I know, so many of you have asked when this bathroom would be finished and the reason it took so long to appear is because it needed the perfect piece of art (which she still hasn’t found) so I took matters into my own hands and virtually added it along with a few other decorative items so that you could see the final after.

And the video is so fun with my Sister and I bantering about her 80s bathroom that looked like this for far.too.long. And wow it’s so much better!

I was so surprised how much BIGGER it felt once the wall and the dropped ceiling above the shower was removed!

Here’s a breakdown of this bathroom design.

Shop the Look

How to get the perfect bathroom renovation

My bestie Jan Romanuk managed the entire renovation to perfection. She also managed the renovations of both my homes. The best thing about having Jan as your designer/project manager is that you have both in one package!

During the renovation of my current home when we took possession in October 2022, I had one painter who was here for 3 months painting every room, so he watched all the trades come and go and one day he said “Jan, I have been on many job sites and I have NEVER seen anyone run a ship like you!”

Jan is located in North Vancouver, you can contact her here, if you have a project!

The 3 details that get missed in bathroom renovations

In this video we’re talking about 3 details homeowners miss all the time with a few more thrown in, it’s a fun conversation that includes my sister Anita, check it out below:

Create your timeless bathroom

If you have a bathroom that needs updating, you can get my advice for giving it a refresh rather than a full renovation here.

But if you’re clear it’s a full renovation you need, check out my Create a Classic Bathroom package here to get all the prettiest timeless options for your bathroom tailored to you right down to the pretty details.

Related posts:

5 Steps to Starting a Bathroom Renovation

The Best of my Bathroom YouTube Videos

My Warm Wood & Timeless Primary Bath Renovation

The post 3 Bathroom Details You Can’t Afford to Get Wrong appeared first on Maria Killam | Timeless Colour.

Is AI designing your House? How’s it going so far?

I recently listened to this podcast I‘ve been following for a long time. At this point I feel like she’s a friend giving me an update on her life. Chalene’s content is about helping women over 40 live their best life with a lot of personal stuff thrown in which I find highly entertaining.

Anyway, she was talking about how fake so much of AI generated content is out there with this comment:

“It’s not giving you an accurate, validated, 100% guaranteed, truthful answer. What it’s doing is giving you what is most prevalent in its database. So if there is a myth, a misconception, misinformation that’s repeated over and over and over again, and that’s a preponderance of the data that it’s getting, it’s going to output that to you. So it drives me nuts when people go, ‘I checked it with AI’.”

AI is mixing up my colour advice

And that is exactly what it’s doing with my online advice all day and all night. It even takes recaps of blog posts and adds the popular myths and misconceptions about paint colour out there in the ethernet and mashes it together.

The worst part about this is because AI is often right, people get this false sense of “Ok I got this” and then make irreversible decisions with the answers it provides.

And have you noticed, nothing you ever ask is perfect? AI Always finds room for improvement. An outfit I had improved based on AI’s advice still needed something, I posted it again and it said “Roll up your sleeves” When I was clearly wearing a short sleeve top. Who can relate to this?

Anyway, I inserted this stairwell I had decorated recently (using AI to install my ideas). I asked for a painting estimate for the space and it asked if I wanted some decorating advice. I said yes to see the response.

By the way these colours were chosen to create flow from the living room and dining room for this makeover I did recently.

Anyway, this is what came out:

Why this is misleading advice

Let me count the ways that while this sounds really smart and authoritative, it completely misses everything:

1. The carpet on the stairs is Violet Grey, not Pink Beige
2. The floor tile is Green Grey, not “warm gray-beige with a slight green cast”
3. And no, it’s not the green walls that are pulling green-grey out of the tile
4. “Because this is exactly the kind of space where the wrong colour quietly drags everything down.” Well no, colour is necessary to bring grey finishes to life.
5. “What this space actually needs is a more complex neutral that sits right between pink-beige and green-gray.” No again, finding the right paint colour with conflicting undertones in finishes is NOT about choosing a “bridge” in between colour.
6. The first neutrals recommended were taupes and Green Greys, there are no Yellow Beiges in this entire scenario.

Yikes! It’s crazy how it’s kinda using my language, but in a totally convoluted way.

What this shows is that trusting AI for advice on your home; Investing anything from the cost of a can of paint to a full renovation to this kind of advice is a really bad idea.

I also recently heard an AI critic (it was in my scroll so sorry, I can’t recall who) say that the biggest problem is that AI doesn’t know how to say “I don’t Know”. Because it doesn’t know it doesn’t know. What it’s doing has actually nothing to do with “knowing,” it’s only emulating plausible patterns. Meaning it’s also perfectly poised to give you whatever is trending, and not at all timeless.

And when it comes to interior design, the issue is not only that it is making things up. AI is the very opposite of discernment. It doesn’t have a point of view. It doesn’t have taste and experience of the tactile, visual world. It doesn’t know what is going to look good and what won’t.

AI is excellent help at tasks like virtually installing the rugs and art I chose to illustrate what is possible for my client. It’s good at generating ideas that need to be sifted through carefully to find a good one. It’s good at streamlining my copy for clearer communication. But all this needs a knowledgeable designer editing and guiding the AI.

It’s not about letting the AI be the expert.

The bottom line is, getting the design plan right for your home is not where you want to take this kind of risk. That’s like throwing tens of thousands of dollars at a guess and crossing your fingers.

It’s much smarter to get a carefully thought out, beautiful plan based on real experience and save your money by NOT making expensive mistakes at all.

If you’re planning a repaint, a renovation or a new build, take a look a my eDesign packages.

I want to hear about how you’ve been using AI for your home projects and how it has been helpful. Please share in the comments.

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The post Why AI Gets Your Paint Colour Wrong appeared first on Maria Killam | Timeless Colour.

The common decorating mistake that a lot of people make is adding more grey to grey floors and I’m here to tell you it’s way easier than that to bring those floors to life!

And replacing the flooring in this home to create one continuous look through the main floor of the house would easily be $20,000 or more because it would ALL have to be replaced if you didn’t have more of the same wood flooring. And most of the time, that’s not where we need to start.

The truth is, gray isn’t the problem.

What’s missing is colour.

In this video, I’m showing you exactly how I would choose the right paint colour for their hallway using my Killam Colour system large colour samples, along with two simple ways to transform the space so the gray tile fades into the background instead of being the thing you notice first.

Because when you get the colour right, everything else starts to fall into place.

Watch this video and then let me know in the comments which you would prefer? New floors everywhere or a decorated and painted entry hall!

And if you want to learn how to do this yourself—how to actually see colour and make these decisions with confidence—my True Colour Expert Training is coming up in Chicago, May 14 & 15, 2026!

