Lighten up with lemon yellow

Dark rooms have their own allure, but sometimes your house cries out for something light, bright and sunny. If your house could use a bright jolt of color, lemon yellow is the shade that lifts the darkness but doesn’t overwhelm the way a bold color does. Like the zing of lemon juice that brightens a dish, a lemon yellow color brings a sunny, happy vibrancy to your rooms.

Citrus lift

Who can resist a slice of light and creamy lemon cake or lemon meringue pie? When you add mood-lifting lemon yellow to your decor, it makes your rooms instantly lighter and brighter, and it perks up your style.

The trick with lemon yellow never is to never go too gold or too neon. The best color reference is the fruit itself, neither overly harsh and bright nor dark and moody. Try Lemon Twist by Sherwin Williams (www.sherwin-williams.com) or go right on the nose with Benjamin Moore’s Lemon Meringue (www.benjaminmoore.com). For something as pale and iridescent as a lemon slice, Behr’s Polished Pearl adds a hint of shimmery yellow to your room (www.behr.com).

Air and sunshine

Lemon yellow has a clean appeal, making it a wonderful color for a bathroom. Pale yellow subway tiles with crisp white linens will transport you to the beach or a summer afternoon.

In the kitchen, who could resist eggs sunny side up in a lemony breakfast nook? For an easy citrusy lift, swap out cabinet hardware with lemon-hued cabinet knobs and drawer pulls. The Siro Designs yellow ceramic cabinet knob (www.Knobs4less.com) is clean, cool and pale as a lemon slice. Unique and creative lemon-inspired drawer pulls and knobs can be found on Etsy.com. The yellow drawer pulls by Art Glass (www.houzz.com) will keep your cabinets light and breezy.

Lemon patterns and accents

Look for light and lemony looks with a yellow gingham check. Brighten up a dark patio or shady backyard with sunny furniture cushions. Outfit chairs and seats with Brittan Sunbrella outdoor fabric covered cushions in Sunflower (www.overstock.com) to enliven your outdoors or to create a bright welcome to a porch. Or roll out vintage lemon wallpaper prints indoors on the walls, curtains and even in giftwrap. You won’t have a glum day with Lemons in Watercolor on the walls or windows (www.spoonflower.com).

If wall color requires too much of a commitment, you need only add some lemon yellow accents in the house. Perk up an entryway with a pair of lattice mustard jars (www.ethanallen.com), or keep conversations light and breezy with the Manz Button Back Armchair in citrine yellow (www.wayfair.com). Add some zing to your doorstep with a lemon slice suitable for indoors or out with the Liora Manne front door lemon slice (www.kohls.com).

Whether you use it at the front door, back, door, or kitchen, no one will have any trouble looking at the sunny side of life when they come to visit.

(For more information, contact Kathryn Weber through her website, www.redlotusletter.com.)

(c) 2018 KATHRYN WEBER. DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, LLC.