Often when starting a new design or project, one of the biggest challenges is coming up with a color scheme. Sometimes it's not that big of a deal to go through a hundred different colors, if you're working on the computer for example. But if you're painting a wall, or planning a wedding, you want it to be a color you will love day after day and for years to come!
One of my favorite places to turn when I need a fresh dose of color stimulation, is Instagram. Scrolling through my personal feed, I’m reminded why I snapped these pictures to begin with. Something about the moment caught my eye, and captivated me enough to forever immortalize it in social media history. 
Take time to look back at your photos and discover which colors you’re naturally attracted to. You already have a strange attachment to those little filtered pics, they might as well help get your creative juices flowing.
Visit STRONG IS OUR SEXY for a few of my favorite Instagram accounts bursting with fresh color.
Of course when discussing where to find ideas on the world wide web, we can’t leave out the mother-ship of them all; Pinterest. Just search the word “color”, and there’s enough image overload to scroll through you won’t leave your computer for a week. I find it best to organize my pins by category or idea. For example; one of the projects I’m working on in my home is the guest bedroom. I found this image a while back, and instantly fell in love with the deep navy. Now whenever I see a picture fitting that theme, I pin it to a specific board, so everything stays together.
Get the links to boards and pinners who are especially good at picking great color at STRONG IS OUR SEXY.
So you’ve searched high and low, and have curated the perfect color combo to make all your dreams come true.
Now what???
Executing a color scheme can sometimes be a tricky task. It involves a bit of balance, and some definite hierarchy. What do I mean by hierarchy? Well each color in your theme needs to have a certain level of importance. This will help keep colors from competing with each other, and create a sense of equilibrium. When decorating a room, your wall color is dominant, and everything you use to accent (bead spread, decor, curtains) is secondary.
Another real-life-example where a color scheme is important is planning a wedding!
For my own wedding (like most little girls) I had an idea what I wanted my colors to be for A LONG time. Purple has always been my favorite color, so that was a must. Our wedding was in September, so I used burnt orange to tie in the Fall season. And lastly my husband and I are HUGE Beatles fans, so to pay tribute we decorated with Granny Smith apples, and used bright green as our final color.
So in my case, the color hierarchy was; purple, orange, and then green.
This helped me make decisions such as what the bridesmaids would be wearing, what color flowers to focus on, what the jewelry would look like, and so on.
Image credit to Lindsey Kay
Our world is completely saturated in color. When deciding on a scheme focus on how certain colors make you feel, and latch on to those that fill you with JOY. Every time I see that perfect shade of purple or a green apple, I instantly remember the happiest day of my life.
That is the kind of reaction color should bring you.
For as many rules there are about coordinating color, there are just as many reasons to break them. As long as they make YOU happy, that’s all that really matters.
