Using Yellow - Yellow Painting Ideas

Yellow shades have an inherent brightness, freshness and warmth that make them an ever-popular colour to use all around the home.

Evoking happiness and optimism, yellow paint colours bring sunshine inside on the cloudiest of days. From bold, bright yellows to deeper, richer and more muted tones, find the perfect shade of yellow for every room in the home.

Explore our yellow room schemes to inspire your upcoming projects.

A warm welcome: rich yellow living room ideas

Living rooms can have many purposes, from relaxing with family to entertaining friends and home working. More than anything, they should have an inviting and comforting feel, which can be achieved through the use of warmer, earthier tones. Rich yellows like Middle Buff or Yellow-Pink have an inherent natural quality that makes them really easy to live with. They also offer the same joyful and uplifting effect that makes yellow such a popular choice to use in the home.

Make an entrance: yellow shades for hallway spaces

Hallways are the perfect place to introduce yellow tones into the home, creating an instant warm welcome for guests. Intrinsically inviting, yellow walls bring cheerful warmth to small, often poorly lit spaces such as hallways, porches or entranceways.

For a timeless entrance, try a classic creamy yellow such as Bath Stone or Oak Apple. These gentle shades have a real sense of provenance that makes them the perfect choice for more traditional properties. Combine with a pure white like Loft White or Slaked Lime on the ceiling and woodwork for a bright and airy space. Add a contemporary uplift with botanical elements and complementary light woods.

Stair flair: accent tones on architectural features

Stairs are often overlooked when designing the home, but the staircase provides plenty of scope for yellow painting ideas. Adding a colour accent to your staircase is a great way to inject personality into a functional area. It’s also the perfect opportunity to incorporate really bright, bold shades that might feel overwhelming to use on a whole wall.

Trumpet is an almost luminous shade of yellow that looks fabulous when painted onto stair risers. For real impact, contrast with a classic monochrome scheme, using Shallows on the floor and Urbane Grey and Lamp Black on the baseboards.

Sunshine shades: yellow kitchens and dining spaces

Use sunshine yellows in open plan kitchens and dining rooms to embrace their cheerful optimism. Filling the space with an air of brightness and buoyancy, these shades work really well to reflect the energetic atmosphere of such busy areas of the home.

Lively, sunny shades like Indian Yellow or Giallo can be used across all walls to provide enveloping warmth. For an element of contrast, introduce blues on the floor or opposing walls to add a balanced, cooling effect to the space. Bone China Blue pairs beautifully with Giallo, alongside a dark coloured floor. Or use the verdant green, Hopper, on baseboards for a surprising accent.

If you’d prefer something softer, introduce gentle yellows in small proportions for a warm morning glow. Sunlight provides an uplifting backsplash when painted over existing tiles to create an accent wall. Prime your tiles with our Intelligent ASP (All Surface Primer) then use the Intelligent Satin finish. Team with walls in the pastel white, Stock, and add impact with a rich indigo like Woad on cabinetry.

Embrace the day: yellows in bedrooms

The boundless energy of bright yellows is beneficial in rooms used in the mornings to set your day off to a positive start. Wake up feeling bright and cheery by painting your bedroom walls in your favourite shade of yellow.

Take it outside: sunny shades in exterior spaces

Yellow feels at home in garden schemes, creating a beautiful natural colour scheme alongside lush green foliage and clear blue skies. Vibrant yet earthy, Yellow-Pink is a versatile shade to use in your exterior scheme. Use in combination with Scree and rattan, concrete and natural stone materials for a relaxing sitting area. Or pair with the strong endless blue, Mazarine, for a scheme with a distinctive Mediterranean ambience.

Yellow is also an excellent choice for front doors, where it can reflect your personality and bring a smile to the face of passers-by. Try Mister David to provide a warm welcome to guests. Inviting, homely and exuberant, this glowing yellow will lift your spirit every time you walk through the door!

Front Door: Mister David

Woodwork: Loft White

Discover yellow paint shades on the Colours of England Colour Card

Our Creative Director, Ruth Mottershead, explores some of the most-loved yellow paint shades on our 'Colours of England' colour card.

'Yellow is a timeless and positive colour; it’s perfect for busy spaces that see a lot of activity such as your hallway or kitchen. These hues instantly lift the mood and atmosphere of the room. The kitchen, often seen as the heart of the home, is the perfect space to use bolder colours, such as ‘Giallo’, reminiscent of golden sun, which will bring joy and create an energetic scheme. You can use this to highlight architectural details or as an accent colour on one of the walls, pairing it with soft greens and whites such as ‘Garden’ and ‘Silent White’ in the rest of the space, for a more elegant and pared back scheme. For an impactful look, drench your space in colour on all four walls, used all over, ‘Giallo’ will envelop the kitchen with sunshine all year round.'

'In addition to the golden toned ‘Giallo,’ we have introduced two other yellows; a deep ochre named ‘Bassoon’, and a warm ‘Indian Yellow’. We really see this year as being the year of ‘yellow’, reflecting our desire for warmth and making us feel uplifted in our homes. These three yellows have been formulated to be used as an all over colour – en masse, without being either too bright or strong – certainly yellow but very easy on the eye.'

Click here for more inspiration or order samples to begin your yellow room project.