This is where I teach the system behind everything you’re seeing here. Because once you get this, you’ll never be guessing again. Register here.

And I’m looking for a Decorate or Renovate one day makeover in Chicago (specifically close to Naperville). Contact me here.

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The post Read This Before You Rip Out Your Grey Floors appeared first on Maria Killam | Timeless Colour.

When the garage is part of the main approach to your house, it isn’t just a utility. It’s an important design statement.

But first, there are a few spots left in my True Colour Expert Training this Spring. We had such a great class in Vancouver last week, and I’d love to see you in Chicago May 14th and 15th! Sign up here.

Garage door windows

The secret to a garage door that actually looks expensive and intentional—rather than just a big blank slab—is almost always windows. Glass is the key. Without it, you have a utilitarian wall of metal that feels disconnected from the rest of the house. Choosing a style with windows goes a long way to making the garage door look like an integrated and attractive part of the house. They create a friendlier look.

The next important thing is knowing what style of garage door will look best on your house.

Modern garage doors

If you have a sleek, modern home, a full-view aluminum door or a modern glass sectional door looks best. It keeps the look clean and lets the light in.

DB Garage Doors

Traditional garage doors

On the other hand, for a more traditional home, carriage-style doors are the classic choice. But here is the most important detail: the window style, proportions, and grilles on that garage door must match the actual windows on your house. If your house has traditional square grilles and your garage has arched windows, they’ll never look like they belong together.

When it comes to the colour, you want it to marry the rest of your house. Often, the most timeless choice is to paint the garage door the same colour as the house body or the trim like on my house above. In the vast majority of cases, I would avoid the trend for painting them a dark “accent colour”. It quickly looks unbalanced since garage doors are so large. And often, at a glance it can look like the doors are gaping open.

In some cases, usually when balanced with other wood elements on the facade, a timeless brown wood look is exactly what’s needed to add warmth and texture.

The Spruce

Choosing a garage door is a high-stakes decision because it’s expensive. Once it’s installed, you’re stuck with it for a long time. There is a lot to consider, style, colour, window shape, size and details.

When the decisions for your build or renovation start piling up and stressing you out, know that you don’t have to guess. I can look at your specific home and tell you exactly how to create that “welcome home” feeling in an Exterior eDesign consultation. It’s a tiny fraction of the cost of your project but powerful insurance for getting the best possible result.

Or, if you want to learn my approach to exteriors based on the Killam Colour System so you can make these decisions with total confidence, come join us in the True Colour Insider membership. You’ll get access to my Exterior Colour Masterclass where I show you how to get the “envelope” of your home right the first time.

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The post Don’t Let Your Garage Door Ruin Your Curb Appeal appeared first on Maria Killam | Timeless Colour.

But that kind of update would have easily climbed into the $15,000–$20,000 range.

Instead, we focused on what was already there and transformed their living and dining room in one day with decorating—reworking the layout, layering in colour, and making a few key styling decisions that completely changed how the space feels.

Watch the makeover to see just how far decorating can go before you renovate.

Feeling inspired to decorate? Join my True Colour Insider Community where members share their projects and ideas finding support and fast friends. Can’t wait to see you inside!

Create Your Dream Home Colour Foundations starts next week! There’s still time to join to learn how to get the best out of your upcoming home projects.

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The post They Were Ready to Spend $20,000 on Flooring Until This appeared first on Maria Killam | Timeless Colour.

They were too orange for the Tuscan brown trend, so people stained or replaced them with espresso. Then they were too warm for the gray trend, so they were bleached out, replaced, or covered in gray vinyl and called an upgrade.

That’s two full trend cycles where no one wanted them. People weren’t just avoiding orange floors—they were actively trying to get rid of them.

Warm wood is quietly coming back

And now, quietly, warm wood is coming back and the black, white and cognac trend singlehandedly did that, even cherry is back in the conversation.

Designer Josh Young’s home with warm wood floors. A swoon worthy inspiration for the black and white trend done expertly. Notice the warm wood floor under the very large area rug breaking it up. And how he’s repeated the warm wood with an elegant animal print.

But it’s important to note: just because warm wood is trending again doesn’t mean everything from the 80s suddenly looks good.

Trends don’t come back the same way they left. And the fastest way to make orange floors look wrong today has very little to do with the floor itself.

It’s the furniture you might still have in your breakfast or dining room (below):

Specifically, those heavy, matching dining room sets from the ’80s and ’90s—the table, the chairs, the hutch, the sideboard—all in the same orange oak finish. That’s what dates a home and makes people feel like their floors are bossy.

I once walked into a client’s home where they had an oversize matching dining set and hutch squeezed into a dining room that was clearly too small for it. They had moved, and the furniture came with them.

As I was looking at it, pondering how to tell her it had to go, she immediately shrugged and said, “It was a wedding gift from my father-in-law and cost $18,000.”

And then she gave me that look.

The one that says: I know it’s not working, but we can’t get rid of it.

This is such a common scenario.

Here’s the thing, we don’t just decorate with what we love—we decorate around what we feel obligated to keep. Expensive pieces, inherited pieces, “perfectly good” pieces that quietly take over the room and dictate every other decision.

And before long, it feels like the entire space is being controlled by one heavy, dated element.

So of course floors that don’t feel current start to feel like a problem.

Enter the common assumption that there is nothing to do until the magical day where the expensive renovation can finally happen.

But that’s almost never the best answer. Like I demonstrate in home after home in my Decorate or Renovate YouTube series, if you raise your decorating game, the need for renovating often magically goes away.

So when some of that dated dining room furniture is removed, or painted, or replaced with something lighter and less matchy, the floors suddenly don’t feel nearly as dominant.

If you have an old matched wood dining room set weighing you down. Paint the chairs chairs for contrast for a look like this room below. This combination looks collected, like a designer was here, with the painted side board and chairs.

@jogalbraithhome 

Which brings me to the biggest misconception I hear all the time.

People think the solution to orange floors is paint.

They want a wall colour that will tone down their orange floors, as if there’s a white or a greige that will magically cancel them out. There isn’t, because paint doesn’t work that way.

A wall colour can relate to your finishes, it can harmonize with them, it can make a room feel more cohesive—but it’s not going to erase your orange wood floors.

And if your floors feel too strong, the issue usually isn’t the colour on the walls.

It’s what’s happening on the floor. Or more accurately—what isn’t happening. Because so many people are living without enough area rugs.

When you have wall-to-wall hardwood with no interruption, your eye has nowhere else to land. You end up staring at a continuous expanse of wood, and of course it feels dominant.

But the moment you introduce a properly sized rug, everything shifts.

