When I asked if she liked winter she said “NO, I mostly just go home and curl up in my bedroom”.

Well, that immediately got my attention. I said, I’ll tell you why, you don’t have any lamps! Show me your living room!”

So she pulled out her phone and showed me a room with a big grey sectional, grey floors, a black fireplace surround, white shelving and a very busy grid wall dividing the living and dining rooms.

She wanted that grid wall gone!

But here’s the problem. Removing that grid wall wasn’t necessarily a simple demolition job. The flooring ran right up to it, which meant taking it out could trigger drywall repairs and potentially replacing flooring throughout several connected spaces.

Suddenly, a wall she hated could become a $10,000-plus renovation. And I could see that she didn’t need to spend that kind of money to make her living room beautiful.

Can You Decorate Around a Grid Wall Instead of Removing It?

Before you start tearing out something you hate, consider what removing it will affect.

In Katie’s living room, taking out the grid wall could have meant drywall repairs and replacing flooring in several connected spaces. An expensive project before we’d even started decorating!

Instead, we worked with what she had. The large painting that helped disguise the grid wall cost approximately $200, while the entire living room makeover came to about $2,400.

This is why I always recommend looking at the whole room before deciding what needs renovating. Sometimes the most expensive change is completely unnecessary.

Watch how we transformed Katie’s living room in one day, without a renovation.

Related posts:

3 Ways to Style a Bookshelf; Before & After

8 Makeovers that saved 54K In Renovations

I thought this Room Needed a Renovation

The post She Wanted This Grid Wall Gone But I Had a Better Idea appeared first on Maria Killam | Colour Expert & Creator of The Killam Colour System®.

That’s exactly what happened with Charlotte’s kitchen. My first recommendation was to keep her existing cherry wood cabinets and update the finishes around them. The result is a beautiful, timeless kitchen that feels connected to the rest of her home. And she didn’t have to replace perfectly good cabinets to get there.

Carlotte recently sent this testimonial along with photos and this note:

Hi MK team! It’s been almost a year since I originally reached out to you for your help on my kitchen. I absolutely love it and I was standing here admiring it when it occurred to me to send you pictures:

BEFORE | She replaced all her flooring to make it consistent throughout.

This was her lovely testimonial:

“My favorite part overall is that I find the MK ethos so refreshing. In a world full of comparison online, it’s so wonderful to focus on what enhances your home and what can make it look its best, rather than taking out perfectly good elements to replace them with the same style found in everyone else’s house.

My cabinets were so old they were new again! I felt that if I had worked with another designer they probably would have advised me to switch them which would have been expensive and wasteful. Instead you made them look sophisticated and beautiful!

It was also so fun to see the different possibilities of what would look good, which is both instructive and inspiring. For example I loved the runner you suggested in one of my options so much that I bought it for the dining area and then pulled those blues throughout.

My house feels very sophisticated and timeless and it flows together thanks to your advice. I’m so glad for an expensive project I had your perspective to get the vision, and I’ll definitely be a repeat customer for any future projects. Thankfully I’ve learned a little along the way but nothing beats your trained eye!” Charlotte S

How to Update a Kitchen with Cherry Wood Cabinets

Can You Install Hardwood Floors in a Kitchen?

Last week, someone on Instagram asked me how I felt about taking wood flooring through the kitchen and my response to that was I have wood flooring in my kitchen and I suppose you could worry that your dishwasher might explode but you could also get hit by a car when you cross the street and I’m just not going to live my life like that, my philosophy is to make things beautiful and that’s how I make decisions for my home.

I’m not interested in designing my life around the worst possible scenario. I’d rather live in a home I love than make every decision based on what might go wrong.

Tell me in the comments, do you agree? Or where do you draw the line between making your home beautiful and protecting yourself against what might go wrong?

This was the rug we included in her presentation that she used to create flow throughout her main living areas!

I always lead with my first recommendation, which in this case was to keep her existing wood cabinets. But I also gave her several painted options so she could see what was possible before making a decision (below).

Here’s a little glimpse inside one of our eDesign packages, so you can see the level of detail and the different options we provide to help you make confident decisions about your home.

Options for Painting Wood Kitchen Cabinets

Do you have a space you’d love to refresh or renovate, but you’re not quite sure where to start? Or maybe you’ve looked at our Virtual/eDesign packages and aren’t sure which one is right for your project?

Just send us your photos!

Email my team at eDesign@MariaKillam.com, tell us a little about what you’d like to change, and we’ll help you figure out the best way forward.

You don’t need to have all the answers before reaching out. That’s what we’re here for!

Related posts:

Historic Log Cabin Renovation: eDesign Before & After

From Blue to Green Exterior: eDesign Before & After

If you Don’t have a Plan, Your Builder Will Create One

The post How to Update a Cherry Wood Kitchen Without Painting appeared first on Maria Killam | Colour Expert & Creator of The Killam Colour System®.

In this video, I’m talking about white kitchens, the black-and-white trend, modern farmhouse, and pale oak flooring. All looks that have dominated interior design for years.

