Color Your Holidays
December 2, 2009 § Leave a comment
If you yearn for a fresh holiday look this season and prefer to leave the traditional decorations in the attic, try a more contemporary color scheme: apple green and silver; coral and gold; robin’s egg blue and white. As long as you add sparkle with shiny metals and twinkle lights, almost any color combination will look festive.
If your neutral or pastel color palette is soft and calming, and bold traditional colors seem to clash with your home’s style, then try using whites for your holiday color scheme: 
white candles, white ornaments (like the ones in the photo available from Amazon.com), white dishes, white wrapping paper, and white lights. All the winter whites against your pastel palette will look quite striking.
If holiday memories are most important, then haul out the boxes and baskets of ornaments and figurines and revel in the nostalgia of your own traditions. No picture-perfect holiday décor can replace the fun of reliving childhood experiences and sharing stories from one generation to the next. Who cares if Grandma’s favorite tablecloth is a little worn around the edges. Use it anyway and enjoy this family time.
Happy Holidays from Your Home & Color Coach
Fall Curb Appeal??
October 20, 2009 § 2 Comments
Ahhh, how picturesque, like this photo from Southern Living Magazine. Maybe your Fall floral vignette on the front porch features a few pumpkins in various sizes, perhaps some statuary mixed in with beautiful volumes of rust and yellow and lavendar and cream mums in big heavy terra cotta pots with … the PRICETAGS showing?? Ouch.
I wasn’t going to say anything, but after noticing this blooper two days in a row on two different doorsteps around town, I couldn’t resist. Just like removing those big tags (that say do not remove) from your sofa pillows, kindly remember to remove the big price stickers from your pots (or at least turn the pots around so we can’t see the stickers as we drive by). Curb appeal. It’s all in the details.
Sharing Responses
October 14, 2009 § Leave a comment
Hi Bloggers,
Thanks to many of you for your donations. I plan to share many of my responses on this blog.
More soon.
-Barbara, Your Home & Color Coach
Do My Windows Need Shutters? What color?
October 5, 2009 § Leave a comment
Most of our homes do not have as many windows as this beautiful historic Federal style house, but some windows just call out for shutters. If your house is a colonial or ranch style with double-hung windows (“six-over-six” panes of glass separated by “grids” or mullions), then you should consider investing in shutters to add a finishing touch to your house. Of course, if you live in an area threatened by periodic hurricanes, then shutters are required for protection. But I’m speaking to those of you who, just like putting up curtains in the living room, might add shutters to “dress” the windows.
If you have a modern or contemporary home with a variety of window styles, shapes, and sizes including casement (“open-out”) windows, then shutters might be more of a distraction than an asset to your curb appeal. Also, if there is no room to put in properly sized shutters, then forget it. Don’t opt for the mini-sized version just to cram the shutters into the facade. It’s not worth it.
As for color, white works in only limited palettes; it is best to pick an accent color. I prefer dark shutters with a dark roof; however, there’s more to dark than just your standard black shutters. Various shades of Midnight blue and 
Charleston green can add enough color to make the house interesting yet enough contrast to make the house stunning from the street. Adding dark shutters is like adding a touch of black to your interior palette. It just dresses up the house.
For those of you choosing from standard off-the-shelf shutter colors, your options are more limited, but remember that black always works. One note: if the shutter color is in your house somewhere (in the brick tones, for example), then that shutter color will work. However, if you have a rusty red brick, beware of clashing red-maroon shutters. I see them everywhere, just slightly off.
There are so many shutter styles to choose from these days that you can make a real design statement just by adding shutters. If you have a question about your own house and whether or not to add shutters (or what color), just click on the If I Can Help You page and we’ll work together.
Calling All Teachers
September 12, 2009 § 2 Comments
Stuck with cinder blocks, concrete, and linoleum in
your classroom?
One teacher revolted over the summer and asked me to make her classroom more fun. With dragonfly fabric and some ribbon, we made her new surroundings more pleasant. 
