The universe has a funny way of introducing you to people just when you need it the most, and that’s how I met Morgane Richer La Flèche. The friendship meet-cute goes as follows: Each of us shows up to a dinner party in early 2024, where neither of us really knew anyone except the host who invited us (shout out to ’s pasta dinner in NYC). Both of us were new to the Hudson Valley, both figuring out what it looked like to build a creative life outside of the city. She had just bought a house. I had just quit my job. We talked all night, and, as Morgane would later point out, we have no photos to show for it because it was such a fun night.

Morgane is an artist based in Canaan, New York. She works in oil pastel and hard pastel, paints murals, and has a way of making things that makes you feel like you should be making something too. She also left law school to do all of this (I am always so impressed when I am reminded of this!).

I’ve been wanting to interview her since basically the moment we met, and when I finally got to sit down with her, it was at her house: an 18th-century farmhouse that is, somehow, exactly what you’d imagine if you knew her. Kooky and layered and completely alive with color. Heirloom furniture next to auction finds next to her own paintings on the walls. We were sitting in a room painted the green of early spring buds with snow falling outside, which felt about right for the topic of conversation.

On color in her practice and why being afraid of it is an antisocial impulse:

Tell me about your work and the role color plays in it.

My work is a lot of pastel — oil pastel and hard pastel — but I’ve also done a lot of different projects. Murals are a big part of what I do. Decorative work, like painting corsets for Salter House or making plates with Salon 21. I’ll make puppets or performance pieces sometimes too.

Color in my work is super important. I have a very intuitive relationship to it. I think more is better, and I’m not afraid of it. I’ve always felt really strongly about color, but I read a book a few years ago called Chromophobia — it’s about how the dislike or mistrust of color is so embedded with, honestly, white supremacy and misogyny. It just reaffirmed my conviction that being afraid of color, being afraid of the decorative, is sort of an antisocial impulse. So I am emotionally and intellectually very aligned with color.

And how did murals become part of your practice? That feels like its own story.

It came out of lockdown. I was stuck at home and couldn’t get to the studio, so I started painting on the white walls in our Manhattan apartment. It had landlord-special white walls, so it didn’t really matter. I just kept going. The whole apartment became the canvas. That got seen on Instagram, and people started asking if I could do the same thing in their spaces. So all of a sudden I was just like, “Oh, okay, sure!” It became this part of my work that I never intended but that I love. The home editor at the New York Post reached out at some point and I ended up as a full centerfold piece. They sent a photographer, the whole thing. And then after that, people started asking for murals more seriously. It grew from there.

When you think about color as a philosophy, not just in your work but in how you move through the world, how do you describe it?

A lot of what matters to me in my art comes into play with the way I use color in my home, which is trying to get at a sense of freedom and possibility. Always. Art at its best creates a sense of possibility, which works against an overwhelming feeling of despair. If things feel unexpected, it cultivates (over time) a feeling that things are possible. So by mixing things however you want, by bringing in colors that people might not think are normal or grown-up colors, by approaching it all with a sense of play, like a four-year-old picking out their favorite things from their closet, not caring if the sparkly red shoes go with the green tutu — you’re doing something meaningful. Just put it all together. It’s your home.

On leaving law school (and having a delusional conviction):

You went to law school, and then you didn’t become a lawyer. Tell me about that.

I always drew, I always painted, but I didn’t seriously pursue it until the pandemic. It was my last semester of law school when everything went remote, which gave me a lot of time in my studio in Brooklyn. I just realized that this was what I wanted to do, and the work was getting really exciting, and I wanted to try it. So I went for it.

How did you actually feel comfortable leaving this world you thought you were going to be in?

I had a delusional conviction. It wasn’t confidence. I was scared. But I had this deep conviction that this was what I needed to do and that I needed to do it now. I remember it was the middle of the night and I turned to my husband Jacob and said, “Okay, don’t freak out.” And I was like, I want to try being an artist professionally. He went quiet and was like, okay. And then we figured it out.

What I did was ask the law firm that I was going to go to to hold my job for a year. And they did. So basically I asked for one year where, if this totally failed, I could still have that job. But if it worked, I wouldn’t go back. After a year, I couldn’t imagine life any other way. So I just said: thank you, I’m not coming.

What gave you the confidence to keep going?

It was actually that people started coming into my life who felt so right, like, people living the life I wanted to live. All of a sudden, I was meeting people with their own studios. People I just immediately felt aligned with. And I was like, if this choice is bringing me closer to people like that, it’s got to be the right path.

On the house (and the door that leads nowhere):

Okay, the house. It’s delightful. How did you find it?

Jacob and I needed to get out of that tiny apartment we’d done the pandemic in. We started looking around New York City, but everything was so expensive for not a lot of space. So we were like, what if we had a place outside the city? We started going upstate on weekends, just casually looking. This was supposed to be a two-year plan. We connected with a real estate agent who sent us a ton of listings including this house, and it didn’t seem like that wonderful from the listing. We rolled up, and the second we walked through the door, we both knew.

