Tricky Yellow — Friend or Foe?
It might rev you up or wear you down. Learn what the experts have to say about using this complex color at home
Sunny yellow can conjure up happy, warm feelings, but it can also represent cowardliness, betrayal, jealousy and duplicity. No matter what the implication, yellow grabs attention and catches the eye. In poorly lit hallways, yellow shows the way. In bedrooms it lifts the mood. But be careful — bright yellow can look too strong and become an irritant. Don't let that scare you from using this color, though! Here's some expert advice on how yellow can better your home.
Feng shui practitioner Rodika Tchi says, "Golds and yellows are the darlings of a good feng shui home. Gold is very popular in feng shui because of its association with money and wealth, and yellow is the absolute color of happiness and warmth. The right use of these colors will bring a vibrant, warm but also gentle energy."
Yellow works beautifully with contrasting blue to give a cool and relaxing vibe to this elegant bedroom.
Yellow works beautifully with contrasting blue to give a cool and relaxing vibe to this elegant bedroom.
In Hinduism yellow is the color of the solar plexus chakra, which is representative of vitality and will. The belief is that when this chakra is open, it acts to empower a person to find personal strength.
These lovely soft yellows and golds are very easy on the eye — a perfect backdrop for rejuvenating at the end of the day.
These lovely soft yellows and golds are very easy on the eye — a perfect backdrop for rejuvenating at the end of the day.
Yellow is the easiest color to see from a distance — that's why taxis are usually yellow, and the yellow flag in car races signals caution. Historically, women across many cultures used to tie a yellow ribbon in their hair or around a tree to welcome their men home from war.
Make your home welcoming with a yellow front door. There's no way your visitors will accidentally drive past your house!
Make your home welcoming with a yellow front door. There's no way your visitors will accidentally drive past your house!
Despite all of its benefits, the experts at Color Matters tell us that yellow is the most fatiguing of colors. More light is reflected by this bright color, excessively stimulating the eyes. Try to use bright yellow in small amounts, especially in task areas.
Yellow is a sunny and cheerful color in softer shades. In this office it works wonderfully as an accent to turquoise.
Yellow is a sunny and cheerful color in softer shades. In this office it works wonderfully as an accent to turquoise.
Artist and University of Alberta, Canada, professor Harry Wohlfarth conducted research in the 1980s that showed that blood pressure, pulse and respiration rates increased the most under yellow light.
If you love those bright lemon yellows, then maybe reserve them for a powder room, where you're unlikely to spend enough time for it to become a problem.
If you love those bright lemon yellows, then maybe reserve them for a powder room, where you're unlikely to spend enough time for it to become a problem.
While old wives' tales claim that babies cry more in a yellow room and partners will argue more in a yellow kitchen, but these have yet to be scientifically proven. I say if you like it, go with it — but perhaps exercise caution and steer clear of those vivid lemon yellows.
Vincent van Gogh was a particular admirer of yellow. In 1888 he wrote to his sister from the South of France: "Now we are having beautiful warm, windless weather that is very beneficial to me. The sun, a light that for lack of a better word I can only call yellow, bright sulfur yellow, pale lemon gold. How beautiful yellow is!"
Surely the sun makes us all feel better. There is nothing quite like a warm yellow for creating a Mediterranean aesthetic with terra-cotta tiles and warm woods, as shown here.
See how to work with bright yellow
Tell us: Is yellow your friend or foe, and how have you used it? Tell us in the Comments!
Surely the sun makes us all feel better. There is nothing quite like a warm yellow for creating a Mediterranean aesthetic with terra-cotta tiles and warm woods, as shown here.
See how to work with bright yellow
Tell us: Is yellow your friend or foe, and how have you used it? Tell us in the Comments!
Mixing the masculine yellow and feminine black together gives this Asian-inspired space balance.