This Unexpected Sofa Color Dominated 2022

In 2022, a colorful couch is nothing new. The internet has been awash over the last few years with photos of sofas in emerald green, cobalt blue, and blush pink. 

But recently, a new color of the rainbow has seemingly surged in popularity: yellow. This past spring at Apartment Therapy’s Small/Cool NYC event, designers Sourya Venumbaka and Jordan Ferney each selected yellow sofas for their 120-square-foot spaces — a butter-colored loveseat and a mustard-hued velvet piece, respectively. You may have also spotted a yellow velvet couch in the Savannah, Georgia, cottage of Small/Cool Contest finalist Cat Hart. And of course, several yellow sofas of varying shades and styles have popped up in house tours and calls on Apartment Therapy throughout the year. 

Maybe it’s not so surprising, as we’ve all spent more time at home during the past few years, to seek out the color of sunshine for our spaces. Sofie Hepworth even planned the color scheme of her bright garden studio in Kent, United Kingdom, around a yellow sofa. “I just thought it was so joyful and fitting for the home I wanted to make you instantly smile!” she told AT. 

Hepworth’s studio and Ash Appleton’s Nairobi, Kenya, apartment both use yellow couches as building blocks in kaleidoscopic rooms filled with vibrant wall coverings, furniture, and decor. 

Alternatively, Andrea Plaid leaned into yellow in her Detroit studio, which features not only a yellow couch, but yellow window treatments, chairs, a rug, and bedding, too. “The color complements the studio’s windowed sunniness and serves as a counterpoint for cloudy days,” she said in her house tour.

And if you’re wary of going full throttle on such a bright color, consider Olga Fermin’s vibrant pop of summery sofas, which sit in an otherwise fairly neutral room in her Brookfield, Connecticut, house.

Luckily, there are plenty of yellow shades and sofa styles to play around with. Here are just a few: