Color Palette

Do you know your color palette?  I didn't realize that I have one, and all of us for that matter until I read about it.  

Our color palette is manifested by our choice of personal things, our clothes, shoes and bags and all other accessories, even things around the house, so if only you will look closely, you will discover that there is a color or two that stand out, and most often, that's your favorite color. 

In painting our walls, don't we refer to a color chart or the color wheel as our guide?  It's true that many  of us are quite reluctant to choose, afraid that our choice combinations won't work, so we often rely on the interior decorator to do this task. 

I like one celebrity decorator who always ask his clients for an object that they like so much to ensure that they will like what he will do. He refers to that object to develop the color palette in decorating their room/home.  I watched one of his shows where the client gave him a printed dress and the color-coordination done was amazing, to the great satisfaction of the client. 

As early as grade school, we were often asked what our favorite color is. Don't you recall the slum books as well where that is one of the standard questions?  

“My teacher asked my favorite color. ... I said ‘Rainbow’.... and I was punished to stand out of my class.” ----Saket Assertive

"The vibrant colors of this rainbow set against lush surroundings, photographed near San Quirico d'Orcia, Tuscany, make it seem like an almost magical phenomenon. However, the science behind a rainbow is relatively simple as it's just a matter of refraction, or the bending of light." © iStockphoto.com/jbarkway )

When we mature however, our taste become more sophisticated and we either go for more subdued hues or get bold and choose brighter colors. 

I for one always liked yellow, like the sun, I feel it is a lucky color, giving a lot of light and life. Nowadays however, I favor very much the warm and vibrant colors of autumn; the greens, yellows, golds, oranges and the browns put together is something I'd like to see around the house.  

So I chose a slightly burnt orange as an accent wall for our bedroom and lighter tones for the other walls.  I only buy linens in shades of beige, yellow, gold, orange and brown so everything is coordinated, they will compliment and match and be interchangeable. For instance pillow cases in yellow will easily blend or contrast with a brown or an orange duvet and it's matching pillow cases.

Experts say that when in doubt, look at nature and see which colors work. In fact, most artists get their inspiration from nature.  I myself is often amazed at the birds' feathers, sometimes the combinations are bold but they look great, like those below:

These two pictures above and below are both from the gallery of Dan Nihiser.

The ocean taken together with the sky provides a great palette as well, it is a combination of relaxing hues of blue, aqua, gray and white, sometimes stones and sand turn yellowish with the glare of the sun.

This picture is so peaceful and serene, I have to give credit to my younger daughter who took it and shared it with the family during her honeymoon at Shangrila, Maldives late last year. 

Many people stay on the safe side and only use safe colors, like the neutrals: white, beige, gray; others though are very bold combining very strong colors together, but hey, does it really matter?  As long as they are happy living with it, then all is well.