Help me pick a paint color

[Garga]

My house has lots of bold colors.  Deep yellow dining room.  Orange kitchen.  Olive green living room.  

I like the bold colors, but I’m tired of them. It’s been this way for at least a decade.

I’d like to lighten a few of the rooms.  For now, I’d like to paint the living room a neutral yellowy-cream color. I don’t want it to scream YELLOW (the way the school room and dining room do), but for it to be a soft neutral color on the warm side.  I don’t like grey neutrals.  

Does anyone know of a good neutral yellowish-cream color that might fit the bill?  I feel like I’m bad at picking colors. I didn’t mean for the colors I picked in the house to be quite so bold as they are, and I’m afraid I’m going to mess up when I try to pick a neutral.

 

Just for fun, because people like it, here is a picture of the green living room, the orange kitchen, and the yellow dining room.  (Excuse the clutter. I worked on a project all week, so the tidying up didn’t get done.)

I’d like to leave the dining room that bright yellow, but after the living room, I plan on painting the kitchen a pale cream with some blue accents.  

Edited May 31, 2020 by Garga

[Ottakee]

I have just the perfect color on my walls.  It is a soft yellow, or creamy light tan depending on the lighting.  I LOVE it.   The problem is I have NO idea what color it is 🙂  It came with the house.   I wish I could match it or give you the color name.

[Farrar]

I'm also drawn to bold colors and have trouble finding the "right" milder ones. I'd look at the yellows you like and slide down the scale.  Also, consider tans - in a yellowy tan that's very gentle, sometimes I've found it goes better with bolder colors than the creamy colors.

[J-rap]

We've used Butter Yellow for rooms before.  It's a very nice, soft yellow.  

https://thecolorhouse.com/products/2023-60-butter?variant=31339804262464

I did notice -- when searching for a sample, that different brands seem to have different versions of it.  Ours was quite light, like the link I sent you.

[Terabith]

I love butter yellow!  I've painted several rooms various shades of pale yellow.  Traditionally, I have always gone for white everything, but in this house, I decided I wanted a yellow kitchen and bathroom.  

A friend of mine is painting a room what might be my favorite paint NAME:  tired absinthe.  https://www.google.com/search?q=tired+absinthe+paint+color&sxsrf=ALeKk02xDT04OZtn02XNDJzyTPc2KsDf8Q:1590981932872&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=41qZI40ATVG7KM%3A%2CAVNOpuoqhX8hoM%2C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kQ8GglV8CkYQKpDlkbOwbqYBGankw&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjum8_H1d_pAhWEZDUKHdXHD2gQ9QEwAHoECAcQBQ#imgrc=41qZI40ATVG7KM:

[BlsdMama]

Try Benjamin Moore Golden Straw, it pairs with Buxton Blue. 
 

I went in neutrals Lennox Tan and Bleeker Beige - a warm neutral but it looks nice with Humble Gold and Wythe Blue. 

[Tap]

What direction does the light come from? North/South/East/West? It will affect my answer. LOL Especially if it is North. I hate finding paint for Northern light rooms. 

[Tap]

5 hours ago, Ottakee said:

I have just the perfect color on my walls.  It is a soft yellow, or creamy light tan depending on the lighting.  I LOVE it.   The problem is I have NO idea what color it is 🙂  It came with the house.   I wish I could match it or give you the color name.

If you ever get bored and really want to know the color, (LOL) call the major paint stores like Sherwin Williams in your area. See if your address is on file. They may have a record of the color. If they left any paint cans behind, you can sometimes narrow in on the previous owners preferred brand. 

Edited June 1, 2020 by Tap

[klmama]

41 minutes ago, Tap said:

What direction does the light come from? North/South/East/West? It will affect my answer. LOL Especially if it is North. I hate finding paint for Northern light rooms. 

Also, do your windows have UV protection so your furniture doesn't fade?  That can make yellows seem a tiny bit more green.  

ETA: Since you plan a cream and a light yellow both near the bold yellow, I think you should pick both at the same time to be sure they work well together in your lighting at different times of day.  Pick up all the "white" paint cards in the yellow family, plus the light yellow cards, and take them home to compare. 

