If you live in the lower mainland (and we will be back in Calgary or Edmonton soon), send me your photos! You could be featured on my next Colour Rescue. 

I completed two Colour Rescue Makeovers in 3 days this week in Dallas. It was epic! Rhonda had been following me since 2015, she had the perfect timeless white kitchen in the bungalow she shared with her husband Rick.

She sent in a spare bedroom she wanted to turn into an indoor she-shed. A spare room can be such a great space to get creative with! Here’s a cute one below, love the green!

DecorPad

Here’s her room before (below). The reason she had the bed centered against the wall was that she had visions of turning it into a daybed. She also wanted an etagere for her orchids in front of the window.

Many of us have that neglected spare bedroom that has a danger of turning into a junk/storage room because well, any room that isn’t decorated just doesn’t get the same love that a decorated room gets.

She only needed a 5 x 7 area rug but selection was bleak when we got to Homegoods. When decorating a bedroom, it’s easiest if you start with the area rug or bedding.

We headed over to the bedding department and found this fabulous, dramatic William Morris bedding. Then after adding some coordinating pink pillows to our pile, we headed over to the art department.

I was just about to suggest we hit a different store when Anita found the large floral artwork which we all immediately fell in love with!

This is the email I received from Rhonda the next morning:

“I was so keyed up I hardly slept at all.  I will be taking my video calls on that day bed!!  Just plop my laptop on that pretty little faux marble table and zoom away (well, in my case MS Teams away)!!!  It was a great time and I don’t know if I will ever come off Cloud 9!!”

Colour Rescue: Updating a Spare Bedroom

Head over to watch this week’s colour rescue makeover to see how it all came together!

If you live in the lower mainland (or Calgary or Edmonton we will be back there not sure when) and you have a room that needs a makeover, you can apply here.

Remember, this is my sister Anita and I with our iPhones. This isn’t an intimidating full-camera set up when we interview you. Just in case you are worried about that.

Related posts:

Colour Rescue: Living Room Makeover at the Lake

Colour Rescue: Simple Fixes for your Dated Bathroom

Colour Rescue: Have a High Wall? Think of Art as Wallpaper

The post Colour Rescue: Decorating a Spare Bedroom appeared first on Maria Killam | Timeless Colour.

It feels like everyone on the planet either has hardwood or LVP (Luxury Vinyl Plank) flooring, and for good reason. It’s cleaner and just as economical as carpet, making these types of flooring very popular.

And that makes this burning question from my followers more common than ever. Maybe you’re looking around your house and wondering the same thing?

“What’s the best wall colour to work with my (insert colour here) flooring?”

Looking for inspiration in an empty room

When I was a new decorator, most homes were full of honey oak or fir wood tones. Back in the day, when I was running around from house to house doing colour consultations ofent I would be in an empty house. So when I was faced with orange wood floors with no other inspiration, I simple chose an orange beige paint colour.

When the room is empty, we look at the thing that has colour in it and that’s usually the hardwood/LVP floors.

Fast forward through thousands of colour consultations later. And I now know better.

And I have posted about which floors are bossy and which floors are as versatile as jeans here. However let’s start with what to do with the biggest flooring trend out there and that is grey LVP.

Choosing a Wall Colour for Grey LVP Floors

If you have grey LVP and you want a neutral. It does work better if you choose a neutral that relates to your floors because grey floors are not as versatile as flooring that looks like wood.

Here’s an example of blue grey walls that don’t work at all with the much warmer yellow/taupe floors.

What would make this entry of the black and white trend in 2023 is the walls would be stark white and the railings would be black.

However, look again at the floors and you’ll notice there’s a much warmer creamy/yellow shade in them. That’s why a warmer complex cream would be better because grey floors are typically a lot less versatile than floors that are the colour of real wood.

The colour of real, natural wood is like denim… why? Because it goes with everything.

Same with this entryway floor. Again the wall colour could have worked better with the floors. 

Because the closer the neutrals are in value the more they try to relate. And if they don’t, it looks like you tried to match them and you failed.

This image is a great example that shows that you have to work with the undertone of grey floors if you have them.

The walls on the left side of this room are concrete. And what’s the undertone of concrete?

When you compare them to the floors what colours do you see?

Can you see the violet grey and taupe in the room?

Now, take a look with the help of the neutral colour wheel. It becomes more clear, right?

Image source

Here’s what this means. If you identify your floors as violet grey and taupe, then you need to decorate around them.

A violet grey greige or taupe greige paint colour would be the best choice for the walls here.   You can download my curated paint colour list here.

Colour Rescue: Which paint colour goes with my wood floors?

But if all this hurts your head, here are the two best colours to consider if you’re starting with a blank slate:

Related posts:

When not to replace your floors 

What Colour Works with Orange Wood

How much Heavy Lifting can a Paint Colour Handle?

The post What’s the Best Wall Colour for My Wood Floors? appeared first on Maria Killam | Timeless Colour.

This week’s Colour Rescue episode is about ceilings.

Do they all have to be white?

This is what we’re exploring, so I thought we’d do a tour of the painted ceilings in my new house!

