Colour Me Happy Blog - Page 103 of 118 - Interior Design Colour Advice for a Timeless Home

Managing Client Expectations

01/27/2010

A big reason (besides atmosphere) why people hire designers is because they have a hard time visualizing the end result. What will that fabric look like on that sofa or is leather better? Read my opinion on leather here. Will I like that colour all over my living room? Managing expectations is a very important…

Three things you don’t know about me (but I wish you did)

01/25/2010

46 Comments

1) I’m kind of a loner. Image source If I didn’t have a blog, sometimes I wonder what I would be doing on a January Sunday like today. I don’t have children, but I do hang out with my sisters (often) and my nephews (sometimes). Growing up I always had one best friend and…

Why do Rainbows make People feel Happy?

01/23/2010

25 Comments

I was asked this question by a reporter weeks ago and I’ve thought a lot about my answer since then. flickr This is what I said: ‘The colours of a rainbow are light, fresh and happy and since they are so rare, they elicit a sense of awe and delight in addition to bringing the…

Vancouver Colour; Why you can’t Afford NOT to Hire a Colour Expert

01/21/2010

21 Comments

An expert is someone who has made all mistakes possible in a narrow field of expertise. Albert Einstein Whenever I have learned the most about the business of specifying colour, is when I’ve also made the biggest mistakes. Here are the two most important lessons I’ve learned: 1. I used to think it was my…

Before & After Guest Blogger at Pure Style Home

01/20/2010

13 Comments

I’m guest blogging at Pure Style Home today! Lauren Leiss is one of my favourite bloggers, she has great taste and style and I’m delighted to be featured there today! I’m showing some of the ‘before’ photos from this project (below). I have not even posted them on my blog so click here…

10 Tips that will take your Home Design Blog to the Next Level

01/18/2010

132 Comments

I’ve already written a post on the basics, 10 Things Every Blogger Should Know, click here if you haven’t read it. I’ve learned so much more now that I’ve been doing this for over one year, that I’m taking the opportunity to share with you here: Image source 1. White Screen vs. a Black Screen….

Is your Flooring Bossing you Around?

01/15/2010

31 Comments

Years ago I was at a colour consultation where the entire house had (like new) mint green carpets and my client informed me that her husband would not change them. The living room furniture was entirely a dark pinky beige, just like BM CC-330 Hillsborough Beige or SW 6094. Image source What were the…

Colour Trends for 2010

01/13/2010

44 Comments

Next to Turquoise, Mardi Grape is the hot colour for 2010 as predicted by the Colour Marketing Group (of which I am a member) and one of the images from my website was used to illustrate this new colour story which was released right before Christmas 2009. Here’s the press release: Image source My monthly…

A ‘Something’s Gotta Give’ Kitchen Cabinet Dilemma

01/11/2010

46 Comments

One of my readers recently asked if I ever come to Victoria as she wanted to hire me to evaluate whether her newly installed kitchen cabinets needed to be re-sprayed (an expensive proposition) because she was convinced the wrong white had been chosen. So this weekend in between helping my mom with her house, I…

How a Smart Colour Choice can Save you Money

01/09/2010

18 Comments

Yesterday I had lunch with a former student who is also a painter and has done some work for me (she is excellent). I asked her how involved she gets in helping clients with colour and she says many of them totally rely on her expertise. She told me that one lesson she took away…

Does a Nice Neutral Exist?

01/07/2010

33 Comments

I helped one of my former students [Amber Beall] get a position as a Colour Designer at a local Benjamin Moore store here in town. We have become great friends and recently met for dinner. She said “I get so tired of hearing, ‘I just want a nice neutral’, because there is no such thing’”….

Interview with Colour Expert; Annie Elliott

01/06/2010

24 Comments

Annie Elliott is the blogger/designer behind the colour blog, Bossy Color. And she is bossy, but in a charming way (as I always say when my friends call me bossy :). I almost think that trait is part of being a designer as we are paid for our opinion! Annie is based out of Washington…

Review of Last year’s Goals and a New List for 2010

01/03/2010

50 Comments

Last year, just for fun I posted my goals for 2009 here. I have always put together collage boards for my goals since I was in my late teens. I came across one a while ago that said “I make $21,000 a year!” Back then that was a big goal when I was 18 🙂…

Do you Dance on New Years Eve?

01/01/2010

19 Comments

I woke up feeling a little cranky today and then when I spoke to my mom she said “Don’t worry, there’s a full moon tonight and a blue moon!” Which one of my blogging friends, Bette, talked about here in her lovely blog, Ideezine. Do you ever notice a shift in your mood around the…

3 Things I Learned about Design while Decorating for my Mother

12/30/2009

34 Comments

The sofa in my mother’s last living room had large, over scale, colourful pansies all over it (eeeek). And guess who helped her pick it out? Me. The only redeeming thing about this whole thing was it happened 10 years ago before my decorating career really got started. Try to picture this on fabric *sigh*…

Maria Killam Colour & Design and Kelly Wearstler

12/29/2009

23 Comments

Update on the Homies Awards at Apartment Therapy – thank you so much to all of you that have voted for me, I am honoured!! Click here to vote if anyone else feels so inclined 🙂 Kelly Wearstler and I now have something in common besides that I love her style! I now have a…

Managing Client Expectations

Three things you don’t know about me (but I wish you did)

Why do Rainbows make People feel Happy?

Vancouver Colour; Why you can’t Afford NOT to Hire a Colour Expert

Before & After Guest Blogger at Pure Style Home

10 Tips that will take your Home Design Blog to the Next Level

Is your Flooring Bossing you Around?

A ‘Something’s Gotta Give’ Kitchen Cabinet Dilemma

How a Smart Colour Choice can Save you Money

Does a Nice Neutral Exist?

Interview with Colour Expert; Annie Elliott

Review of Last year’s Goals and a New List for 2010

Do you Dance on New Years Eve?

3 Things I Learned about Design while Decorating for my Mother

Maria Killam Colour & Design and Kelly Wearstler

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