Katie Davis Design

The room starts to read as a furnished space instead of a floor with furniture sitting on top of it. The rug defines the seating area, adds softness and pattern, and changes the proportions of what you’re seeing.

Instead of noticing the floor first, you notice the room.

Last year when I posted about my new custom size area rug that covered up my entire living room, I got a lot of questions why I covered up my hardwood floors.

Because I have an open layout, the rug is what defines the space. It anchors the furniture and makes the room feel finished. And since the same flooring runs throughout the rest of the house, I still experience it everywhere else.

You don’t need to leave your floors fully exposed to appreciate them. That’s not how beautiful rooms are designed. And once the rug is in place, the next step is simply to make sure the warmth of the floor doesn’t feel isolated.

A few touches in the same warm, orange-brown family—like a basket, a cognac ottoman, a wood coffee table, or even small accessories—will connect the floor to the rest of the room so it feels intentional instead of accidental.

Now, you’re no longer trying to fix the floor. You’re giving it context.

In this room above, the designer has both layered up the floor with a generous sisal area rug and repeated the warm browns in the upholstery and window covering. Brown is trending again and this time around, it’s paired with pale neutral walls for contrast.

Embrace the warm wood

When a floor feels wrong, most people instinctively try to fight it. They look for a paint colour to neutralize it or a way to make it disappear.

But in most cases, the issue isn’t the floor at all.

It’s a combination of too much outdated wood furniture, not enough layering, and a room that hasn’t been fully finished.

Once you address those things, orange floors stop looking like a problem.

They just look like wood floors again.

This is how knowing the smart fix can save you tens of thousands of dollars in your home projects.

Which is what I teach in my Create Your Dream Home Colour Foundations. The last session (until Fall) starts March 30th! Be sure to sign up now before the price goes up for late registrations on Friday.

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The post Decorating Around Orange Floors appeared first on Maria Killam | Timeless Colour.

It reminded me of the black window trend when it first took off. I wrote about that here.

That’s exactly what’s happening with the linear fireplaces.

They didn’t start in residential homes. They came from commercial spaces—hotels and restaurants—where they’re designed as a dramatic feature across an entire wall. In that context, they make sense.

But in most homes, they’ve been scaled down and tucked under a TV. And that’s a completely different application. This is where things start to feel off because the squinty linear shape is often too harsh and the wrong scale for the focal point of the room.

In this video, I’ll walk you through where a linear fireplace works, where it doesn’t, and what to consider before you automatically include one in your plans.

And if you already have one, I’ll show you how to decorate around it since that is what my Decorate or Renovate!? channel is all about!

Create Your Dream Home Colour Foundations is exactly where you will learn how to avoid expensive mistakes like this one and the discounted price is only available until midnight tonight so hurry and secure your spot! After midnight it goes from $1200 to $1800 for last minute sign ups. The course starts March 30th.

Register here.

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The post The Linear Fireplace Trend No One Is Questioning appeared first on Maria Killam | Timeless Colour.

Over the years I’ve created several ways to learn from me, and recently I realized something important.

People are confused about the difference.

That’s not surprising, because everything I teach revolves around the same core idea: learning how to see colour so you can create a timeless home.

But the truth is, each offering solves a different problem.

Some people want to learn how to make their own decisions. Some people want professional training.
And some people simply want an expert to make the choices for them.

So today I want to walk you through the four ways you can work with me, and who each one is really for.

1. My Two Community Levels: Dream Home Club | Killam Colour Academy

The community is where homeowners come when they’re actively working on their homes and want feedback while making decisions.

This is the place to bring the questions that come up during a project. You might post two tiles you’re choosing between, ask which warm neutral works better with your countertops, or check whether a rug relates to your sofa.

In other words, it’s where you fine-tune decisions while your project is moving forward.

The Dream Home Club is designed for homeowners who want that kind of support as they decorate and update their spaces. Members share photos, ask questions, and get guidance from me and the group as they work through their homes one decision at a time.

The Killam Colour Academy is the second tier for people who want a deeper level of learning and discussion around colour. Many members there are designers or serious colour enthusiasts who want to continue developing their eye and understanding of colour beyond the basics.

But a community where you’re crowdsourcing, can’t give you everything—colour mastery or a comprehensive strategy for making every decision for your home.

That’s why many smart homeowners begin with the course first, and then use the community to fine-tune their decisions as they move forward.

Which is why the next step exists.

2. Create Your Dream Home; Colour Foundations Course (Designed for Homeowners)

This course gives you the foundation for understanding colour in your own home.

For six weeks you will get a new module each week, plus a live Q&A session with me to discuss and review concepts. You learn the principles I’ve created from consulting in 20,000 + homes: undertones, how to choose the correct neutrals for paint and finishes, how to create colour flow and cohesion from room to room.

Sign up for Dream Home Colour Foundations here

A six week course won’t turn you into a professional colour expert.

But it will completely change how you see colour providing a foundation that turns opinions into decisions.

Without it, every suggestion from the most confident person in the room (your design centre, your contractor, painter, tile salesperson) sounds reasonable.

With it, you can immediately filter what fits your palette and what doesn’t.

Taking my course is like taking a course on how to read architectural plans. You won’t become an architect, but you will understand what you’re looking at, ask better questions, and make informed decisions instead of relying on whoever sounds most confident in the room.

A smart colour foundation gives you the ability to see what works before it’s installed. Instead of staring at ten whites or neutrals hoping one will work, you’ll know which undertone belongs in your house.

That’s the real power. Because once finishes go in, it’s too late.

And once you have that foundation, the community becomes incredibly useful because you can ask better questions and make better decisions.

Register here for Create Your Dream Home 6-Week Online Colour Foundations Program We’ve extended the early bird rate one more day until tonight (March 16).

3. True Colour Expert Training

True Colour Expert Training is not a homeowner course. It’s the training designers take to learn my full colour system—and the path homeowners take when they want to turn their talent into a profession.

Inside this training we go deeper into the Killam Colour System—how to identify undertones in real homes, how to specify palettes, how to work with finishes, and how to build a business using practical colour.

This is the training that allows designers to confidently walk into a client’s house and say, “This is the right colour.” This training will give you the ability to choose paint colours in one meeting because you’ll be able to show exactly why the colours you are specifying are correct.

After the workshop you’ll finally understand the system. And then the real fun begins — applying it inside the Killam Colour Academy where you get to watch hundreds of real consultations and keep sharpening your eye.

There are only a few seats left in Vancouver happening next week, and this is the last time I will be in Vancouver or Chicago (in May).

Learn more about True Colour Expert Training here.

4. eDesign Services

And finally, there’s eDesign.

