Sophisticated, elegant and strong, the color black, whether it's a little black dress, the sleek color of a car or in the décor of a home, exudes confidence and success.

The most important rule to remember when using this color in home décor, is that a little goes a long way... 

There's a trend happening now with black in interior design and I'm already seeing it used in an overkill and suffocating kind of way where the entire room is covered in black.  

Much like the color grey, which I wrote about earlier, black, when used too much, can have a negative effect, instead of the desired intention.

Where I think black goes too far is when entire kitchens or bathrooms are designed in black, the cabinets, walls, toilets, etc. The effect can feel depressing as the color dominants the room and creates a heavy depressive feeling. How does the photo above of the black kitchen make you feel? Are you ready to cook and enjoy your time in this room?

But Kala you...

Today's question is:

"Dear Kala, I had an experience recently that keeps presenting in my thoughts and I am hoping you can help me make some sense from it.

I’m a photographer by profession, and on a recent shoot at a client’s home, her daughter kept tagging along with me, even though her mom asked her not to, and her clearly being a well behaved kid. I stated that I enjoyed her company, and she said “I like to be with you.”

When I asked her why, her reply was this: “because of the lights.”

I thought she meant the external flash, so I asked if she wanted to hold it or push the button to fire it. She looked at me and started...

Holiday Tablescapes are fun to make and often you can use what you already have in your home and add to it with a fun new item each year.

Here's an example of a tablescape that I made for my dining room table this year.

First I lay a runner on the table. The runner (a beige linen) here can't be seen by the time I'm done, but it's great to anchor and support the garland.

On top of the runner, I began with my Southern Magnolia Gold Leaf garland from Ballard Designs.

Next, running through the garland, I added the Suzanne Kasler Red Plaid Ribbon, which this year, I'm pretty much using it everywhere! I love plaid so much and Suzanne's ribbon, available at Ballard Designs, is great quality, wired and able to twist and bend any way that you want it.

Next I added some sprigs of berries, tucking them into the garland. You can find these anywhere at craft stores, these in particular here are from Martha Stewart and are available on QVC.

The white Light Up Lanterns and Gold Moravian Stars are...

I have clients in Manhattan who are in their 30s and live in a beautiful apartment there.  The details in the space are gorgeous but space is at a definite premium as is the case in the city.  Their home is about 850 sq feet all together and the location is pretty great.

They enjoy the holidays but aren't into traditional Christmas decor.

They hired me as their Intuitive Interior Decorator for my Holiday Decor package to assist them with decorating their space.

Here are their requests:

1. They love modern decor.

2. They don't like traditional Christmas decor.

3. They don't want to buy many decor items, as storage space is pretty limited for them and so they needs things they can pack up in one box.

4. They'd love for the decor to be versatile and look great for New Years as well.

My suggestion to them based on their likes, wants and needs?

Make it Modern and Metallic!

They have a console that is very similar to the console I have in my home. It's part of the feature wall...

Happy Holidays! As an Intuitive Interior Decorator, I help clients create the look, feel and mood of their home through connecting with the colors that work best for their energy and then decorating their home to reflect that energy and emotion.

The act of changing the look, feel and mood of my home is a magical experience. It's always delighted me how changing things around and adding new pops of color and fabric and decor can completely lighten, soften or enhance the mood of my home and in the homes of my clients.

Photos show here: Traditional fireplace mantel design by Kala Ambrose with energetic words placed throughout the garland including Joy, Love and Hope

As a psychic empath who also sees auras and interior decorator, I feel the energy of every room I walk into and I find that the homes themselves energetically tell me how they want to look and feel.

When you tune in and listen intuitively to your home, it will help guide you to the look that is absolutely right at the...

If you've been following my work for even the teeniest bit of time, you know that I love architecture, color and home decor. 

 

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I believe that being surrounded in a beautiful environment with inspirational and colorful home decor, uplifts the soul and encourages our creativity and mental and emotional well-being.

A recent interior design trend has focused on minimalism, with the concept of having very little decor in the home . This trend will be fading soon and will replaced by the next new idea and so on as trends do.

What this minimalist trend was showcasing and responding to, I believe, is how cluttered people's minds were feeling in the current environment.  It's a direct reaction between the clutter that built up in our thoughts (inward/as within) and then displayed in our homes (outward/so without). 

(In this picture below, we see the movement to minimalism, in order to disconnect. The clutter is being removed and there is a separation between the bed...

It's all about You and the Hue!  In my work as an Intuitive Interior Decorator, I'm also a Color Intuitive. A lot of what I discuss about what I see in the aura colors around each person, are the same topics discussed in Color Design, which are:  Hue, Tint, Tone and Shade. 

When I say for example that I see blue in someone's aura, I have to explain the exact color of blue that I'm seeing. There is a dark muddy shady of blue that can show that a person has closed themselves off to the world and to new ideas. That dark blue is very different from navy blue, which shows stability and reliability. A light bright blue can indicate communication coming from the spirit realms and a medium solid blue is what I call true blue, that really reflects the best energy that blue has to offer. 

It's important to understand the shades and hue of color, along with the emotional and intuitive intelligence connected to each ray of color. When I meet with clients who are not happy...

In my work as an Intuitive Interior Decorator, my job is connect to the energy of each person (by seeing the colors in their aura) and then reflecting this colorful energy outward into the decor of their home.

I begin by meeting with the people living in the home and as we chat, I tune in and see the colors emitting from their auric fields. The aura has many layers around the body and I see the various fields which include the physical layer, mental layer, emotional layer and the spiritual layer. These layers often change color according to how we are feeling, the physical layer color changes according to our health, the mental layer fluctuates according to what we are thinking about, the emotional layers changes the quickest, always affected by our moods and the spiritual layer is the slowest to change color, unless we are having a direct experience with the other side.

The spiritual layer of the aura reflects what I call each person's "true power colors", the colors that you are...

 Since I was a little girl, I've always been fascinated with office supplies. Well, originally for me it began with school supplies! I always loved Back to School time when we would shop for pens, pencils, markers, crayons, notebooks, the selections were endless and if you're old enough, you remember the excitement of your first Trapper Keeper notebook.   The only disappointment I had was I wanted supplies with my name on them and no one back then had anything monogrammed with the name Kala on it.  I love these days when you can easily get anything monogrammed with your name on it and trust me I do!

As adults, we all have our "wants" and for me, it's still about getting new notebooks!

There's something about opening up a fresh new notebook, it's so full of possibilities.  I guess that's the writer in me, I see those pages and ideas starting popping up of what I'll write first. Even though the majority of my writing and other work is now done on the...