When we took possession of this home, all the walls and ceilings from top to bottom in this house were varying shades of taupe.

Since I was forced to paint them, I decided to add colour wherever it made sense. I was paying to paint them anyway so they might as well add a layer of joy to my life which is what colour always does. 

Here’s what my entry (above) staircase and living room looked like when we took possession.

You’ve already seen my primary bedroom ceilings in this post.

Here’s the bathroom before (below):

And here’s the after:

And here’s what the all taupe primary bedroom looked like.

Wait until you see it now! When you see the after in the video keep in mind it’s still a work in progress. I still need to recover the headboard (it arrived in the colour it is now) and I need drapery. . . right now, however my landscape is what is getting done.

Last chance to train with me in 2023

Before I turn you loose on this Colour Rescue episode, I wanted to remind you that time is running out to sign up for my Dallas course in a few weeks. Because I won’t be back in Dallas in 2024.

In just two days you’ll learn your way around all the neutral undertones to be ahead of the curve now that beige is back! Plus you’ll learn all about decorating with colour, working with a timeless aesthetic, the best decorating and styling tips and more!

Dallas Meet Up – ALL are invited! Join us in the bar at Sixty Vines Uptown from 7 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, November 9.

Here’s a quick 1-minute video with reviews from participants this Fall. Can you relate to their feelings about colour?

Say goodbye to boring white ceilings

What I want for you this week is that you get inspired to paint your ceilings a colour! It’s a missed opportunity for colour and a spot people often overlook!

Related posts:

Consider a Colour on Your Ceiling: My New Obsession

My Closet & Dressing Room Reveal: Before & After

Decorating with Blue and White: My Upstairs Dining Area

The post Colour Rescue: Let’s Rescue Your White Ceilings! appeared first on Maria Killam | Timeless Colour.

Because if it’s just blah right now, what do you have to lose?

In this week’s Colour Rescue, I’m sharing ideas for creating some joy in neglected, dated bathrooms using colour and styling.

When you have a dated bathroom that needs some love, this is exactly when you can ignore what’s timeless and get creative.

Iris Apfel

Colour to the rescue

When a space is lacking charm and detail, it’s too easy to close the door and sigh, “one day”. But let’s be honest, you may have to put up with this bathroom for 5 or 10 years more, why not make it fun!

Too often my timeless advice is misinterpreted as meaning top to bottom “safe” or “correct”.

To be clear, I do think the best options for tile and flooring in bathrooms are limited. Quiet white or cream.. the end.

But the goal is to create a flexible backdrop so that the colour, walls, and details CAN be creative. 

But when you have a bathroom that’s already past its expiry date, and with less than perfect finishes, you might as well get eclectic with colour and fun details.

Ok, this bathroom below has a perfect white countertop but I love the playful spirit of it. 

Wall Street Journal

If you have a dated bathroom with some drab or wonky finishes, this is when you need to get creative. Like in this amazingly creative bathroom below. It’s a small bathroom with no window so she went bold with colour, really well done. 

Jeweled Interiors

Over on my Youtube channel I’ll show you how I’d add more colour to this bathroom below. 

Get curious

Bathrooms are compact spaces where it’s only one can of paint, a shower curtain, a small inexpensive rug. Some art and styling. It’s not a huge commitment if you draw outside the lines in a small space. You could end up with something that gives you joy, not to mention the satisfaction of creating something beautiful.

And if it doesn’t work out, chalk it up to learning and try again. 

Why busy wall tile is so limiting

One of the biggest limiting elements in a bathroom is when tile that is not solid white or cream is run up the wall onto eye level. That’s when you’ll need to pull the colour palette right from the tile like the first bathroom we’ll look at below. (Because the purple is clearly NOT working).

Then we’ll look at a couple bathrooms where adding in some charming details and COLOUR is the answer.

Willey Design

Finally, I’ll show you an unusual bathroom with some existing bold tile and some ideas to with its retro potential.

4 Simple Fixes for Dated Bathrooms

So get curious with what you can do with your less than fabulous bathroom and get some inspiration from this week’s Colour Rescue here!

If you would like my ideas for your specific bathroom that isn’t slated for a renovation, but you’d like to make it look its best in the mean time, check out my new Bathroom Refresh eDesign package here. 

Related Posts

The Eclectic Bathroom Design vs. The Timeless One

Trendy vs. Timeless Black Tile for this Primary Bathroom

Transform Your Kitchen with this ONE Update; Before & After

The post Colour Rescue: Simple Fixes for Your Dated Bathroom appeared first on Maria Killam | Timeless Colour.

This weeks makeover is for my good friend Gail and her husband Casey. They built their lakeside retirement home in Cultus Lake with this spectacular view. After she purchased new sofas for the living room, she got stuck on how to finish and decorate the room.

How to decorate a room with a view

Here’s how it looked when they moved in.

And here are her new sofas (below). The reason Gail chose two sofas (instead of a sofa and two chairs) was because she wanted to block the view of the patio furniture located directly outside the windows.

She specifically expressed that she didn’t want drapery because she didn’t want to block the view in any way. However they have roller shades for privacy in the evenings.

The other thing that bothered her was how heavy this side of the room felt.

She worried that the fireplace should have been positioned on the right of the room instead of the left (see below) because it didn’t feel like it was part of the living room.  

And she didn’t know what to do with the bowling alley size walkway to their back patio.

Here’s a sneak peek.

I know you might be wondering why she agreed to have art installed in between the two windows (since she didn’t want drapery to block the view) but you’ll have to watch the video to find out how and why it all went down like it did. 

This entire space was transformed in a weekend. We shopped on Saturday afternoon, and it took a couple hours on Sunday to install everything.

Mini Kitchen Styling

PS. I also styled the kitchen before I left.  Here’s a look at the before:

And, here’s the after:

Colour Rescue: Lake Inspired Living Room Magic

This is a great episode demonstrating how to tackle some of the specific decorating challenges of styling a room with a stunning view and multiple focal points.

And you guys! For a VERY limited time, I’m offering my popular Get me Started decorating eDesign package! It’s like having me in YOUR living room.

You’ll get two done-for-you mood boards with decor and source links personalized for your specific room. Plus, the first 5 who sign up will SAVE almost $500! Get started here.

Related posts:

5 Kitchen Design Details that Matter; Before & After

Fall Nesting: Warm Colour and Cozy Styling

How to Mix Dining Chairs and Tables (Pass the Pretty Test)

The post Colour Rescue: Living Room Makeover at the Lake appeared first on Maria Killam | Timeless Colour.

Libertyn Interiors

This week’s colour rescue features an office space that I restyled recently. I transformed this room from functional and flat to fabulous and fun – and, still functional, I might add (below).

The key to styling success in this space was first, adding some much needed colour! But it was equally important to create interest on the corner wall that is the first thing you see when you enter the room.  

Well, to be clear, after we rearranged the bookshelves so they weren’t the first thing we could see, the corner wall then became much needed focal point for this dark and dreary office located in the middle of the home across from the stairwell.

Add lamps to dark corners

And while we’re on the subject of stairwells. . . if you have a dark one that you pass through all the time, I give you permission to keep light on somewhere that gives it a glow. And in this case, the powder room light could also stay on all day long so when you’re walking through here throughout the day, it still feels inviting.

I know, I know I am OBSESSED with creating atmosphere, haha.

However, if you have a dark corner in your house that will NEVER be bright, having a lamp on at all times just feels welcoming. As we begin to enter the late fall/winter months, I encourage you to try this in your home.

How to Decorate an Awkward Corner

Ok back to decorating a corner.

It’s not uncommon to have a room where the main focal point is a corner. Like this double duty office space (above) where the upper corner cabinets felt way too heavy. I’m also showing this transformation in the video! 

Maybe you’re avoiding an awkward spot in your home, because what the heck can you do with a corner?

A lot actually!

Often it’s the tightest, most seemingly awkward spaces that become the most fun with a little decorating!

Colour Rescue

Check out this week’s colour rescue to see how I transformed these both these spaces and much more!

Related posts:

My Nephews HomeSchooling Room; Before & After

Before & After; How to Brighten a Dark Room

Ask Maria: Help me Decorate my Home Office

The post How to Decorate an Awkward Corner appeared first on Maria Killam | Timeless Colour.

Before & After (Updating a 90s Kitchen)

This week’s Colour Rescue is about updating kitchens without doing a costly full renovation.

Because it doesn’t always make sense to fully tear out a functional kitchen for the sake of aesthetics. You can often dramatically change the look of your kitchen with a few savvy tweaks, some paint and of course, the magic of styling

How to update your kitchen without renovating (the whole thing).

Because, you don’t need to wait till someday.

Despite the jaw-droppingly gorgeous images we are all used to seeing on Insta and Pinterest, the world is full of less-than-beautiful but functional kitchens.

Don’t make the mistake of believing you need to ignore your for now kitchen until you save up for your dream kitchen. 

There is so much that can be done!

A kitchen I updated with drapes, new lighting and styling

3 Simple Fixes for Kitchens (when you can’t renovate)

In this Colour Rescue episode, you’ll see what suggestions I have for these three kitchens, submitted by readers just like you.

In the kitchen below, the homeowner doesn’t know what to do about her brick floor. This is an excellent example of how we sometimes focus on the wrong thing.

By the way, focusing on the wrong detail can send you into a domino effect of spending money where you don’t have to. I’m here to save you from that.

This kitchen below was recently updated with new white quartz, but it’s not perfect yet. Find out how I’d fix this.

This homeowner is unhappy with her cabinet colour. Find out the real reason this homeowner is reacting to these cabinets.

Colour Rescue: 3 Simple Kitchen Fixes

New! Kitchen Refresh eDesign package

Since I know so many of you would love to make your kitchen look its best without a full renovation, I’ve created a new eDesign package to help you with that.

It’s called a Kitchen Refresh.

With this new package, I will analyze your kitchen to tell you what the best interim fixes are to bring your kitchen out of whatever trend era it was installed and into 2024 (and beyond)! 

All I’ve done for over 20 years is help my clients take a dated room, bathroom or kitchen and make it look so much better. Sometimes I’ve done it with a one day makeover (my favourite thing), sometimes with paint and a new countertop or a new backsplash. 

The bottom line, if you are looking at your dated kitchen and wondering if it can be saved, more often than not, it can and for much less than what a full reno would be.

Because often updating the paint and some details, or knowing if the countertops really are worth replacing NOW instead of later to shift the look of your room is all you need. 

Please note, this package is for refreshing an older, existing kitchen only. This means just a few minor tweaks.

NOTE: If you are doing a more extensive renovation, you will still need my Create a Timeless Kitchen package here.

Need a colour solution for YOUR room? 

Submit well-lit, good quality photos of your room that needs a rescue. Be sure to tidy up your room and take photos in natural daylight with no flash and submit them here with your question.

As always, don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss a single new Colour Rescue episode. 

PS.  We just spent the most delightful two days in my home with a fabulous group of True Colour Experts with my first Fall workshop of this season!

The only regret anyone has from doing my course is they wish they had done it sooner!  It’s a game changer because you’ll instantly gain certainty. This is what your clients and YOU need in order to make colour decisions for everything in you or your clients home MUCH faster! 

My upcoming virtual workshop is sold out but you can still register for Dallas here.

Related Posts:

The BEST Kitchen Cabinet Colours with Grey Floors

This Trending English Countryside Kitchen is Bringing Beige Back

Designing a Kitchen? Lighting & Hardware is EVERYTHING

The post Colour Rescue: 3 Simple Kitchen Fixes (When You Can’t Renovate) appeared first on Maria Killam | Timeless Colour.

This is my second cousin Miia and her husband Colin (above). They are both physiotherapists in Edmonton and they are due in October to have their first baby!

Anita Junttila, Elizabeth Jacobs, Hellen Junttila (Our Mom)  Miia James, (her Mom) Lea Reardon, Maria Killam, Lea Junttila

All my sisters arrived for the baby shower (I wore pink because it’s a baby girl). I arrived a few days early to do some one day makeovers. See the first one here and the second one here.

Here are some sneak peaks:

Here’s the before of Miia and James living room (below).

Layering art in front of windows

You might think (as Miia did) that the art above the mantel should stay small and kept below the window but having a small piece of art above it (below) just drew attention to the top of the patio cover outside and the roof behind it. 

Adding the taller piece of art (above) drew the eye immediately to the tall aspens in their beautiful backyard.

Now with the addition of the moody greens and blues we added to this room (scroll down for the second sneak peek), along with the tall trees outside, we are transported straight to Italy.

Some very common decorating mistakes

Notice the lack of lamps and the flat, glary, empty feeling of the overhead lighting.

Also the curtains. Installed dead wrong (they were still there from the previous homeowners, Colin and Miia recently moved into this house). However, this is a common mistake people make, see last weeks colour rescue that was focused on curtains here.

I fixed both problems immediately. 

Also, the chandelier needs shades stat. 

However, the way we lit the room in the end with lamps, this light fixture never needs to be turned on again.  It’s works very well as a decoration.

If you have a light fixture that looks like this, you can buy them here.

Here’a sneak peak of the vignette on the fabulous travertine coffee table we found. 

If you have tall walls like this, the only way to make them work is to go UP with artwork as we did.

Don’t forget to reserve a budget for decorating

The total cost of this weeks makeover was $3980. A little more than we’ve been averaging, because we needed some furniture as well. We purchased a coffee table, two end tables, the accent chair, bigger artwork, as well as three new counter stools in the kitchen.

However the rooms are now finished and all we have left to do is enjoy them. Worth every penny.

Most people don’t buy new decor because they don’t know what to buy.

And it’s all too common to blow the home budget on renovations and unnecessary upgrades like crown moulding and stone without reserving some funds for decorating to finish your room.

My philosophy is, if you have the good fortune to have a decorator aunt in the family, you allow her to just get it done. Now, you can stop wandering around home decor stores wondering what to buy to make your house feel like a home. 

Here’s the kitchen before (above)

And of course I found a spot for a lamp in the kitchen

Styling for tall walls with high ceilings

Take a closer look at this amazing transformation in this week’s Colour Rescue.

Yes, of course.

However, this is a new couple on a budget, especially now as this new Mom will be on maternity leave very soon.

Please remember Miia will be reading the comments when you post them! Always be kind.

Related posts:

Elevate Off-the-Shelf Curtains with this Installation Trick

Colour Rescue: Create Styling Magic

Transform your Room with One Trip to the Store

The post Colour Rescue: Got a High Wall? Think of Art as Wallpaper appeared first on Maria Killam | Timeless Colour.

Because, no matter what your curtains cost, there’s a super easy trick to making any curtain look upscale in your room. And it has to do with how they are installed.

Stay tuned for the magic revealed in this week’s Colour Rescue episode.

My cousin’s Iittala votives, rescued from the window sill (below) and placed on a coffee table for everyone to admire!

This weeks Colour Rescue happened in the new home of my Cousin Lea and her husband Roger. They recently moved to Edmonton. 

My Favourite Curtain Trick

At first, I thought this rescue was about furniture placement. That’s because the after was such a big transformation (as you’ll see in the video). But in actual fact, I ended up receiving so many comments on the curtains we installed in her living room and dining room.

