It’s Easier Than You Might Think
Creating a DIY color palette for your beach room makeover — creating any color palette, actually — may seem like a daunting task which is better left to interior designers and artists. We think, however, that you may be making it harder than it has to be. Please don’t misunderstand — we mean no disrespect to artists and decorators. It’s just that today’s society is filled with a vibrant, can-do, do-it-yourself attitude (ours included!), and if you’re making over one room or even a couple, then, heck, we think you should do it yourself, if you’re so inclined!
That said, let’s get started!
Step 1. Take a Photo
Go out to your local river, lake, beach, the ocean, or whatever other body of water is your favorite, and take a few photos. They don’t have to be perfect. You’re reproducing it in a small size — about 8 by 10 — so it’s not like anyone is going to point and say, “Hey, did you notice that crab is out of focus?” (And if they do, tell them it’s your personal photographic style!) So take as many as you want, and when you get them home, pick a favorite.
No Waterway or Beach nearby?
If you don’t have a waterway nearby, there are many beach, island, tropical, ocean, shore, boating (the list is long) photos for sale inexpensively online, and in both downloadable and printed formats. {Please, we beg you to respect copyrights of photographers by purchasing a photo. Photographers — myself included — work hard to achieve the results we do and to offer our works of art to you. Thank you, for playing fair and being respectful!}
Our Willet Photo
Is Also Available
If you like our willet bird photo so much you’d like to use it, you may purchase the photo print here or the wrapped canvas pictured here. (You might also want to get the photo palette postcard we created here. It’s a portable DIY color palette for your pocket or purse!)
Other Options…
Etsy has a lot of independent artists selling their photography.
We’ve selected some from our favorite marketplace too. Before finalizing your purchase, check the size! Each artist chooses their own default size. 😉 In some cases, it’ll be inexpensive enough for you to purchase two copies — if this is the case, do it. You’ll understand why when you read step 2.
you can safely scroll past these beautiful photos to see the next step. 🙂
Or you can take a leisurely scroll —
we think there are some interesting DIY color palettes in them.
Step 2. Print Your Photo
If you’re using your own photo, print two copies on photo-quality paper. One copy is to take shopping with you, and the other is to frame and put in your beach-themed room. You’re using photo-quality paper on both copies, so that the ink colors match each other (different papers will absorb and print colors differently).
If printing at home isn’t an option, you can put your image on a thumb drive and any office supply store will print it for you for a small fee. Remember to request photo-quality paper!
It doesn’t matter if the photo’s colors look a little different in the room your making over versus in the store — everything you buy will look a little different in your room than it does in the store, plus, in a true beach setting, all of the colors twinkle in the sun and the color shades are always changing. That’s part of the beauty of an ocean palette!
Not Using Your Own Photo?
If you purchased photos in printed format, don’t head out to the home decor store just yet! We suggest you wait until you receive your actual order, to ensure you’re color matching to the actual printed photo and not the colors on your computer screen. If you purchased two copies, then one is to take with you, as you shop for decor treasures. If you weren’t able to do that, then frame your print right away to protect it. You can use any old frame for now because it’s only purpose is to protect it while you’re shopping.
Step 3. You Created a DIY Color Palette!
Your photo is, essentially, your DIY color palette. You can match any or all of the colors in the photo, and your room colors will flow naturally. You can choose multiple shades of one color or 5 colors from your photo — whatever your heart desires. But the fact is that if you love the photo you chose, then no matter which colors you match for your room makeover, you’re going to love your room too.
If you’re photo-editing software savvy, you can pull out actual colors, as we did in the postcard color palette image at the beginning of this article, and if you’re not, no worries — you can just use the photo itself!
What to Do With It Now?
You didn’t think we’d end our story here, did you? Oh, no! We created our DIY color palette using this technique and the photo at the beginning of this article, and then we did a bathroom makeover using that palette and the photo as our inspiration. Click here to see how that turned out.
Did You Try This at Home?
If you tried our easy DIY color palette idea, let us know in the comments. If you have ideas to improve on our idea, please share! If you’d like ideas about pulling a color palette from a photo you love, get in touch with us here.
