Connect to color that suits your personality and place

Looking for support as you make decisions about what surrounds you?

You’ll find my customized, collaborative process lets you feel confident in your choices.

Whether you’re a DIYer or working with professionals, I’m happy to consult with you about colors and styles that resonate with you and work with your home’s features.

Move from “deciding” to “done” when selecting:

interior and exterior paint
tile and counters
cabinetry
textiles
furniture
artwork/framing
hardscaping, fencing/decking, and patio accessories
and more!

*Hourly fee model*
*Background in the visual arts*
*Appreciation for vintage/retro*
*Experience with smaller spaces*

While you’re here, feel free to:

check out in-depth stories on featured projects
get a taste of how my thematic Pinterest boards can provide direction
preview my Instagram feed

together, let’s find what feels like home

dive into the details

Immersive takes on featured projects

FISH SCALE TILE MAKES A SPLASH

A small bath’s bold design features heritage hues

Sometime in the 1970s, this 110-year-old house acquired a bath with the bare necessities but plenty of awkward angles. Learn how the homeowners’ love of exuberantly colored vintage tile baths led to a space that merges function with flair.

Project chosen by Pratt & Larson Tile for their “Designer of the Month” spotlight

The brief: Remove all traces of the 1970s from a vintage home’s attic bath. Prioritize a comfortable tub. Create clever built-ins to maximize storage in the ~ 8’ x 7.5’ space. Soften the room’s innate angles. And skip the standard white subway tile to make every day a blue-sky day.

FULL STORY

Story preview

HOW TO COMPOSE A SERENE SCENE

A bedroom’s seasonal swaps keep it chill year-round

Want a bedroom designed for rest and relaxation? Wherever you fall on the minimalist-to-maximalist spectrum, getting strategic about what to add and what to remove can help free — and focus — your mind.

:: Includes 5 approaches — and additional tips & tricks — for creating your own center of calm ::

The brief: Make a bedroom an oasis of calm 365 days a year. Establish a color palette with enough variety to flex with seasons and moods. Avoid allergen triggers like carpets and curtains. And find ways to meld multiple design interests into a cohesive look.

FULL STORY

Story preview

MCM Settles in on the Sunny Side of the Street

***Behind the scenes with House Vixen Design***
After working with me to transform her walls with color, a client began adding in missing furniture bit by bit. With most of the home’s functional gaps filled, it was time to tackle her remaining needs. I’d be a second set of eyes for her as she looked at tile and textile options — and help sort out her still-empty walls.
**:: Includes 5 tips for getting your art and objects to shine ::**
*The brief: Embark on Phase 2 of “Project Happy Rooms” for a client determined to surround her collection of mid-century modern pieces with vibrant color. Key goal? Banish bare walls!*

Full story

Story preview

Creating a Foraged Flavor

***An urban home gains style when it taps into nature***
Longing for a home with a warm, eclectic feel? Then take a cue from owners who honored their space’s key features without sacrificing their personal style.
**:: Includes 3 strategies you can use to create a space that feels uniquely yours ::**
*The brief: Maximize light. Create streamlined, welcoming spaces ideal for long gray winters. Highlight original floors and windows. And meld MCM with older vintage pieces for decade-spanning flair.*

Full story

Story preview

Browse thematic Pinterest boards

Corralled imagery to help you focus or dream

Color by type

Color inspiration: Bright palettes

Shiny happy shades may cycle in and out of fashion, but when you need at least a dash of flash there's no need to resist the brighter side of life.
Envelop a room with a color that radiates, or use brights as punctuation marks in the visual story you want to tell. No matter how little or much you add, high-energy colors will put some pep in your step.

View board

Color inspiration: Deep palettes

Rich, striking, moody, enveloping, mysterious — colors that sit on the deep side of the spectrum work well as both star and support player. Paired together they create a mix that can range from sophisticated to sultry.
Let them mingle with muted or bright tones, too; you'll find they add depth and a bit of ballast to a room.

View board

Color inspiration: Muted palettes

With a lighter touch than distinctly deep colors and a more easy-going vibe than the brights, muted shades nevertheless make a powerful statement: here's a great place to chill.
Ranging from delicate and romantic to just shy of bold, you'll find these dialed-back hues create a lot of drama when paired together in light/dark combinations.

VIEW BOARD

COLOR SPOTLIGHT

Green: can't-miss color combos

Ready to get with the green theme? Take a cue from the great outdoors and surround yourself with one of the many shades this family has to offer.
Muted to bright, yellow-green to blue-green — use the green color combination palettes to nurture your desire for nature.

View board

Gray: can't-miss color combos

Its first hint of flexibility starts with spelling — and from there gray/grey gathers momentum. Equally at home with the palest of pinks or the darkest rusts, this flexible color can move from sedate to striking depending on its partners.
Explore gray color palette combinations that make the most of this shade's chameleon nature.

View board

Blush: can't-miss color combos

When it comes to trends with staying power, blush can't be beat!
Thanks to a shade range that travels from the barest of flushes to deep rosy glows, there's no shortage of ways to decorate yourself or your space in everything from Pantone's Pale Dogwood to Millenial Pink. Find blush-based color palette combinations to inspire your present — and future.

View board

Vintage and vintage-inspired interiors

Vintage kitchens

Are you a renovation purist, a history buff, or just looking for clever storage ideas? From vintage ads to Library of Congress archive photos, I put intriguing vintage kitchens here.

