Yellow & Blue: My Old Friends

Those of you who have been following me for a while may have heard the story of my first big color mistake. It was back in the late 90’s; I chose a “nice warm neutral” for my living room and a darker shade for my dining room. The result was BandAid and Darker BandAid. As you can imagine, I have never gotten over those fleshy colors and do what I can to avoid them.*

But how about my early successes, you may ask? Well around the same time, I did a lot better in my kitchen and breakfast room in the same house. My inspiration was this China Shop fabric from Waverly. 

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It was probably a strategy for managing my yellow appliances — which would eventually be replaced. This space was on the shady side of the house, so the yellow brought some cheer to the space while a chambray colored sofa and navy blue matelassé chairs kept it fresh.

The breakfast room was paneled in cherry wood and the floors were teak parquet. (Hello 1961!) One wood or the other had to go, so much to my husband’s dismay (men and wood… it’s a thing) I painted that paneling a soft butter yellow. 

Butter Yellow, you say?

If you’ve been paying any attention, you will know that Butter Yellow is having a moment. For the last year or so, I have been asking myself when the blue and yellow looks I loved so dearly, so long ago, would resurface and I think this is the year. It’s been a long time, my friends!

I first spotted these gorgeous yellow & blue fabrics at Schumacher this spring:

Their latest collaboration with Matouk Bedding includes this glorious design called Baudin Butterfly (center). The blue is a little warmer than the cobalt of my 90s approach, and the yellow leans a little more into mustard. This adds up to a fresh update of the classic combo.

The fabric on the right (above) takes us right back to that stylized Provencal look that is probably what got me started! French style back then always seemed to revolve around blue & yellow.

I recently opened a Ballard Design catalog and found this vignette (right) in the very first pages. Combine the eternal popularity of blue, with the of-the-moment yellow and you have a return to a classic color combo that combines the comfort of blue with the optimism of yellow. And, we could all use a little optimism right now.

If you already have the blue in place, changing up your walls is a quick and affordable way to play with this what’s-old-is-new-again scheme. That said, yellow is one of the hardest paint colors to get right. A little goes a long way, and things can escalate quickly!

Even the highly talented Timothy Corrigan struggled and took three tries to get the yellow right in his French chateau. (Timmy, call me next time!)

Here are some of our very favorite yellows, one of which may work for you:

• White Hyacinth by Sherwin Williams: a sparkling pale color with the slightest touch of peach; highly transformative depending on the light

• Jersey Cream by Sherwin Williams: one of our favorite exterior yellows, warm and sunny without being cutesy

• Coronado Cream by Benjamin Moore: a yellow with a tiny bit of brown to keep it grounded but not so much that it turns beige

• Chamber Yellow by Benjamin Moore: a historically inspired yellow with the tiniest bit of green that keeps this color unexpected and elegant at the same time

• Glimmer by C2: a sophisticated butter yellow that would work in a more modern setting

*A note from Sarah: “I personally think it may be time for us to process our history with BandAid, as the world seems to keep pointing in the direction of soft dusty pink, beiges, and browns!”