When my friend Stephen saw these prize-winning eggs at the Truro Ag Fair, he remarked that they could inspire a beautiful paint palette. Of course, he’s not the first to have found inspiration in Araucanas eggs. Martha Stewart had her Picnic Boat hull painted to match one such egg.

I know this because once when my husband, a boating enthusiast, was stretching out for a run in front of the living room T.V., he stumbled upon a show about the making of a Hinckley Picnic Boat in which the experts explained the process. I overheard the show from the kitchen and recognized a familiar voice. I paused and listened longer to be sure, and then entered the living room.

“Are you watching Martha Stewart?” I asked, very amused. (He’s not a Martha enthusiast.)

“Oh, I wondered what was going on when they started talking about the color matching some egg,” he said. The boat builders sounded about as dumbfounded by the color selection as my husband was. None-the-less, it was a dreamy color -- just beautiful with the boat’s dash of brightwork.

Finding color inspiration in nature is only, well, natural. Take a look around your local farmers’ market for inspiration. A friend found an exquisite, red-tinted-blue, spicy pepper which she matched on her kitchen cabinets. Another colleague found a deep purple-black eggplant worth emulating for an exterior house color. What will you find?

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast