The New Neutral: Pale Yellow Kitchens On the Rise

The Shakers knew a good trick: Paint your interiors in yellow and it’ll look as though the sun is streaming in, even on grey days.

Perhaps that’s why we’re noticing the palest of pale yellow all over the place. Just a hint more buttery than off-white or cream, it’s a more diluted version than the butter yellow of the last couple of years—perfect for the color-shy.

Have a look at 7 spaces done in pale yellow—the next color set to take over the kitchen.

Above: A Tudor-style kitchen in northern California, redone in Farrow & Ball’s Pale House No. 71 by Lauren Geremia of Geremia Design. See more in 10 Easy Pieces: Architects’ Favorite Butter Yellow Paint Picks (though we say this is on the paler end of the spectrum). Photograph by Laure Joliet for Geremia Design. Above: A kitchen on the Danish island of Bornholm is done in “a considered palette of pale yellows—85 Vintergul and 86 Strandgul from Linolie & Pigment.” Photograph (and featured photograph up top) from Kitchen of the Week: A Restored Early 20th-Century Kitchen on Bornholm. Above: Pale yellow meets butter yellow in this English galley kitchen, as seen in The Gardener’s Cottage Guesthouse: A Project by “Intuitive Antiques Dealer-Decorator” Max Rollitt. Photograph by Chris Horwood. Above: In an on-trend Milan kitchen by Formafantasma, metal cabinets are done in a pale buttercup; see: Kitchen of the Week: A Tale of Two Kitchens by Formafantasma in Milan. Photograph by Chiara Quadri from Very Simple: Kitchen. Above: In Kitchen of the Week: A Textural Eat-In Cook Space in New England, the cabinets are painted a yellow so subtle it’s almost a khaki (it’s Sherwin Williams’ Bosc Pear). Photograph by Erin McGinn, courtesy of Moore House Design. Above: A closeup of the pale yellow in the same New England cottage. Photograph by Erin McGinn, courtesy of Moore House Design. Above: Yellow tiles add a certain glow in Kitchen of the Week: Everything Is Illuminated in a Light-Flooded Kitchen in Copenhagen. Photograph by Monica Steffensen. Above: Soft yellow suits the cabinetry at this flower-filled space: House of Three: NYC’s New Event Space and Creative Studio from Kelsie Hayes of Popup Florist. Photograph by Ori Harpaz.

Want to give the shade a try? See:

• 5 Favorites: Spring-y Finds in the Palest of Yellows
• 10 Easy Pieces: Architects’ Favorite Butter Yellow Paint Picks
• Kitchen(s) of the Week: 13 On-Trend Sunny Yellow Spaces