Sunny side up

Bring the sunshine indoors with yellow shades. Gabrielle Fagan reveals how to create a brighter outlook at home

Yellow cannot fail to add a little sunshine to any setting. It evokes energy, and creates a sense of warmth and zest

Even a hint of sunshine peeping through grey skies instantly lifts our spirits.

A yellow palette – from bright daffodil through to custard or zingy citruses – is guaranteed to bring a whole lot of cheer to any room and will have an uplifting quality that sings spring has arrived.

“Yellow cannot fail to add a little sunshine to any setting. It evokes energy, and creates a sense of warmth and zest,” says Laura Kelway-Bamber, creative director at The Headboard Workshop (www. theheadboardworkshop.co.uk).

“Yellow tones are great for details such as accessories, as they’ll stand out and act as visual focus points in a scheme.

“Yellow’s also brilliant in smaller rooms, as it can help create a sense of space and warmth.”

So banish those winter blues and welcome spring’s signature shade into your home...

HOT STUFF

Make light work of revamping anything from furniture and light fittings to kitchen units, with Rust-Oleum’s spray paint range. Try a sunflower shade in a Mode spray paint, £14.99 for 400ml, from Homebase, or a marigold gloss Painter’s Touch spray paint, £7 for 400ml, from Wilko.

Next has fully embraced yellow this season, making it easy to give a facelift to a bedroom, with its retro floral bed set, from £22; matching curtains, from £45, and a quilted circles throw, from £40.

For a fun touch, add a Vegas LED plastic fun light – star yellow, £19.95, from Boutique Camping.

For a colour pop try the Hay autumn yellow towels – bath towels, £25 each, and guest towels, £13 each, from Amara. Or get the Andromeda clock in citrus yellow, £60, from Newgate Clocks.

LIVING YELLOW

“Always regarded as a ‘Marmite’ colour for clothes, yellow can be a winner if you need a pep of sophisticated sunshine for an interior,” says Peter Thwaites, of hand-painted fabric and wallpaper specialists, Rapture and Wright.

“The latest incarnations of this colour tend to be the tertiary yellows, which are either the earthy ochres, ideal for beautiful, sophisticated schemes when mixed with dark browns and greys, or the more acid hues – think Chinese yellow with a smidge of green/black.”

Style windows with yellow curtains, or custom made golden yellow vintage patterned roller blinds, from £38.78 per square metre at English Blinds (available end of March).

Add a punch of colour with one statement piece of furniture upholstered in yellow.

For classic style, opt for a Chesterfield-esque Matlock sofa, in Designers Guild primrose yellow velvet, from £1,656 at Sofas and Stuff, or a Duchess armchair in wattle mustard yellow velvet, from £1,395 at Content by Terence Conran. Mid-century modern enthusiasts need look no further than a Tallulah two seater sofa in mustard yellow velvet and linen, £599 at Atkin and Thyme, and Very has a fab Papillion contour fabric accent chair, £229.