The First Mistake a new Colour Consultant will Make Every Time

Today is my birthday and I’m 42! We’ll get to the colour lesson at the end when I show you the first place I ever decorated for my baby sister, but first a little trip back in time:

This is me at 4 years old already wearing one of my favourite colours and don’t forget the pearls to dress up my summer bathing suit! I see my mother also missed the left side of my face when she cut my hair. . .

My first birthday party. I was 7 and my whole class was invited. Everyone got a necklace as a party gift, I see mine coordinates with my outfit nicely 🙂 That’s my mom in the background!

At 19 I went to modeling school. Alas my career never took off because the first time I auditioned to be in a fashion show I did not make the cut because I didn’t walk like a model. Apparently, according to my sisters, I still don’t.

My very first apartment. I was 21 years old. Actually it was a cottage, my rent was $200 a month (cheap even for then–it wasn’t THAT long ago). You can tell it was the 80’s with the black and white look I had going on! My favourite magazine was Architectural Digest and I loved nothing more than a fresh copy to dream about being in one day. . . Click here to read my article on Decorating with Yellow published in BC Home and Alberta Home magazine.

In the early days, before my design career, I was a Sales Manager at The Delta Vancouver Airport Hotel and [above] I’m standing next to my Director of Sales, Tamara Gibson at a Christmas party. Look at me with my 80’s perm—those were the big hair days! Red lipstick was my go-to colour in those days – NOT any more!!

My ex-husband Scott. He was a big sailor. I was not.

My first official decorating job many years ago. My baby sister moved into this little bachelor suite. We immediately replaced the awful white curtains with IKEA wood blinds, painted the trim cream and bought the furniture on installment from a big box furniture store.

Photo by Maria Killam

So here it is, the first mistake a new designer will make when picking colour. We look around. . . desperate for some inspiration. . . in this case, nothing here but a few primary colours in the wall hanging (which was no longer a wall hanging after I was done), so what to do? I look at the floor. The fir floors have an orange cast to them so what colour do I choose? CC-420 Maple Syrup.

I specified a lot of CC-410 Boardwalk (which is the lighter shade) in my early days of colour consulting when I walked into an empty space or one with black leather furniture and zero inspiration until I discovered the many different shades of beige.

When I used to talk to people in the paint store about colour, they thought it was so important to tell me the colour of their dresser or bed or dining table when really unless it’s cherry or mahogany and you are painting the walls red (even then it’s not that you shouldn’t do it, just make sure you pick one that doesn’t fight with the wood), it’s generally not an issue. The colour of your wood furniture is like a pair of jeans, they go with everything.

Just to be clear, its not that the colour didn’t work in the room, but at the time (because I was new) I didn’t even consider any other options. And as I said, it’s a common mistake we all make in the beginning. And if you are reading this and have no idea what I am talking about because you have never made this mistake. . .leave a comment and let us know what yours was because that is why we blog, to learn from each other and to get who we really are.

And since it is my birthday, please leave a comment, that’s all I want, and you’ll get one back, kind of like 2 presents really.