Yellow- Saffron, butter, dandelion, daffodil, gold, corn, buttercup, sunshine, canary, citrine, grapefruit, maize, taxi cab. Yellow conjurs up a positive sunny feeling. I have come to love yellow more and more and tend to mix traditional with modern for a youthful feel. As I stated in a previous post regarding yellow two of the most celebrated rooms in 20th century interior design had bold lacquered yellow walls: Nancy Lancaster’s legendary London sitting room/office (shown below) and Babe and Bill Paley’s Fifth Avenue drawing room, decorated by Albert Hadley and Sister Parish. Let’s dive into some fabulously chic autumn yellow rooms.
The traditional approach:
We will start of with Nancy Lancaster’s famed yellow drawing room above. This room was done by John Fowler in 1957 and would be just as stunning if done today. Fowler applied numerous layers of glaze over a butter yellow paint.
Andrew Virtue drew his inspiration from Nancy Lancaster’s yellow room and created his own writing room ( on a smaller scale) at the Greystone Estate show house. This deep vibrant yellow works so well with burnt crsipy browns, greens, and plums.
A sitting room designed by yours truly. When the sun sets in the afternoon the pale gold walls glisten ( custom paint color by Rollinson Hues). A soft pale yellow is a great neutral backdrop for most colors. We wanted to enhance the sunset so the reds, corals, pinks, oranges, and golds were introduced. The simple sisal rug keeps the room grounded and approachable while the scattered throw rugs add warmth underfoot.
One of my favorite rooms in a house by Architect Gil Schafer. They used a slightly bolder yellow than I did and kept the furniture simply upholstered. The antiques steal the show ( all brown wood always looks great against yellow). Beautiful! On a side note, Veranda and their new editor in chief Dara Caponigro selected and recently announced the winners of their second annual Art of Design Awards. Honoring design industry trailblazers whose work is both “innovative and timeless”. Gil Schafer won the award in the architecture category. Congrats!
The bedroom above by Jeffrey Bilhuber introduces a strong yellow as drapes for the bed. How lovely to be cocooned in a yellow tent! I love the pale lilac paired with it.
Christopher Spitzmiller’s apartment is shown above as seen in Elle Decor. Yellows, browns, and teal blues keep the room fresh and modern.
One final Bilhuber creation. The slightly more modern tufting on the chairs (loosely tufted rather than deep) and the yellow sign in this room off of the dark wood walls.
The modern approach:
Tone on tone yellows paired with black and white by Jamie Drake make for an exciting bedroom. I love that the base of this bed is upholstered in zebra. Very chic.
Kelly Wearstler created this yellow and black library for the Viceroy Hotel in Santa Monica. Again we see tone on tone yellow paired with black, white, and mirror. The bookshelves turned on diagonal and books stacked in opposite directions adds whimsy and a focal point when you walk into the room.
Another room done by your truly. We needed to bring some life to this manhattan loft space. With pale seafoam on the walls and grey suede sofa we brought in a strong yellow Oushak carpet and pops of yellow ( throw pillows and accessories) for life.
This room could be filed under pink, red, or orange. I love the high gloss pink fireplace and I die over the silk ikat upholstered walls. The yellow linen roman shades with crisp brown ribbon tape inset keep the room feeling clean rather than chaotic.
Yellow paint picks:
1. Donald Kaufman Collection #30
2. Ralph Lauren Goldfinch
3. Benjamin Moore Showtime
4. Farrow and Ball Babouche
Traditional yellow wallcovering picks:
1. Farrow and Ball BP 1928
2. Farrow and Ball BP 1632
3. Farrow and Ball BP 572
Traditional yellow fabrics:
1. Lee Jofa Oak Leaves in yellow BFC 3514-14
2. F. Schumacher Seneca Cotton Stripe 62982
3. Lee Jofa Hisari ikat in plum 2008136_909
4. Quadrille Simba beige on gold
Traditional yellow accessories:
1. Antique spool stool with Robert Kime fabric through John Rosselli Antiques
2. Antique Samarkand rug through Doris Leslie Blau
http://www.1stdibs.com/furniture_item_detail.php?id=448340
3. Christopher Spitzmiller Happy lamps in Butter with 23k gold water gilt base
http://christopherspitzmiller.com/lampdetail.asp?LAMPID=112
4. William Sonoma Home cashmere yellow throw in lemon drop
http://www.wshome.com/products/p126/index.cfm?pkey=ccashmere%2Dfaux%2Dfur%2Dthrow
5. Sharyn Blond table linens in Jardin pattern
http://sharynblondlinens.com/hand_table.html#2
6. Bee Line Home throw pillows through John Rosselli Antiques NYC
Modern yellow wallcovering picks:
1. China Seas Balinese Batik in inca/ gold
2. F. Schumacher Imperial Trellis in citrine
3. Manuel Canovas Trellis in citrine
4. Cole and Son palm leaves in yellow
Modern yellow fabric picks:
1. Lee Jofa Tulip in white/ yellow GWF-2622-140
2. F. Schumacher Katsugi in gold and mushroom 2620934
3. Lee Jofa Facet in Saffrom SC10049-1612
4. Ruby Green Mary in yellow
5. Ruby Green Marilyn
Modern yellow accessories picks:
1. Lippa armchair in yellow through Tonic Home:
http://www.tonichome.com/catalog.php?item=1511
2. Yellow geometric pillow through Pieces Inc.
http://piecesinc.com/yellow-geometric-pillow
3. Pink Jacket on Yellow 50″ x 50″ gloss on aluminum by Natasha Law through Voltz Clarke Gallery
http://voltzclarke.com/law/1.html
4. Yellow garden stool through Tonic Home
http://www.tonichome.com/catalog.php?item=1419
5. Jonathan Adler Carnaby Lamp:
http://www.jonathanadler.com/Carnaby-Hollywood-Lamp/?cat=0&initial=
6. West Elm Parsons desk in tumeric:
http://www.westelm.com/products/parsons-desk-with-drawers-f099/?pkey=e%7Cyellow%7C9%7Cbest%7C0%7C1%7C24%7C%7C6&sku=1653740&cm_src=PRODUCTSEARCH||NoFacet-_-NoFacet-_-Common%20Top%20Wide%20Rule%20What’s%20New
7. Yellow vases set of 6
http://www.mermaidhut.com/Prod-18-1-2604-30/Yellow_Vases_Assorted_Set_of_Six.htm
8. The Rug Company Sellarsbrook rug by Suzanne Sharpe ( The Rug Company also won in it’s category for the Second Annual Art of Design Awards by Veranda.
http://www.therugcompany.info/contemporary-collection/suzanne-sharp/sellarsbrook-yellow.htm
9. Vanderhurd Kafir throw pillow colorway 4
http://www.vanderhurd.com/hand_crafted.php?t=cushions&p=1&id=358
xo,
S
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