Fix Your Colours for Free

View from this house (below)

Some of you may remember when I did 37 days of Undertones in the summer of 2012 on Facebook. Many of you got a lot out of it so I’ve been thinking about a way to do something else, but with a different twist.

So here’s what we’re going to do this time that I think will be even better.

Email us a photo of a room in your home that bothers you. Make sure you take the photo WITHOUT FLASH and preferably with natural light. If the room is dark, it’s okay to have lights on but it’s very important that you don’t use FLASH.

Three times a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I will post one of them on my Facebook Fan page with my best interpretation of why it’s bothering you and what to do about it.

One of the reasons this will be so great is because undertones in neutrals are almost like an illusion. Unless your eye is trained, you can look at a fabric, tile, stone or brick and not be able to distinguish which undertone it is, However, as soon as I tell you what it is, you’ll usually be able to see it immediately.

Sometimes I will give you an exact colour, sometimes I will have you refer to the category of undertones in my eBook because it’s possible that more than just one shade (lighter or darker) will be correct.

You’ll need my How to Choose Paint Colours – It’s All in the Undertones eBook in order to figure it out.

Most of you already have it anyway so this will be a snap!

But for those of you that don’t, you can buy it here.

If this was the room that was bothering you, I would say that the tile around the tub is pink-beige, the floor tile is green and the yellow-beige paint colour on the walls doesn’t relate enough to the finishes in the room.

The cabinets appear to be maple which don’t take a stain well and is the reason why the end result of using a dark stain looks blotchy and the overall effect in this bathroom is they look dirty combined with the floor tile and paint colour.

The biggest issue with this bathroom is that everything is patterned. The tile, the cabinets, and even the faux finish on the walls. It’s just too much.

The solution here would be to paint the cabinets cream like SW Dover White or SW Antique White. The wall colour should be a light green-beige to keep it as current as possible. I would not recommend a sage green. And of course the valance should be replaced with a solid fabric in a green-beige to coordinate with the new paint colour.

Here you can see a LOT of money was spent on the installation of this deck (this is the same house sent to me by a reader who is letting me use the images). The tiles are again pink-beige while the paint is yellow/gold. Here I would change nothing because the colour on this Mediterranean style home works with the orange tile roof (not shown) and in my opinion the curb appeal factor is more important.

Sometimes the best advice is to leave it exactly the way it is unless there’s a budget for a renovation.

If you want your room to be considered, please remove the clutter, or clear the countertops of unnecessary items in a kitchen or bathroom and make it look as presentable as possible. This way it’s easier to assess the space.

Of course I will NEVER mention names or locations of the images you submit. And, when you send me your images, I understand you’re agreeing to let me use them for training purposes.

Here’s what a happy reader had to say about my book:

“Maria, I am no decorator, but I am a writer and marketer and I think you are an amazing communicator – secondary to your obvious design abilities. I finally feel like someone “taught” me how to problem solve design issues – after reading your book – and while I am a  novice, feel so much more confident than I was.”    Anna

So get my eBook here. Who knows, this could go on indefinitely as long as I have enough pictures to post.

I’m excited, this will be fun! Don’t forget to click LIKE on my Facebook Page so you can follow along. And send your submissions to this email (Remember NO FLASH).

Related posts:

What Everyone Should Know about Gray

What Everyone should know about Beige

6 Ways to Choose the Perfect Neutral Paint Colour