There was such an interesting volley of posts in response to my recent column on Master Room that I wondered if I could further provoke the argument by showing the kitchen next to it. Call this “Color in Context.”...


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This kitchen was painted long ago, and the exact paint brand or color name is lost to the mists of time, but I’ll call it Saffron. It’s painted yellow but glows orange; it’s a warm, bright yellow more golden than school bus and less obnoxious.

I thought I’d hate these two colors together and yellow isn’t always my thing, but I was actually intrigued. The grey keeps the yellow from being too hippy-dippy, and the yellow keeps the grey from being too austere. Color is always contextual: no color exists in complete isolation, and surrounding environment is everything.

Cleanliness counts, too. This is one of the easiest photo shoots I’ve had in some time. Would that we all had such photogenic apartments.

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This week, I'll ask readers to post their favorite warm yellow color recommendations.

- Mark Chamberlain, interior and decorative painter