View board

Vintage bathrooms

I confess: vintage baths with colored tile, colored fixtures, or both have a place in my heart — and on my Pinterest boards!

Poke around to find color combination, tile patterning, and savvy storage ideas to adopt (even if you want a 99% white bathroom!).

View board

Vintage-inspired kitchens

Explore kitchens designed by those who used the past as a jumping off point — and ended up in unique territory.

View board

Vintage-inspired bathrooms

Check out the bathrooms that emerge when creative minds combine past and present.

View board

Vintage color schemes to steal

Whether you live in a brand-new space or call somewhere with more history home, vintage ads, textiles, and fashion have a wealth of great ideas for combining colors.
Pull out a color (or two, or three) that works with what you have and watch what happens.

View board

Preview my instagram

Compelling subjects I had to snap

HVD original photo / spotted, spring 2019 / last year, the Dinner With a View pop-up was ruffling feathers in some cities due to placement and prices / now we all need a personal-pan-pizza-size dome

#montreal #montrealcanada #larondemontreal #dinner

HVD original photo / ain’t no party like a Western Sword Fern party

some days, watching the groundcover :: mulch ratio slowly shift toward green seems too metaphorical / other days, it’s an enormous comfort

when the final fronds make th

HVD original photo / baby redwood sorrel (oxalis oregana “Klamath Ruby”) with newish plugs of the balletic carex praegracilis

yes, if these young natives had some age on ‘em it’d be a more exciting shot...but it’s prime

HVD original photo / I can’t say time’s flying these days — but I also can’t believe it’s been 8 years since I spent a few days at Korakia Pensione

here, the property’s entrance courtyard beckons guests to a 1924

HVD original photo / PNW native evergreen huckleberry (vaccinium ovatum) / late March transition from buds to bee-magnet flowers

IMO one word separates those who garden (me) from true gardeners — and that word is “patience”

even t

HVD original photo / neighbors

#naturehelps #springisntcancelled #citygarden #citygardeners #urbangarden #urbangardener #pdxgardening #pdxgardeners #oregongardening #oregongardener #pnwgarden #pnwgardening #gardengram #texturestudy

HVD original photo / when you can’t paint the town red, paint something blue? / door chore

creeping blue speedwell (also thrives as an evergreen groundcover for me)

#naturehelps #springisntcancelled #springbloomers #citygarden #citygardeners

HVD original photo / detail, Ron English’s “Mona Lisa” for the 2017 Montreal Mural Festival / taken in spring 2019

a lot of art unsettles me

exhibit A

currently I want comfort but not complacency

thank you to the artists from al

HVD original photo / a 🐛-eye view and intense sun makes this compact pieris japonica look much more imposing than it is (and hides the crap in our back corner...win-win)

its lovely lily-of-the-valley-like blooms are past their prime and a rejuvenat

HVD original photo / adorably frivolous violas that I’m pretending are on my master plan Because

of course I tossed the tag 💯

cheerful, evergreen carex Everillo behind

#decomposedgranite path #springbloomer #pdxgardening #pdxgardeners #oreg

HVD original photo / spotted while wandering: breeze-swept euphorbia and painterly tulips in a hellYEAHstrip

#naturehelps #springbloomers #tulips #tulipseason #sidewalks #urbannature #hellstrip #hellstripgardening

HVD original photo / wind meets willow

#naturehelps #willow #willowtree #sidewalks #urbannature #citytree

HVD original photo / detail, 2011 fence mural / like looking in a mirror

#vernacularart (can’t ID artist sig) #publicart #streetart #streetartistry #urbanstreetart #mural #murals #currentmood #iknewthiswouldcomeinhandy

HVD original photo / this western wakerobin (trillium ovatum) continues to adjust to its new surroundings after leaving the verdant forested setting of Bosky Dell Natives a few weeks back

seems like a long time ago, now

does it start its day wonder

HVD original photo / Discovery Trail

the natural beauty of Washington’s Long Beach Peninsula creates such a spell that I can look at a photo from years ago and remember the awe I felt

while the Chinook people were first to call the area home,

HVD original photo / waiting game

this Korean Spice viburnum (viburnum carlesii “Aurora”) was one of the first things we planted as novice gardeners back in the day

cons: it anchors a back corner that gets very bare when its leaves go

HVD original photo / the streets in my city may be strangely quiet, but they’re far from empty

#foundart #takeawalk #hellstrip #creativity #imagination #fairygarden

HVD original photo / the delicate nodding blooms of this epimedium — alias Bishop’s Hat and barrenwort among others — bear the brunt of my current frustration

they weren’t supposed to be pink! they’ve messed everything

HVD original photo / corona’s presence looms as my household continues to chip away at the DIY portion of our urban garden rehab

maybe that explains why planting lungwort (pulmonaria “Dark Vader”) next to a stepping stone path has

HVD original photo / for years and years, this evergreen clematis obscured a chain link enclosure we’d never bothered to remove due to a complicated situation involving a large concrete fishpond (legacy of prior owners)

as part of our big part

Contact

It all started when…

Nulla lectus ante, consequat et ex eget, feugiat tincidunt metus. Suspendisse nec congue purus. Fusce at massa nec sapien auctor gravida in in tellus. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae. Vivamus sit amet semper lacus, in mollis libero. Donec eget risus diam.