But here’s where it gets interesting. Some of these finishes are still perfectly timeless, even if they’re no longer the latest trend. And I’m also addressing the claims that sage green and Taj Mahal quartzite are already out. I couldn’t disagree more.

If you’re planning a renovation or new build, understanding the difference could save you from some very expensive mistakes.

But here’s what most trend reports fail to explain: Just because something is no longer trending doesn’t mean it’s no longer timeless.

After almost 40 years in the design industry, I’ve watched enough trends come and go to know the difference between a look that’s simply no longer fashionable and one that will actually timestamp your house.

And with Pinterest and AI-generated inspiration images (one dead giveaway are the perfect dorky, umbrella style bouquets everywhere) influencing more renovation decisions than ever, understanding that difference has become even more important.

In this year’s video, I’m breaking down five interior design trends that are supposedly out for 2027, which ones I agree with, and which ones I think designers are calling far too early.

Because the goal isn’t to have the trendiest house on the block. It’s to create a beautiful home you love that doesn’t need another renovation in ten years.

Watch todays video below:

And tell me what you think in the comments!

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2026 Could be the Riskiest Year Yet to Follow Design Trends

These are the 5 Defining Trends for 2026

My Colour of the Year for 2026

The post 5 Trends that are Officially OUT for 2027 appeared first on Maria Killam | Colour Expert & Creator of The Killam Colour System®.

The right way to update honey oak

If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me how to “tone down” honey oak floors over the almost 20 years I’ve been writing this blog, I could probably afford to replace everyone’s floors myself. In today’s’ post I’m showing you three kitchens where the ‘orange’ does look ‘toned down’ but not because anyone choose a magical paint colour.

Oak is back, by the way. It just doesn’t look this orange anymore. Today’s clear finishes are much less likely to yellow and amber with age, so natural oak stays looking much lighter and fresher.

Remove the cathedral raised panel cabinets

I get a recap on Reddit every day and this one popped up on my feed last week so I thought I’d search a few more to show you what can be done with a little creativity.

I love this makeover! This homeowner refaced the cabinets, because honestly, it’s hard to make that cathedral detail of the uppers look current. The floors stayed honey oak, and they painted the uppers a pretty warm neutral (something like SW Accessible Beige, a warm green grey in my system) instead of defaulting to stark white. And because the hood fan is the focal point of this kitchen, replacing it made a huge difference. The other update I would always make is to remove the microwave from the focal point.

Also notice the three different styles of hardware on the cabinets. That little detail goes a long way toward making the kitchen feel collected and designed, rather than the 4″ builder pull most people add without thinking about it.

Reddit source

The retro modern honey oak kitchen update

I had to look at this kitchen for a while to figure out why I like the vertical stacked green tile so much. Normally, I would not specify a modern backsplash like this with traditional raised-panel cabinets.

But then I realized the cabinets are really the only traditional element left in the room.

Everything else has a modern, slightly retro feel. The skinny moulding, vaulted ceilings, solid white quartz countertops, the white grid-pattern floor, the globe lighting, modern shelving and the styling all pull the kitchen in a fresher, more modern direction.

And that green is SO good with the orange oak.

Instead of trying to disguise the orange, this homeowner leaned into it and created a colour palette around it. The cabinets almost become less about their traditional door style and more about the warm wood colour they bring to the room.

That’s the lesson here. If the honey oak is staying, stop treating it like the elephant in the room. Work with the orange and suddenly it looks intentional.

Reddit Source

Pick up the warm wood with a pattern

This third kitchen is my favourite, and I know this is actually Maple not oak but the lesson is the same.

Reddit Source

I’m obsessed with this wallpaper. The cool blue-grey flowers are repeated in the paint colour, while those tiny orange centres pick up the warmth of the cabinets. This is how you work with orange wood instead of wishing it away.

And look at the black. There’s just enough. The arched black cabinet repeats the black appliances, and that’s really all this kitchen needed. Too much black in an orange kitchen (and the same goes for today’s cognac orange kitchens) looks like Halloween, and we don’t want that.

Also notice the small black knobs here, just like the second kitchen in this post. Knobs win every time for me. Especially now that the ubiquitous clunky 4-inch black builder pull has been installed in approximately every kitchen built since this trend arrived.

The expensive part isn’t always the renovation

None of these kitchens needed to be ripped out to look better. What made them work were the details: the right backsplash, the wallpaper, the hardware, the lighting, the right amount of black, and knowing which existing finishes to leave alone.

And you do not need to have some magical creative gene to figure all of this out yourself.

In fact, if you’re a DIYer, this may be exactly where getting expert advice saves you the most money. Social media combined with AI is extremely good at giving you a thousand creative ideas. It is not very good at telling you which ones are a terrible idea for your house.

Because there’s a big difference between interesting and timeless. And an expensive DIY project you’re sick of in three years is still an expensive mistake.

If you’re planning a kitchen refresh, you don’t necessarily need a whole new kitchen. You may just need someone to tell you what to keep, what to change, and which details will make everything you already have look intentional.

That’s exactly what we do in my Kitchen Refresh eDesign package.

And if you are planning a complete kitchen renovation, my Create a Classic Kitchen Package is for you!

If you’re not sure which one applies to your kitchen? Email photos taken in good natural light to my team here.

I’d love to know which of these kitchen transformations you like best, tell me in the comments.

Related posts:

Less is More for Kitchen & Bath Hardware

Decorating around Orange Floors

Transform your Kitchen with this One Update: Before & After

The post How to Update a Honey Oak Kitchen: 3 Before & After Refreshes appeared first on Maria Killam | Colour Expert & Creator of The Killam Colour System®.

Today is the final day to save 10% on eligible eDesign packages and get an expert plan in place before the holidays take over.

Derek is a student, and he also works on his family’s dairy farm. He’d been living in this little cottage on the property for about a year, but it still felt more like a place he was staying than a home that felt finished.

The cottage itself didn’t need renovating. It needed warmth, better furniture placement, rugs to define the spaces, lamps, art and all the layers that make a room feel intentional.

This makeover is such a good example of something I talk about all the time: when the colour, scale, proportion and placement are right, a modest decorating budget can go a very long way. The rugs, lamps, art and furniture all work together and that’s what makes the whole room look more expensive.

Watch the makeover here:

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The post From Empty to Finished: A One-Day Cottage Makeover appeared first on Maria Killam | Colour Expert & Creator of The Killam Colour System®.

But before you buy another rug, choose another paint colour or start adding paneling, it helps to know what your room actually needs.

Are you solving the wrong problem?

Every day I pop into one of those huge Facebook decorating groups because it’s a good way to monitor trends. Recently a woman posted a photo of her living room.

It looked something like this:

This is a recreation of the room, not the original Facebook photo.

She had a big sectional filling the room, a television mounted on a blank wall, no rug, no art and no pillows.

And her question was:

“We’ve recently moved into this home and I’m struggling to make this room look more inviting, what kind of paneling should I add to this wall?”

I’m sure you know what I was thinking. Panelling!? This room needs to be decorated! I think this happens a lot because, as I’ve said many times, it’s easier to ask questions like, ‘Should I change my countertops, should I replace this fireplace’, over ‘which area rug will work the best here’.

And this is exactly where good design advice can save you a lot of money. The thing you’re planning to change may not be the thing keeping your room from working.

That is what we do in an eDesign consultation.

For four days only, through Friday, October 2, save 10% on eligible eDesign packages.

SHOP THE 4-DAY eDESIGN SALE

Stop guessing before you start spending

The most expensive decorating mistakes happen when you buy things one at a time without a clear plan. You replace the countertop when painting the cabinets would have made the existing countertop disappear.

You choose a new paint colour, but the room still feels unfinished because what it really needed was a rug, better lamps and throw pillows.

You install a backsplash when the lighting and hardware are what’s actually making the kitchen feel dated.

Every dollar spent on the wrong solution is a dollar you can’t spend on the change that would transform the room. After 40 years of decorating, styling and specifying colour, I can immediatley see what will, and won’t, move a room forward.

Inspiration images and AI can offer ideas based on the question you ask. An experienced designer may look at your room and tell you that you’re asking the wrong question entirely. Kind of like this room I recently mentioned:

She’d finally convinced her husband to install the panelling, painted it black, and immediately felt something was off. The suggestions she received kept adding more black, making the entry feel harsher. Repainting the existing panelling a warm neutral would be the straightforward fix. If she were planning it from the start, classic moulding in warm white would make far more sense for her Colonial home. That’s what eDesign helps you see before you spend more money solving the wrong problem.

That compressed experience is what you’re investing in when you purchase an eDesign package.

That fresh diagnosis is often where the real value is.

Expert advice is especially valuable for DIYers

If you’re a DIY decorator, you may be the person who needs eDesign most.

You’re still going to do the shopping, painting, ordering and installation yourself. But you don’t also have to waste your limited budget buying things that don’t work.

With a clear plan, every purchase moves your room in the same direction. That’s what makes even a modestly priced room look considered and expensive.

You don’t necessarily need a larger budget. You need to put the budget you have into the right things.

Every eDesign package also includes our Decorate or Renovate recommendation. We’ll tell you whether we would decorate around what you have, refresh a few key elements or plan for a larger renovation.

In other words, you don’t have to diagnose the room before hiring me.

That’s my job.

Want help finishing a room?

If you’re purchasing an eligible interior paint package, you can now add our new Decor Refresh for $295.

You’ll receive suggestions for three key decorating pieces that I believe will make the greatest difference in your room—perhaps a rug, lamps, a coffee table or another item the room is missing.

Because paint can create the background, but it can’t do all the decorating for you. Please note, this add on is only available as an add-on to the paint packages.

Planning a kitchen, bathroom or larger renovation?

We’ll help you understand what should stay, what should change and how your colours, finishes, lighting and other details should work together.

And if you aren’t ready to begin your project immediately, you can still purchase your consultation during the sale and submit your information when you’re ready.

You don’t need to solve your entire home at once.

Start with the room that’s on your mind. Find out what it actually needs. Then make each purchase with confidence, knowing it’s part of a clear plan.

Because life is too short to live in a home you don’t love—and decorating is too expensive to keep guessing.

