't scream yellow. I'll pick up a sample tomorrow.

snailpace, cookingrvc, and cherigw those colors sounds wonderful. I'll be looking at those chips tomorrow also.

Graywings, I picked up a strip with BM straw on it today. When you said orange sherbert my heart stuttered. Yikes. But...ttodd, this strip has straw, filtered sunlight, and vanilla ice cream. What yummy combos.

I also got a strip with goldtone on it. Thanks, elle3. I'm going to sample that, I think. It's my fav so far, with Filtered sunlight running second.

I love painting things yellow. It's the color of joy to me.

SW napery

I'm sure as w/ all colors it will depend on your exposure. What appears orange sherbet in one home appears totally different in another.

I am also going to suggest that your trim color will also make a big difference in how bright or subdued a wall color will look.

Since I picked all 3 colors off of the top of the same strip it was a very soft look. I gaurantee that if I paired it w/ crisp white I would not have liked it.

I want to report further on BM Straw. It continues to look like orange sherbet on the exterior of my house. However, it looks wonderful in my bathroom; no hint of orange sherbet.

But the kicker is, I've had this color on the walls of my bathroom since I moved in, I just didn't know it. I was walking around the house with this open can of paint and decided to try it in the bathroom, and lo and behold, it matches!

Ellen Kennon's Buttercream would be my first choice in a living room.

I like her Honeysuckle, too. I had it in a kitchen that got a lot of light from a west window. It has more presence than the Buttercream.

I just used BM Windham Cream in my kitchen with BM Linen White trim. Just the perfect color of butter, especially when the sunshine hits it!

Straw & Vellum are gorgeous too, but stronger.

BM's Rich Creme soft yellow without being too yellow. You can get it in a sample pot.

Thanks to all for the great suggestions. I've put the decision on hold for a couple of weeks while I finish real estate school. Plus, I've decided I want a stronger statement with my window treatments...so picking that fabric ought to come first. I know what I want, just gotta hope I can find it.

I haven't read the replies yet, but Amy turned me onto SW Tealight which is the exact color of butter. I actually held a stick of butter to it. lol.

It doesn't scream yellow either. It looks like cream in some lighting, and very very pale yellow in other lighting.

Take a look at the Ben Moore Affinity color "subtle". It is lovely...and reads like a soft, buttery yellow/white depending on the light.

This is the only picture I have...and doesn't really do it justice...but you'll get an idea:

Ellen Kennon's Buttercream is my very favorite "adult" yellow:

Dian57 that is such a pretty color and name. Wouldn't that be a great job thinking up the names of colors?

I used Vanilla Custard by Valspur in my bedroom. And if you have ever had a custard cone up north...well...I rest my case. Keep in mind my walls are all wood, so the color may be different on smooth walls. Although, it matched the paint chip. I would say it is more cream with yellow under tones. I hate I had the wainscotting painted blue, oh well.
Excuse the shovel by my bed, a snake got into my house and changed my personality.
....Jane

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{gwi:1507263}}

A snake? You mean a real reptile, or an ex-husband who started to look a lot cuter after the third margarita??

(Sorry...couldn't help myself...)

What I rang in for was to tell you how much I envy your draped four-poster. That's a weakness I can't indulge and keep my DH from sleeping somewhere else! He imagines getting up in the night and accidentally hanging himself on the way to the loo....

That's funny bronwynsmom and thank you. He won't hang himself I promise.

Yes, a three foot snake came into my house and I don't know how he got in. Thank God it was in the A.M., I stood there in shock and after I came to, (sort of speak) I called the police. It wasn't poisonous, but it was a snake and they caught him. That was three years ago and the shovel will never leave that spot.

Now back to soft butter!

Check out an Ace Hardware paint color called "Manor White". (It's not white.) It's a delectable, mouth watering creamy yellow, so subtle, just a whisper of lemony/lime. Almost translucent, it leaves you wanting more. Not cold, not glaring or jittery. Soft & soothing. I have run the gamut of yellows and this one is a hit for me, one of my favorites! Sorry, no pics. Goes well and can hold its own with a multitude of colors. Everything from whites to dark antique wood, cream, gray, lilac/purples, deep greens, blues and even black (pic frame). I painted it in 2 BRs in a different house and love waking up to that color, it just makes you want to smile and languish in it a bit. ;-)

I have to put in a vote for Behr's THREADED GOLD. It is a very soft true yellow, like light yellow ochre. Earthy, and not at all the harshness of a chemical yellow. Chrome yellow is not what you want.

