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October 29, 2009
Yellow With Wood
My living room/kitchen has lots of heavy, well-preserved walnut trim with burl detailing. It's in very good condition and I will never even consider painting it. The walls are another story. I'd like to go with a warm palette and would love to find the perfect golden, yellowish paint. I've found some that are close but haven't hit on the right one. Does anyone have a favorite, preferably Benjamin Moore, yellow? I thought Concord Ivory would be it but the wood made it look rather green..
Comments
Check out "cream Yellow"- I think its Benjamin Moore but it might be Behr (Can't remember). Its a lovely, very yellowed ivory.
Posted by: bxgrl at October 29, 2009 1:09 PM
Depends on the light, but check out both Windham Cream and Hepplewhite Ivory in B. Moore's historic color collection.
Posted by: vinca at October 29, 2009 1:14 PM
I think the best way to choose a paint color is to get pints of different color choices and paint patches on your wall to evaluate over the course of several days.
Posted by: Schultz at October 29, 2009 1:20 PM
Thanks for the good suggestions. These are all good colors, all better than what I have in terms of underlying tones, but may be too light. Right now the space is painted Benjamin Moore Filtered Sunlight 2154-60, an absolutely lovely color with white trim, much less so with all the wood.
I get extremely bright southern and western light. The wood is very dark. I think the space would look more grounded with a more mid-range color. Comments?
What's your favorite color for a brownstone parlor floor?
Posted by: bessie2 at October 29, 2009 1:33 PM
Ever consider some of the paler sage greens?? They go really well with dark woods.
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at October 29, 2009 1:52 PM
whoa i thought Dave accidently posted a personal Ad in the forum at first lol
on a serious note, yellows are hard to get right!! i think a few people on this site and elsewhere have said so. if you have a room yellow where the different in light between day and night from the outside is very drastic, it's even harder.
*rob*
Posted by: Butterfly at October 29, 2009 1:54 PM
Check out Farrow's Cream - by Farrow & Ball. That brand actually has beautiful colors that you can have custom matched by Benjamin More.
I think Rob is right that yellows can be difficult because they look so dramatically different with different lights, but having said that, I love yellow and have several yellows (all Farrow & Ball's) in my house. Good luck!
Posted by: Ray at October 29, 2009 2:17 PM
OK, wait a second. I am painting two rooms in Farrow's Cream right now, and it's a cream with a lot of orange in it. Not a yellow.
I would recommend Dayroom Yellow by Farrow & Ball. You can see the swatch online to get a general idea, and you can get a color card and see the paint actually painted on wood in their showroom and buy a sample pot for $6 or whatever it is in their Soho retail store. If you see a few yellows you like, get sample pots of them all, because colors can look dramatically different in different surroundings.
Then, shhhhhh, just get it made up at Benjamin Moore. They will tell you it might not be the same, but it will be. I have done this a couple times because I needed a finish F&B didn't have. Bring them the color card.
If you have a resale license (or know someone who does) and don't have to pay retail, the flat finish in the real Farrow & Ball is lovely on old plaster walls and it's about the same price as Benjamin Moore.
Do not use the Aura base, use the regular Benjamin Moore Regal base.
Posted by: mopar at October 29, 2009 3:54 PM
Oh yeah -- whatever you do, make sure you test with actual paint on your walls first. It's crucial. Especially with yellows, which do have a reputation for being difficult.
Posted by: mopar at October 29, 2009 3:56 PM
Oops, I mean get it made up at Janovic. Sorry! (They own Benjamin Moore now.)
Posted by: mopar at October 29, 2009 3:58 PM
Benjamin Moore also has a beige called Linen White which looks oddly like a dusty, dusky yellow when placed against white, though it will look like beige next to a stronger color.
Posted by: mopar at October 29, 2009 4:04 PM
Thanks, everyone for all the input, especially Mopar, you really went above and beyond! Linen white has been a perennial favorite of mine and I totally agree about a lighter sage, but I think this place needs grounding with a rich and deep yet soothing golden yellow.
I can't tell you how many sample pots I've painted on the wall... Some were instant rejects, but I thought at the time a yellow like some of the lighter colors would work but there is just too much woodwork to support such a light hue (I have about 80 total linear feet of wall at 11'-3" tall. 16' is cabinetry with white doors, 25' is woodwork to about 10"-6" tall, so over half of the walls are either white or dark walnut in color). Based on your comments I'm going to take another look at the Farrow and Ball colors. Again, thanks everyone!