Create Your Dream Home teaches you how to see colour. You learn the Killam Colour System, why one neutral or white works and another doesn’t, and how colours relate to the fixed finishes in your home. That means when you walk into a paint store, a design centre, or a meeting with your builder, you’re no longer guessing or handing your power to the most confident person in the room.

You understand what works in your house and you can make decisions with confidence.

eDesign is different.

Explore eDesign packages here

An eDesign package is me applying that same skill—along with 25 years of experience in more than 20,000 homes—directly to your house.

Instead of learning the system yourself, you send photos and information about your space and I create the colour palette and finish selections that will work with your floors, countertops, tile and cabinetry.

The best options tailored to you and your home ready to go.

Because a perfectly cohesive whole house colour and finish schedule – complete with the supporting reasons why the selections are what they are – is level of complexity that is most efficiently created by a pro.

You can learn how to make better colour choices and work the learning curve towards colour mastery with the training.

Or you can skip over it all and get it done for you.

Both approaches work.

One gives you the knowledge.
The other gives you the plan.

So Which One Is Right for You?

Bottom line, I offer 3 paths to a successful project:

1. Create your Dream Home; Colour Foundations – learn how colour works

Learn how to make smart colour choices that allow you to walk into every decision with clarity and choose finishes that relate beautifully—so your whole house feels intentional, cohesive, and timeless. Learn more here.

2. eDesign – get a coherent plan done for you

Every finish in your home needs to relate to the others—floors, cabinets, countertops, tile, paint, lighting. it adds up to many hundreds of elements to coordinate.

So if it’s time to get moving on your project and you want to save the time and energy, hire me to create the plan for you (depending on how big your project is, you will receive 50+ slides to over 200 in a new build or renovation).

Or, you can create that plan yourself using the framework you’ll learn inside Create Your Dream Home which includes an project planner file that structures your decisions. It can take you very far.

Either way, the goal is the same: a clear roadmap for your finishes so everything relates beautifully and your home comes together as a cohesive, timeless whole.

Learn more about how eDesign works here.

Fine-tuning – where the community really shines

This is where you refine the decisions you’ve already made.

Narrowing down between two options you already know will work.

Course-correcting when you’re unsure.

And continuing to sharpen your eye with additional training inside the community, including:

• The Mood Board Course – learn how to plan your purchases and save thousands on decorating
• Styling School – finally finish decorating your home (this is where all the joy lives)
• The Exterior Masterclass – so the outside of your home relates beautifully to the inside

The community is where you apply what you’ve learned and keep improving your eye and your skills.

Crowdsourcing can’t create the foundation or replace a full design plan. It’s best for refining decisions

The smartest homeowners usually do all three

• Learn the colour foundation
• Get a clear plan
• Use the community to fine-tune decisions

One More Thing

Now is the time to register for Create Your Dream Home I’ve decided to extend the current discount one more day!

If you’ve been thinking about joining, today is the final day before the price goes up.

Register here.

I can’t wait to meet you inside!

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The post The 4 Best Ways to Get Colour Right appeared first on Maria Killam | Timeless Colour.

It doesn’t.

It starts with one thing — a fabric, a rug, a piece of art, or a chair that inspires everything else. Without that starting point, it’s almost impossible to build a room with personality. That’s how so many homes end up stuck in safe neutrals, waiting for colour that never arrives.

It all comes down to colour

If you’ve ever stood in the paint store staring at hundreds of colours and felt completely stuck, that’s exactly why I created my Create Your Dream Home Colour Foundations course. It teaches you how to see colour the way I do, how to relate undertones, choose the right neutrals, and build rooms that actually flow together instead of feeling random.

Once you understand the system, decorating decisions become dramatically easier and you stop wasting money on expensive mistakes. The current price for this cohort ends Monday night, and the price goes up after that, so if learning how to confidently choose colour for fabrics, finishes and paint for your home projects has been on your list, this is the time to join us. Register here.

How to create a colour palette

This project is a perfect example of how colour flow actually happens.

I was invited to help decorate a few connected spaces for a charity that supports seniors in our community. It’s a place where people can come in, sit down, watch TV, and have lunch together. For many of them, it’s a bright spot in the day.

And the entire colour scheme began with two fabulous patterned chairs I found on Facebook Marketplace. Here they are styled in the room:

Once those chairs were in place, the rest of the room became easy. The colours were already there — we simply repeated them throughout the space so everything felt connected.

In today’s video, I’m walking you through the finished rooms and sharing how the colour scheme came together. You’ll also meet Brigida, who created this wonderful organization and whose apartment we decorated as well.

It’s a simple example of how powerful colour can be when you let one beautiful element lead the way.

See the rest of the colourful rooms I decorated that were all inspired by these fabulous chairs in today’s YouTube video:

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The post How to Create a Colour Palette appeared first on Maria Killam | Timeless Colour.

And while I understand the intent behind the question, here’s the truth:

Colour psychology is only one part of the story. Yes, yellow can feel cheerful. Yes, blue can be calming. But in the real world—in actual homes with tile, countertops, flooring, and stone—those generalizations can backfire fast.

Why? Because colour doesn’t live in a vacuum. It lives in context. You can’t paint your walls your “happy colour” if it makes your kitchen stone look dirty, or if your beige tile suddenly turns pink. When that happens, the whole space feels off—even if you’re using a shade you love.

I’ve seen this time and time again over the years. Clients and homeowners trying to make their space feel beautiful and calm, but ending up frustrated because something just doesn’t look right.

And that’s because we’re asking colour to do all the emotional heavy lifting without respecting the architectural reality it lives in.

Your home already has a voice. The finishes you’ve installed or inherited—your fixed elements—speak a certain visual language. If you ignore that, no amount of “calming sage green” will make the room feel peaceful. It will just feel wrong.

So what’s the real secret?

You need a system that helps you understand how colour actually works in an environment—not just how it makes you feel in theory. That’s what the Killam Colour System is all about: giving you the tools to recognize undertones, work with existing elements, and make colour decisions that are both beautiful and functional.

The Killam Colour System Starter Kit

Because here’s the truth: The right colour feels right not just emotionally, but relationally—with everything around it. That’s when a home feels harmonious. That’s when it feels timeless. And yes—that’s when it truly lifts your mood.

Colour does affect how we feel. But only when it belongs.

Getting the colour right is the foundation of creating a beautiful home. Every selection you’ll make from flooring and tile, paint and hardware to decor and accessories involves a colour choice. If the colour is harmonious, you are on top of the game. If not, it never quite comes together.

That’s why learning the smart way to choose colour is so powerful.

