27 Inspired-By-Nature Color Palettes for a Beautiful Home

Whether your style is neutral and mellow or bold and bright, let the outdoors be your inspiration.

spring green paint colors
Photo: Adam Albright

The lush forests, rocky deserts, bright flowers, and fiery sunsets are perfect natural color palettes, regardless of your design style. Channel the beauty of the outdoors into interior color schemes that take their cues from nature. These palettes combine fresh greens, watery blues, warm earth tones, and more to create beautiful nature-inspired color schemes.

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Organic Green Color Scheme

neutral green paint lids with leaves and branches
Adam Albright

Eucalyptus leaves are a soft, blue-green shade that's sophisticated and inviting. This inspired-by-nature color palette showcases the various possible tints, ranging from pale, almost-white to deep gray greens. Look for green paint colors with cool gray undertones for a crisp, organic look.

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Sage Green Kitchen

kitchen green wood copper window
James Nathan Schroder

Nature inspired this kitchen's soft sage-green cabinetry, which pairs with wood countertops for a grounding effect. White walls and open shelves deliver an airy balance. A nubby jute rug and exposed wood beams provide texture from above and below.

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Nutty Brown Color Palette

assortment brown paints lids
Carson Downing

Shades of brown, ranging from almond to chestnut, create cozy natural color schemes. Decorating with multiple browns in the same temperature but with different undertones offers a soothing layered look. Look for hints of yellow, red, or blue to provide subtle contrast across different design elements.

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Cozy Earth-Tone Living Room

retro living room with wooden rafters
John Bessler

Honey-hued wood floors, dark wood beams, and a statement-making stone fireplace create a solid neutral foundation in this living room. A sunny yellow accent chair and throw pillows lighten up a natural color palette defined by browns and taupes. Warm white walls provide a clean balance to the room's earth tones.

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Garden-Fresh Color Palette

spring green paint colors
Adam Albright

Inspired by trips through flowerbeds, vegetable plots, and produce aisles, this yellow-tinted green palette makes each day feel like spring. The green of Granny Smith apples takes on the starring role. Supporting players include pea pods, celery, lemon, and kiwi. Bright whites, seen here as tulip petals, round out the fresh-picked palette.

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Bright Green Palette

modern beige bedroom with blue, green and orange color pops
Edmund Barr

Neutral walls and white bedding allow vibrant green to take center stage. Strategically introduced through the artwork and patterned pillows, yellow-toned greens work with coral and teal accents to take the chill off the room's bright white perimeter. The energetic, inspired-by-nature color palette evokes springtime blooms and crisp green leaves.

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Watery Blue Color Scheme

teal paint lids
Greg Scheidemann

The soothing shades of ocean waves shift from green to blue depending on the weather and changing light. Similar color variations arise in this green-tinted palette of blues, combining turquoise, aqua, teal, azure, and baby blue. The blue paint colors all work together, thanks to their gray undertones.

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Ocean-Inspired Room

nursery sitting room
Michael Garland

Sea and sky colors meld beautifully in this space, doubling as a nursery and a sitting room. A grass-cloth wallcovering weaves together rich navy, soft cornflower, and turquoise to establish the inspired-by-nature color palette. The baby blue sofa and chevrons in the area rug introduce upbeat rhythms. Ocean artworks rendered in deep-sea hues supply some drama. White woodwork, frames, and accessories keep the look buoyant and breezy.

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Best Ways to Incorporate Blue

Blue is a perennial favorite for nature-inspired color schemes. Shades range from pale sky-blue to the inky indigo of twilight. Use these smart decorating tricks to ensure this classic color looks fresh and fun in your rooms.

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Warm Brown and Green Color Scheme

Green black and tan paint lids
Adam Albright

Natural environments produce distinctive color schemes, including this palette that features coffee-bean brown. Putty gray and creamy white supply cooler counterpoints to the brown, while yellow, citron, and leafy green bring warmth. The earth-tone inspired-by-nature color palette evokes images of sunbeams, tropical blooms, and verdant growth.

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Rich Earth Tones

modern sitting area with neutral
Scott Little

Deep brown walls envelop this study in coziness. Golden wood finishes, a throw splashed with copper, and a bronze side table blend forest-harvested hues and textures. White woodwork, an upholstered chair, and a cowhide rug are striking against the room's dark surfaces, and yellowish-green foliage and flowers give the room a refreshing lift.

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Tropical Color Scheme

warm orange paint colors
Greg Scheidemann

Sea creatures, tropical fruits, and breaking waves inspire this pumped-up palette. Pale, midtone, and saturated oranges combine with complementary blues to fashion high-impact designs. Shades of orange–including shrimp, papaya, tangerine, coral, and blood orange—add refreshing zing.

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Citrusy Color Palette

white blue orange room colors dining table
David Tsay

Sky-blue walls and accents make the orange tones in this dining room attract attention. Bright papaya appears on a painted buffet and in the color-blocked wall art, while other citrusy tones, including lemon and lime green, brighten up the table setting. Plenty of white on the table, chairs, area rug, and trim balance the bold tropical hues.

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Lush Green Color Palette

moss green paint lids
Marty Baldwin

An inspired-by-nature color palette featuring greens found in forests, orchards, and terrariums works in designs ranging from contemporary to cottage style. This palette combines yellowish greens and cooler hues with blue and dusty undertones. Olive, turquoise, aloe, clover, and citron create a lush palette that pairs well with earth tones like stone gray and driftwood.

