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Brown

The Shortcut to Testing Exterior Colour; Before & After

08/20/2017
31 Comments

Trying to find a more current paint colour for your home? These days everyone is opting for fresher and lighter exterior colours. The most important step in the process is testing your exterior colour. Here’s how test exterior paint colour the right way. Image via Brooke’s Instagram Today I’m happy to bring you another before…

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How to Decorate with all Neutrals for Fall

10/04/2016
47 Comments

It seems that neutrals are warming up. Here’s how decorate your living room for fall by injecting some brown – and still feel modern and fresh! For some time now, there’s been talk about browns and warmer neutrals coming back to replace gray. Last week, when someone asked if I would write a post about taupe because Sherwin Williams…

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How to Make Earthy Tile Look Expensive

04/16/2016
36 Comments

True Colour Expert Traci Zeller had a budget to manage for the model house she had been hired to decorate and she had to spread it around strategically to get the biggest bang for the buck. This is what a great designer does best and I talk about it all the time in my events….

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Mixing Metals: How to Update a Brown Kitchen by adding Brass

09/17/2015
37 Comments

Barbara built this house with her husband 5 years ago ago. He wanted a wood stained kitchen and although she’d love to have a white kitchen now, she wasn’t prepared to paint it in this phase of the decorating project.

Her biggest complaint was with the pendant lights, they created a lot of visual glare and she wanted them replaced.

Also, she needed drapery to block out the sun in the wintertime when it slanted through the windows.

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Living Room Makeover from Brown to Indigo Blue | Before & After

06/01/2015
40 Comments

My client Barbara and her husband had built seven homes together. Every time they would start a new build, she would say, “Can we please save enough money to decorate at the end?”

That day never seemed to arrive.

Last year, her husband passed away, and Barbara decided it was now or never. She’d been following my blog for years, so she felt she could trust me to give her the look and feel she wanted. In January, we started the decorating project: the living, dining, kitchen, and master bedroom.

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Should my Kitchen and Dining Room Match?

05/07/2015
37 Comments

Are you wondering if your kitchen and dining room should match? This is such a common decorating dilemma. See what advice I share with one of my readers.  I’m am a big fan and follower of your “Ask Maria” series. I’ve never done anything like this before so I thought I’d give it a go….

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Best Ideas for Creative Kids Rooms: Before & After

06/29/2014
25 Comments

This post is written by my Director of All Things Wonderful, Irene Hill:

Last week at this time Maria and I were just finishing up the last touches of our magical home makeover for my sister, Aimee and five of her kids. They were all glowing with happiness and pride in their “new” home.

Four months ago, when Maria and I started this project of love, I carefully interviewed each of my nieces and nephews to find out what would make them love their rooms the most. I found out what they were interested in and spent hours scouring the internet to get all the little pieces exactly right. At the end of the day I wanted to see wonder and awe in each set of eyes and was over the moon that we managed to do just that!

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Earth Tones that Feel like 2014 NOT 2002

02/21/2014
40 Comments

{Oak Bay Beach Hotel} Recently I received a comment from a reader saying it would be great if I would write an occasional post about earth tones because she preferred them over the current white/black/grey colours that are popular and trendy right now. Well, dear reader, the opportunity presented itself this weekend. It’s my Terreeia’s…

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