And that’s what I teach in my 6 week virtual Create Your Dream Home course for homeowners (and renters! Anyone working to create a beautiful place to live). In 6 digestible modules you can go through at your own pace, you’ll learn:

• The Killam Colour System: the foundation for making smart colour choices for everything and anything
• How to make Timeless choices: avoid investing in trendy finishes that will need to be renovated
• How to get the most out of your budget: this comes down to what counts the most, and is often underestimated: decorating and styling. These are the layers that make a house a home.

You’ll come away with fresh eyes for colour, excited to tackle your projects big or small!

Each week during the course I host live office hours to tackle your questions live. And you’ll always have access to the modules to watch and rewatch.

I can’t wait to meet you!

The next session begins March 30th. Spots are limited, save yours here.

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The post Why the “Meaning” of Colour Isn’t Enough (And What Actually Makes a Room Feel Right) appeared first on Maria Killam | Timeless Colour.

You have a styling problem.

When I walked into HomeSense to tape the shop up for Spring I was struck by this corner with two floor to ceiling walls of bunny rabbits and Easter decor and it struck me more than ever.

The reason why so many people have bins full of seasonal decor is because it fills space. It layers shelves. It creates little moments. It adds colour and personality. And when it’s everywhere, your house suddenly feels cozy and “done.”

How to create vignettes

But then the bins go back into storage and then we’re back to empty shelves, coffee tables that look flat and an entry that feels forgotten.

And it’s because what you should focus on, is permanent vignettes and tablescapes.

This was the house that started my One Day Styling Makeovers on Youtube

A vignette is simply a styled grouping that lives there year-round. A tray with books and an object on your coffee table. A balanced console with art, a lamp, more coffee table books and something sculptural. A shelf that has height, depth, and repetition. These are the things that make a room feel layered and complete long before or after Easter, Thanksgiving or Christmas shows up.

When your home is properly styled, seasonal decor becomes an accent — not the story.

Shop HomeSense with me!

In todays HomeSense Shop-Up video, you’ll see exactly how I build those layered moments using off-the-shelf pieces. No renovation. No “holiday explosion.” Just styling that works in every season.

That’s the difference between decorating for a moment and styling a home you love all year.

In today’s video, I’m walking you through the spring decor at HomeSense. I’ll show you the key items to look for to create your vignettes.

PS. Want help and support with all the vignettes and tablescapes you’re about to experiment with after this video? Join my Dream Home Club here.

One of the vignettes one of my Dream Home Club members just posted! So good!

Related posts:

Must-Have Decorating Essentials: Dive into my Design Hideaway

Ask Maria: Is HomeSense Junk? Here’s the Truth

Why We Believe Art Must Have Meaning

The post Why Your House Feels Empty After the Holidays (And What to Do Instead) appeared first on Maria Killam | Timeless Colour.

You may find you don’t need to renovate at all. These are full of ideas for easier and much more affordable updates than a full $$$ gut reno.

Here are the videos I recommend, what you’ll get from each one, and why they’re worth a watch when you want your bathroom to look like it belongs (not like you just threw a bunch of finishes together).

My Top 5 Bathroom Videos

1. 4 Simple Ways to Refresh Your Bathroom | Episode 14

No demolition required. If you’re styling your bathroom (and you have a functioning one already) this video shows how to add colour, punch and polish — without tearing anything out.

2. 5 Steps to Renovate Your Bathroom Like a Pro

Planning to gut or just refresh? Start here. I walk you through exactly what to do first, so you avoid analysis paralysis and make decisions with confidence.

3. Bathroom Renovation: From Dated to a Zen Oasis | Episode 33

This one takes you inside a full transformation — the before is messy, the after? Calm, collected and timeless. If you’ve got a bathroom that’s been haunting you, this might be your roadmap.

4. Help! I Hate my Bathroom Floors – Styling Hacks | Episode 38

How to make an older bathroom with dated tile look new and lovely again. Get creative, here are some ideas to get started.

5. Home Depot Bathroom Remodel: How to Get Designer Results on a Budget

Create a perfect, timeless bathroom on a budget and conveniently at the big box store. Here’s what I would avoid and what to choose instead.

Learn more about how to make savvy choices for your home and your budget in my FREE Smart Homeowner’s Masterclass on Wednesday, March 11th live on YouTube.

If you would like to get my advice on exactly what to do with your dated bathroom, check out my Bathroom Refresh eDesign package here. Once you know exactly what to do, avoid a full renovation will save you thousands.

If you’re sure you need to renovate, take the stress out of the planning phase and find out what the perfect combinations of finishes will best work for you and your project with a Create a Classic Bathroom custom eDesign consultation.

Related Posts

My Warm Wood & Timeless White Bathroom Renovation

My Sister’s Timeless Black & White Bathroom Before & After

Why I Would Avoid the Tile Everyone is Installing Now

The post The Best of My Bathroom YouTube Videos appeared first on Maria Killam | Timeless Colour.

We’re hiring a Growth Marketing & Email Director! Are you a lifecycle marketing pro who loves a good launch? We’re looking for a mix of big-picture strategy and hands-on magic to lead our email and revenue systems. Come help us scale our education platform! Learn more.

They were considering adding French doors off the dining room. The space felt flat and unfinished, and after forty years in the same home, it’s natural to start wondering if a renovation is the answer.

Dining room before

But then life shifted. Their daughter married and moved to Australia and flights to Australia to see their grandson became the priority.

And suddenly the question wasn’t “Should we renovate?” It was “If we’re not renovating… how far can decorating take us?”

Here’s the interesting part: this wasn’t a house with nothing in it. Cynthia and Greg have collected beautiful art for decades. Expensive pieces. Meaningful pieces. Seasonal pieces. Turquoise in the summer, winter landscapes at Christmas, fall art in autumn. Everything special.

And yet the rooms never felt settled.

The expensive rug they loved and had purchased after they replaced all the flooring 5 years ago didn’t have any turquoise in it. The art that coordinated only worked in one season. A mirror hovered above the mantel because nothing truly related. The room kept changing costumes but never found its identity.

So instead of cutting new openings and spending fifteen thousand dollars on French doors, we spent about $1300 editing, layering, and telling one clear story.

This is what happened when we chose decorating over renovating.

See the entire process and the afters in today’s video.

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The post They Skipped a $15K Renovation; Here’s What Happened Instead appeared first on Maria Killam | Timeless Colour.

It’s about taking control of your project.

What you receive is a 200-plus page colour and finish schedule that functions as a master document. This isn’t a mood board. It isn’t inspiration or a handful of pretty renderings. It’s a fully resolved plan that connects every fixed finish in your home—flooring, tile, cabinetry, counters, plumbing, lighting, paint—into one cohesive vision.

And that document changes the power dynamic on the job site.

