Kitchen Design
Cooking With Color: When to Use Yellow in the Kitchen
Perk up your kitchen with a burst of Pineapple Delight or a dollop of Top Banana on the walls, cabinets or countertops
Are you a sunny optimist? Or do you just wish you could channel that vibe? Associated with happiness, exuberance and positivity, yellow is an excellent color choice for the kitchen. Since yellow reflects a large amount of visible light compared with other colors, it's best to limit brighter shades of this attention-getting hue to small doses and materials that you really want to stand out.
Here are my top yellow paint picks and eight eye-catching yellow Houzz kitchens to inspire you.
Here are my top yellow paint picks and eight eye-catching yellow Houzz kitchens to inspire you.
This cozy kitchen has a warm and inviting shade of yellow on the walls. Combined with the warm wood and brick tones and the clean white cabinetry, it's a pleasing kitchen palette.
See more of this kitchen
See more of this kitchen
Yellow looks modern in this contemporary stunner. The bold yellow cabinetry is balanced nicely by the light wood floor and darker wood-clad exposed ceiling. The stainless steel appliances add a cool sheen to the mix.
A bold yellow accent wall in the kitchen is a terrific way to create a vibrant focal point in an otherwise light and neutral kitchen. I like how the floor tile picks up the yellow, gray, black and white palette here. It's a cheery and modern kitchen color scheme.
This charming kitchen features a nice mix of mellow and bold yellows. The small bits of red and blue add drama without going overboard on color.
For those who favor softer yellows, take inspiration from this lovely kitchen and use a pale citrusy yellow on your cabinetry or kitchen walls. This seems like a happy space for preparing a meal on even the dreariest of days.
The great thing about yellow is that it can go superlight without becoming a sugary pastel. This creamy yellow wall color has just enough brown in it to keep it sophisticated. This is a beautiful kitchen with a soothing, natural palette.
I can't decide what I love most about this kitchen — those gorgeous mellow yellow backplash tiles from Heath Ceramics, the bold orange pendants that give a nice little punch of color or the delightfully curvaceous counter stools by the Cherner Chair Company. Sometimes too much bold color can distract from the fine materials used in a space. Here's an example of using just the right amount of color and letting the exquisite materials get the attention they deserve.
This yellow resin countertop sure makes a bold statement and draws your eye right to the cool, linear sink. The remainder of the colors used are light or neutral, allowing the countertop, sink and onyx backsplash behind the range to really stand out.
Tell us: Does a yellow kitchen make you happy? How have you used the hue in your home?
Tell us: Does a yellow kitchen make you happy? How have you used the hue in your home?
1. Sparkling Wine 15-3, by Pratt & Lambert
2. Pineapple Delight 211-3, by Pittsburgh Paints
3. Lemon Basil 097-3, by Mythic Paint
4. Daffodil Yellow 380-B4, by Behr
5. Decisive Yellow SW6902, by Sherwin-Williams
6. Laguna Yellow 291, by Benjamin Moore
7. Top Banana 3008-1C, by Valspar
8. Golden Treasure KM3437-2, by Kelly-Moore