You sound like you are in the groove of making color choices! I have to confess that while sometimes my eyes are open to the wonder that surrounds me, there are other times when I'm looking inward to my task list and I barely even notice.

I really like Raccoon Hollow. It's a shade of green I can handle! lol

I've told this story a zillion times, but I'll make it short. I've decorated my houses since I was 20 in the colors of a vintage bowl my mom gave me. Red, cream and two shades of green. Christmas all year round!

But I'm now adding more blues and yellows which blends in perfectly.

My pets have provided me with color inspiration.

I was trying to decide what accent colors to use in my master bedroom, which has light blue walls. I had originally done the room in blues and whites--gauzy white curtains, blue and white flowered bedding, and white flower artwork. When winter came around, I wanted something "warmer." One day I looked at my ragdoll cat lounging on the bed and thought--what a perfect color combination. She has blue eyes and her fur is shades of chocolate brown, light tan, and white. So I added in the chocolate brown for winter and it looked great. (This was before chocolate brown and blue became trendy--although that trend has already passed).

When we were getting our hardwood floors finished, my husband kept trying to describe the reddish brown color he wanted. Finally he told the refinisher to just match the floors to the color of our dog. We love the floors and they really are a perfect match to Oscar's coat.

I know it sounds kind of dorky but I get color inspiration from stones. I love earth tones because whatever pop of color I put with it is beautiful. Can't go wrong with Mother Nature!!!

Too bad you couldn't have snapped a pic of the house with the neat color combination...it's true though, you just never know when inspiration will strike. :)

caminnc...exactly. I get all of my inspiration from the colors around me. My wooden bowls and art and the stones I collect. You are so right that Mother Nature never messes up. Great thread.

We painted our house last summer and after a much back and forth and help from this forum, we decided on an earthy black. After the first coat, I could tell it looked great, but I wanted to add a third colour to the trim. I was contemplating a beige or green, but then I looked up at it one day and the sun was hitting one of the sample colours making it appear to be a deep deep gold (rather than the boring flat beige it really was). It looked amazing and I never would have stumbled on it on my own. However, whenever anyone asks how I chose such a perfect accent colour, I always smile and say, 'it just came to me.'

Absolutely. Very rarely has my heart skippped a beat and my palms started to sweat by a paint chip palette or a palette in a home decor magazine. Ask me how many times I've been inspired by a building, bouquet, rusted piece of metal, sign, landscape or flowering (or Fall) tree. That will send me into a frenzy trying to get to my paint decks to recreate the palette before I forget it.

I'm with Kristinekr.. mine came from my dogs as well. Before we began our remodeling projects, the carpets were a mess and the dog hair was overwhelming us. I finally decided to decorate around them rather than in spite of them -- in other words, I decorated for the life I really have, not the one I wished I had.

I have brown/latte suede painted walls in my den, and dark brown distressed leather furniture to handle those big black dog nails. Any scratch only enhances the look. I went with heated tile instead of carpet, and recently got a large oriental rug with dark jewel tones and tons of pattern. It has worked like a charm so far. What started as practical decisions has turned into a sort of British art deco feel.

The funniest part is when people ask, "how do you keep your house so nice with those large dogs??"