Avoid being unprepared

AI Generated

Here’s the reality: your builder is running a business built on efficiency and margin. That’s not a criticism, it’s the structure of the industry. Materials are standardized, paint is bought in bulk, and the same 12 x 24 grey floor tile shows up in bathroom after bathroom because it keeps costs predictable and timelines tight.

When you ask for something outside that system—a warmer neutral, a timeless mosaic floor, a cabinet finish that actually relates to your flooring—you can expect pushback. Not because it’s wrong, but because it disrupts the machine. Deviations cost time. Time costs money. “That’s not standard” is often code for “this complicates our process.”

Without a clear finish plan, most homeowners fold. They start making decisions based on price or pressure instead of cohesion. One downgrade here, one substitution there, and suddenly nothing relates.

A builder basic bathroom that started out promising

Substitutions can derail the whole project

I once had a client tell me, “I had to choose a substitution for my granite countertop and I didn’t bring any of my finishes with me. It clashes with everything else in my kitchen and my husband says it is never coming out.” That is what happens when decisions are made in isolation.

If you aren’t crystal clear on what you want and why, you will be pulled toward whatever is easiest for everyone else. Your builder won’t live in the home for years. You will. And yet homeowners routinely hand over authorship because they don’t have the full vision mapped out.

That’s what the schedule protects.

The power of a comprehensive plan

My New Build eDesign consultation delivers 200+ pages of fully resolved finish and colour combinations tailored specifically to your home, with clear design rationale behind every decision. You don’t just know what to choose—you understand how each element relates to the whole.

A gorgeous eDesign new build project

Here are more images (below) of the gorgeous new build after images we received from a client recently. She sent them in along with this (summarized) note:

Hello, Design team at MK.

In late 2022, I received two eDesign packages – one New Build interior and one New Build exterior. They were a great guide and resource for me as I worked with our architects and local interior designer to make my final choices for our new build.

Professional photographs were taken of the interior and exterior, and I thought I’d share them with you.
I couldn’t be happier with the outcome. Our house feels styled, yet still absolutely timeless.

The guidance was a lifesaver, helping us skip the “trendy” traps and invest in timeless finishes that truly last. It completely shifted my mindset, teaching me to look at the big picture rather than getting overwhelmed by isolated, emotional decisions.

The eDesign packages felt like having a roadmap; they kept us on the same page with our builder and saved us from endless second-guessing. Her organized, practical approach turned the stress of building into a confident, enjoyable experience, and we couldn’t be happier with our home.

Thank you for the great guidance, and I hope you agree that the final product is truly outstanding.

Sincerely,
Sharlene

I often get asked: Maria, your style is so traditional, can you help with a modern home?

Yes, of course. My eDesign consultations are custom to the home you’re building. This project was in the prairie modern style. An iteration that has its own timeless references. Here’s the pretty walnut kitchen.

Photos by Landre Photography

The timeless stone fireplace.

A beautiful balance of wood and warm neutrals.

The timeless modern bathroom.

The pretty powder room.

The perfect prairie modern exterior.

So incredible right? Beautifully done project Sharlene, thanks for sharing!

Getting the right outcome for your investment

With that plan in your hand, your conversations change. At the design centre you can say, “We’re keeping this cabinet finish because it relates to the flooring,” or “Yes, this tile is worth upgrading because it defines the kitchen,” or “No, the exterior colour needs to stay—it was selected to balance the stone.”

You stop reacting to pricing pressure and shortcuts and start executing a strategy.

Drywall and framing are standard. Anyone can build walls. What determines whether your home feels custom and timeless or like every other spec build on the street is the relationship between the finishes—the undertones, the proportions, the way the exterior connects to the interior.

A builder builds the structure. A finish plan builds the beauty.

Without one, you’re negotiating in the dark. With one, you’re leading the project.

That’s what the investment actually buys.

It’s our busiest eDesign project season save your spot for your new build eDesign consultation now. They sell out quickly.

See all eDesign packages here.

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The post If You Don’t Have a Plan, Your Builder Will Create One for You appeared first on Maria Killam | Timeless Colour.

We’ve all seen it all over Instagram and Pinterest lately: Colour Drenching. It’s that moody, immersive look where the walls, the trim, the doors, and even the ceiling are all painted the exact same colour. It’s bold, it’s dramatic, and when it’s done right, it can make a room feel like a cozy, sophisticated hug.

But here’s the thing—as much as I love a good saturated hue, I see people making some expensive mistakes with this trend.

Brad Ramsey Interiors

See Undertones Instantly

The Neutral Colour Wheel shows you the 9 neutral undertones using real paint — your shortcut to choosing timeless colours.

• Real Benjamin Moore paint chips
• All 9 neutral undertone families
• Compare directly to your fixed elements

Shop the Colour Wheel

Before you grab your paintbrush and dive headfirst into a gallon of moody green, you need to ask yourself: Does this actually work with my finishes? Or am I just creating a lot of work for myself to paint over next year?

In my latest video, I’m breaking down the “Dos and Don’ts” of colour drenching. I’ll show you:

Where it works, where it doesn’t, and why choosing the wrong “neutral” for your drenched room can make everything look “dirty” instead of “dreamy.”

Trends come and go, but a well-specified room is timeless. Let’s make sure your “drenched” space looks intentional, not like future regret.

Watch the video here:

Want to stay in the loop? If you’re ready to stop second-guessing your paint picks, make sure to join our community of colour lovers to get support and feedback for projects big and small!

Join my FREE YouTube live training: The Smart Homeowner’s Guide to Colour: Decorate or Renovate with Confidence.

The Killam Colour System in Action

Before you colour drench a room, get clear on undertones and whether the look actually suits your space.

Learn the System

Shop Tools

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The post Is Colour Drenching the New Timeless—or Just an Expensive Mistake? appeared first on Maria Killam | Timeless Colour.

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In January and February we’re extra busy in our eDesign department working on New Build packages because this is the time of year when planning begins for renovations or planning your new build.

If you’re planning your new build, you should be aware that colour decisions for the exterior need to be made FIRST. So don’t wait until the last minute (which often happens).

10 Steps To Planning Your New Build

Many people who are building a new home think “I’ve got this” but then when it comes down to the wire and the builder is hounding you for colour decisions, that’s when you start losing sleep, worrying that you’ve made the right decision.

We constantly receive emails with last minute requests for help with exterior colours because you started searching on-line for the right answer and then hit my website and started panicking when you realized you can’t just ‘Trust the process’ with colour decisions.

To help you out, we created our new build package. It offers a curated complete finish and colour schedule custom to you and your project. And the link to the new build exterior package is on the page.

If you’re already mid-build, skip to the section on decorating. There’s still a lot you can fix. Read this post instead

The Order of the Decisions when Building a New Home

Most people assume they can make selections as the builder asks for them. Windows one week, floors the next,  exterior colour when the deadline hits.

That’s how you end up losing sleep.

After consulting on thousands of homes, I can tell you this: the mistake is almost never the individual choice. It’s the order of the choices.

Once a few hard finishes are locked in, every other decision becomes reactive. You’re no longer asking “What do I love?” You’re asking, “What works with what I’ve already chosen?”

Below is the exact order I recommend when planning a new build so your home feels cohesive, intentional, and timeless — not trendy and chaotic.

If you follow this sequence, you’ll remove most of the pressure before it ever starts.

One more thing, if you think you need to fall in love with every hard finish, that’s how you end up layering bold marble, limestone floors, and black plumbing fixtures all in one bathroom — each beautiful on its own, but chaotic together. When every selection is a “must have,” the result is too much going on and a space that instantly timestamps your home.

You can also tell that budget was a factor with this tile choice (below). The Viola slab was too expensive and this homeowner had no idea how busy Viola tile would look like installed.

Trendy not timeless

So, if you are at the beginning of a project and you have not enlisted the help of a designer, here are the steps you need to follow:After consulting on thousands of homes, I can tell you this: one wrong hard finish will cost more to fix than hiring an expert in the first place.

1 | Choose your floors first

You have two options. Pale natural looking maple or white oak floors (or LVP that looks like that), or medium brown. The end. The first one is more casual and the latter, more formal. 

Notice there is not a stitch of grey in these images. Plenty of people are still installing grey weathered or ashy looking wood floors that are vestiges of the grey trend. You can still get them at any flooring store. That’s because they have stock piles of them leftover from the grey trend. If you don’t want your house to be dated by at least a decade, don’t install grey or taupe floors.

If you do have grey or taupe wood look floors, don’t worry, there are easy ways to warm up the look. Read this post.

Pale laminate floors in my last home (left) | Medium brown oak floors in my current home  (right)

If you want tile on your kitchen floors–despite the thousands of apparent options in the showroom–good options are more limited than you think, AND then it needs to relate perfectly to your countertops. So if you don’t want a muddy, blotchy looking mess, this is when the rule of only one pattern in each room should be implemented, which is:

After you’ve chosen one pattern in your hard finishes for the kitchen or bathroom, that’s it. Your pattern quota is done.

It RARELY works to have two patterns in the same room.

And since most homes have traditional kitchens, a solid white floor tile will look too modern, so consider something like the this instead:

Holly Bell Design

If you are installing a stained wood kitchen read this post for the most timeless countertop.

2 |What will your fireplace look like?

This is not obvious to everyone, but your kitchen should coordinate with your fireplace.

Unless you are building a beach house or a house in the country, I would stay away from stone. Natural stone (from the earth) is not white and that means the colours are generally earthy and will boss around your colour scheme just like a busy granite countertop or blotchy floor tile.

The options for the most versatile stone whether cultured or natural are very limited. And the neutral undertone/s in the stone will need to be repeated in your kitchen for sure. It doesn’t work to install a timeless white kitchen in the same space as an earthy stone fireplace.

My fireplace relates to the tile in the adjoining sunroom and the Calacatta subway tile in my kitchen

A timeless white millwork fireplace with a classic square firebox is going to be the most timeless choice in most cases.

Definitely, unless you are building a modern contemporary home, avoid the trendy linear fireplace.

I don’t know about you, but I would much prefer to have options when decorating my living room rather than having to consider the fireplace colour and add whatever that colour is to my colour scheme.

3| Choose Your Countertop Next

Will your countertops be a true-white, off-white, or cream? Some kind of white is a timeless choice and will will determine the right gradation of white for your cabinets (if you want a white kitchen) and trim. Countertop options are more limited than white paint colours, so that is the next decision.

Note: if you’re going with floor tile in the kitchen, look there first because the countertop should look perfect with it. And if you are installing a stone fireplace, that will determine the options for your countertop and cabinet colour.

I have many clients who say “I don’t want a stark white kitchen”. That is totally fine. No one ever said that you can’t have a timeless house with a cream, your favourite colour or the trending warm neutral cabinet. Or even timeless natural looking wood stained cabinets.

Weeth Home

Whether you’re going with white, wood stained or a colour on the cabinets, it’s wise to keep the flooring, countertops and backsplash as simple and timeless as possible. Most often in the realm of white, cream or the palest (almost white) neutrals.

Because the definition of classic and timeless design is “Will I be stuck in a specific colour scheme forever?” If the answer is NO, you’re golden.

With pattern, the question to ask yourself is “Will I get bored of this in 10 minutes?” (multi pattern in multi colours below), um yeah.

AI altered

4 | Choose Your White

In most cases your trim and millwork should be some kind of white. Often, your countertops will dictate whether you should choose a true-white, off-white or cream for your paintable white millwork such as the fireplace millwork, trim and cabinets.

You can find the four gradations of useful whites on the back of my neutral colour wheel. 

Unless I specifically state “True white” when I mention WHITE on the blog, assume I’m talking about the white that works for your house.

So when I say white, it could be anything from a blue-white to off-white, true-white, or cream. It should always be custom to YOUR home.

If you are choosing whites for your renovation or planning your new build and you haven’t bought my White is Complicated eBook which will teach you exactly which white you should choose? Download it here.

5 | Backsplash Tile

And this brings me to the backsplash, now that you’ve chosen the floors and the countertop, you can choose the backsplash.

Yes, it will be installed last so it’s not absolutely imperative that you choose it next, however if you are committed to a classic and timeless palette, you easily could.

Keep the backsplash simple, in white or cream because that allows for a wide range of colours for decorating, styling, walls and cabinets.

Here’s a white mosaic cut backsplash (below) that still allows lots of flexibility with colour. The intricate pattern is kept from being too busy with matching white grout. Keep in mind some cuts will be better suited to modern kitchens and others are more traditional (like this one).

Architectural Digest

If you are ONLY renovating your kitchen, you can get my help with our Create a Classic Kitchen eDesign package here.

6 | Bathroom Tile & Countertops

After the kitchen and great room, bathroom tile is next. If you’re after a pretty bathroom that’s timeless, stay away from all the busy, blotchy, patterned, trendy tile. Tile pattern fads cycle very quickly. Simple is best.

Here are some guidelines for creating a timeless bathroom you’ll love for years to come:

A traditional white or black and white mosaic is always a classic choice. Why? Because this is what you expect bathroom tile to look like.

Think a timeless white bathroom is too stark? Think again. The paint and decor can be as warm or moody as you like, but you’ll appreciate the option afforded by timeless tile to choose different colours in a decade or two when it comes time to change it up.