Through Friday, October 2nd save 10% on eligible eDesign packages. Let our team help you turn your inspiration into a clear, confident plan you can easily bring to life.

Our four-day eDesign sale starts now

I see you thinking, “it is what it is for now, and ONE DAY, I will renovate and decorate this room”. If you’ve been following my Renovate or Decorate channel, you’ll know what I’m going to say right?

You don’t have to wait until you tear out the floors and renovate the fireplace. You can love your room now. I’m giving you permission. Because life’s too short to live in a home you don’t love.

And you don’t have to solve your whole home at once. Sometimes, one room-and clear advice on what to change- is the best place to start.

So I’m throwing a fall sale on eDesign packages so you can get the advice you need to tackle that room.

Let’s find the right starting point for you.

If you have questions about which room you should start with, email some photos to my team here.

Want your room to feel pulled together?

Start with a paint colour that works with what you already have. Then, if you need help with the finishing touches, explore our brand-new Decor Refresh add-on

The post Does this Room Need Panelling? Yay or Nay appeared first on Maria Killam | Colour Expert & Creator of The Killam Colour System®.

Your dining room is not a storage facility for every dining chair you own.

And yet, that’s exactly how most dining rooms are arranged.

Eight chairs came with the table, so all eight get crammed around it. Ten chairs? Same thing. Never mind that the room feels crowded, the table disappears behind a wall of chair backs, and half those seats are only needed a few times a year.

Less is more for dining chairs

In this week’s video, I’m showing you several dining rooms where simply pulling a couple of chairs away completely changed the way the room felt. More breathing room. Better balance. More of an actual decorated room and less of a furniture set parked in the middle of it.

Here’s the other hot tip, PULL your dining room chairs away from the table slightly. It’s so much more inviting. See my dining room below? I only place three chairs on each side WHEN I’m having a dinner party. Also you’ll notice the chairs are not sitting butted up against the table like soldiers.

This might seem like a small detail to you, but try it and let me know how it feels in the comments below!

I’m also sharing a brand-new Calgary apartment makeover at the end, where even four chairs were too many. We changed the rug, adjusted the pillows, added better art, styled an awkward orange shelf so it finally belonged, and yes, took one chair away from the dining table.

It’s a perfect example of something I say all the time: a room doesn’t always need more. Sometimes it needs editing.

And once you see this little dining room trick, I promise you’ll start noticing overcrowded tables everywhere.

Watch this week’s video all about dining rooms!

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My Colour-Drenched Dining Room Reveal

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5 Common Decorating Mistakes in the Dining Room

The post Make Your Dining Room Feel Bigger: Remove Two Chairs appeared first on Maria Killam | Colour Expert & Creator of The Killam Colour System®.

You don’t have enough rugs.

And if you have a dog or a cat, they would also like to know why there is nowhere comfortable to lie down (and no, this natural fiber rug is FAR from adequate).

This episode is about decorating around an earthy fireplace, watch it here.

Colour, pattern and more joy than you think

If you’ve been watching my Decorate or Renovate makeovers, you already know how often I walk into a room and the first thing it needs is a rug. Especially now that so many homes are filled with acres of LVP flooring. A rug gives the furniture somewhere to land, brings in colour and pattern, and suddenly the room starts looking decorated instead of just furnished.

When I finished this makeover (below) for my childhood bestie, Tamiko, she commented, “It would have been so nice to have a rug when the kids were small.”

And that really struck me, because she had lived in this house for 22 years without one

But I know why.

Why you’re avoiding choosing a rug

Area rugs are almost as hard to choose as art. You’re trying to get the colour, pattern, style, AND size right, while somehow imagining what an 8 x 10 rug rolled up in a store is going to look like covering half your living room.

Then there’s the sheer aggravation of trying them.

In the store, somebody has to haul the rug down from a giant stack. Then you have to get this enormous rolled-up thing into your car, wrestle it into the house, move the furniture, unroll it and discover that nope, it’s wrong.

Order online and you have a different problem. The colour isn’t quite what you thought. The pattern looks much busier in your room. It’s too small. It’s too dark. It fights with the sofa. And now this gigantic rug is sitting in your living room and you have to figure out how on earth you’re going to package it up and ship it back.

So what happens?

People keep the wrong rug. Or they never buy one at all.

Rugs are NOT optional

And that’s a problem because a rug isn’t some optional little finishing touch. It’s the piece that turns a collection of furniture into a room. It adds softness, colour and pattern. It anchors the seating arrangement. It makes a big open room feel intimate. It makes hard flooring feel warmer. And yes, when your kids are little, it gives them somewhere soft to sprawl out on the floor.

This is why I keep walking into rooms full of furniture sitting naked on LVP and hardwood. People know something is missing. They just don’t know that very often, what’s missing is the rug.

Which is exactly why we’ve started helping you choose one.

Paint can’t do all the heavy lifting

If you’re already coming to us for our eDesign consultations for the right paint colour and your room is missing the rug or other layers that would actually pull it together, we can now help you solve both. Because we can give you the perfect paint colour, but if the room is missing the rug, the right lamps or another key decorating piece, paint alone isn’t going to finish it.