So while this room transformation was full of styling magic, I realized that many of you needed to learn this curtain installation trick.

Home Edit

Inexpensive, off-the-shelf curtains (installed CORRECTLY) made her row of small, narrow windows look like they were suddenly transported into an old New York apartment (see above).

Such a powerful decor trick, that anyone can afford.

A Decorator’s Dream

This space shown below was on the other side of the living room. And it frankly just functioned like an oversized hallway/pass through into the kitchen area.

It was way too big to be a hallway but this space was surrounded by doorways and entrances, so it really couldn’t be anything else except. . . maybe. . . 

I had an IDEA! I realized what the middle of this room needed.

Me and my cousin Lea!

This space was the perfect spot for a round table with some ottomans and flowers on the middle of the table. You know, the kind you see in magazines ALL THE TIME.

CR Laine

It’s truly a decorator’s dream to have an entry big enough to do this with a round table. 

Hamptons Cottages & Homes

The power of perfectly installed off-the-shelf curtains

Because these Colour Rescue videos are typically completed in 1-2 days, I’m always taking inventory of what’s already in the home that could work even better if it was restyled a bit.

As we were leaving my cousin’s home to go shopping, I spied what appeared to be a gate-leg table with a tablecloth on it downstairs.

It turned out to the the perfect size for this hallway area inside this living room. There’s a great story about the source of this table too that will make you smile.

Watch the entire Colour Rescue transformation here.

Related posts:

Colour Rescue: Create Styling Magic

Transform your Room with one Trip to the Store

The post Elevate Off-the-Shelf Curtains with this Installation Trick appeared first on Maria Killam | Timeless Colour.

There’s something truly magical about transforming a space, and I firmly believe that you don’t need to break the bank to make it happen.

Sneak peek!

See my styling process step-by-step

This week’s Colour Rescue demonstrates the different stages of styling a decorating a living room – working with the existing furniture.

1. First you’ll see the new area rug. 
2. Then the throw pillows.
3. Then the artwork.
4. Then finally the accessories.

Because once you add styling, it’s like waving a fairy wand of decorating magic in your room!

Distract and Decorate

Marla’s sofas are taupe but a pinker taupe than the one you normally see everywhere including my colour wheel, even though they look quite pink beige here.

The reason they look pink-er here is because the walls are not as pink as the sofas.

However, we fixed that with the rug and the artwork. This weeks makeover cost $2088. So for less than the cost of a new sofa and love seat that wouldn’t have given us half as much joy, we instead have a room we don’t want to leave!

Styling: decorating a room step-by-step

Marla was thrilled! She said before we arrived that she had been in a conversation with her husband about replacing the sofas. But now because the room is styled, we’ve extended the life of the sofas by probably another five years!

The lack of styling in most homes cause a lot of unnecessary painting, replacing and renovating in my opinion.

Tricia and I made an amazing team last week just like we do helping clients all around the country with their renovations, new builds, bathrooms and kitchens!

#distractanddecorate is our motto, as you’ll see with this weeks colour rescue!

And be sure to watch the designer Q&A at the end. Comment below if you had similar questions as Marla!

How to add colour to your neutral room

You’ll notice that we were able to add colour by pushing the blue grey of her chairs into a happier, brighter blue with the art and throw pillows we chose. Another interesting thing you’ll notice is that the room feels a lot more sophisticated with the new colour palette and decor.

And adding colour doesn’t mean it suddenly has to be bright RED! I think that’s where people get confused when they think about adding colour. It simply has to be balanced.

There are 3 more Colour Rescue makeovers coming up!

Last week I was in Edmonton where Marla lives. She manages our customer service department. When I was in Calgary doing the last makeover she messaged me and said “Hey I’m only 3 hours away, come to my house!”

So a few weeks later when I was here, Tricia Firmaniuk (my Director of eDesign who also lives in Edmonton) joined me for what ended up being three makeovers last week!

Learn my Colour Balancing Method for free!

Have you watched my video where I teach my Colour Balancing Method yet? You’ll see that there is so much more to learn about creating a space that fills you with happiness when you walk in the door!

Vancouver’s training (in my home–which is one hour outside of Vancouver) is coming up October 2 & 3. Register here.

Related posts:

Transform your Home with One Trip to the Store

Nancy’s Living Room Refresh; Before & After

Styling a Chic Mid-Century Modern Home: Before & After

The post Colour Rescue: Create Styling Magic appeared first on Maria Killam | Timeless Colour.

And of course, some hot styling tips you can apply in your home too.

There’s a lot that can happen with one (or more) shopping trips. Especially when you drag me along to create moodboards in real life with pillows, lamps and decor–right inside the store. 

That’s because there’s so much power in creating “a look and a feel” for your rooms. And when you have the right accessories, a design plan, plus some styling expertise (aka ME) you can transform ANY room from blah to beautiful. #DecoratingFairy

Let’s meet Meghan (and her husband, smirking in the back left of this photo)  

She’s the daughter of one of my sister’s friends and we decided to help bring some colour and style to her new home while I was in Calgary recently.

