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Using Natural Color in Design

Posted on October 21st, 2009
by John Kirchner

3 Comments

Recently, MLuxe contributor P. Allen Smith wrote about choosing plants of certain colors to evoke certain moods, feelings or effects in your garden. Today, we’re going to talk about a similar topic: bringing natural color into your home.

natural_color_slateGreen-living blog Re-Nest had a great post a few days ago about using naturally-occurring colors in designing and decorating your home. Re-Nest quotes a book called Color in Interior Design, saying:

The colors of nature are, in the main, beautiful, harmonious, and satisfying [...] the use of only the natural colors of materials will guarantee successful color in architecture and interior design…

The idea of natural colors is, of course, opposed to colors not found in nature. It’s more than a matter of “mellow” or “calm” colors vs. bright and bold colors. It’s a matter of designing a consistent theme and feeling throughout your home.

Natural colors cover a range from the more subdued hues in the photo at right to a variety of stunning, bright natural colors. What array of natural colors do you have in your home?

Photo of blue-to-beige slate tiles courtesy of International Slate Company



Related reading:

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  • Case Study: Mountain Home
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  • Reduce, reuse, recycle, reclaim
  • Outdoor garden accessories round-up

Posted in design |


3 Responses to “Using Natural Color in Design”

Mike Layne (mikelayne)

October 21st, 2009 - 5:32 pm

Twitter Comment


RT @MarvinWindows: Today on MLuxe: Using Natural Color in Design [link to post]

– Posted using Chat Catcher

MLuxe – Distinctive Home Style » Blog Archive » Tips on using color in interior design

June 9th, 2010 - 11:41 am

[...] And for advice on making a more subtle statement, check out our earlier post on using understated natural colors in interior design. [...]

Toshia Schnell

June 15th, 2010 - 2:53 pm

Hola thanks for the cool entry.

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