natural palettes

We've been traveling for the last few days. Spent some time in Morro Bay, a seaside town in the San Luis Obispo area.

Morro Bay

There is a huge volcanic rock in the bay, around which a little tourist town is built. Tons of otters and cormorants. We rented a canoe, and the otters were swimming all around us.

So much otter content this week

Unbothered otter

We stayed right on the bay, in a little midcentury gem, the kind of modest yet stylish inn that would only get built during that period, but has a lot of period charm. Flagstone floors, hedgerows, low ceilings, etc.

Then we drove up to Big Sur. I've never been here, but holy moly, I get it now. We stayed in a cabin, just rustic enough to be comfortable for a family. A quick hike late in the afternoon through some incredible redwoods, and then we hit the pool and dinner.

Pfieffer Big Sur State Park

Next, we visited Pfieffer Beach. This place is unreal. A little grove of I am not sure what kind of cypress (?) encloses a walkway to huge rock formations opening up to the Pacific.

Entrance to Pfieffer Beach

Purple sands, anemones, and snails clinging to rocks, and this fascinating doorway through the center of the big rock. It's called the Keyhole Arch.

Look at all those anemone.

Keyhole Arch. Ominous and optimistic at the same time. What a facade!

Color palette videos have been taking the internet by storm lately. I've had two of them go semi-viral in the last two weeks. There's science behind color, but there also is just straight-up preference.

Some people would love mustard + burgundy together in their home, and others couldn't stand it. I think that's why it's interesting - it's both color theory and personal preference.

Nature is a tremendous source of color palettes.

This is one below is from Pfieffer Beach. It's actually really close to what I have in my living room right now. Just need to add bright lime yellow

I pulled this next one directly from the little patch of flowers growing on the Keyhole Arch rock.

It's also pretty wild what water running through two different colors of sand can do. I am getting spine/tire tracks/alligator/calcutta viola marble all at once. Dark eggplant + Sand.

Patterns in the sand

One of the reasons I like design is that it is infinite. There are endless color palettes, textures, and materials, and you could never run out in a lifetime.

It's almost as if someone with infinite power, knowledge and creativity put it there for you to discover. Like an invitation to collaborate over the course of your life.

Looking for textile inspiration? For a building facade? For rug design? For the shape of a car? Landscaping ideas? How to combine shapes? Scale?

It's all happening around you, all the time. It's why I am obsessed with walks.