I traveled to Calgary with my sister Anita back in July to stay at her friend Meghan’s home. And, when we arrived, we had planned to style her living room.

But soon after, it turned into something a lot more epic. And we decided to style several other rooms in her home too!

Transforming a home with styling and colour

Her upstairs bonus room had so much potential to be fabulous so this is the room got decorated before we even got to tweaking the accessories in the living room.

See the fun, Modern Family style interview video here.

Here’s the before:

Shopping in a big box everything store like Homegoods or Homesense is a huge timesaver. Without this store, it would have taken a few weeks to achieve what we were able to accomplish in four days.

Since we didn’t need an area rug for this room, as soon as I found the collection of art we brought them to the pillow department!

Here’s the super  fun after! The standing lamp in this corner came from another room in the house.

The best tip for lamp light is to start by adding lamps to each corner of the room.

After

While lately I’m in love with layering art around and behind a TV, we did not hang any art around this one since we had the gallery wall above the sofa and the two pieces across, the eye needs a place to rest.

Also the oversize television filled up the wall on it’s own.

Wallpaper your walls with inexpensive wall art galleries

Here’s the wall that needed some interest, colour and styling ASAP.

And so many people are way too significant about off-the-shelf artwork. So I want to re-frame it for you.

Call it wallpaper.

If you have a collection of art, then by all means fill your walls with meaningful art.

But if that is not your situation, there’s a danger of your walls being mostly empty forever. And that’s just sad given how transformative it is when your walls have something beautiful to look at – and pull the space together!

Meghans husband’s request was he just wanted the art and photos they ALREADY had to actually go up on the walls. So we worked with some pieces they had in addition to a few new ones. But they had lived here for four years since building this home and still had very little decor up on the walls.

I get it. The new build process is NOT easy. Many of us lose steam before it’s over and just want to get our things inside. Who’s got more time or money to decorate?

But that’s why I’m always saying… don’t forget to save money for decorating. Because that’s what makes it truly FEEL like home.

Here’s the after:

The photo above shows the old end tables, at the last minute we found the right ones (below). The large, overscale lamps really make this space come together as well. 

Here’s a HOT TIP about lamps: In general, the larger scale they are, the more expensive they look. 

Watch me transform this home in a new Colour Rescue episode

Head over to Youtube to watch my latest Colour Rescue episode and find out how much this room cost. It’s a good one. You’re going to adore this couple!

Stop waiting for your house to be pretty!

It doesn’t make sense to wait when you find out how inexpensive wallpapering your walls WITH ART can be!

Stay tuned for more styling tips while I visit more homes and transform them with styling.

Related posts:

How to Hang a Gallery Photo Wall

14 Inexpensive Ways to Get the Look of Real Art

Can you Layer Lamps in front of your Artwork?

The post Colour Rescue: Transform your Room with One Trip to the Store appeared first on Maria Killam | Timeless Colour.

Help! My bathroom has 3 different undertones!

I got this note from a follower along with good photos of her bathroom (BTW if you want your room or exterior to be considered for my Colour Rescue Series, be sure to send in good photos!) 

Maria, I have three conflicting undertones in my bathroom help!

What if you can’t renovate yet?

Don’t we all have a bathroom in our house we need to eventually renovate? But in the interim, we’d like it to looks as good as possible?

Because the kitchen and living spaces should always be top priority, and less used bathrooms not so much.

There are so many good interim fixes though if you know how to make colour and styling work for you.

See how the walls look too grey with the tile in her bathroom?

Can you tell what the undertone of the tile is? What about the paint colour?

My Understanding Undertones Neutral Colour Wheel

Hop over the my YouTube channel to see what the undertone problem is and my options for fixing this bathroom.

** We need YOUR colour rescue! Send me well-lit, straight photographs with your question to mariakillam@gmail.com. **

Did you know that neutrals aren’t really neutral at all?

A “close enough” colour will easily look wrong once it’s up on the walls and that slight difference in undertone is suddenly a way bigger deal.

That’s why getting neutrals right takes some strategy. 

I’ve got that mapped out for you and you can get it all in just 2 days with me!

If you’re tackling a home project the best skill you can have is knowing how to avoid installing finishes that clash or date quickly.

AND you need to know what to choose first, and what comes next to make sure everything is perfectly coordinated.

It’s all in my 2-day Expert Colour & Design Training!

Plus! You’ll get real life problem solving tools for when the undertones aren’t perfect but you need to live with them. I’ll show you which elements in your space you need to pay attention to when you have competing undertones. And how many neutral undertones you can get away with in one space.

Create your dream business or design your dream home!

Work with me this fall to learn how to make timeless choices (especially in kitchens and bathrooms where it counts), how to navigate the trends, and everything you need to know about choosing colour for any project in my two-day Expert Colour & Design Training. 

And, most of all, I would love to see you IN PERSON! 

Join my exclusive Vancouver session right here at my house in October! (this session is VERY limited)

Or come visit me in Dallas if that’s a better fit in November! 

Book now. The early bird rate and bonuses go away TUESDAY, September 5!

Related Posts:

What Everyone Should Know about Pink Beige

80s Cream Bathroom Refresh; Before & After

Ask Maria: Now that I have your Colour Wheel, Does Everything have to be Neutral?

