stumped

i'm not afraid of colour. in my painting, in my spinning i can bring colours together that sing. but i am stumped by the colour of my bathroom tiles. they are medium yellow with black edging. original to the 1950's house. when i bought the house 10 years ago i painted the walls a bright orangey-yellow. it actually always felt dark. so this is what i went with this time. my inspiration was 1950's motel bathrooms. but it doesn't work. it's bright and clean but feels so stark. i think i need to keep going with the 1950's quirkiness to bring it to life. last night i bought this print on etsy to replace bonnards bathing woman. he reminds me of abigail!