Posted by: bessie2 at October 29, 2009 5:22 PM
Berkshire Hathaway owns Benjamin Moore, not Janovic.
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at October 29, 2009 5:45 PM
Colors are funny in that a small sample never reflects what the color will look like over the entire surface. I recommend that after you've chosen a color and a finish you have the painter paint a 4' x 4' minimum swatch adjacent to any bordering materials. This is the only way to make a choice. Ed Kopel Architects
Posted by: edkopel at October 29, 2009 5:47 PM
Good lord, I mean Benjamin Moore bought Janovic. My brain is scrambled.
Posted by: mopar at October 29, 2009 6:00 PM
"What's your favorite color for a brownstone parlor floor?"
I always thought floors should be some shade of brown. :-)
Love BM linen white myself, have always used it somewhere. But it's not yellow.
Posted by: denton at October 29, 2009 6:01 PM
"Good lord, I mean Benjamin Moore bought Janovic. My brain is scrambled."
Paint fumes? You should have used Aura after all :-)
Posted by: denton at October 29, 2009 6:01 PM
Always love inen White but find gold are difficult was lighting changes throughout the day. Wyndham cream is beautiful too but would you also consider something richer in the reds or red/orages? I love those colors and they can warm up dark wood tones. I speak as a color junkie :)
Posted by: bxgrl at October 29, 2009 7:01 PM
make sure that whatever you choose has the same under-lying tone of color for the rest of your paint and any trim. we had an interior designer and our architect pick paints that all have a gray base. the colors of the whole place really work together, and is paired with roman shades made out of fabric with the same gray under tones in a couple of rooms. it's noticeable to even people who you wouldn't think would care about this type of stuff. we actually have a light yellow/gray for our kitchen/dining room, and it's the best color of our whole place.
Posted by: wine lover at October 29, 2009 7:52 PM
This link shows the range of B. Moore's yellows: http://bit.ly/u850U
Of course, depending on calibration, the color that shows on your monitor may or may not resemble the actual color of the paint. We've used Linen White quite a bit, and think it's a great warm neutral. In certain light, Windham Cream takes on a very beautiful buttery quality. As DIBS recommends, we too have used sage green in our hallways. Recently, we changed to a more vibrant shade of green that looks fantastic no matter how dark or bright the seasonal light. I second Ed Kopel: once you think you've found the color you want, paint a larger test patch and live with it for a few days.
Posted by: vinca at October 29, 2009 8:35 PM
My house is pretty much different shades of yellow and cream. I have a cool cream slightly yellow color, Marble White in my living room and a more butter/cream color is Antique Yellow, in other parts of the place. Both Benjamin Moore. I don't know if either would work, but I think that the warm antique color might be nice.
Posted by: donatella at October 29, 2009 8:35 PM
After reading all the comments, I agree with the suggestion to test the color because the colors will look very different depending on the exposure (for northern exposures cooler colors are better and warmer colors better with sun.) The amount and quality of light, your furnishings, the size of the room will all make a difference. Paint some boards and put them in different areas to get a sense of the color. I have Linen white by the way in my hallways and that is different than both the Marble white (which is cooler) and the antique yellow which is a light creamy buttery kind of color (but subtle). The Linen white in my hallway is more beigey. It works fine in the hallway but I wouldn't like it in the apartment -- it is a little dusty as one poster said, not what I wanted in the apartment.
Posted by: donatella at October 29, 2009 8:42 PM
I'm looking at the color card now. If Dayroom is too daffodil, something like Sudbury might work.
Posted by: mopar at October 30, 2009 12:13 AM
Two of Benjamin Moore's Historical Colors might work - Glen Ridge Gold and Stuart Gold. The Historical Colors look greyed and muddy on the fan deck but have nice depth and richness on the walls. Glen Ridge Gold has a nice orange-y melon undertone and Stuart is a straight golden sunshine yellow.
Posted by: zeebee_in_bklyn at October 30, 2009 8:35 AM
give rich cream (ben. moore) a try. It's our "basic" color in our house, and it's quite nice. More yellow than the name lets on.
Posted by: new2hood at October 30, 2009 2:07 PM
Try Donald Kauffman Paints - their colors are richer and more complex than Ben Moore. DKC 28 or 30 are both good yellows, depending on how strong a color you want.
Posted by: wyckoff at October 30, 2009 2:33 PM
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