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Olive Color Scheme

white sitting room with blue, green, and yellow accents
Kim Cornelison

Various shades of olive supply luxurious color in this living room. The darkest version appears on the painted fireplace surround, while accent furniture and throw pillows layer in added nature-inspired shades. Bright white walls combine with small doses of charcoal gray and black for a modern, earthy mix.

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Earth-Tone Color Palette

neutral amber colored paint lids
Adam Albright

Terra-cotta, putty, khaki, amber, and taupe evoke images of rocky landscapes, prehistoric finds, and sandy deserts. Ranging from light to dark, these earth tones quietly add dimension to rooms meant for relaxing. Mix in deeper reds and wood tones for more richness and depth.

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Warm Neutral Color Scheme

neutral banquette corner with large modern art
Ann VanderWiel Wilde

Soft khaki walls lend this neutral dining nook a warm, inviting air. Variations of earth tones repeat across the banquette fabric, the flooring, and the trim. A pair of wood chairs delivers textural contrast, while darker shades on the table and light fixture add definition.

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Stone Gray and Brown Color Palette

stony tone paint lids
Adam Albright

This stone-toned palette starts off cool with charcoal and ash grays. Reddish undertones heat up the cocoa brown, cream, and khaki hues to create a perfectly balanced mix of warm and cool. Try this palette in rooms outfitted with cabinets, flooring, and furniture stained in warm naturals.

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Refined Neutral Dining Room

blue and cream dining room
Laura Moss

Furniture stained in browns and a woven khaki area rug provide warm counterpoints to this dining room's ash-gray walls. Charcoal-gray fabrics on the armchairs take on a bluish cast that subtly reflects the blue in the nearby draperies. Shimmering mirrors contribute yet another shade of gray.

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Flower-Inspired Color Scheme

vivid purple paint colored lids
Kim Cornelison

Composed of purples with both red and blue tints, this nature-inspired color scheme combines a flower's most vivid hues with its softest tones. The pleasing inspired-by-nature color palette includes a fresh mix of fuchsia, orchid, hibiscus, mauve, and magenta. Apply these floral shades in bedrooms or living areas to cultivate distinctive designs.

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Orchid Color Scheme

purple bedroom color scheme
David Tsay

This primarily neutral bedroom presents dusty and crisp purples in multiple ways. Deep orchid makes a splash as patterned and solid pillow shams. Paler purple appears in a downy comforter. A magenta throw and mauve accessories keep the eye moving throughout the space.

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Sunshine Colors

warm yellow paint lids
Kim Cornelison

Yellow shades of straw, cream, egg yolk, banana, and butter send out sunny energy in this inspired-by-nature color palette, perfect for brightening kitchens and workspaces. The lively hues can also create bedrooms and bathrooms that issue cheery wake-up calls. Pair vibrant yellows with chocolatey browns to temper the warmth.

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Goldenrod Yellow Bedroom

yellow bedroom color scheme
Michael Partenio

Straw yellow, which appears in the wallpaper, painted walls, and drapery fabric, provides a fine foundation for more vivacious yellows that amplify this bedroom's appeal. A banana-yellow comforter and pillow shams step back, allowing brown and orange throw pillows and a marigold blanket to shine. A patterned area rug pulls together the varying shades of yellow with high impact.

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Greige Color Combinations

greige paint lids
Greg Scheidemann

This nature-inspired color palette revolves around the popular neutral greige, pictured at top. Depending on the light or the companion colors, greige can read as gray or beige, making it a versatile hue that works with stone and wood tones. Here, it partners with pearl gray, khaki, putty, and steel gray to fashion a light-and-shadow palette for peaceful retreats in various decorating styles.

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Understated Greige Bedroom

white wainscoting trim bedroom
Annie Schlechter

White wainscoting and trim highlight this room's light greige walls and window shades. Steely grays stand out as a woven basket and a solid-color lampshade, while lighter-gray linens soften the bed and a putty-hued cowhide rug warms the floor. Note how well the greige backdrop works with ebony floors and wood furniture's stained finishes.

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Herbal Color Scheme

blue green paint lids
Greg Scheidemann

Spearmint, putty, aloe, true mint, and white generate a well-rounded green color scheme inspired by herbs. The refreshing green shades are tinted with blue, so they read as cool, bright, and fashionable. Juxtapose these crisp colors with natural textures and wood finishes.

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Mint Green Living Room

marble fireplace in living room
Greg Scheidemann

Whether light or dark in tone, minty greens are flexible hues that act as neutrals yet demand attention. Here, mint walls handily showcase neutral furniture, a sleek fireplace, and silver, glass, and gold accessories. A navy throw and turquoise accents on the mantel pick up the wall color's blue undertones.

Add Nature to Your Home with These Ideas

Go beyond color to bring nature into your home—the feeling of being outdoors while inside is both comforting and invigorating. Natural elements are trending in many design styles, including Cabincore, which draws on rustic design elements, and Forestcore, which focuses on greenery, darker colors, and wood tones to evoke a forest feel. If you want to add just a hint of nature to a space, try a living wall that you can DIY. If you have a view of natural elements, whether a wooded area or garden behind your home or an oceanfront view, highlight those vistas with a picture window or wall of windows to maximize your enjoyment.

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