Edited June 1, 2020 by klmama

[gardenmom5]

It's common for colors to be more bold on a wall.  pick a couple possible colors - them get samples to paint on the wall.  at worst, you can use it as a guide for your next set of samples.   (and 1dd is currently trying to pick paint colors for her exterior. apparently, she's still looking after slapping up her first two color samples in at least three different places.)

you should be able to get a small (1 cup?) container of the color of your choice.  then paint a good sized swatch (at least 1' x 1') on your wall - try to get a wall with bright day light, and another with your usual room lighting.   It will save you a bundle with disappointing paint colors

Also - tip: - when going over such an intense color, use a primer.  even paint that already has a primer in it - and "guarantees" one-coat coverage . , will do better going over a coat of a cheaper primer vs straight onto the intense yellow/green walls.

[StaceyinLA]

I LOVE the wall color we chose when we did our remodel (I went from yellow with barnyard red cabinets). We have Sherwin Williams accessible beige. I think we cut it about 25% because I didn’t want it to wind up being drab. My cabinets are a gray Miss Mustard Seed milk paint that looks pretty blue (but not dark - it’s exactly what I wanted). And I LOVE orange, so I did a kind of dark orange on my little island piece since it can be easily painted if I decide I don’t want it anymore.

I uploaded a pic. Excuse the mess - dd and grandson are here while her dh is on a submarine, and my house can apparently never NOT be messy. Also note the visible backsplash is our homemade “shiplap” and it’s just done in kind of a whitewash dh made.

[Scarlett]

Accessible Beige is what we have here too. I love it.  @StaceyinLA what do you mean you cut it by 25%?

[MercyA]

As soon as I saw the thread title, I was like, paging @Arctic Mama....

I wish I had consulted y'all before painting my entire basement the wrong color. (It's not that bad. But I won't be sad when the time comes to repaint!)

[StaceyinLA]

33 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

Accessible Beige is what we have here too. I love it.  @StaceyinLA what do you mean you cut it by 25%?

 

Instead of doing 100% pigment when they mixed the color, they did 75%. It just made it a slightly brighter color.

[Scarlett]

7 minutes ago, StaceyinLA said:

 

Instead of doing 100% pigment when they mixed the color, they did 75%. It just made it a slightly brighter color.

Oh ok.  I love your kitchen.  In fact I am thinking of seeing if Dh will use that color for our kitchen cabinets.  

[wintermom]

We've been using Spanish Sand (Behr OR-W07) and it's a nice neutral with yellow feel. Spanish Lace is a little lighter (YL-W02).

 

[BlsdMama]

2 hours ago, StaceyinLA said:

I LOVE the wall color we chose when we did our remodel (I went from yellow with barnyard red cabinets). We have Sherwin Williams accessible beige. I think we cut it about 25% because I didn’t want it to wind up being drab. My cabinets are a gray Miss Mustard Seed milk paint that looks pretty blue (but not dark - it’s exactly what I wanted). And I LOVE orange, so I did a kind of dark orange on my little island piece since it can be easily painted if I decide I don’t want it anymore.

I uploaded a pic. Excuse the mess - dd and grandson are here while her dh is on a submarine, and my house can apparently never NOT be messy. Also note the visible backsplash is our homemade “shiplap” and it’s just done in kind of a whitewash dh made.

Stacey, gorgeous! I adore this all together. 

You may have just redefined "messy" for me.... I wish my house was "messy" right now. 😉❤️ 

 

[prairiewindmomma]

We’ve used Accessible Beige quite a bit too.

[Scarlett]

2 hours ago, StaceyinLA said:

 

Instead of doing 100% pigment when they mixed the color, they did 75%. It just made it a slightly brighter color.

When I google your cabinet color I see a shutter grey.  Is that it?  

[Scarlett]

We used SW Balanced Beige for our master bedroom. It is a shade darker than accessible beige. 

