If you do a search for 2littleFishies' kitchen, she has some beautiful yellow cabinets.

Ooo! Thank you sas95 -- I love her kitchen. And it looks like it will stand the test of time too (you know, won't date itself). Thank you for that suggestion. The yellow in her kitchen is *exactly* the color yellow I'm looking at :)

I don't know what kind of cabinet you have, but a traditional look is to have a white cabinet with a yellow tile countertop and backsplash with a decorative black border on the outside edge of the counter top and a line of decorative tile, usually black, sometimes patterned, running through the backsplash. In that application the yellow is a strong-ish yellow, not a light lemon yellow. Because the yellow is so strong on the countertops you really wouldn't want it on the cabinets.

Oh, I love that pic, Practigal!
Here is something similar, with a linoleum sheet counter:

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2 little fishies' kitchen is one of my faves too.

This is one of my favorite yellow kitchens

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[Contemporary Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2103) by Austin General Contractors T.A.S Construction

Thanks. I forgot to mention that it is not my kitchen, sadly...

There was an article with colored kitchens posted here a while ago. There was a yellow and green one. Maybe someone remembers it. There was a lot I liked about it. People definitely either loved or hated it. IIRC there was a multi-colored backsplash or counter or something.

I like yellow kitchens! I grew up with one with quite a bit of yellow (not yellow cabinets) and I would definitely consider it in the future.

I linked the thread cal was talking about below. Every one of those kitchens is quite colorful!!

Here is a link that might be useful: color in the kitchen

You can find 2LittleFishies' color in one of her threads. I think it was BM Barley but I'm not positive.

One thing I can tell you: For the most part, AVOID looking in the yellow sections of the color chip fan decks. Yellow in particular looks 100% different on the wall than it does in a tiny chip. Look instead at the yellowy creams and near-neutrals. I'm not telling you to paint your cabinets cream--I'm saying that things that look cream on a tiny chip are actually quite yellow up on the wall.

I really like the one divastyle posted, very nice. Years ago I went to a home show and saw light green cabinets covered with Formica. I asked the rep how it was selling in the mid west. He said it is not selling, people here want their wood, especially oak. I really like colors, but when I bought my new home I was so excited I made very few changes, so I have wood.

re: I think it was BM Barley but I'm not positive.

Yes, it was! And that's on the USA version of the BM deck.
On the Canadian deck, 'Barley' has a different number from the one cited by 2 little fishies, and I'm not sure if it's the same colour.

I sure do love the kitchen Practigal posted up top. I'd go back to a tile counter in a heartbeat if it looked like that. I like that the black trim gives you that nice contrast that dark counters give without actually have to work against a dark background.

I love a yellow kitchen and if I didn't have as open a floor plan as I do, I would have taken the plunge.

I am also conservative when it comes to color on big pieces, but I did a slate blue island in our lake kitchen 7 yrs. ago and I still am very happy with it.

Sometimes a touch of color makes all the difference. 2littlefishies' kitchen is one of my all-time favorites. If you picture it in white, instead of yellow, it just wouldn't be as special, IMHO.

But I agree with posters above that with cabinetry you might want to stay on the creamy side.

The examples above don't look so bad, but when I hear "Yellow Kitchen Cabinets" I remember the cabinets in our kitchen before the remodel, and my immediate reaction is: "NO! Please, God, NO!!"

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Wow, definitely bright!

Bob, did you have to wear sunglasses while you were cooking?

Here are a few I've clipped over the years.

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I really want to emphasize: I'm not saying don't do yellow, do cream instead. No--I'm saying yellow is probably the single most deceptive color to view on a swatch. If you pick the right cream (Philadelphia Cream, for example) you'll get a yellow when you put it on the wall.

Learned that the hard way.

We have a cream kitchen. I've attached the 'before' photo but I loved the color so much that I repainted the exterior of the cabinets the exact same color. The former paint job was old and not well done. There was paint all over the hardware, the cabinets had 'scars' from where they put in new hardware, etc. The fresh coat of paint is more 'lemony'. I call is 'lemon chiffon cake' when I describe it to others. The paint name is Ambertique by Pratt & Lambert. Great quality paint.