So we’ve added a new decorating add on option to our paint colour packages. When you purchase a paint colour consultation, you simply select the Decor Refresh Add On at checkout.

The Add On is $295, and if your room needs a rug, we’ll help you find one. And I’ll suggest a couple of other key pieces, lamps included, that will make the room feel happier and more pulled together. Here’s what you’ll get, a custom mood board with items you can click and order. Super easy, it looks like this:

So if you’ve been putting off choosing a paint colour because you already know the room needs more than paint, this is for you.

Let’s do this!

Book your paint colour consultation and add the decorating upgrade. Let us help you choose the colour and the pieces around it so you can finally get the room finished.

Because I want you to be completely happy with your finished room, for a limited time, I’m offering this upgrade as a screaming bargain. We originally priced this level of custom styling at $600, but you can grab it today for just $295.

Here is what it includes:

• Expert Styling: My trained eye will select up to three specific decor recommendations to beautifully tie your newly painted room together.
• Bonus Advice: My team and I sneak in lots of extra tips to help you stretch your decorating dollars intelligently!

Let’s pull your room together so you can stop second-guessing your decisions. 

Get your paint colour consultation here. Don’t forget to select the Decor Refresh add on

Related posts:

Should You Renovate Before You Decorate?

8 Makeovers that Saved 54K in Renovations

Better Than White: My 6 Best Paint Colours for Your Living Room

The post The Decorating Problem Paint Can’t Fix appeared first on Maria Killam | Colour Expert & Creator of The Killam Colour System®.

Shop the details of my dressing room here

And yes, I linked as many of the things I mentioned as I could find above.

This room is where two of my favourite things collide: colour and getting dressed. I’m showing you how I organize everything, some of the details I chose for the room, and a few of the style lessons I’ve picked up along the way, including why I own several pairs of glasses, why your eyewear really does matter to an outfit, and why I no longer believe black goes with everything.

Because whether I’m putting together a room or an outfit, I’m always looking at the same thing: how the colours relate to each other. Watch it here.

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My Closet & Dressing Room Reveal: Before & After

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Maria’s Office Organization: Before & After

The post Tour of my Dressing Room: Colour, Style & the Details That Make an Outfit appeared first on Maria Killam | Colour Expert & Creator of The Killam Colour System®.

Except she didn’t want another office.

The challenge: An office that feels like a lounge

Her request was very specific. She wanted this room to feel more like a lounge where she could watch TV, read, work when she needed to, and actually enjoy spending time. The giant desk needed to go.

Here’s the office when we took posession:

The floors got refinished throughout the house including in this room. This is what they looked like before. The stain was too dark, and you can’t see it in this photo, because the room is dark and the overheads are on, but they were also a little too violet/red to be perfectly timeless.

First objective: bring in more light

The room was positioned perfectly in the layout to be the ideal home office, right inside the front entrance. However, it was much too dark to be habitable all day. So after we moved in, we added another window (below), which immediately changed the room. Letting in the light opened up the possibilities and the plan became much clearer. Instead of designing everything around a desk, we created a proper sitting area and tucked a much smaller desk in front of the new window (above).

A multi-use gathering room

The space became much more inviting, perfect for meetings between the two of us during the day. And it also doubled as a cozy room for evenings watching a show since this is the only TV on the main floor.

Once the floors were refinished lighter to a timeless neutral medium brown, the wood ceiling matched much better. It’s really a beautiful detail. We had pretty and functional millwork shelving installed and painted an airy, friendly light blue to compliment her beloved orange. The colour palette was pulled from the blue and orange area rug.

Custom orange and white drapes add soft pattern and colour.

The must have TV sits happily surrounded by a gallery wall. Lucy has beds all over the house and this is her spot in Terreeia’s office.

In case you missed it! My House Tour on Homeworthy

Terreeia’s office was featured in my Homeworthy tour of our entire house and gardens last week. If you missed it, you can watch it here.

I’ve been watching a lot of Homeworthy tours lately. Clearly, when it comes to lighting, people seem to fall into one of two camps. Either they completely understand lamps and every room has that warm, layered glow, or they don’t, and the entire house is lit from the ceiling. Recessed lights everywhere. Tiny pin lights everywhere. And hardly a lamp in sight. It’s amazing how much decorating power gets left on the table when this piece is missed. A few well placed lamps can completely change how a room feels at night or on a gloomy day. Plus a lamp does double duty. It gives you better light and instantly makes the room look more decorated.

Styling School: Learn how to layer in the details

And with dark season coming, consider this your annual reminder that lamp season is here.

Every choice in this room is something you can learn, not something you had to be born knowing. That gallery wall up behind the sitting area wasn’t hung by feel. And neither was the decision to put gingham pillows on those orange chairs instead of something that matched the fabric exactly. Or to set a lamp on the round table next to them instead of another candle.

That’s what Styling School teaches. If you’ve been staring at a blank wall wondering where to even start with a gallery wall, Give Your Art a Family walks you through building one, even from a single piece you already own. If you’ve bought pillows that matched perfectly and still looked wrong, Pillows Aren’t Supposed to Match shows you why, and what to do instead. And if a room still feels flat no matter what you move around in it, it’s probably missing what this one has, which is You Don’t Need More Candles. You Need More Lamps.

