This secretary and walls are painted in two close but different tropical shades that play up the op-art-inspired chair fabric and the rich imagery of the hand-tufted rug. The secretary is lined with a Popsicle-bright faux-bois paper that is reiterated on the candles of the sconces.

Like the bright petals of a dandelion when juxtaposed against the green grass, the yellow of this suede pillow pops. Pair the yellow with colors that transition into fall and you'll have a versatile piece for your couch.

Summer sunsets can last well into the winter with this paper lantern. The warm oranges hung over the dinner table make even weekday dinners feel alfresco.

Add a dose of color and organization in one bold shot with fabric-covered organization boxes.

Sunset's colors look best in the bedroom where burnt oranges and warm yellows make the room warm and enveloping.

Fabric storage boxes bring organization as well as a dose of color. Use fabric glue and a brush to enliven coordinating ones with vivid grosgrain ribbon.

Paint the backs of bookcases in vibrant colors -- or just line them with colored paper -- to make your case pop.

1. A tape trim creates a bright edge on cream curtains. No sewing is required when you use a fusible web tape, such as Stitch Witchery, that binds two fabrics together. 2. Echo the trim color on the curtains by using fabric glue and a small brush to adorn a shade with matching bias tape. 3. A yellow sofa might be too much, but pillows infuse color without going overboard. Better yet are cushions with a neutral color on one side and a bright one on the other. 4. Even a simple coffee table can become an oasis of color. For a glass table, remove the top and spray-paint its underside. For a wooden or metal table, have a piece of glass cut to size, and then paint it. In either case, the result adds a luminous gleam to the living room.

Like an hour's worth of sunlight on a gray, rainy day, the glint of yellow in neutral rooms delights. Here, working together to leaven ordinary whites and creams, is a chrome-yellow Chippendale-style mirror frame -- its happy new coat of paint causing it to "jump off the wall"; some creamy yellows in the chair pillow's print; and the meltingly pale, new-minted gold of full-blown roses. Inspiring yellow details -- including notions, fabrics, and trimmings in silk, cotton, and rayon.

By itself, the citron yellow on this Victorian chest seemed pallid. But a rich, honeyed drawer trim -- not an obvious choice -- galvanized it. "The greater the chance you take with yellows," says Stephen Earle, "the greater the reward."

A butter-and-cream yellow bed skirt works best when warmed by an orange-yellow curtain stripe, and chilled, a bit, by breathy aqua walls.

Dandelion-yellow walls and clean white woodwork pull this room's architecture together. Crisp black-and-white engravings --  photos work, too -- and the snap of several blues combine to make yellow (almost) a neutral background.

Luminous and dazzling, translucent yellow curtains bring this dark, paneled room to life. Goldenrod on the mantel, a few restrained yellow objects, and the touches of turquoise tile that spark a fireplace surround rejuvenate a "moody" space.

Ceramic sunlight dapples the dark woods of an old chest of drawers, a Sheraton balloon-seat side chair, and paneled walls. (Careful: Those shiny porcelain surfaces are reflective. Against red or green, they'll mirror background hues.)

Color inspiration can come from many sources. In this bedroom, a screen covered with patterned wallpaper functions as a headboard and as a springboard for the room's color scheme. But rather than the more predictable pale blue of the paper's background, the wall color picks up the green-yellow shades of the vines and hummingbirds to provide a powerful contrast. A yellow lamp with a black shade adds further bold elements, while ecru and cream bedding, a blond-wood side table, and a jute rug temper the intensity of the walls, creating a balance of elements that's romantic but not predictable and feminine without being overly sweet.