We even helped the principal renovate his office too. That project was a little more involved — with the purchase of new chairs, a paint job and new accessories. Both teacher and principal are ready to start the new year on a brighter note. My pleasure…
Here’s what we started with!
Changes to the Blog +++
August 29, 2009 § 7 Comments
Hi Bloggers:
My apologies to all of you who posted questions during August and are still waiting to see your posting and my response. I have devoted myself to answering your questions over the past two years because I recognized that many of you do not have access to a professional decorator. The Internet now makes that possible and I have enjoyed helping you. But as the popularity of my site increased, I became overwhelmed by the volume and time required to answer each of you individually.
I intend to maintain this blog so that the collective ideas will still be available. I will continue to post my own blog entries on decorating subjects and update the site regularly. But I am asking for a $20 donation which will cover questions on one room or one exterior.
I hope we can maintain the same level of community spirit that helped make this blog a success. Buy receiving donations for my time on the blog, I can integrate your questions and my responses into my work day so I can continue to help where I can. More importantly, though, I want to be able to sustain this effort over the long term. My husband and I have college costs looming.
Finally, I have a special note to those of you who wrote to me with challenging circumstances, like roof damage from a hurricane or tornado or problems associated with buying a home for the first time. Your notes were humbling to me and I am grateful for the opportunity to help you. Many of you returned the favor by helping someone else in need. I believe in devoting at least part of my time to ‘paying forward’ and I thank you truly for your efforts in carrying on this tradition. Given unlimited time and resources, I would continue helping all of you.
I am sorry if this sudden news is untimely. I assure you I am still engaged as a decorating professional and can be at your service if needed. Thank you for visiting Your Home & Color Coach.
Sincerely,
Barbara Meglis
It’s All About the Windows
May 7, 2009 § 14 Comments
Whether we’re all craving light or fresh air, who knows, but the focus these days is on windows. And we’re not talking about the old standard white replacement models anymore, that’s f
or sure. Now we have choices from black to almond to green and even red. And whatever the shape of your space, we have a window to fit into it. Awhile back the trend was to update the interior lighting plan with recessed cans and spotlights, uplights, downspots, and all the specialized lamps you could imagine for your space. Now we’ve moved on to creating unique window plans to suit the house: clerestory, stained glass, enormous picture windows, and different styles of window mullions to fit the style of your house, from Colonial to Victorian to Mission. Even new homes can be made to look old — well sort of.
Word of caution: If you have an historic home or a home with a very definite style, you should try to repair the original windows before resorting to a replacement. There’s very good information at the following link to help you with windows in historic homes. Or any window decisions, for that matter.
http://www.oldhouseguy.com/windows.php
If you have old wooden windows, paint the window sash and mullions a coordinating color (black looks spectacular) to add life to your home. Those of us stuck with white vinyl are jealous…
Back from the Birthday
April 3, 2009 § 6 Comments
Hi Bloggers,
It must be spring as everyone has home renovation projects to get started. Lots of 
blog posts to respond to. I’ll work my way through them and will answer EVERYBODY’S questions. If you don’t see your question posted yet, stop back again. I post them as I respond to them.
Thanks for visiting my site.
-Barbara, Your Home & Color Coach
Dad’s 99th Birthday Party
March 29, 2009 § 10 Comments
Hi Bloggers,
I’m off to NY to celebrate my Dad’s 99th birthday on the 31st and will be back blogging on Wednesday night, April 1st (no fooling, really!).
More soon. Thanks for stopping by my blog.
-Barbara, Your Home & Color Coach
Excited for Spring Spruce-Ups
March 5, 2009 § 46 Comments
Hi Bloggers,
It’s been ages since I posted although I’ve been busy answering your questions both on the blog and via email. Keep them coming. I’m happy to help you prepare for spring painting projects.
I’m working on a big basement re-do at the moment and I’ll have photos to post as we go along. I also have some new photos of the chocolate brown bedroom. Check back again.
Thanks for visiting.
-Barbara, Your Home & Color Coach
Your Home & Color Coach 