Photos by Maria Killam Recently, I had a consultation with a client who needed help creating a colour palette for her new home. She didn’t want to make the same mistakes she had made in the past and was looking for a plan. She sent me this inspiration photo for her house: {via pinterest} I spent a few minutes…
How to Take Charge of Your Bossy Tile
05/18/2015When we walked into our room at the Fairmont Vancouver Airport last May, I declared, “This room was decorated BEFORE the brown trend!” It’s a game I like to play with anyone who will listen everywhere I go. What’s the dead giveaway? The colour of the wood-stained furniture: it was all orange and yellow with no…
Where to Start When You Have a Blank Slate
05/10/2015Jacqueline called me and said:
“Help! My laundry room is finished, it’s white, I followed all the advice on your blog right down to copying the shelves in your laundry room, but now that I have a white Maria Killam laundry room and I can do anything I want, I have no idea where to start!
What colour should I paint it? I painted it BM Grey Owl because I had some leftover paint but it’s doing nothing for me!”
I said, “First, Grey Owl is almost like a neutral, muted blue/green grey that would look great in a bathroom with lots of blue grey marble that coordinated with it, but for your laundry room to look fabulous, it needs a colour!
4 Ways to Decorate Around Your Charcoal Sofa
04/28/2015Today’s post is about decorating with charcoal, really important to know since it’s such a popular neutral right now!
If you have a charcoal sofa (just like during the brown trend, when most neutral-loving shoppers purchased a brown one) it’s time for me to help you bring this colour to life.
Why?
It’s exterior and renovation season! I have been analyzing countertops, cabinets, tile, and exterior colours with so many of you for weeks! Two years ago in the summer, I launched 37 Days of Undertones, and it was a big hit. Every day, I would post an image on my Facebook page and tell you the undertones in the colours. You…
The Problem with Your Orange/Yellow Floors
03/12/2015I get this question so much, it’s time to focus on it for a moment. A lot of people have this problem. Or should I say “problem”? {Yellow/orange floors. Anything wrong here?} So here’s the question from a reader: “Have you ever had to decorate around a maple floor? Yes, I have just moved into what was…
How to Choose the Right Curtain Rod Colour
03/05/2015Unsure which curtain rod colour you should choose? Here’s a guide to help you choose the right curtain rod, whether you want to frame your room perfectly or have the curtain rod disappear in your room design. And before you purchase a curtain rod, read this post to make sure you measured them correctly. One…
How to Decorate with Black Tile
02/17/2015If you’re considering black tile in your bathroom or kitchen, there are a few things you should know. Here are some great design tips for how to decorate with black tile and even a few alternatives to help you achieve the same look – in case you aren’t ready to commit. The dangerous part about…
{via pinterest} I get the best questions about paint colour and how much it can or cannot do to “rescue” a mistake someone has made in their house or a mistake they inherited from a previous owner. Sometimes, colour can swoop in and magically save the day, so there’s nothing wrong with wondering if your situation…
“Here is my kitchen that was built in 2006. I wish I stumbled across your blog years ago because the thing I dislike about the kitchen the most is the busy tile! And is this tile the dreaded pinky-beige? And my knotty alder cabinets have yellowed considerably over the years. So I’m pretty sure we…
Recently, I had a consultation with Lori who wanted help with her great room, paint colours and her bathrooms. She walked me through her house and we created a furniture plan for her great room, chose colours throughout and discussed her bathrooms. In the first bathroom we were able to make the room look new (and save her brand new granite countertop)…
{via pinterest} Click here to watch the video If you already have one of these collections, you’ll know how valuable they are. Here’s what one of my recent True Colour Experts said about her boards: “Without being too dramatic, the large colour boards have really and truly changed my color consultations. I purchased both of Maria’s collections…
I recently received this question from Shelley, asking how useful it would be to custom mix a paint colour to get it right with the light in her home. “I’ve recently used BM Manchester Tan in a pantry that has a large fluorescent light fixture, and it looks lovely — right at the happy intersection of warm and cool….
{More funny texts from moms} It’s 5:00 AM and my phone pings with a text from my Mom: “Come for coffee now! I’m up but I’ll nap later”. (Except she writes it in Finnish, I can read it but do not ask me to have a conversation in Finnish, that’s where my dual language ability ends)….
Jelly Bean Row: Test your Colour Eye
09/17/2014The residents of St. John’s, NFLD (Canada) must be used to tourists taking photos of their colourful homes, happily, the second day we were there, the sun came out. The reason their homes are so colourful is because most of the downtown core was burned in a fire in 1892 and the quickest way to rebuild the…
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