Bold and Beautiful Bathrooms

Hip, Fresh Yellow Bathroom

Designer Barclay Fryery gives a modern-day "it girl" a lively, fresh and unexpectedly modern bathroom.

While the paint color in this powder room dates back to turn-of-the-century England, the look is entirely up-to-the-moment — and utterly New York.

"This apartment belongs to a modern-day 'it girl' and stockbroker to the stars," says designer Barclay Fryery (www.askbarclay.com). "The rest of the rooms are camel, black, cream and white, just like her delicious clothes. But for the powder room, I wanted something lively and fresh and unexpectedly modern."

Fryery got all of that and more with this color, a shade midway between taxicab and lemon peel. Because there are no moldings to separate one plane from another, he painted the ceiling the same color as the walls: Farrow and Ball's Dayroom Yellow #233. "Surrounding the room in a single color adds a finished look," he says. For even more uptown polish, Fryery added a modern chrome sink; accents of black and white add a graphic touch.

"In a small powder room," says Fryery, "you always need to have a wow factor, so be bold, and be dramatic. You need a little luck when you try something unusual, but the most important ingredient for pulling it together is confidence."

Photograph by Chi Chi Ubina.