A new area rug and coordinating paint would completely change the look of this beautiful timeless bathroom by Blanc Marine

Now that we’ve all seen too much harsh contrast in the fast waning black and white trend, it’s wise to tread lightly with black. Especially in a white bathroom where too much black will look harsh and busy.

Definitely avoid the builder default black plumbing fixtures at all cost. Choose chrome or polished nickel, and mix in some brass if want like I did in my bathroom below.

Maria’s Timeless Primary Bath

Small scale tile can be expensive to install so if you’re on a budget, choose a faux marble tile (below) and install it everywhere.

House of Jade

BONUS TIP: How to Coordinate White Bathroom Tile

Those of you who are fixated with getting your whites right (as I am), notice that the 12″ x 24″ faux marble is not as white as the white hex on the floor underneath the tub or the subway tile on the wall. Don’t try to match it, you won’t be able to do it. Better to contrast it instead. This combination works because the true white tile relates to the bright white bathtub (below):

By the way, notice how hard we are working to coordinate whites! Imagine trying to do this with NEUTRAL undertones. It’s no wonder most bathroom tile doesn’t match or just looks plain bad in the end.

Related post: When Should you Rip out Brand New Tile?

If you need help selecting all your bathroom choices, you can purchase our Create a Classic Bathroom here.

7 | Bathroom Cabinets / Vanity

Consider wood stained cabinets in the bathroom. It adds contrast and looks elegant with any white (or off-white or cream) tile.

Maria’s Timeless Primary Bath

8 | Hardware

Hardware for your cabinet doors looks easy but here’s the guideline to keep in mind.

Choose knobs for your cabinet doors and pulls for the drawers. This is an important detail that makes it look like a designer was here.

AI Altered

9 | Lighting

Choosing lighting is hard. It look me many years of being in the design industry to get good at choosing lighting.

It’s the reason why builder lighting is usually bad and all match-y. Lighting should be chosen to coordinate with the style of the home and each light should coordinate with the other.

I’m obsessed with my new kitchen chandelier (below) that captures the traditional look of my new kitchen and living room. If you’re stuck with boring builder lighting, make a plan to upgrade your fixtures when you can. It’s such an important detail.

Hot tip: avoid clear glass or bare bulb fixtures because the light is softer and more flattering to both you and your room when there’s a shade around it.

Lighting is where you get to add some custom and personal details. It’s a detail that can be more trendy rather than strictly timeless because you can switch your fixtures out more easily than replacing tile, for example. When you purchase a New Build Consultation, we include coordinated lighting that takes cues from your personal inspiration.

10 | Paint Colours 

Notice that paint colours are dead last!

Why?

Because now we have chosen all the hard finishes.

Related post: Are you Waiting for your Paint Colours to Propose?

It would be even better if you had a colour scheme for the living or great room at this point but most people can barely keep up with all the above decisions to think about which colour their sofa will be.

A great place to start if you want to choose more custom paint colours right away is by creating some mood boards. Get access to this popular course when you join my community!

We are finally moving out of the stark white walls trend. Throughout, I have been specifying the palest, almost white or cream neutrals instead for a more timeless and custom look. Because most people do not have a house that will look good with true-white or off-white, in other words, art gallery white walls, this statement says it the best:

White is a snob, white walls create an art gallery effect, spotlighting attention on every object so each must be worthy. White walls highlight shape and colour and tolerate no mess or evidence of life. Each object is part of the composition and so has to be selected and positioned with a curatorial eye for arrangement.

When My Clients Say White

When my clients say white, I automatically hear “almost white neutral” because most homes need SOME colour in order to look finished instead of that the walls have been primed and are still waiting for colour.

We are quickly moving into a warmer look in the trend cycle. Warm neutrals and colour are the antidote to stark white fatigue. And I’m all for it. But now you really need to know how to coordinate colours and neutral undertones to get it right. Start with my eBook, How to Choose Paint Colours and my neutral colour wheel for a handy quick reference!

And then keep learning, connect and find support for your projects in my colourful new  Dream Home Club 

Don’t go it alone

Building a home requires hundreds of decisions. Every single finish, every undertone, every layer has to relate to the next.

That’s not a small task.

You wouldn’t get hired as a buyer for a company and be handed a massive purchasing budget without training. Yet people spend hundreds of thousands — sometimes millions — on a new build while hoping it will all come together on instinct.

Hope is not a strategy.

One wrong hard finish can cost more to fix than hiring an expert in the first place. Replacing tile, repainting cabinetry, or redoing floors is exponentially more expensive than choosing correctly at the beginning.

When you invest in my New Build or Renovation package, you’re not receiving a mood board or a handful of pretty renderings. You’re getting a 250-slide colour and finish schedule that functions as a master document for your entire home.

Every fixed finish — flooring, tile, cabinetry, countertops, plumbing, lighting, and paint — is specified and connected into one coherent, intentional plan. Nothing is chosen in isolation and nothing is random. Instead of walking into your design centre or meeting your contractor hoping it will all come together, you walk in with a complete vision in hand and the confidence that every decision relates.

That’s the difference between building a house and building a home you’ll love for decades.

I wrote this post to give you a simple guide to the best order to approach your selections.  As you can see, it barely scratches the surface.

You’re probably getting a sense of the complexity of the task at hand. Hundreds of choices – choosing every single finish, colour for your home and making sure they all coordinate beautifully. It’s not easy if this is not what you do all day every day! It’s understandable to feel pressured and overwhelmed.

Here’s how I can help, work with me to create a custom colour and finish schedule, including details like hardware and lighting, for your project with my eDesign New Build package. 

It’s my life’s work to help you create a home that fills you with happiness every time you walk through the door

Here’s a lovely testimonial we just received from a happy client:

“It’s been over a year and we are finally in our new construction home! Just wanted to send a heartfelt thank you for your expert advice. I can’t express adequately enough how much the new build and exterior packages helped me with my decision making! It made meeting with all the different subcontractors so easy and pleasant. I was prepared for meetings as I had ordered all the finishing samples recommended and would bring those along with me (including paint samples!) They were always pleasantly surprised at how quickly our meetings were because my choices had already been made. From paint color recommendations to hard finishes. Not going with the trendy choices made some suppliers scratch their heads but even they had to admit the recommended choices were indeed timeless. Your packages gave me the confidence I needed to stick with the plan and I’m so glad I did! Thanks again for taking so much stress out of the building process! Would definitely recommend your packages to anyone building a new home!! Now to decorate with color!!!!!Thanks again for all your help!!!!”
~Amber Weeks

Related posts:

Renovation Success Starts Here: Your First 10 Decisions

Why Timeless Homes are Rare

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The post 10 Steps To Planning a Timeless New Build appeared first on Maria Killam | Timeless Colour.