All three easy-to-digest modules are $197, and you can start using them in your own house today. Shop it here.

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Join Me for a Lamp Tour in My New House

New! Give Your Walls a Family (Styling School)

My Attic Studio Office Reveal

The post How We Turned a Dark Home Office Into a Cozy Lounge; Before & After appeared first on Maria Killam | Colour Expert & Creator of The Killam Colour System®.

And let me tell you, getting an entire house AND 2.5 acres of gardens ready to be filmed was no small undertaking.

For weeks, my team fluffed, clipped, weeded, deadheaded, cleaned everything in sight, while I shopped, styled, moved things, moved them back, and obsessed over every last detail.

My sisters Anita and Elizabeth were here helping me pull the whole thing together and especially on the day of the tour! Terreeia was, of course, making sure the entire operation actually happened. By the time the Homeworthy crew arrived, the house and gardens had never looked better.

Anita Junttila, Maria Killam, Elizabeth Jacobs

Apparently it takes a village to make the dream work. And I’m very lucky to have mine.

This tour is especially fun for me because you’ve seen pieces of my house for years, but you’ve never really been able to walk through it with me and hear the stories behind the rooms, the colour, the art, the garden and all the little details that make it ours.

Come take the grand tour with me.

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The post Well, it’s finally here! My Homeworthy house tour is LIVE! 🏡🌸 appeared first on Maria Killam | Colour Expert & Creator of The Killam Colour System®.

The short answer? The look of fresh, light walls is still very much in. But it has become slightly warmer. So the way we get the “warm white walls” look is not what you think.

By the way, I’m not here to sway you according to the trends. My timeless advice does remain consistent, and that’s what I want to share with you. I’ve been here steering you away from stark art gallery white walls before, during, and since the white trend, into friendlier, more versatile, custom wall colour options all along.

Given that stark white walls were never the best idea, and that now the trends are shifting, and here’s what you need to know.

Why warm white paints aren’t as warm as you think

We are officially running away from cold, stark interiors. Especially with high contrast black everywhere. In 2026, everyone wants warmth, comfort, and cozy sophistication.

So to get the look, you reach for popular “warm” off-whites like Benjamin Moore White Dove or Sherwin-Williams Alabaster, expecting them to instantly cozy up the space. They sure do look warmer than the cool true whites like BM Chantilly Lace and SW High Reflective white comparing chip to chip.

But that warmth is relative.

Those off-whites are not going to look as warm as you think on your walls! Every day I see videos and carousels with headlines, like the ones below, promoting popular “warm” off whites, like Sherwin Williams Snowbound and Benjamin Moore White Dove. (Both of which, by the way, I specify often for cabinets and trim. Because off whites and whites are still the most timeless choice for trim and wood work).

But there’s one thing you should notice looking at posts like these.

We are always looking at beautifully styled rooms, most often with warm lighting bathing the room. But strip that room of all the furniture and decor and what you have is basically a stark white box.

At the end of the day, an off-white is still a stark white. Unless your home gets tons of natural light and is filled with white furnishings, off-white paint ends up looking thin, dingy, or like primed drywall waiting for actual colour.

What is replacing stark white walls?

If you want walls that feel bright and fresh without feeling stark, you aren’t actually looking for an off-white.

What you’re really looking for are Complex Creams and Taupe Greiges.

In the Killam Colour System®, these are the palest colours in the undertone categories of beige and taupe. Because they have slightly more pigment than a thin off-white, they sit back softly on the wall and you get that magical Goldilocks colour that is fresh but also warm. The perfect cozy backdrop.

And you can choose the right undertone to relate perfectly to your furniture and finishes for that high-end, pulled together look you’re actually trying to achieve.

White vs. Off-White vs. Complex Cream vs. Greige

Benjamin Moore Seapearl (Taupe Greige) walls by Read McKendree

Here’s the easiest way to think about it. (Hint: It’s most definitely NOT about whether your room faces North or South, East or West).

True white: These are the whites that don’t flash too-cool blue or grey undertones, and don’t show any creamy yellow undertones either. They basically only work when your room is already strictly contemporary, think art gallery with plenty of modern bright white furniture and ample natural light from walls of large windows. For most normal homes, True White is best reserved for trim, ceilings and millwork where it provides nice contrast with more liveable wall colours. Examples: SW High Reflective White, BM Chantilly Lace.

Off-white: Softer and more versatile than true white, but still mostly too stark for walls, these slightly warmer whites still need ample natural light (more than you think). Balanced off whites are extremely useful for trim, ceilings, millwork and cabinetry. Examples: SW Alabaster, BM Cloud White.

Complex Cream (Palest Beiges): In my system, these are the palest colours in the undertones of beige. They give you the light, creamy look people often think they’re going to get from a warm white. Especially useful for updating a home with earthy finishes (brown, beige and gold). But also the perfect choice for a new home that needs a warm yet fresh backdrop for decorating. Examples: SW Neutral Ground, BM Ballet White.

