I totally agree. Somewhere along the line, her overall tone changed, too. It's no longer a joyful celebration of the color. It's more like "follow MY rules, or else your house will be unfashionable and look like crap!" She has a very specific point of view about what makes a house look nice, and it doesn't really jive with anything I actually see in real life. Color me happy? There is nothing happy about that blog anymore.

I too am no longer liking her blog. Her focus has definitely changed directions.

Now that you mention it, yes, I agree. I used to look forward to getting her emails but don't anymore. I hadn't looked at why I'd fallen out of love with her blog but see it now.

Jennifer

I sent her a message regarding one of her posts. She was talking about selecting a color using the daylight. One thing I've always wondered about selecting color by the daylight---what about at night?

I am usually gone at work during the day most of the time, so the paint color working with artificial light is important to me. I asked her about this, and she basically said "if it's perfect during the day it doesn't matter if it doesn't work at night"???????? That made NO sense to me!!

Jockewing, that makes no sense! Sounds like she didn't read the question close enough.

As for her blog, it has definitely changed directions. She says she believes that people don't look at blogs for beautiful pictures anymore but I disagree. There's a reason Houzz has become popular.

She pays close attention to her stats and I have noticed amongst blogs, that blog posts about blogging generally have more comments than pretty pictures. I imagine that's why she has changed directions.

I'm not too bummed because I was never impressed by the interior design work that she does anyways.

I used to like her blog because it actually had decent color tips. Now, not so much. I don't care about the salesmanship part-- we all have to make a buck, but for me to wade through salesmanship it also needs to be coupled with interesting and/or useful information. Her musings about life and blogging and other stuff are not interesting or useful to me.

Not only hers...but I have noticed some other popular ones have gone somewhat astray. I understand the desire to want to make money doing what you love, but I don't enjoy seeing ads taking over a blog and big sponsor ads right smack in your face. But, I guess that's why they get paid to place them there.

I totally get your frustration.

WannaBeHome I was just about to say the same thing. It's not just Color Me Happy that has changed. I've deleted a few of my used-to-be regulars from my Google Reader list because the posts have veered into territory that doesn't interest me. For the most part, I AM in it for the pretty pictures! Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy getting *some* of the personal side of a few bloggers but largely because of their writing skills, not because they lead such interesting lives!

Part of it is my age - I'm out of the mommy game and not into grandma territory and as self involved as this may sound, I just don't have the time or interest to read about people I don't know and what their adorable 2 year old did today! Talk to me about the paint treatment you did on that table or how you beautifully arranged a room with a gazillion doors and windows or a fabulous plant combination you came up with for a window box and I'm all over it.

I've turned into a skimmer with most text heavy blogs and only go back to read if the pictures capture me enough to make me want to know more.

I too enjoyed the blog initially but got tired of the white kitchens and marble backsplashes and her declaring everything else "dated". I love white kitchens...just not for me anymore.
I did however learn about undertones etc. in the beginning but not much recently. I've cancelled my monthly emails from her site and only check in once in a long while hoping that it has gone back to being more about colour but it hasn't.

I wish she would show more of her clients' makeovers than pics of her at seminars etc.

htnspz, I agree--in all the pictures of Maria's work that she has shown, the only thing I've really been impressed with was her office she did in an icy turquoise with really cool drapes that were turquoise on top with a band of yellow on the bottom. She kind of acts like it's her way or the high way. She certainly thinks she knows all there is to know about color. But she doesn't share any of that info anymore because she is trying to get people to sign up and come to one of her seminars. I would love to be a fly on the wall at one of her seminars to see how informative they are.

I really can't believe that people have flown her hundreds and hundreds of miles to work on their homes. I believe she once posted that someone paid to fly her all the way from Vancouver to Houston to help them pick a travertine tile (had to make sure they weren't pinky beige!) Certainly there must be dozens of colorists or designers in Houston that could have done the job without the travel expenses!

