Decorating Using Lemon Yellow


The best way to undercut the heat of the summer is by using precisely what nature provides in abundance during the hottest months: citrus. There’s nothing more cooling than the thought of citrus on a hot summer day, and this isn’t only true in making a pitcher of lemonade, squeezing lemon juice on your blonde locks to bring out the highlights, or stirring up a couple of mojitos to enjoy on the porch.

Lemon yellow is that shade of lemons when they’re perfectly ripe; it’s a bright color, one with plenty of punch.

Lemon yellow can be used to brighten any room in the house, whether it’s just by bringing even more light into an already sun-drenched living room, or by brightening up a dreary space with no windows.

And lemon yellow doesn’t just come in paint: here, a laundry room has been freshened up with metal cabinets in a lemon yellow finish that is bright enough to give the illusion of natural light even where there is none.

 When there is natural light available, lemon yellow can be used to enhance it. Here, the decorator has relied heavily on the natural light coming in the small windows of this attic guest bedroom. An attic is often an under-utilized space; many people don’t consider the attic as a potential extra room, simply because it seems a daunting project to brighten up such a usually dim space.
But here, we see an attic beautifully made over from its former self. The ceiling beams and the wide-board pine plank flooring are left intact, giving a rustic mood to the room. This mood is furthered by the wooden hope chest, the old-fashioned furniture, and the floral print rug on the floor. But even though the room is rustic, the whole space is freshened with a coat of lemon yellow paint, changing this room from a dark storage area to a sunny, welcoming guest room.

Lemon yellow can also be used to add just a splash of color to a room. As an accent, it works with deep maroons, blues, and greens, and of course, bright white will really make it stand out. Here, we see how lemon yellow pillows brighten up this lavender floral bedspread, in turn livening up the whole room.

Any room in the house can be freshened up for summer with a touch of lemon yellow; and when you’re done with your decorating, you can celebrate with a pitcher of lemonade and a batch of lemon cookies.

Printed with permission from Sheffield School of Interior Design–Sarah Van Arsdale