Taupe Greige (Palest Taupes): If you have a home full of finishes from the recent grey trend, such as grey or taupe tile, carpet and stone, chances are high that the taupe greiges, the palest colours in my system in the undertone category of taupe, will be the sweet spot for a creamy look that still relates to all the grey finishes. Examples: SW Pacer White, BM Fog Mist.

What if your whole house is already painted white?

If your house, like many homes currently are, is already painted white top to bottom, inside and out, don’t worry! Just because trends are shifting warmer, it doesn’t mean you need to immediately do a complete repaint.

While it’s true that too-stark white walls are no longer trending, there is an easier fix.

Because warmth can absolutely be achieved with good decorating. Layering in the art, pillows, area rugs, drapes and plenty of warm atmosphere from a shaded lamp in every corner of every room goes a long way towards warming up the feel. At least while you figure out which of the more versatile pale neutrals will be the best choice for your home and plan your update. It’s absolutely not a rush. And I show you how to do it each week on my Decorate or Renovate channel over on Youtube.

My YouTube channel just hit 100K subscribers!! It’s where I share exactly HOW to create a home you love forever AND save money with my Decorate or Renovate channel. Please help me keep the momentum growing! Subscribe to my channel here.

Stop Guessing and Get Colour Right the First Time

Going into 2027 it’s officially not the move to simply choose an Instagram famous off white for your walls. But don’t worry! Choosing paint colours doesn’t have to feel like a high-stakes guessing game. Once you understand neutral undertones, picking the perfect custom pale neutral for your home becomes straightforward, no unwelcome surprises.

Need help choosing the perfect warm neutral for your walls? Shop my one room, two room or more or open layout paint packages here.

Related Posts

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The post Are White Walls Still in Style for 2027? Here’s What’s Replacing Them appeared first on Maria Killam | Colour Expert & Creator of The Killam Colour System®.

The kitchen is enormous. It genuinely belongs in a house. But that left only a relatively small area in front of the kitchen to function as his living room, dining room and office. And because he rents, I wasn’t interested in filling the apartment with big, heavy furniture he’ll eventually have to move again.

So this makeover became a very good lesson in small-space decorating: you don’t necessarily need less furniture. You need the right furniture, at the right scale, doing the right job.

And because this is the third apartment I’ve decorated for Luukas, I’m also taking you back through his previous two homes. You’ll see the same art, the same IKEA pieces and even the same $20 botanical poster reappear in completely different ways.

Because a new home does not mean you have to start over.

Sometimes you need $400 worth of finishing touches. Sometimes you need a new sofa and a big area rug. The magic is knowing what stays, what goes, what moves, and what you need to add to make the new space work.

Watch the transformation.

Related posts:

If You Keep Rearranging Your Furniture, Watch This

What’s Next After the Cognac Sofa?

The 7 Best Ways to Decorate Around the TV

The post How to Make a Small Space Feel Bigger appeared first on Maria Killam | Colour Expert & Creator of The Killam Colour System®.

And then somewhere between that conversation and the finished room, it stopped looking like the picture. It looks fine. It’s just not what you saw. And you probably decided it was a budget problem, or that you should have hired someone better.

It’s neither.

I’ve been trying to explain this to homeowners for twenty years and I could never actually show it. This week I can. I took four inspiration photos, this one (above), a warm rustic kitchen, a cozy neutral living room, and a creamy bathroom and watered them down on screen, one decision at a time, exactly the way it happens in a real project.

You will recognize your own house in at least one of them.

Watch it here.

Related Posts

5 Dream Kitchen Details You Will Regret in 2030

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The post Why Your Inspiration Photo Never Makes It Into Your House appeared first on Maria Killam | Colour Expert & Creator of The Killam Colour System®.

I get some version of this email all the time, and it almost never comes from someone who is new to decorating.

You’ve been reading shelter magazines for years. You know what you like. You can walk into a store and spot the best thing in the room almost immediately. Your friends probably ask you to come along when they’re choosing a sofa.

And yet you can still be completely stuck regarding your own kitchen.

Sometimes it’s because you bought a house that checked all the practical boxes, but the style was never what you naturally gravitated toward in the first place. Now you’re trying to make decisions inside a house that doesn’t speak your language.

That’s when people start wondering if they’ve somehow lost their taste.

You haven’t.

The problem is that taste and design are not the same thing.

I know this because I’ve been there

Years ago, when I was working on my last garden, I was standing in a nursery looking at hostas and called my landscape designer, MaryAnne White.

There were yellow ones, blue ones, green and white ones, green and cream ones. I liked all of them, so I thought I should get some of each.

Mary Anne said, “No. Get 12 yellow ones.”

And of course, she was right.

That conversation became one of my favourite design rules that my longtime followers often remember when they shop : boring now equals timeless later.

But there was another lesson in that story.

I have good taste. I’ve spent decades looking at colour and interiors for a living. But landscape design is not my wheelhouse, and in that moment I was doing exactly what homeowners do every day. I was choosing individual things I liked without really understanding how they would all work together once they were in place.

That is the difference between taste and design.

Taste chooses individual items. Design creates relationships.