Well I guess I shouldn't hate. If Maria can get people to pay for that because of her blog, more power to her! I just wish she would go back to sharing more color advice.

Thats too funny. I guess people have money to burn. Not me.

I totally agree. Her style is not for me (too modern), but I did enjoy reading about her color advice. However, lately it's just come to one of my classes and pay me a lot of money! No thanks.

jockewing - I could be wrong, but I thought I remembered that she was in Houston anyway for something else, and did the consult while she was there? Not sure, but that was my memory.

She was talking about selecting a color using the daylight. One thing I've always wondered about selecting color by the daylight---what about at night?

I am usually gone at work during the day most of the time, so the paint color working with artificial light is important to me. I asked her about this, and she basically said "if it's perfect during the day it doesn't matter if it doesn't work at night"???????? That made NO sense to me!!

I made this mistake and absolutely hate the color which is in my living/dining/breakfast/kitchen open area. Looks nice and creamy in bright sun-light and at night bright yellow and much intenser looking and I really dislike the color.

So if you like strong colors then maybe that advice is true, but I like softer colors.

First question I ask a client is, "What time of day are you in this room the most?" That's what counts and that's when we work!

I agree. I learned some interesting things about choosing color, especially the pinky beige thing, and I used to enjoy the informative nature of the blog. I think she's probably a very nice person, and certainly entitled to make a living off her blog/seminars/consulting work, but she gives the impression lately of being extremely mercenary. Nothing happy about that. I'd rather read the thoughts of someone who comes across as enthusiastic about design and willing to blog about it.

Also, I wonder how well her phone consultations work out when you do an entire house in one shot? If you choose a color for the "main" room and then choose the rest to create "flow", what happens if your test of the main room color doesn't work as well as you thought it would? Your entire plan would be useless.

As far as her personal style goes, it's a bit too bright for me. I like my colors subtle.

I also used to read that blog and dropped it awhile ago. Dlm, I'm in the same place as you--I'd actually love any suggestions for decor/style oriented blogs that aren't coming from the young-mother-pinching-pennies viewpoint. NOT that there's anything wrong with that :).

Something else that I see changing with blogs is related to the 'monetizing' trend. Giveaways, shout-outs to sponsors and even projects that are sponsored by companies. I really am not interested in any of that. I like to see interesting projects, surprising uses or re-uses of materials and updates. For example, although I do enjoy their blog, I don't care to read through Young House Love's monthly list of who is paying their bills so they can be online as a fulltime job.

So now that I'm wandering the hater path myself-I'm waiting for the all white decor scheme bloggers' baby twins to start walking. She posted a stunning image the other day of her bathroom, complete with a pedestal table next to the tub, adorned with a gorgeous fresh bouquet of flowers in a vase. All I could picture was *2* toddlers turned loose in there.

Yes, I am cynical, bitter and jaded. Also experienced with toddlers turned loose in a home!

Ann

Ann, it's funny you mention the toddler aspect. The other day, Young House Love posted a house crashing feature that made me roll my eyes. The home was lovely and carefully curated (and clearly not done on a tight budget). But the couple had an infant, and all I could think was, oh honey, that is NOT going to work in another few months. I don't care how closely you watch a 1-year-old; they are capable of unimaginable messes in a very short period of time.

Says the neat-freak mom of an 18-month-old ...

Honestly - I don't mind the ones that have a weekly/monthly post to highlight their sponsors etc. It would be worse if it was in every post. It is likely what allows me to read the blog and have frequent new material to read/look at.

I even don't mind if they were given money to do a make-over especially if it results in some inspiration pics for me. I've not seen anybody get an outrageous amount of money to do anything and inline with what some might have as a personal budget to redo a room.

I've never read the Colour me Happy Blog - but when I read blogs I like the ones where I can see pics that appeal to me if it is decorating or where I can learn to do things. Sounds like this blog started out as a learn and went to just selling and nothing new or learn from it.

That is usually what gets me to leave a blog I've been following no matter what type it is, decorating or otherwise. If every post is commercialized I tend to stop reading or if it is just posts or links to other blogs.

