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August 9, 2010

Yellow vs. Purple Smackdown

We’re still on holiday and replaying some fun posts. I hope you enjoy THIS replay (originally posted last September)… Kelly explores her Yellow Side!!

Underline LeftIf you’re a regular DesignTies reader, you probably know that IHEART1purple. It’s been my favourite colour forever, and I always get excited when I find a picture of a beautiful purple room…

purple jamie drake simplified bee

And purple flowers…

hydrangea flickr

And really, purple ANYTHING!!

purple mosic

I’ve written posts about purple here and here, and I post a lot of pictures of purple things. It’s easy to find great purple pics, because I’ve never met a purple I didn’t like ;-)

Then I got to thinking… maybe I need to challenge myself and try to find beautiful pictures of my LEAST favourite colour. Because it’s a lot harder to see and appreciate the beauty in something that you don’t like. And for me, that colour is yellow.

yellow mosaic

I don’t know why I don’t like yellow. It’s bright and happy, and it’s the colour of things I love, like sunshine and daisies and lemonade….

sunshine daisy pbase lemonade morningswithcarianddale

But it also makes me think of non-beautiful things, like sports uniforms

ticats hamilton spectator

School buses…

bus ohio kyschoolsCaution signs…caution sign the pinkflamingo

And pus (I won’t gross you out with a picture!)

Although in all fairness to yellow, I did want to buy a yellow kayak for the cottage…

Canada, Newfoundland, Kittiwake Coast, Iceberg, Kayaking, near Merritt´s Habour, close to Twillingate

But when I went to the kayak place, they only had red & blue, so I went with blue.

I wonder if the colour wheel explains why I don’t like yellow… look at what colour is opposite from yellow:

colour wheel gofishsc

Ah-ha!!!! So maybe it’s not my fault I don’t like yellow, it’s yellow’s fault for being the anti-purple!!

OK, enough yellow-bashing — what do you say we get some yellow poisitivity going on!!

Let’s start with this yellow den Sarah Richardson designed on Sarah’s House. Out of all the yellow rooms I’ve found, this one is probably my favourite. I love the swirly pattern on the curtains and the long rectangular cushion on the sofa. And the leopard print cushion adds a touch of funky to the space.

sarah r 1

sarah r 2

I don’t mind small touches of yellow in a space. From a bedroom Sarah designed on Design Inc

sarah r bedroom sarah r bedroom 2

Pretty much ANY colour with zebra print looks good :-)

chairs justimaginedesign

The next group of pictures is from Amanda Nisbet Design. If you check out her web site, you’ll see that she really likes yellow!! This yellow pineapple cushion looks great tucked in with the other brightly coloured cushions…

amanda nisbet cushions

Some pretty yellow flower arrangements. Love the console table and chandeliers in this kitchen…

amanda nisbet kitchen 2

I absolutely love the chandelier in this hallway – it’s so cool & funky!! The small touches of yellow in the otherwise neutral space stand out nicely…

amanda nisbet hallway

Yellow, meet purple :-)

amanda nisbet deck

From subtle to sock-it-to-ya yellow!! (BTW, I’ve developed a serious addiction to windows framed in black…)

amanda nisbet LR 5

amandanisbet

These next two pics are from one of my newest favourite colourful blogs, Color Sizzle. Pink and green are two other not-so-favourite colours of mine, but I like them when they’re bright. And they’re definitely bright in this house!!

yellow LR 1 color sizzle yellow LR 2 color sizzle

A slightly more subdued yellow living room…

yellow room 1 roxxn

And a pretty grey & yellow bedroom designed by Brooke at Velvet & Linen

yellow bedroom VandL

Of course, no post about colour is complete without a room or two by the King of Colour, Jamie Drake :-)

jamie drake bedroom jamie drake east hampton

How about some yellow artwork… love this scale of this huge yellow & grey abstract painting (you HAVE to check out Abstract Art – Go Big or Go Home on Patricia Gray’s blog).

artwork patricia gray artwork color sizzle

Some yellow houses

Yellow-House imradioblog house jeff wignall house flickr yellow house charleston flickr

