{extra ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ } The Colour Menu
Let's chat how I built the palette of my dining area from the ground up (course by course)
Psst Psst: Welcome back to a brand new series here on Hey Maca ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ (slow clap, I'm so happy to be back!). I'm taking you through every room in my little shoebox house in Montreal, breaking down the colour palette I built for each space, deal? First up in the menu? My dining area. And yes, we're doing this resto-style, because at the end of the day, this is Maca pour emporter.
Okay so hereโs the thing, besties: when people ask me about the colours in my home, they almost always focus on the fun stuff. The pink SMEG toaster. The colourful cookbooks. My passion for HAY tins. The red gingham bag I always forget hanging on my dining chair (guilty, it lives there now).
And I LOVE that, those pieces are very much โmacaโ. But hereโs what Iโve learned after years of working as an interior designer and then moving into a 1,000 sq ft house with polished concrete floors, pine stairs, and white walls:
the colour palette of a room doesnโt start with the accessories. It starts with the stuff you probably think isnโt even a colour choice.
Your floor? Thatโs a colour. Your wood trim? Thatโs a colour. Your white walls? Also a colour, and YES, a very strategic one (did you know all whites arenโt the same?).
So I came up with something Iโm calling The Colour Menu โ because just like a great meal at your favourite restaurant (and you KNOW I take my restos visits seriously), a roomโs palette is built in courses. Each one builds on the last. Each one has a job. And when they all come together? Thatโs where the magic starts.
Let me walk you through the five courses of my dining area, starting from the ground up. Literally.
Appetizer: The Floor
The very first thing that sets your tone.
Just like an appetizer at your favourite spot, this one's quick, foundational, and way more important than people give it credit for. My polished concrete floor brings a cool, industrial gray into the space before I've done a single thing to decorate. It's quiet, it's modern, and it immediately says: "okay, we're going somewhere interesting."
Hereโs what most people donโt realize: your floor is already making a colour decision FOR you. Hardwood? Youโre starting warm. Tile? Depends on the tone. Concrete like mine? Cool and neutral, which means everything I layer on top has a clean, calm starting point.
The takeaway: Before you pick a single paint colour or throw pillow, look down. What story is your floor already telling?
Main: The Wood
The architectural details that give the space its warmth.
Let me intro you to the substantial layer where the palette really starts to take shape. In my dining area, thatโs the oak shelf rail that runs along the wall, the pine stairs just steps away, and all my light wood furniture as the dining table, the chairs, the open shelving.
Hereโs where it gets smart: my concrete floor is cool-toned, and my wood details are warm. Together, they create a two-tone neutral palette before Iโve even thought about paint or decor. And this is the thing that I think trips people up, when they scroll Pinterest, fall in love with a bold colour, and try to force it into a room without understanding what their bones are already doing. The materials in your space: wood, stone, metal are already speaking. Your job is to listen first, then layer.
The takeaway: Wood isnโt just โwood.โ Itโs an entire colour family. Pay attention to its tone (warm honey? Cool ash? Red cherry?) because itโs doing more heavy lifting than you think.
Side Dish: The Walls
The thing everyone thinks is boring. (Spoiler: itโs not.)
Iโm totally an I always love a good side dish kind of girl, if you ask me, and in the colour menu, white walls are exactly that. Theyโre the side dish that makes everything else work better without stealing the show.
Hereโs my hot take as a designer: white walls are not the absence of a decision. Theyโre the most strategic decision in a small space.
In my shoebox house, the white is the breathing room between the cool concrete and the warm wood. It lets those two materials have their conversation. It bounces natural light around my little house (Montreal winters need all the light they can get, tu sais?). And, this is key: it creates the blank canvas that makes the fun stuff POP later.
The mistake I see all the time? People panic that their white walls are โboringโ and immediately paint a bold accent wall, on top of architectural finishes that were already doing the work. Before you pick up a paint brush, ask yourself: are my walls boring, or are they actually doing exactly what they should?
The takeaway: White is not nothing. Itโs the pause between the notes that makes the music make sense. (Okay that was poetic, Maca, but you get it.)
Specials: The Play
โฆ and just like the specials at your favourite restaurant.
Last but definitely not least, Iโm always that person who gets excited to hear the specials when I arrive at any restaurant (are you my team?). And in your home, the specials are the layer where YOU come alive.
In my dining area right now? Itโs the pink SMEG toaster sitting pretty against that black tile. The terracotta plant pot with flowers on the table. The red and white gingham bag tossed over the chair (itโs giving French picnic meets Venezuelan abuela and Iโm here for it). The pastel cups on the counter. The colourful cookbooks on the shelves. The pink glass candlesticks on the dining table.
These pieces change with the seasons, my mood, my latest market find, or whatever Iโm obsessing over that month. And hereโs the most beautiful part: this is the cheapest course on the menu. When your first four layers are solid, you can play endlessly with accessories without ever feeling like you need to โredoโ your space.
This is also where cultural identity lives, for me at least. My accessories are where Venezuela meets Montreal, in the warm tones, the vibrant mixes, the โmore is more but make it intentionalโ. Itโs where my personality shows up in a way that no Pinterest board could ever replicate, because itโs so me.
The takeaway: If your base is strong, your personality can be as loud as it wants. This layer is where confidence in your own taste really shows.
The question isn't "what colour should I paint my room?" โ it's "what courses am I missing?" Or maybe (and this is the one I see the most) youโve been skipping straight to the specials, buying accessories and wondering why your space still doesnโt feel โyou.โ Itโs because without the first four courses, the specials have nothing to land on.
Start from the ground. Build up. Course by course. Thank you for being here โ truly.