This has been an interesting thread to read because only lately have I started reading decorating blogs. Catalogs have won my heart in the past, because, theoretically, I could buy what I was looking at and not have to hunt down something similar.

But for the past few weeks, I have noticed the blog trends many of you are talking about and it is annoying.
In some ways, for me, a picture is indeed worth a thousand words and enough for me to copy.

I agree about the decline of the blog. I am also disappointed by her prounouncements such as white cabinets are always the best choice for a kitchen because they are timeless. I used to have white for 10 years and now I am loving my brown cabinets.

I've only read that blog a couple of times. My feeling was that she was quite dogmatic in her pronouncements as to what is in or out. As "in" or "out" isn't my focus when making design decisions, I did not return.

I was going to post about my similar mindset on another post a while back, but deleted it because I didn't want to offend blog lovers.

With the majority of decorating blogs, it's hard to trust what they're saying anymore, because you don't know who's paying for the product placement. I don't like this incoporation of advertisements into blogs so that it seems as if the blogger has discovered this "wonderful" product on their own and just wants to share it with their readers. I want to KNOW when the subject is to sell me something.

And I also don't care how cute you think your baby is, I don't care what advertiser is dressing her/him, and what advertiser is decorating their room. The blogger of a favorite blogsite recently had a baby, and posts frequent pictures of her pride-and-joy, side by side, so we can all see the miracle of how her baby is growing. I don't care. Even if I were a new mother, I'd be more interested in my own baby than a stranger's baby. The only ones who really care are that child's parents and grandparents. I just stopped visiting the blog.

With this attitude, I guess I'm now officially the old lady down the street who keeps the balls hit into her yard.
Dee

I completely agree. I used to find her advice useful. Now even her newsletters are curt and offer no help at all. It's almost like she's sending something out just to send it but has no real advice to give.

Simply Seleta is another one that has done a complete 180. Her blog used to be one of my favorites to look at each day. At some point, it became all about family and horses and nothing about decorating at all except for the occasional Wednesday White post. It's disappointing to me when I identified so strongly with her decorating style. And I say this as someone who is married with two children! I follow home blogs for the home decorating advice, ideas and eye candy! A family post every now and then is fine but completely changing an entire blog is disheartening sometimes.

LOL, Dee!!! I'm that other old lady - GET OFF MY LAWN!!!

Dee & dlm, me too! Sometimes I accidentally run the balls over with the tractor and I think, "welllll....?" (really accidentally--I wouldn't try to hurt the tractor, ya know)

But back to Maria, I can't help myself...she "likes" my backsplash and featured it once. So, she will always have a special place in my decorating heart...

I wonder if it's intentional or if some of them don't even realize. I know silly huh? How could they not?
But you never know, maybe someone should send a copy of this thread to them as feedback and constructive criticism. If I had worked as hard as some of them obviously have to build the following, I would surely want to know.

Lukk, that is what is hard for me. I know that she probably really puts a lot of work into that blog, so what right to I have to criticize? I just can't imagine why a blog called "color me happy" is constantly harping on how to make money by blogging and constantly pushing seminars.

There's so much that I agree with here. I am tired of giveaways and product sponsors and I really feel like the work suffers for it. It ruins the integrity of the blog.

The major problem with the Color me Blog is that she is teaching bloggers how to blog and that may result in less inspiration and more ads/sponsors etc. She highly believes that you should put out your business at every corner but I don't like those type of sales tactics. My attitude is that if you offer up good information, do beautiful work, love what you do, then the money will follow. Sure, marketing is important but it's not everything.

