While it is still cold and gray, I’m thinking ahead of warm days, picnics, outdoor parties and day trippin’ in our new car. These two photos from Southern Weddings just about sums up what I’m ready for – color, fun and warm weather! Whenever I need inspiration for Spring and Summer, which is right about now, I peek at wedding blogs and websites. They put me in such a great mood. Feminine, fresh, bright, romantic, great ideas…

Southern Weddings is a GREAT source of inspiration to me. Plus, I’m a southern girl from South Carolina originally so naturally, there’s a heart connection too. I grew up a town over from Pawleys Island and went to many weddings at Litchfield Plantation over the years, so I love southern weddings.

Another great site to check out is called Lover.ly. Have you heard of it? It’s like a Pinterest for wedding enthusiasts, brides, wedding party members, etc. I go there for inspiration frequently now too. I’ve learned that you really need to branch out from Pinterest because if everyone is always being inspired by the same things then it can really have a negative impact on imagination. Try to branch out a little when you feel overwhelmed or are in a Pinterest coma, okay? A site like Lover.ly is a great escape.

(images: southern weddings)

Isn’t mint a relaxing color? I’m seeing it everywhere at the moment and simply love it. It doesn’t need to be mixed with other pastel tones, it’s fun to pair with bright orange and lime too. There are so many hues and tints and tones of those hues that you can mix with mint. See if you can come up with some palettes of your own below. Here is some inspiration to get you started.

painting, jacket, anson smart, Gro Sævik.

interior magasinet/Gro Sævik

man in plaid, Elina Dahl, Birgitta Wolfgang Drejer, Griottes.

anthropologie, matt wisniewski, Family Circle, Road Trip Finland

Planete Deco

Fresh and pretty, right? What combination makes your eyes light up?

(images linked to their sources above)

Want to talk about color for a minute? Good because wouldn’t you know it, so do I! :) Designer Patty Murphy pulled together this nice print which gave me the whole inspiration to write this post. I thought the palette was great and could ultimately result in a gorgeous room scheme or even a nice outfit. What do you think?

I added little dots below showing the key colors and also listed what they are in Photoshop terms if you are looking to use them in a project… I really adore these colors together though, it’s a very glamorous and feminine mix. Add-in a little metallic copper or gold and you’d have something extra special. If you think the darkest tone you see is black (I think it depends on your screen), you may want to look again. It’s really a truly deep, dark eggplant. Violet with orange, fuchsia and mint is trending for Spring fashion, have you noticed? If you haven’t noticed, here is some inspiration from Breakfast at Yurmans below. I LOVE the pop of RED in this mix too. Wow.

I am thinking that it may be time now to replace neon pink, which is being used everywhere, with accents of fuchsia and red instead. Seeing this photo above convinces me that mixing violet tones, red, mint green, peach, orange, beige, fuchsia and metallic copper could be an amazinggggg palette not only to wear but in the home – Oh yeah. You can even replace red with yellow – like a sunny yellow or mustard as shown below by fargerike.

Makes me dream of the possibilities, wow. What do you think of these colors together?

I’m in heaven!

(images: linked to their sources above.)

Pastels are everywhere but do they feel fresh or a bit sluggish to you? I must admit, all of that sugary softness can feel totally boring (Easter needs revamped!) so why don’t we turn up the heat and make pastels ZING. What I’m about to show you (brace  yourself) is a very hot ‘n spicy palette for Spring on the runway so why not try it at home by mixing pastels with spicy red, 80s neons, warm cooper or gold tones, maybe a shot of black, deep violet, emerald or navy. I’m tellin’ ya people, we can take pastels from Oy vey to Oh yay in mere seconds – take a look…

This is a very lively mix – a real party girl combo using sugar sweet pastels and punctuating them with clever color accents that are bold and risky. While pastels can feel really granny and dated (or seasonal), you can easily perk them up with my favorite metal of the moment – copper!

If you’re a bit bored with neon pink, opt for neon orange because that looks quite gorgeous when placed in a pastel playground.

I even love spicy reds – they can energize a pastel palette taking them from Easter egg hunts and tea parties to grown up girl Glamorama cha-cha! Want to get a little edgy with pastels? Grab a little black or navy and dot it around the space.

Cushions by Martinich&Carran

How are you using pastels at the moment? Here are some visuals to give you some ideas that I love…

I have to add that Lucy over at the Design Files is such an inspiration to me. This Australian blogger has such a gorgeous design blog about Aussie design and recently had a beautiful open house event where she turned an empty rented home into a living blog OPEN HOUSE showroom for a weekend. I really love Lucy’s photography, blog and now her open house events – I’m tempted to fly down to Australia to attend the next one later this year – it’s my big dream ! Anyway, Lucy loves color and knows how to mix pastels with more vibrant hues so I selected several photos above from her open house party to inspire you to be a bit more daring when you decorate. To see more about the Design Files Open House, please visit Vimeo and watch this stunning video. Lucy, you rock with color and design!

(images: ferm living, revolver, design files)

I hope that you enjoyed my previous post about color with 3 color study exercises – please try at least one of them to see what you discover about yourself  -it’s fun and we need more FUN in life because it fuels our creative side. I thought I’d practice what I preach and apply one of my own tips so I selected the first tip, to spot themes which is exactly what I did this morning after a pinning session over on Pinterest. Here is a very moody color palette that emerged: Indigo, gray, pale pink, peach, mint… Pretty yet also moody and winter-y.

( photos above: all things comfy, naturally ella, mrs french, thriving twenties.)

What does this palette reveal to me? It’s the dead of winter where I live and I mean DEAD. Everything is gray outside. It’s freezing. There is nothing to look forward to (no fairs, no flea markets, nothing to do outdoors). It’s a bit of a depressing time of year BUT I’m not hopeless, in fact, I’m using this period as a bit of a rest period so that I can gather my ideas and energy so that once March arrives, then April, May, and so on, I can put all of this stored energy into practice and go out and do lots of fun things.

(illustration from the ammiki shop on easy)

(from welke)

(illustrator marika maijala, whole living magazine, pillow from Bright July shop on etsy, skona hem magazine)

(illustration by My Lovely Thing, Mod Cloth thumbtack DIY, Butterfly photo books)

This palette also represents a changing of seasons as very soon, we’ll be facing Spring yet this is the overall energy in the air today. It’s a time of candles, conversations over tea, indulging in comfort food (like porridge, soup, fresh bread) and big, cozy sweaters.

By the way, be sure to click on lots of the links above where these images came from because they are sure to inspire you – loads of great sites, blogs and stores to visit!

What is your current color crush?

(images: linked below each grouping/photo)