Design can be a natural talent for some and for others it must be learned. If your talent comes from the latter equation take courage and see if the following hints will improve your already developing skill.

1. Balance: The easiest ensembles to create are the ones when balance is kept as the goal. Example: when you place two colors together, make sure you repeat the pattern as you go along your stringing. If you add an odd piece like a silver ball/spacer after three beads then add another after three more etc.

2. Color Wheel: Pick up a color wheel (your local home improvement store will probably have one in the paint section) and grabbing samples of paint chips also can help you in pairing colors together. The color wheel helps you to train yourself in how opposite colors on the wheel go together and from which spectrum they are considered-cool, warm, etc. The rainbow pattern on the wheel is a great visual reminder of how colors blend and graduate in intensity and the effect it can have when lined together. Paint chips will allow you to see the same color as it graduates in intensity.

3. Natural gravity: Sometimes the colors we naturally gravitate to are the right colors for us to pair together and wear.

4. Nature: Take a lesson from nature. Look around the world outside, the sky is blue the grass and trees are green with flecks of browns, the sun is yellow and it all looks fab. Even a gray sky can provide inspiration!

Finally, take a deep breath and enjoy the project. Hopefully, keeping all these points in mind will help you create the beauty you admire in others creations!

It depends on the style or design of the necklace.
It would be a fun challenge to figure out how to shorten it.
What if you have soldered links? You could use jumprings to gather two or three links to shorten it. Maybe a large oval jump ring if it is compatible with the necklaces' design. Add a bead or crystal to the mix. How would that look/work?