AskMichelle

The internet has spent a long time telling you what you are doing wrong. The rug is the wrong size. The colours do not match. You should have done the floors first, or last, depending on who you ask. By the time you have read through all of it, it is easy to stop trusting yourself entirely.

I have been a residential designer for over 25 years, inside hundreds of homes, on structural builds, whole room rethinks, and decisions where a lot of money was riding on getting it right.

So I can tell you this with some confidence. You did not do anything wrong. What gets in the way of a beautiful home is almost never your taste. It is the second guessing.

These guides are for the moment you are stuck. They give you the palettes, the materials to look for, the pieces that carry a look, and the honest reasons behind each one. Not inspiration. Direction.

Michelle Gilbertson, founder and principal designer of Mulberry's Design House, Lethbridge, Alberta. Established 2001.