While we’re outside, maybe we’ll see a Waddling Yellow Eyed Penguin (or maybe not!!)

penguins svfelicity

This has to be one of the cutest birds ever!! He’s a Western Tanager…

western tanager

And a yellow & blue sky at sunset

sky flickr

So who wins the Yellow vs. Purple Smackdown?? Purple, of course!!! Was there ever any doubt?! No colour will ever defeat purple!!! Although I have to admit, yellow looks better than purple on one of these:

yellow_ferrari madwhips

Now I’m going to challenge you to a colour smackdown — try to find the beauty in a colour that you don’t really like. It’s not so easy!! But it could give you a new appreciation for rooms and designs that you might have otherwise passed over.

Don’t forget to head back to Hooked on Houses to see who else is blog-partying with Julia this week :-)

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30 comments:

Amanda @ Serenity Now said...

LOVELY photos...you always have great photos. I applaud you for sucking it up and finding some GOOD yellow pictures. I'm not a big fan of orange...it would be tough for me. :)

Nancy said...

Isn't color a wonderful thing? Maybe seeing that yellow and purple are complimentary colors you should use them together to accent each other.

Terry said...

I've been smacked for sure. I used to think there were some colors and color combinations I just couldn't handle. I think I've learned that it can be done right with almost any colors. I'll leave that to the pros though.

Danica said...

I am right there with you. Love purple, not so much yellow. I really didn't like it for the longest time. But you know what? I didn't have a reason why I didn't like it. Now I can see that while there are rooms I like, I still wouldn't have them in my home. Purple and yellow, depending on the shades, can work together. The Sarah Richardson den is probably my favourite as well, mainly because it's subtle yellow. Accents. That's undoubtedly all I could handle. Cheers!

Heartfire At Home said...

I was a lover of yellow (mainly as an accent colour) for many, many years! Just loved it.... did have some yellow (buttery) walls in one house I renovated, and it suited it. Lately though, I do have a bit of a yearning for purple, and have the odd splash of it throughout my rooms. My 'significant other' where colour's concerned has always been red though! Don't think I could bear a room in my house that doesn't have a splash of some sort of red somewhere (blue reds that is!)

Utterly gorgeous pics and smashing blog!

Gayle said...

As always, you have the greatest pictures in your post! I'm not crazy about red. I like your challenge to try to find beauty in a color we don't really like!

Anonymous said...

Fabulous photos in your post! Some really great ideas for using colors that aren't a fav! Now, I would be pretty hard pressed to be open about orange--I run the other way--just doesn't do anything for me. Oh, BTW, does Regal Passion work for your love of purple?

Have a lovely weekend!

Wanda S. Horton - Interior Designer said...

Ahhh! So glad you came over from the "dark" side! LOL! I did a post on purple, even though it's not my thing. Thankfully for our clients, designers have the ability to transcend personal preference to recognize all of the rainbow as beautiful. So proud of ya!

Greet Lefèvre said...

Hi Kelly,

Me neither I love yellow! Although I have to admit that some images in your post are beautiful!
You have yellow and yellow, isn't it?
I do like the "yellow" of that nice building on your post!

Have a nice weekend,

Greet

The Pennington Point said...

Definitely orange. I can't imagine putting it anywhere in my house or on my body. :) I'm a pale green girl myself. But I do love those yellow rooms you showed...some people have so much talent they can even make me want yellow in my room (but not orange!) Lisa~ www.livingmybestlifeii-lisa.blogspot.com

Pam said...

I'm the polar oposite. Purple is my least favorite and I gravitate towards yellow. Considering, you did a great job of representing yellow! I like the complimentary schemes that show both. Good job!

Dumbwit Tellher said...

Great post Kelly. Love how you tried to find the positive about the color yellow. I adore yellow & have not always been a purple fan. However, I am happy to report that it's wearing on me. I have always equated it to old ladies, isn't that awful?! Some of those light fixtures in your yellow rooms were spectacular! Happy weekend to you ~ deb

Anonymous said...

First of all, this was an amazing post...just brilliant! It was so interesting what you had to say about the colors. Purple is and has always been my favorite color...in shades of lavender, plum, lilac. You get that...but I also like the soft sunny butteriness of yellow. What makes me cringe, is when yellow and purple are featured together in the same room or design. I know they are opposites on the color wheel, but there is just something about the colors together that I can't stand...which is weird because I love pansies and they have those two colors together. Anyway, what I am trying to say here is thank you for making me think about this, and again, great post.

Kathy @ Creative Home Expressions said...

Yellow, huh? I'm not a big fan of wearing yellow but I do have variations of yellow in a few rooms in my house. Nice pictures, Kelly!

Tricia said...

Awesome post Kelly- what a fun read. I don't think I have a least favorite color but I am a lover of all things neutral and solid. Prints make me crazy and I tired of them quickly. I dress in solids and I have a few subtle striped pillows in my home but the rest is solid and the prints that I've had in the past were gone very quickly! I'm just dull like that I guess.
Happy Friday! :-)

Julia @ Hooked on Houses said...

You crack me up, Kelly. What a fun post! I went through a purple phase about ten years ago and even had lavender walls in my home office. I got tired of it, though, and now I'm into yellow. Maybe not schoolbus yellow, but happy, buttery, sunny yellow, especially in accents (I haven't painted entire rooms that color or anything).

I used to read a lot about color theory, and according to it we crave certain colors because of something that we're being drawn to at the time. Purple represents spirituality. Yellow is communication. I haven't pulled those books out in awhile, but I should read up on the colors again to see what the yellow is saying about me! :-)

Lauren said...

i LOVE so many of your yellow rooms!!! have a great weekend!!!! :) (bookimarking this one)

mrsben said...

I think you may share the same opinion about yellow as I do about PINK.
GREAT CHALLENGE and POST Kelly! -Brenda-

Maria Killam said...

YOu had me at Yellow!! Great post Kelly!

angelo said...

Incredible uses of color. Perfect examples of why there's never a reason to fear it! Have a great weekend.

Donna @ Paisley and Perspective said...

OK Kelly - let's try and find the beauty in "pinky beige"! Hahahahaha!!! Great post and a great challenge!!

Anonymous said...

Fabulous post and quite amusing. It's funny...we're getting ready to paint our house. I'm thinking white with black shutters, BUT I plan on painting the front door either yellow (bright) or purple (not so bright). Thanks!
marcie

Susan said...

Hi Kelly,

Based on the blog name does someone in your house watch UFC? LOL. What a great selection of pictures, nice job. I love the yellow accented bedrooms done with the zebra print.

My challenge... loving purple, sorry I bet you are cringing right now. The only time I ever use purple is in the spring when the tulips come out. I love purple tulips, does that count?
cheers,
Susan

ImagineCozy said...

What a FUN post. You are so creative! I so enjoy all of the beautiful photos that you seem to always find.
-Angela

Maria Killam said...

My favourite colour, you had me at yellow!

Marcus Design said...

LOVE this post! And that is a hard challenge, finding a love for a color you hate!! I'm going to have to think about this one. Those Sarah Richardson rooms are my favorite, so perfect! I love yellow with lots of white, and bit of black, and grey too! Hope you both are having some nice time off.
Nancy

BubBLeS said...

This is one of my favourite posts! It's true though, really hard to stick to a theme sometimes with all the great colour choices out there!

On a separate note, yes, those puzzle pieces are coasters and I found them in Asia. :)

Patsy

Laura Trevey said...

I love all the sunny and refreshing yellows!!

xoxo Laura

Confessions of a Plate Addict said...

How fun! My fav...that yellow and gray bedroom...gorgeous! Have a great weekend!...hugs...Debbie

amariaf2000 said...

Love this post! There is this party I link to every week (when I can) and right now we are doing the colors of the rainbow each Thursday - come over to my blog and click on the 'alphabe-thursday' button! You would ROCK the rainbow out! :)

~angela @ peonypatch

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