[Scarlett]

18 hours ago, Garga said:

My house has lots of bold colors.  Deep yellow dining room.  Orange kitchen.  Olive green living room.  

I like the bold colors, but I’m tired of them. It’s been this way for at least a decade.

I’d like to lighten a few of the rooms.  For now, I’d like to paint the living room a neutral yellowy-cream color. I don’t want it to scream YELLOW (the way the school room and dining room do), but for it to be a soft neutral color on the warm side.  I don’t like grey neutrals.  

Does anyone know of a good neutral yellowish-cream color that might fit the bill?  I feel like I’m bad at picking colors. I didn’t mean for the colors I picked in the house to be quite so bold as they are, and I’m afraid I’m going to mess up when I try to pick a neutral.

 

Just for fun, because people like it, here is a picture of the green living room, the orange kitchen, and the yellow dining room.  (Excuse the clutter. I worked on a project all week, so the tidying up didn’t get done.)

I’d like to leave the dining room that bright yellow, but after the living room, I plan on painting the kitchen a pale cream with some blue accents.  

I like your bright colors...Love the green.  But sometimes we do just need a change.  My mom had reds and oranges in her last house.  It looked really good, but by the time she moved I was tired of it.  

[StaceyinLA]

2 hours ago, Scarlett said:

Oh ok.  I love your kitchen.  In fact I am thinking of seeing if Dh will use that color for our kitchen cabinets.  

 

Thank you! I love it so much. It was AWFUL before. I can’t even believe I ever chose what I did.

The milk paint was such a good choice for me because I was putting in all new cabinets, and it was easy to work with on the raw wood. It’s different if you’re painting over stuff. I’m sure you can find a color like that in regular paint of course, but I love how the milk paint goes on like a stain. 

[StaceyinLA]

19 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

When I google your cabinet color I see a shutter grey.  Is that it?  

 

Yes - that’s it!

[StaceyinLA]

1 hour ago, BlsdMama said:

Stacey, gorgeous! I adore this all together. 

You may have just redefined "messy" for me.... I wish my house was "messy" right now. 😉❤️ 

 

 

lol I usually just don’t have all that stuff sitting on my island and table. My stuff won’t pass a white glove test, but it’s usually clutter-free. 😜

[Scarlett]

1 minute ago, StaceyinLA said:

 

Yes - that’s it!

Ok, I would never have chosen grey since I am sort of on the anti grey bandwagon.  LOL....I do want blue though.

[StaceyinLA]

5 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

Ok, I would never have chosen grey since I am sort of on the anti grey bandwagon.  LOL....I do want blue though.

 

It definitely looks blue. I really love the shade also.

I just found some before and after pics and I’m sending them to myself on my iPad so I can upload them here.

[ikslo]

I have a cream in our kitchen that we picked to match existing tile, which looks light yellow in sunlight. Here with our blue accent wall. It’s BM Spring in Aspen.

DH just made a duck for the dog, so ignore the dishes on the stove. (He does! 🤣)

[StaceyinLA]

So this is what we came from...

I tried to put them in order when I chose them, but it didn’t work apparently. The first and third pics were taken from one angle and the 2nd and 4th from another.

[Scarlett]

Yes that is quite the change!  I love the red.....but I love the new look.  So fresh and light and clean looking.  

[StaceyinLA]

2 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

Yes that is quite the change!  I love the red.....but I love the new look.  So fresh and light and clean looking.  

 

Well and it opened our space so much then lightening the colors made it feel bigger as well.

We did a total reno when we bought the house, but at the time the budget was tight and we did not replace the funky cabinets. This time we just decided we were doing everything we (well, everything *I* ) wanted to do. We spent about 40grand, but if my husband wasn’t so handy, it would’ve likely cost us 90-100. There was nothing we didn’t redo.

Anyway, didn’t mean to hijack the thread, but I do think it helps to show what a difference you can make.

[J-rap]

11 hours ago, BlsdMama said:

Stacey, gorgeous! I adore this all together. 

You may have just redefined "messy" for me.... I wish my house was "messy" right now. 😉❤️ 

 

I was thinking the same thing!  🙂