The post Colour Rescue: Help! My Bathroom has 3 Different Undertones appeared first on Maria Killam | Timeless Colour.

In fact, the whole room suddenly looks not quite right. NOW WHAT??

Arianna Belle

I recently received this note:

 Maria, I found you after making an expensive upholstery color choice for my new sofa. I’m wondering if I should reupholster it. Before I found you in your world of undertones, I was unable to articulate what the problem was with the new sofa in the room, other than to say it looks gray and brown during the day.

Now I know that many of the undertones in the room are orange based, which I love, but unfortunately the new sofa has taupe undertones. We don’t want to paint the walls right now. They’re painted Benjamin Moore, Devon Creme. And so I’m assuming I need to find an orange beige fabric for the sofa. Is that correct?

Help! I don’t want to make any more expensive mistakes.

Click here to see my Colour Rescue solutions for this room over on YouTube!

What’s holding you back?

I’ve been in many, many homes over my 25 year career where people are hanging on to their old and dated rugs because they were really expensive back in the day. But carpet prices have become a lot less precious. 

Now that we can buy them online, it’s a lot easier and more accessible. The traditional looking carpet with lots of heavy black is weighing this room down so that the fresh new sofa and creamy pale walls can not lift.

So if you’re working really hard to make an old “expensive” rug work it’s highly likely that it’s holding you hostage.

I want to give you permission to take a few minutes to imagine what your room could look like if you changed out the rug.

Have a little fun and create a mood board! You’ll learn how easy this is in my Shop Online course.

Because so often you’re working much to hard to make something work that’s just not working.

And it’s much more important to create a room that fills you with joy!

That said, there are ways to work with heavier formal antique rugs as True Colour Expert Erika Ward shows us in this post, 

Read more: How to Beautifully Update your Persian (Oriental) Rug

I created a couple beautiful mood boards for this room, so pop over to the video to see how much fun I had!

Hint: there is an undertone conflict between the wall colour and the sofa, can you tell what it is?

It’s sooo easy to go wrong if you don’t know how to identify the subtle undertone shifts of neutrals! 

Neutrals aren’t Neutral

The whole concept of a “neutral” is supposed to be that “it goes with everything” RIGHT??

You probably know from a similar experience that’s simply not the case. Neutrals can be anything but- well, neutral.

And it’s important to know when COLOUR is the better solution.

What everyone Should Know About Taupe

And throughout the grey trend, the go-to neutral was taupe, because it’s cooler than beige, and warmer than grey. And now, since trends are warming up again from stark black and white, taupe is back before it even left the room.

Home Bunch

What everyone Should Know about Beige

And beige is definitely and officially back. Which means that choosing colour and furnishings just got a lot more complicated than choosing black or white for everything.

Prairie Interiors

Not that choosing white was ever as simple as it seems

I think aside from everyone wanting FRESH the reason the white trend took over (HGTV aside) is that it seems simple. Just like black seems like the obvious choice. The truth is, those who know, know that the perfect white is sometimes not even technically white.

This fall I want to give you everything I know about colour

It’s time to say good bye to expensive colour mistakes for good. Sign up today to save your spot in my fall Expert Colour & Design Training. This fall WE’RE BACK IN PERSON! 

Sign up for early bird access to my two live in person dates VANCOUVER and DALLAS. Since we’re together we can continue our conversation by having an evening visit after class!

And I can’t wait to meet you!! We’ll talk about all things colour and decorating. In two days I’ll basically hand you my 25 years plus of experience simply packaged into an easy to learn and use system.

And if you’ve been dreaming about creating a new business in colour, there has NEVER been a better time. Social media provides a platform to reach more potential clients than ever before.

My course is exactly what you need to get started. And you’ll have deeply discounted access to the best colour tools as well as my Business of Colour and Business of eDesign courses to jump start your new career!

Sign up here for all live in person and virtual live dates!

See you this Fall!

The post Help! My New Sofa Clashes with my Paint Colour appeared first on Maria Killam | Timeless Colour.

Whatever neutral is popular at the time ends up being the default choice for MOST colour decisions. Just take a look around your neighborhood. What neutral was trending BIG at the time the homes were built?

And that’s what my new colour rescue is all about. Because if you have stone on your exterior – you can’t simply default with the trending neutral. Link to watch my newest Colour Rescue episode at the end of this post

How do I choose exterior colour for a home with stone?

Sometimes the right paint colour is magic and today’s exterior is a great example of the two paths of paint colours. One path ends up being trendy and often wrong, the other path can suddenly transform an exterior to make it timeless (aka outlast any current trendy choice).

This weeks colour rescue needs nothing but new paint to turn this house from a trendy fix into a timeless home with lots of curb appeal.

And if you’re working on updating a home that has existing exterior stone, you won’t want to miss this colour rescue!

But before we get to it, here are a few TIMELESS posts you’ll also want to review and save for your stone exterior. 

→ Stone Placement: Is Stone Necessary on your Home Exterior?

Stone is a big deal. Not only is it expensive to add to your home, but it’s often added in the wrong areas of the exterior.

