Nature as Your Color Palette

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Picking a color scheme is a crucial decision that every homeowner is supposed to make. This year, 2017 is all about people’s love of nature and how Mother Nature’s hues can be used to create a palette that’s nourishing and uplifting.

One’s perception of nature is always beautiful. This is a universal observation. If you have observed – throughout the ages – poetry and paintings have always given importance to the natural world. Paying homage to nature is also human nature. Just picture the majestic mountains, the beauty of lakes and rivers and the greeneries of the forests and you will immediately feel a calming wave.

Nature can be your inspiration for colors because Mother Nature is the chief colorist. You, too can fuse textures, colors and light to create the most breathtaking palettes. Go for a walk during fall and you are likely to see a lot of orange hues and greens and browns.

Use nature’s wisdom and use that to colorize your habitat.

Light and Nature

Nature’s colors also change as the light changes. Natural light during the morning is warm and soft and it contrasts beautifully with many colors. As midday comes, natural light shows a full spectrum. It then contrasts everything that’s paired with it. It also becomes more intense and strong.

By the late afternoon, the light casts a softened glow. It then bows out with a golden glow which deepens as the twilight offers the warmest reds complete with purple overtones.

As you pick colors, be sure to consider the functions of each room. The amount of natural lighting as well as the direction from which it would come from must be well-thought. Create 12-inch square samples of potential colors then move them from one room to the next.

Learn about the effects of light on different colors and during specific times of the day. If the colors look too dark during the evening, see how artificial lighting could change that. Keep sampling till you get the right hues that work under the right amount of light.

Create Visual Interest

Nature offers a lot of surface variations. There are many patterns, textures, and gradation that can enrich colors. Being subtle is the key but be careful that your home doesn’t become dull because you don’t want to become too adventurous. For instance, a grassy meadow is monochromatic but using different shapes and textures and interplaying them with light can create visual interest.

A monochromatic room can also achieve visual interest when it makes effective use of different shades of the same hue so this means you could go from cool to warm and vice versa. You could also go from intense to muted then light to dark.

Mimic the natural look of forests and its paint effects. Use color washing, ragging, glazing, the choices are numerous.

Take note also of color proximity. Think of the colors that can be used together and also as solo hue. Neutral gray, for instance, can appear warm or cool depending on the color that’s placed right next to it. Use cool blue for a cooler hue and pair it with warm rust to make it look cozy.

Cynthia Rowley captured the greeneries of nature in her Hooker Furniture Rivington 3 over 3 Sofa.

Layer the Colors

When you look at Nature’s scenes, observe how the colors are majestically layered. The desert, for instance, offers sandy tones which are perfect base colors for a neutral frame. If you are willing to use desert colors, you could choose to use these hues for the walls in your home. Against this neutral background, you are sure to see more interesting colors such as cactus green and reddish browns.

Nature also offers the most interesting accent colors. See how you can use them to stimulate a lively ambience in your home.

Tags: McCreerys, McCreerys Home Furnishings, nature's colors, using nature's colors in interior design

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 9th, 2017 at 4:20 pm and is filed under Interior Design 101, Interior Design Themes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.