You can stand in a showroom and love the tile, the faucet and the pendant. They can all be beautiful.

That doesn’t mean they belong together. It’s why, when I spot a random faucet or tile in a bathroom that has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the room, the homeowner will often shrug and say, “My husband wanted to participate in the selections.”

A room works because the elements relate to each other. The countertop relates to the floor. The backsplash works with the countertop. The paint colour pulls the room together. The undertone in the new tile has to work with the stone you already own and are not replacing.

The problem is that most people are still asking, Do I like this?

That’s a perfectly reasonable question, but it is not enough. The better question is, does this belong in my house?

Good taste can actually make decorating harder

Having a good eye means you can recognize what’s beautiful. Expertise means knowing what actually belongs in the room.

A tile showroom can be full of beautiful tile and I’ll still dismiss most of it in five minutes. Because the question isn’t, “Do I like this?” It’s, “Does this belong in a timeless kitchen or bathroom?” Those are two very different questions.

That’s why “Just choose what you love and it will all come together” is such terrible advice. You can love every single choice individually and still end up with a room that feels wrong. And usually, if it feels wrong, there is a reason.

Maybe the grey you chose has a green undertone and the travertine you’re keeping is pink beige. You may not know exactly what the conflict is, but your eye can still see it.

So you repaint. You change the rug or buy different pillows. You keep trying to fix the room without fixing the actual problem. Once you understand what you’re looking at, the decision becomes much easier.

This is where your taste belongs

Taste absolutely matters. It just needs to be used in the right places.

Your fixed finishes, flooring, countertops, tile and millwork, need to work together first because they are expensive and difficult to change. This is where the timeless conversation comes in.

After that you get to have fun. Your furniture, art, textiles, lamps and colour are where your personality comes in. This is where all those things you love get to make the room feel like you.

All these photos are from my current home. And yes, there are plenty of yellow hostas. Apparently I learned my lesson.

That is why good taste is not enough on its own.

You also need to know how to read the room you already have, understand what belongs with it, and make decisions in the right order.

Once you can do that, your taste becomes an asset instead of another source of confusion.

So how do you actually learn to do this?

That’s what I’m walking you through in my free live workshop, Decorate or Renovate: the magic is knowing the difference.
Your good taste needs a plan. I’ll show you how to read the room you already have, figure out what truly needs to change and what you can keep, and make your decisions in the right order, so you can finally start putting all that good taste to work.

It’s free and live on Tuesday, August 25, at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET.

It’s live only, no replay, so come join me.

SAVE YOUR SEAT → HERE

Related posts:

First Rule of Design: Boring Now Equals Timeless Later

Second Rule of Design; Waiting Now Equals Beautiful Later

The post Fifth Rule of Design: Good Taste Isn’t Enough appeared first on Maria Killam | Colour Expert & Creator of The Killam Colour System®.

Her living room had a 20-year-old fireplace, pink-beige carpet, partial wainscoting, and a collection of finishes that didn’t relate to the kitchen renovation beside it. I looked at the photos and thought: I can’t decorate my way out of this. The envelope needed work first.

But then I thought about it: this show is called Decorate OR Renovate!? Why was I only choosing homes I knew I could transform with decorating?

So I emailed Jenn back and told her I’d come, but this time, instead of arriving as the decorating fairy, I was going to show her what I thought she needed to renovate first. And once we added up the fireplace, flooring and other changes, we were looking at roughly $30,000.

Then, while I was there, Jenn took me into a spare bedroom and showed me a pile of art she wasn’t using. And suddenly I saw something I hadn’t seen in her application photos. Maybe I could decorate around that dated fireplace after all.

This is where the story gets interesting, because I was about to prove myself wrong.

Watch Part 2 here.

At the end I asked Jenn how she felt about renovating now. Her answer? “I don’t think we have to, I like a thrifty deal :)”

And THAT is the magic of knowing the difference between what actually needs renovating, and what just needs decorating.

Tuesday, August 25, I’m teaching a free live workshop: Decorate or Renovate: The Magic is Knowing the Difference If you’re staring at a room that feels dated and assuming the answer is renovation, come to this first. I’ll show you how to tell what actually needs replacing, what simply needs decorating, and where to spend your money so you get the biggest transformation without ripping out perfectly good finishes you could have worked with. Because the expensive mistake is renovating before you know what actually needs to change. Register here.

Want Your Home Featured?

I’m looking for homeowners in the Fraser Valley or Lower Mainland who are willing to appear on camera for an episode of Decorate or Renovate!? Maybe your room feels unfinished, your furniture layout isn’t working, or you’re stuck wondering whether you need to renovate or simply decorate differently. Submit your home for consideration and tell me what isn’t working, what you’ve already tried, and what you’d love the room to become.

And if your home is chosen for a renovate episode, the consultation and design direction won’t cost you anything—just like you’ll see in today’s video. Apply here.

Related posts:

Part 1: Renovate first? 30K

Can you Layer Lamps in front of Artwork?

Styling with Lamps and Art; Two Ways

The post I Thought This Room Needed a Renovation appeared first on Maria Killam | Colour Expert & Creator of The Killam Colour System®.