Sometimes it’s not enough. But most often it’s just not balanced. This Exterior Colour Selection Masterclass will walk you through the decision-making process. Plus, I’ll show you what recommendations I would make for these stone exteriors. 

→ Everything you need to know about Choosing Stone for your Exterior

It’s crucial to understand how brick and stone impact the overall look of your exterior elements in new build or renovation projects. Unfortunately, I see countless houses that miss the mark in this regard.

This post provides valuable colour advice for combining brick and stone, as well as selecting the appropriate window colour. You’ll find all around helpful information for working with exterior stone.

→ 5 Steps to Designing a Classic Stone Exterior

Builders and buyers often believe that when it comes to exterior colours and claddings, more is better.

However, if you want to achieve a classic exterior, simplicity is essential. With countless options available, it can be challenging to choose just one.

In an attempt to be “interesting,” many people opt for three or more colours, but this may not be the best approach.

→  The Best way to Choose Exterior Stone (Ugly is on Sale, Don’t Buy it!)

Have you ever noticed that so many houses with exterior stone end up looking bad? Why is that?

The key to coordinate stone and colour is to select your stone or brick first and then coordinate the other exterior finishes accordingly. It’s important to avoid purchasing ugly options that are OFTEN ON SALE.

And you don’t want to be stuck with ugly because your builder found a deal. 

→  A New Build Conversation about Exterior Stone (It’s all in the Undertones)

Building a new house and unsure about which stone to choose for the exterior? Don’t worry, you’re in the RIGHT place. That’s because it’s all about the undertones! (Not sure which undertones? This will help.)

Picking the perfect exterior stone involves considering the subtle hues that will complement your overall design. This post takes a deep dive into the world of exterior stone and how undertones can make all the difference!

→  Which Siding Colour Looks Best with Stone?

→  My Nearly Finished French Country Exterior (And Expert Colour Advice about Stone)

This is my most recent post about exterior stone. So you know I’ve been in your shoes when it comes to coordinate colour with your stone exterior. 

Should I paint my exterior white?

→  Watch the newest colour rescue episode here.

The post Colour Rescue: Coordinating Exterior Colour & Stone appeared first on Maria Killam | Timeless Colour.

And I’m kicking it off with black exteriors – specifically the black modern farmhouse. Because contrary to popular belief, it’s easy for the details to go wrong.

New York Times

Now that we’re halfway through the Black and White trend you’re all asking how to fix your black and white exteriors. 

So last week I posted a video about orange timbers and how to make them work if you’re going to add them. Specifically how to add them in a way that looks balanced (there’s more to consider than you think).

Black Modern Farmhouse

I got this question in response: 

“Is this a mistake? Should I repeat the wood more?”

What do you think? What would you do?

Post your thoughts in the comments below!

[PS. Remember to be kind. This reader is putting herself out there by sharing her photo.]

Should I paint it black?

Black houses have dominated the scene for a few years now and when you read about why you too should paint your house black, most articles gush convincingly (just like they did when the black window trend came on the scene).

“It’s empowering, go for it!”

“If your house is lacking in character, paint it black!”

“If your house has character, painting it black will enhance it even more!” 

“Black communicates to the world that you’re confident!”

“Black can feel cozy, warm, and welcoming despite its moody disposition. Or, a black house can feel modern and stately if that’s the look you’re going for.”

How do any of these statements help us make a decision on whether we should choose black?

It doesn’t. It’s copywriting fluff that helps no one.

No one whispers about all the black homes that should never have embraced the darkest of all colours.

They just show the homes that make us all go “Wow, that looks amazing”.

Apartment Therapy

The real secret to making a black house look amazing

If you look at both of the pretty homes in this post you’ll notice something that makes the black work so well.

All of the greenery that surround both homes.

With black, you also need to go big or go home. And do it on the right house.

If you’re not planning a spectacular garden for the black backdrop you’ve created, forget it.

Black doesn’t like embellishments

Black is more than anything austere. It’s a commitment to that austerity and it doesn’t work if you chicken out at the last minute and add some orange timbers or light grey stone to “brighten it up”. 

Black with orange accents will only ever look like a Halloween costume. Eeeek!

Orange timbers need plenty of white or a pale neutral to look good. Like on this house below.

Steve Powell Homes

Colour Rescue: Advice for this Black Modern Farmhouse

See my YouTube video here to see the colour advice that can help RESCUE my reader’s black modern farmhouse (above).

And, if you’re worried that your existing black or white farmhouse is missing the details that would make you love it when you drive into your driveway, check out my exterior eDesign packages here. I’d love to help!

If you have a question for my new colour rescue channel email photos here.

And a reader just posted this photoshopped exterior and I love it actually! My solution focused on the wood stained world but this one is better!

Adding grey trim to relate to the grey stone is completely inspired! 

Here’s the before again:

Related posts:

Are Black Windows the Best Choice for your New Build?

Never Paint this Style of Exterior, Black

The Black and White Exterior Colour Mistake Everyone is Making

The post Colour Rescue: Help! My Black Farmhouse Looks Wrong appeared first on Maria Killam | Timeless Colour.