Chinoiserie is capturing attention again even though it's been around since the mid 17th century.  You may not recognize its name but you've seen it in stores and homes and instantly know what I'm talking about when you see a picture like the one above.

The design is a European interpretation intended to capture the harmony of Asian style depicting nature and people enjoying music, art, architecture and beautiful garden scenery.

Chinoiserie like all styles have their heyday and then decline but when they are a true classic, they return again and again.  Chinoiserie was very popular in the 18th century, with Thomas Chippendale drawing attention to it by decorating his cabinets and furniture with the design.

It rose to popularity again in the 1920s and here we are a hundred years later and it's on the rise yet again.  

In many homes throughout the ages, there's always been a piece or two of chinoiserie pottery or some form of it in elegant classic homes and there...

As an Intuitive Interior Decorator, I talk about trends for interior decor, current ones and future trends too! It's fun and exciting to talk about new color palettes and decor that will change the energy of your home.

But... it's also important to talk about grounding, the stabilizing energy that creates the foundation of the home. In our homes, some things should be built to last, to keep consistency in the home and make it functional. These things should be designed to work hard, handle a lot of pressure and be functional. If we can create this in the home, we are off to a great start and if we can build it where it is not just functional, but also aesthetically pleasing, then we've hit a home run!

The two rooms that need to stand up well to heavy usage are bathrooms and the kitchen.  The two room that show their age the quickest are, you guessed it, the bathroom and the kitchen!

Want to guess the age of a home? Check out the tile choice in the bathroom, is it pink or what...

Fresh off of showing my fireplace decorated for Winter, it's time to bring in some color!

There's nothing like color to brighten up your thoughts and emotions during the Winter months, so if you're wondering what you can do to lift your energy at this time, it's easy! Start by bringing in some fun colors to your room!

One of my favorite yearly celebrations is coming up! It's Mardi Gras. The Colors of Mardi Gras are Purple, Green and Gold. Purple represents justice, green is faith and gold represents power.

Beads in these colors are thrown to the crowds as the floats pass by in the parades. It is said that if you catch the beads, the color represents the type of good luck you will receive this year. Remember it's bad juju to steal beads from someone else who caught them, that's only going to reverse that fortune and bring the bad upon you, such as loss of power, faith or justice for you.

I've added some of these colors to my fireplace here with the addition of my carnival mask along...

My Winter look on the fireplace...

• The stark Manzanita branch is bare but painted gold with the reminder that the light always returns.
  
  
• Hints of Neoclassic design and ancient wisdom hold court with the Greek goddess bust.
  
  
• The Scottish Law books in the middle are over 100 years old, a reminder of justice and balance.
  
  
• Black and white checks in the vase represent the duality in this world, masculine, feminine, light and dark, yin and yang, cold and hot, positive and negative. What path do you follow?
  
  
• And of course, the gorgeous peacock feathers are lush and green in their beauty symbolizing awakening.

Winter is the time where we go within and rest, restoring our energy so that we can bloom in Spring.

I could go on describing the spiritual meaning and purpose of every item placed here on the mantel, as it is carefully cultivated and selected to create and amplify this energy in my home with the intent to support, uplift and inspire.

Is your home in tune with the seasons and...

It's fun to watch my clients newly decorated homes continue to redefine themselves throughout the seasons of the year.  As I work with each client to "redesign their homes and their lives from the inside out", transformations occur both within the home and the client themselves.

In a project I did earlier this year, we transformed my clients dining room into a space that reflects her love of wine and the Tuscany region.  The beautiful blue and gold tones anchor this space and are reflected boldly in the gorgeous rug from Grandin Road.

The new Hooker Furniture Archivist round table and chairs invite all who enter a place of welcome and honor at the table and the canvas artwork depicting Lake Como announces the mood and intent of the room. Lemons placed on the table runner and and an olive tree set in a deep blue planter complete the mood of this space.

I'm delighted to share some holiday decor photos of this room, with one of my client's adorable cats playing host for this...

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...

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...