I've painted two bedrooms, a study, and two kitchens and a back porch this color. In one of the rooms, I sponged the paint on lightly over a flat coat of Behr Ultra Pure White.
And it looked like pure sunshine so that the walls just receded and disappeared. I was amazed.

The color is one of Behr's older paints, but it can be mixed with the new base. Please do take a look at it, it is soul satisfying.

newdawn 1895...that snake probably came in after a mouse. Was it a black rat snake? One of my favorite snakes. They keep voles down. Copperheads generally avoid yards with a resident black snake.

We had one living in the basement ceiling for awhile...he liked to hang out over the flush ceiling light in The Husband's office. He left when the weather warmed up. We still aren't certain how he got in.

OMG misee the thought of that scares me to death. The exterinator said the chances of the snake coming back are slim to none. It was a rat snake but I have never seen any signs of mice. Please don't scare me with snake stories, it will be dark soon and I live alone.

Looking at my post again misee it sounds a little rude and that was not my intention, okay?

This is the correct spelling exterminator. (lol)

Here is BM Vellum:

Here's another vote for BM Goldtone. I have it in my living room and foyer/hallways, and I love it! It varies from looking like warm cream to a very soft butter yellow depending on time of day, and plays nice w/all the other colors in my house.

BM's Vellum:

Tomorrowisanotherday, are you channelling Nancy Lancaster and her "buttah yullah?"

Oh, these all sound so wonderful. Can't wait to get my hands on a paintbrush!

Newdawn...now worries. I didn't take it as rude...I took it as the phobia it must be. I'm sorry I scared you!

Shermin Williams Honied White is very pretty yet understated so that it serves as a backdrop for other colors to shine.

For years now, Behr's THREADED GOLD has served me well. It is like having sunshine on the walls--it says welcome home! I've used it in various rooms in several houses, with the first use in a cave-like kitchen. It did not shine in that application (the room had no windows, just pass throughs to rooms which did have windows). In that same house, I rag rolled it on in a southwest facing study, room size 8 x 9, and it instantly made the walls disappear like I was walking through sunshine. It responds to the presence of sunlight. Since that time, THREADED GOLD is my go-to color for kitchen and dining. Now, I have it on kitchen, dining, and sitting room which are open to one another.

I consider this color a soft yellow ochre, an earthy yellow. I avoid harsh chrome yellows, which probably serve well for lacquered surfaces. I wish my camera would take true color shots, but neither my smartphone camera nor the Kindle camera are accurate for color renditions. Perhaps the Nikon would be, if I could find it, but everything is packed away for our remodel still in progress. In fact, the painters left today after touching up their whole-house paint job, behind the trim installed by the finish carpenters. Right now, everything is in perfect shape but with no furniture to speak of, no kitchen installed, etc. Wall color shows better with other color around it, including wood trim and floors.
I took pictures just now. Want to remind you of one thing though. When you have a light bulb around your yellow, be sure it is not a cool white, which has a blue tinge to it....your nice pure yellow walls will show a green tint.

Taken today...

That is a very old cypress louvered door in this picture, BTW.

I had Goldtone in my last house in the kitchen... It was a very pretty, soft yellow. I now gave Windswept ( living room) and like that one as well. Soft, creamy and just a hint of yellow.

DW chose Behr "Glow" as a color for a room with a purple accent wall. It one of their older colors and it is white with a hint of yellow to it. That is if you want to go the white with some yellow route.

This thread is from 2010, so I'm sure the OP has likely chosen the yellow by now.

Oops, lol. Let's hope:)

Sigh.....I seem to miss the technicalities such as timeliness! ;)

Have a soft, soft yellow room which we love. To my way of thinking, it is much softer than the picture at BM.

http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/provencecreme

WalnutCreek, thanks for the link. What a great name BM gave your paint choice. At the time I was trying to decide on which yellow--since Behr had discontinued Threaded Gold at the time--I ordered sample boards of several choices which this online source would mix for me. One or more of my sample boards was Benjamin Moore, nearly the ProvenceCreme. We looked at the samples under all kinds of light, in various rooms, and the one which remained visually the shade we wanted, was Threaded Gold. But that is our eyes, our expectations.

Even if the original poster has moved on to other venues, the subject of yellow walls I suppose will remain with us always. Color is emotional, another expression of LIGHT. Which does contribute to the sense of well being for us humans. The feeling I get entering my yellow rooms filled with sunlight, simply and absolutely.....JOY.