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hey there! I'm monica 

I pride myself on making amazing style and design accessible for everyone, regardless of location, budget, or ability! My design philosophy is rooted in authenticity + attainability - If I can do it, you can too! My work has been featured in countless publications, but I take the most pride in homeowners that have been personally inspired by my DIY ideas and have tried something in their own homes!

learn more about ME + MY BIZ

You all know it already, and I’m pretty open about sharing this one fact: I am not a designer by trade. I’ve never taken design classes, and in fact, often dreaded going to art classes in school. I’d call myself an amateur- I do what I like and think looks good in my home. Period. One of the things I find difficult (although, I admit it does get easier the more I do it) is choosing the right colors in my designs. I often have an idea or concept in mind, but getting there is tricky, especially for a non-detail-oriented person like me. Enter Design Seeds:
Design Seeds solves the color dilemma for us by offering tons of color palettes based on things you see every day. Like the colors of Fall? You can find several different palettes incorporating the various colors found in Autumn. Isn’t that amazing? If you’ve been on Pinterest at all, I’m sure you’ve seen some of these floating around:
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Basically, Jessica, the genius behind Design Seeds, forecasts emerging trends and comes up with relevant color palettes based on those. She also sells a bunch of books that I would personally love to have on my coffee table or to use as inspiration.
Here are just a few of my favorites:
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Wouldn’t this be beautiful in a nursery for a baby girl? Love the muted purples.
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Can’t help but fall head over heels for colors inspired by travel!
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Oh man, this would be a super-fun palette for a summer birthday party, right?And just in case you were wondering, there is a general rule of thumb when it comes to using color in design:

Use 60 percent of one color, which is your dominant color (think paint on the wall). This is the unifying color- most likely a neutral that ties it all together.  Using 30 percent of your secondary color adds visual interest, like the furniture in the room, and then 10 percent is an accent color. Accessories, pillows, flowers etc. These are the things that make the room shine! Go ahead and take a look at your design inspiration pictures: most likely they are divided within this rule. Crazy, huh? These Design Seeds palettes provide a variety of colors that you can choose from for your home decor, wedding or party planning, and even when choosing an outfit!

Don’t you just love it when there are short-cuts for great design? 😉

The comments +

  1. I really like that silverware color combination.

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