It’s an 18th-century house that got an early 19th-century addition in an entirely different style stuck to the back of it. Really interesting owners throughout the years and a literary history. The first American bestseller was written in this house! And the previous owner had taken out two of the bedrooms, so one of the rooms just has a door that leads to nowhere. That door, for some reason, was the thing that sold us.

The thing that sold it for you was literally the weirdest, most unfunctional detail.

It was like, of course there’s a door to nowhere. That’s our house. I think our relationship is very much two people who are really different but who work together. And this house felt like the embodiment of that. So we left in a state of shock, went to Bartlett House, sat outside at the picnic tables, and looked at each other. Oh my god, are we buying a house? And then we just immediately changed our lives around to buy it.

On color in the house (room by room, no restraint):

How did you actually figure out the color palette in here?

The first room I knew was the dining room. I knew I wanted a pink dining room. And I remembered the curtains from my childhood bedroom that had these big pink bows. I just knew there was going to be a rose dining room with those curtains. I was looking at the Rococo period, the painting The Swing. I wanted a dining room that reminded me of that.

In this room (the living room), I wanted it to feel like a garden, especially necessary during the winter months here. So the green is that early bud green, that first green that emerges. I ended up inheriting a lot of furniture and textiles that were either acid-colored or red, and I thought: that’ll work. It’ll be this interesting zesty thing.

For the guest bedrooms, I did blue — because for people who don’t share my sensibility, that feels like a restful thing to give them. A peaceful, quiet place to rest. And then our bedroom is emerald green, totally drenched in it. Because of the pink dining room I told Jacob we’d do the bedroom in his favorite color. I decided that just fully going jewel tone was the way to avoid the boring sage situation. No restraint.

Did you get any of the colors wrong throughout the process?

I got the upstairs bathroom wrong. I went with a plum color, and it went dark and flat. This winter I painted it a golden yellow and now it feels so much better. The downstairs bathroom is orange. I chose that color because I wanted a view that would be pretty when you saw the barn. And a full orange room is a lot, but a little bathroom in bright orange? It works.

On collecting and decorating:

Your house seems to be full of heirlooms, auction finds, and things passed down from your family. How do you make it all work together?

I’ve accepted that things are going to be layered. I collect things that strike me. There’s kind of an “oh, that’s really different, that’s really weird” feeling. Sometimes they’re not even in quote-unquote good taste. There’s a miniature cabinet in the other room painted with princesses. I sent it to my friend, and she was like, “This is so weird.” Purchased. Fifty dollars, because no one wants this stuff. But I love it.

The thing is, if you bring all that stuff together and tie it with color, it works. And I use the same strategy when I get dressed. You know how kids get dressed? It’s my favorite jacket and my favorite dress and my favorite sneakers. They’re not thinking about the outfit. They’re grabbing their favorites, and somehow together it works. Instead of trying to work backward from the finished product, put all the stuff you love and let the picture emerge.

And when it comes to the color itself, where do you look for inspiration?

Nature is so helpful because any color combination found in nature is going to work. That’s an easy guide. As an artist, I look at paintings a lot. I look at art history. I looked at 18th-century colors, what was popular in dresses, textiles, and wallpapers. Having those references in my mind, even if the house doesn’t feel true to any historical moment — it’s a contemporary eclectic mix — those guides are still there.

On following your gut (the constraints that are real and the ones that aren’t):

What would you say to someone who’s feeling the pull toward a big life change but can’t get out of their own way?

There are some constraints that are real and some that aren’t. I think people get in their own way a lot by thinking more constraints are real than actually are. The financial piece is real. Can you pay your rent? That’s a real thing. How are you going to get health insurance? Also real. But, are people going to think I’m doing something cool with my life? Not real. Are my parents going to be proud of me? Not real. I’ve already sunk so much time into this path? Not real. It’s about being honest with yourself about which constraints actually exist.

And don’t ignore the feeling even if you’re not ready to do anything drastic yet.

Totally. I love the idea that the things you’re drawn to are telling you something. I would meet people or hear about their lives and feel so pulled toward something I couldn’t even explain. But it was telling me the ways I wanted my life to be different. Even envy gets a bad rap. Maybe you’re scrolling and you feel jealous, but that’s also information. What am I being drawn to that I don’t have?

When I made this shift, all of a sudden my life was full of people where I was like, “I’ve never felt so immediately right and aligned with someone I just met.” And I think what it might actually be is simpler than the universe sending you signs: when you’re honest with yourself about what you’re actually into, you start making choices that bring you there.

Morgane, thank you for sharing your colorful world with us!

If you’re local to the Hudson Valley, you can catch Morgane’s work this weekend (Saturday, May 16 & Sunday, May 17) during Upstate Art Weekend’s Open Studios — more info here. She’s also available for mural commissions and truly should be painting more walls.