Our kitchen is 97% done. I hope to get it to 100% and post pics in the next month or so. We kept the same cabinets and countertops too so it doesn't look all that much different in photos, but I tell 'ya the new kickin' appliances (Gaggenau Steam Oven and Lacanche range) and the deep new sink, new blue/gray subway tile back splash, and under cabinet lighting make it SO MUCH Better. Okay, I'll shut up now! :)

On the Canadian deck, 'Barley' has a different number from the one cited by 2 little fishies, and I'm not sure if it's the same colour.

The number depends on which deck you are looking at - the Classic colour collection (#199) or the Designer classics collection (cc-180). I'm pretty sure it is the same colour as the American version.

laughable -- the kitchen you posted is almost identical to the one I have in my mind's eye :)

Neat! : )

Which one?

I think yellow can be nice if its a pale yellow. Bright yellows are just too much, as Bob cville's photo illustrates so well. . Marcolo is right, many creams can look yellow in some settings. I chose a pretty cream for my kitchen walls a few years back, once painted on my walls it definitely looked like a pale yellow. It was actually a very pretty color, just didn't work in my kitchen since I didn't plan on yellow. For a light yellow cabinet, a cream with yellow undertones is a good choice.

I painted my kitchen walls in Benjamin Moore "HC-6" or "Windham Cream". On my walls the color is cream with a barely-discernable touch of yellow. My friend loved the wall color, and wanted it for her kitchen. Her kitchen has very different windows, faces a different direction, is smaller than mine, and has different color cabinetry. When she painted some of her wall with this BM Windham Cream just to see what it would look like, the color appeared way more yellow, and did not look good at all. The difference was incredible, so I am advising always to test the paint colors on a portion of your walls (even if it's a cabinet color), just to see what it does in your own setting.

I painted various walls in our house the palest shades of yellow, including Windham Cream. Unfortunately, in our light, they turned neon yellow in the afternoon sun. When I went to repaint a few years later, I tried some off whites with just a hint of yellow undertone, and they, too, looked way too bright on our walls. I love yellow, but learned the hard way that it can be tough to get right. On the other hand, our DR with a different exposure is painted a deeper shade of yellow and it looks just fine.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend pale. By cream, I mean something with a little bit of tan or gray in it. Pale yellow can cause you to start compulsively watching Teletubbies reruns.

I just spent a few weeks agonizing over which yellow to paint our kitchen (with white cabinets and a few black accents). Every color you think is right on a chip ends up being MUCH stronger and yellower on the wall. I ended up going with a match to California Paints Crown Point Cream, because I couldn't find a Benjamin Moore color that was just right. It looks good, but maybe a touch brighter yellow than I wanted. The other color I almost went with (and maybe should have) was BM Harp Strings, which is more on the brown side - close to the Barley that 2LittleFishies used. They all changed color a lot depending on the exposure and time of day. So I agree with the others who have said to look at the more neutral brownish yellows and creams and *definitely* test it in your space. Love the look when the color is just right though!

Bob_cville, I burst out laughing at that kitchen. Some sweet soul did that, stepped back and said, "OMG I LOVE IT!" hehehehe

I'm with you about going towards creams. I'm trying to find a Dijon color for my guest bath. It has no windows. The perfect chips turn out brown, dog throw-up green-brown, hairball gold, some weird shade of orange, or sunshine yellow.

After my years-long frustration with the gray/green/sage color I wanted in my kitchen, I am going with Valspar's 'Sag Harbor' which turns out to be a cream! We're talking 10s of millions [throwing arms wide] paint samples. Ok, I exaggerate a tiny bit.

Everything else turned turquoise in direct sunlight. Turns out I have some kind of blue coating on the sliders. 'Sag Harbor' must have enough yellow in it to blend with the blueish light, because I love it. I drown in it and it absorbs my attention completely. Guess that's when you know you've chosen correctly! :)

Sooooo!!!!!! do samples. I love the right yellows. 2Littlefishie's kitchen is iconic to me. She agonized over every. single. detail. and it absolutely shows. I wonder if she cooks....?

You've gotten some great suggestions on how to go about choosing your color. I'd also suggest painting a rather large board the color you think you like best, one that is big enough to lean up against a section of your cabinets and totally cover them. Small swatches don't always give you the best idea of how you'll like a color in a bigger area.

