10 Easy Pieces: Architects’ Favorite Butter Yellow Paint Picks

Butter yellow is a very particular shade—not too saturated but also not so washed out that it becomes pastel. It’s commanding yet understated, and balances a bevy of complementary colors. We’ve consulted a selection of architects and designers for their favorite shades of butter yellow. Here are their picks.

Above: San Francisco interior designer Lauren Geremia of Geremia Design applied Farrow & Ball’s Pale House No. 71 to the walls and ceiling of a Tudor-style house in northern California. “A luminous butter yellow,” she explains, “softens the striking angles of the double-height space.” Photograph by Laure Joliet for Geremia Design. Above: Also featured in our post, 10 Easy Pieces: Architects’ Yellow Paint Picks, designer Alexandra Loew likes Donald Kaufman DCK-42 seen here on the walls of a boy and girl nursery in New York City: “Tranquil, buttery, and fresh like morning’s first light is what came to mind when selecting this hue for this gender-neutral nursery.” Photograph by William Waldron for Alexandra Loew. Above: Benjamin Moore’s Pale Moon was the choice of designer Roberto Sosa for painted floors in the bedroom of a Hawaiian stone carriage house. Photograph by Kate Holstein from Charm-Filled Stone Carriage House on the Maui Coast, Restored. Above: For a saturated shade of butter, Hawaii-based Philpotts Interiors integrated PPG Spiced Butternut for the walls of a dining room. “It works well as an accent, making small or dark rooms appear brighter and more spacious,” explains designer Marion Philpotts-Miller. Photograph by Matthew Millman for Philpotts Interiors. Above: Amalia Skoufoglou of O’Sullivan Skoufoglou Architects loves Little Greene’s Oak Apple 63 which is a bit like a grass fed butter: warm and neutral butter yellow with a hint of green. The architects applied it to the stairwell in a colorful Victorian terrace house in London. Above: Jayne Michaels of New York-based 2Michaels favors Benjamin Moore Mellowed Ivory 2149-50, a “muted yellow with hints of green and beige” as seen here on the walls of a project in Manhattan’s Kips Bay. Photograph by Trevor Tondro for 2Michaels. Above: Designer Heidi Lachappelle used Benjamin Moore Kukuma AF 350 the vanity cabinets. “This was a north-facing bathroom without much natural light and the vanity color made everything brighter,” she explains. Above: Sophie Rowell of UK firm Côte de Folk worked with Cavendish Cream for the walls and a Wharf Sacking for cabinets and trim, both shades from Mylands. Says Rowell: “I absolutely love Wharf Sacking from Mylands London. It’s both uplifting and calming and genuinely looks good enough to eat! The color has a quiet confidence, it brings warmth and character without overwhelming a space. It’s gentle on the eyes yet never dull. We’ve used it throughout this project alongside natural woods and handcrafted details such as our wooden handles. It makes a space feel inviting and is an instant mood lifter.” Photograph by Chris Snook for Côte de Folk. Above: London-based interior designer Jill Macnair designed a dark staircase in the saturated butter yellow, Sunlight by Little Greene.

For more on yellow, see our posts:

• 10 Easy Pieces: Architects’ Yellow Paint Picks
• The Butter Trend Takes Over Interiors: 13 Rooms Drenched in Pale Yellow
• Instant Mood-Booster: Splashes of Yellow All Over