Creating Color Palettes from Nature and Photographs
Colors can either harmonize with each other or create a total disgusting cacaphony. Here's a quick example: When we first moved into our house the cabinet color seemed SO UGLY! It was SO YELLOWY! The walls were a creamy yellow as well so the kitchen just made me feel a bit sick. My mom (artist and momma for 30 plus years) suggested instead of ripping out the cabinetry, just change the colors of the walls! We painted them a blue-grey Sea Haze. The sea haze complemented the warm yellow of the cabinets and made the kitchen look inviting and well, warm! WOW. I just saved myself 10,000 remodling costs by just painting the a complementing color!
Picking a color palette for anything from your business to your kid's bedroom may be a daunting task. Luckily, there is lots of help out there. If you don't know your basic color theory I highly recommend this video by Karen Kavett. I am constantly visiting Color Scheme Designer 3: This site will generate colors schemes if you input the hex # for one color. E.g., you love bright purple for your living room. What the heck goes with that? Enter the hex # of the purple - or pick it out on the color wheel and you can come up with some solid color palettes (monochromatic, triad, complementary, so on). Easy.
Well, lets say you want something a little more custom. My theory is that when you look at a harmonic color palette it probably reminds you of something you see naturally. I threw together a few photos to show you some examples below:
I created these from photos I have collected over the years in Boston, at the Zoo, Organ Mountains in Southern New Mexico, Paris (photo by my sister Kristen), hiking in California, etc. I'm sure you don't have to go too far to find something similar.