A former home had a sunny yellow kitchen. Not creamy yellow but a true pale yellow. I loved it.

I'd also say that you shouldn't be afraid of color. Painting cabinets right does take some time but it's just paint. You could always repaint if you don't like it or get tired of it.

Instead of new cabinets, I've decided to paint my own and I've had fun playing with the colors. I've decided to go with a cream on top and deep turquoise on the bottom. It looks great with my cobalt glass collection. I'll also have yellow and orange in my accents. If I get tired of the turquoise bottoms in 5-10 years, I can always paint again. Color makes me happy. But I live in a climate that is gray most of the year so I think some of these things really depend on where you live and what kind of light you get most of the year.

ooooo turquoise! Here you want it and I can't avoid it! :)
I look forward to seeing your final kitchen!

Don't forget this yellow kitchen. It is one of my favorites.

Here is a link that might be useful: equest17's yellow kitchen

Hi Everybody,

I wrote a response earlier that seems to have disappeared into the either . . . sigh . . . and I didn't have the "oomph" to re-write my message til now.

Anyway, I'm designing a traditional kitchen in a "butter cream" yellow -- think of freshly churned butter. I think anything brighter would seriously grate on my nerves in no time flat.

We're moving to a coastal town that gets a lot of rain, so it's grey there a lot of the time. That's why I thought if I painted the kitchen yellow, it would be "cheerful". That's why I asked if others on this forum with yellow cabinets are still happy with their color choice?

I think that I'll do marble tiles on the walls and counter tops and maybe add in a pale green island with a grey colored top. I'm still pretty undecided on the floor material and color -- maybe a soft tan? And I think I'll go with dark bronze cabinet hardware. But the silly thing that always stumps me is the ceiling color -- which I guess should be a creamy white?

Still working on our drawing. Will share when it's done. Having a KD review it now! :)

Oh, one more thing. I'd love suggestions for a hood -- I think because the kitchen cabinets are traditional, I'd like to go with a painted wood hood. So your suggestions are welcomed.

Thanks again everyone for your color, cabinet and layout suggestions!

joyce

Oh! I almost forgot -- laughable, that first kitchen you posted. I like the color, the cabinets and the layout. Our kitchen will be U-shaped, so I'm incorporating a lot of what's in those pictures :)

Two more yellow kitchens to love: the estimable Donaleen's, who has wood cabinetry, is also painted BM Barley. And hlove has painted cabinets in BM Hawthorn Yellow, I believe. I didn't include links, but you can look them up. Or someone else can link them.

Merry Christmas!
I am going to give you my opinion of soft yellow, soft green and any tan. Might be harsh. Ready?

Ick.

Tan would do nothing to coordinate those lovely colors, nor would it add any visual interest. Sorry. "soft tan" is just beige or boring, in this case. It would also make anything green, greener. Brown and green together bring each other out.

In my head, I see perhaps a darker shade of the same green? Some type of lovely greenish slate? A green-toned soapstone counter would be incredible, as well.

This might not be your taste, but recently I've seen a soft peachy-pinkish color with these two colors. Houzz and Pinterest. My go-to picture sources! It would be lovely as accents, but as big pieces it might be too much.

Unless it's hard wood, and even then a medium to darker tone, tan is just so unremarkable with anything a kitchen with such bold colors, even as a sweet, freshly churned butter. What a beautiful color!

This post was edited by CEFreeman on Thu, Dec 25, 14 at 9:09

Thank you, Joyce, for starting this thread! I am finding this after I just posted seeking advice about yellow cabinets. I appreciate all the photos and comments, particularly the warnings that yellow chips, even light yellow chips, will appear much more yellow in reality. I now think I need to look at cream-colors for a light yellow look.

A soft butter yellow can be nice, but it must be used with LOTS of bright white to keep it fresh. My mother had a yellow kitchen in the 1950's - probably why I'm not a huge fan today - just remember that yellow kitchen with brown accents - SO "Early American 1950's"! But having said that, I have a yellow and white stripped wallpaper in my LR and I adore it! Go figure...

jxa44- Joyce, your "yellow kitchen" journey sounds very similar to what I am embarking on now. I think I am going to go with BM Butter, but may do BM Hawthorn Yellow. Anyway, would love to see photos of what your kitchen became.