Jock, I can understand what you're saying but I totally disagree with that perspective. I compare it to stores or businesses that ask for feedback about how they are doing. The reality of it is that it's not what you say but how you say it. Any business that wants to keep their clientele happy, is going to be interested in knowing how they are doing. If you approach the topic with sincerity and start the email with something like, "I really enjoy your blog and want to see it's success continue blah blah blah" there is nothing hurtful about it. The key is the sincerity behind the criticism and a wish for someone to succeed with what they are doing. The bottom line is, they get positive comments all the time from their followers. But if someone stops following, how do they know there was an issue if no one shares why they left with them as well?

this thread has made me think that I really haven't spent much time on decorating blogs, likely because I spend way too much time on this site! Is there any blogs that you feel are currently worth subscribing too? I googled decorating blogs and was overwhelmed by the number out there.

I totally agree about this blog... when I first started reading it, I loved that it was informational and not just pretty pictures. Blogs like House of Turquoise don't really do it for me, I want to learn something, not just look at pictures. I didn't even mind the posts about blogging because I was interested in learning that, too. But yeah, lately it seems like it's mostly pushing her class. I do love Young House Love, but we are trying to start a family, so the baby thing does it for me :-)

angel19603, I find one of the most fascinating ones for me is The Enchanted Home. This gal is building a house that is incredible. That is the only word for it. She has great photos in every blog. There isn't a lot of "teaching" just sharing. She does a house "update" on Thursdays, and I usually have my jaw on the floor because I can't believe anybody is building a house/mansion like this in this day and age. It is really incredible.

Cote de Texas is always enjoyable, Joanie is a really funny gal and she has some great ideas. Her photos are wonderful and she does seem to "explain" things and teach why certain things work and others don't. She also does the occasional interview with other designers, photographers, etc. so there are lots of good tips.

I check out others, but these two are ones you might like to check out.

-Bee

Good News....sort of

My daily CMH post showed up, I opened it, and not a word about the colors in the photos. bummer.

BUT (here's the good news), if you look right on her page there are links to other color blogs. They ARE talking about color.

So, go now and find them!

yay

I just spent a half hour reading on the Colour me happy blog; even amidst the constant advertising for her workshops and consultation, I find her blog most informative and full of useful color tips for the homeowner, very nice photography also. I haven't been to Cote de Texas lately, off I go for a look.

I held off posting but then thought 'Why not?'.

I guess I don't feel the need/ want to criticize them because they are putting out what they want to share. And sometimes it goes down hill and their blog finds its way off of my favorites only to be replaced by another that I probably found via the other blog.

I figure it's their blog and their opinions/ what makes them happy/ what they like/ thoughts/ ideas etc... so if I don't like it anymore I just move on to another blog. There are soooooo many of them out there.

ttodd, exactly.

And as I said, she used my backsplash as a "favorite" of hers, so she is still in a special place in my "decorating heart". And when I said that there was not a mention of anything about color in today's post, I did mean that she is posting beautiful pictures, but it would be nice on a Colour blog to mention something about the colors in the photos, after all, that is her specialty. I know I need all the help I can get with color and I often to refer to her blog by using a search on her site to get my answer. After all, she did save me from painting my room some sort of cream color before I did it, just by reading about the lighting, etc.

Beekeeperswife,

I like Cote de Texas but for some reason the format she uses for photos takes so darned long to load. I recall others saying the same thing. I don't know why hers take longer than others but sometimes I don't feel like sitting there and waiting to see the photos so I move on. But I've always liked her blog.

Beekeeperswife - wow, wow, wow - the enchanted home is unbelievable, simply breathtaking! Thanks for sharing!

I've noticed the scolding tone...not so happy or fun to hear! But then again, how happy could I be, reading repeatedly, that pinky-beige is a hideous, always to be avoided color, when both my living and dining room walls are well, beigy-pink (Is that better? LOL! Doubt it!)

Making such sweeping generalizations is unprofessional, imo! If she came to my house or saw my pics, I have to wonder what she'd come up with as an alternative.

She's cute and confident, but I think there are better color consultants out there (that aren't nearly as well-known, unfortunately.) I think her expertise is in marketing...herself!

I unsubscribed because there was too much pimping for her classes or pics of her at various conferences and too little useful or interesting about color.