Color Inspiration - Bringing The Outdoors In

Nature, the best color inspiration. {Photo via Scarlett/Spruce-us.com *Please do not use without permission.}

Blue & White are certainly classic color choices. Blue & Green are also very popular color combinations and not just for homes along the coast. Blue, Green, White and/or Sandy colors (think beiges, off whites, tans) are one of my all time favorite color combinations. You don’t have to go with a coastal theme to bring these shades into your home (or office). Blues have been popular for many, many years for bedroom color due to their soothing/calming effect. Who couldn’t use some soothing/calming effects throughout their entire home? Blue isn’t thought of as just for bedrooms for a long time now and there are SO many shades of blue that can mix & match well with each other, including NAVY which I love seeing in interiors. Navy & white, now there’s a statement!

Blue & Green are a very soothing color combo together. Add a bit of white and/or sand to add interest and soften a bit too. Think Hydrangeas (blue/green), Plumbago (blue), Jasmine (white & green PLUS that intoxicating aroma), grass & trees, soil, fields of cotton or wheat, the sky, the ocean…shades of blue, green, white & sandy shades are all around wherever you live. In the city, the country or the coast. Bringing the outdoors in is always a good thing in my humble opinion.

Blue, White, Sand, White plus texture add interest. {Photo via Scarlett/Spruce-us.com *Please do not use photo without permission.}

My mother lives a VERY long way from ANY ocean but she still uses blues, greens, whites & sand tones in her home because A) she loves the color palette and B) her home brings the outside in year around. Her small, quaint town is surrounded by acres and acres of cotton fields and soybean fields and wheat fields. There are also large bodies of water in & near her town: The Mississippi River for one and tons of beautiful lakes all around. Blue, white, green & sandy shades are all around her little town and in her garden without the ocean being anywhere near her. The trees in her little town are some of the most gorgeous trees I’ve ever seen. Huge, strong, colorful, majestic even I’d say. Another color inspiration for sure…trees and shrubs. I have boxwoods all around in our yard and I even bring that inspiration inside with preserved potted boxwoods (a favorite of mine).

My mother also loves hydrangeas just like I do (probably where I got my love for them). Her property is very lush and green as is the entire area around her. Those colors are just natural choices if you ask me to bring into her home.

Hydrangea. Love these soft colors! {Photo via Scarlett/Spruce-us.com *Please do not use without permission}

One of my favorite little potted preserved boxwoods with an added little green bow, because…why not? {Photo via Scarlett/Spruce-us.com *Please do not use without permission.}

You certainly don’t need to be near an ocean to bring in the coastal colors and vibes but you can be. It’s your home…make it as you’d like. If you live near the ocean and want that vibe all through your home, go for it! If you live on a farm but miss the ocean SO much that you want to incorporate the hues and feel of the ocean…go for it!

I say, it’s your home but I also suggest trying to incorporate your outdoor surroundings with your inside decor for a more cohesive look. I LOVE old barns (LOVE THEM)!!! Grew up surrounded by them. I miss them to be honest and whenever I go home to visit, you’ll often find me, my camera and my boots out on a barn “capturing” expedition. My mother & father used to go with me when I’d visit looking around for old barns for me to take pictures of. They didn’t really “get it” but we always had a blast (even though I’m pretty sure when I got out of the vehicle they were asking each other when exactly I was dropped on my head). After my dad passed away, the ole’ barn hunting just hasn’t been the same. It’s been a few years since I went looking for barns but boy do I still love them and mostly the memories I have of us all going together.

I tell you this because where I live (in Florida, right on the coast), I don’t feel like I can really incorporate barns into my motif. It just doesn’t fit with our decor, even though there’s nothing particularly coastal about our decor. It’s certainly not barn friendly, if you know what I mean. Same goes with cows (which I also love). Barns & cows bring back found memories of my hometown and my upbringing. From a long line of family farmers so I guess it’s in my blood, even though I moved away LONG ago. SO…what do I do? I have over my desk in my home office, one of my favorite barn photos blown up & framed AND I have a small painting of a white cow with a blue background on an easel sitting on my desk. The colors still work with the rest of the house and these two things remind me of home, fond memories, where I came from and who I am still at my core.

So…that long winding tale was to say…you do you. Just try to make it make sense in some small way or another. You certainly wouldn’t want a coastal theme throughout your home and then WHAM! a big cow painting smacked somewhere randomly. But hey…don’t be afraid to try things. If you love something badly enough, you’ll find a spot for it and you’ll make it work. I found my white cow painting from a local Franklin, TN artist and as soon as I saw it…I had to have it!!! I love Franklin, TN (I would move there in a second if it were up to me) and I love cows (especially white cows) SOOOOO…the cow came home and now happily lives in my home office. I’m happy. The cow’s happy. The Franklin, TN artist is happy. ALL WORKED OUT!

Here are some other ways to bring blue, white, green, sand/beige colors into your home in both conventional ways and not so much. Remember, you do you! Breathe and bring the outdoors in.

Shades of blue & white bed linens. {Photo via Scarlett/Spruce-us.com *Please do not use without permission}

Don’t forget to keep your eyes open when shopping antique & vintage shops, thrift stores, yard sales, etc. Some of my very favorite pieces of artwork I’ve found while browsing around and they’ve been by local artist. {Photo via Scarlett/Spruce-us.com *Please do not use without permission.}

An example of marrying blue, white & green along with a bit of texture from a basket tucked behind this pretty, white stoneware. This piece is displayed in a bookcase and becomes the focal point of its shelf. {Photo via Scarlett/Spruce-us.com *Please do not use without permission.}

It’s your home. Make it yours. Make it shine. Let your home tell YOUR story whether it’s a coastal story, a farmhouse story, a cottage garden story, a Parisian story….make it yours. Bring the outside in and incorporate your color story throughout no matter what your story tells.

Happy Sprucing! ~Scarlett

PS) Stay tuned, Franklin (my cow) will very likely make an appearance in a future art related post.