And if this conversation cracked something open for you creatively or color-wise, that’s basically the entire reason I do this work. Send me a note and tell me what you’re dreaming up.

xo Daniela

I recently got a sweet text from a friend I’ve had the honor of helping with her home over the years, and it brought me back to my Color Story Workshop I taught last fall — specifically the idea that designing a home isn’t just about what you see. It’s a full-body experience. We’re so trained to lead with our eyes, but when you slow down and bring all five senses into it, something shifts. So for April, I did exactly that. Here’s what I noticed.

SEE

I made a long overdue drive to Woodstock to visit Sense of Place, an immersive showcase of contemporary art and design that’s open to the public through May. If you’re local, go. If you’re not, the photos alone are worth a few minutes of your time.

HEAR

A gentle reminder to check what’s playing at your local music venues, because live music is genuinely one of life’s great pleasures and we all forget to prioritize it sometimes! I just saw Dry Cleaning and had the best time.

TOUCH

Grass. A flower that just bloomed. Take your allergy meds first and then go touch some things outside.

SMELL

I visited the Pocketbook Factory, Hudson’s newest hotel, where every detail has been thought through to an almost unreasonable degree. Mid-hand-wash, I had the thought: If they have this soap, I need to own it. Luckily for me, they sell it downstairs. Unfortunately for you, it was a scent custom-made for the hotel and doesn’t seem to be sold online. It has notes of bergamot, sage, and patchouli, so do what you will with that information to recreate your own dreamy scent!

TASTE

Fresh ramps. Nothing else tastes quite so specifically like spring.

• Colorful glassware from Dusen Dusen, because your table deserves it.

• The new IKEA PS 2026 collection drops next Thursday, May 14th, and I have approximately ten alarms set. Bendy lamps. Colorful bendy lamps. That’s all I need to say.

• A calendar that assigns you a color based on your birthday. I love this concept so much, I’ve been doing my own version of it with friends for years. It’s easier to use on a desktop, but you may need to translate the page to find your date. I’m scarlet, a fiery red. What is yours?

• I am now fully committed to making daffodil hats for the next Mad Hatter parade in town and I will not be taking questions.

• Photos from a 1960s catalog of German furniture with a color palette so good it should be framed. Please enjoy.

• These women are my new muses in fashion and in mindset. May we all get there.

WORTH CELEBRATING

• I can finally say it: my project with Nikki Chasin was featured in Domino! I’ve been a Domino reader for years, so this one genuinely made me stop and stare at my screen for a minute (or about 60). I’ve gotten so many questions about the project and I’m planning a proper deep dive soon.

• NBD, my husband was just a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize. I’m so proud of him I could scream. (I did.)

• Going somewhere where you know exactly one person and leaving with a handful of new friends. Shoutout to for creating the kind of intentional space where that actually happens.

• My friend Carina founded The Corda Collective, a community for solo female designers and architects to grow together, and hosted her first event last month at House of Hackney. We did decoupage on flower pots with HoH wallpaper, which was as fun as it sounds. She’s been on a roll with the events calendar ever since. If you’re a solo designer, it’s worth looking into.

• And finally: a stranger on the internet introduced me to Shoot Your Shot Wednesday, the practice of emailing someone “out of your league” once a week, whether that’s about a collaboration, press, a new connection, whatever you want. It’s the same kind of delusion I wrote about and I am fully endorsing it.

COMING UP

An In Color interview with the incredibly talented artist Morgane Richer La Flèche, who has a very specific and very committed relationship with one particular shade of green. A deep dive into approaching color and decorating through the lens of storytelling. And an updated guide to my favorite colorful clothing brands, just in time for summer.

Thanks for reading.

xo Daniela

☎️ Need help figuring out your color story? I offer Color Calls for this exact reason. One hour to get unstuck and go for it. Book here and let’s work together!

KEEP READING:

Anytime I feel really frazzled or like my energy is off, I sit down and write whatever comes out until my hand starts to hurt. It’s a way of processing things without having to go into SOS mode and speed dial my best friend. During one of my writing frenzies, I realized there’s something I don’t talk about publicly enough, even though it’s a question I get asked often: why I actually left my last job, and how I knew it was time to go on my own.

The honest answer is that I didn’t leave for a specific job (I had dreams of where I wanted to be, but it felt out of reach). I left my last job because I had nothing left to give. There was no perfectly put together plan, but I knew I was completely out of alignment in life. I was running on empty in a way that scared me, and I felt like I was on a hamster wheel I could never get off of. Sometimes you have to completely bottom out before you’re finally ready to build something new. Not my most graceful era, but it’s all a journey, right?

None of this happened in a vacuum. I’ve leaned hard on my people: my husband, my family and friends, my therapist, my coaches, and I’m convinced that’s the only reason any of it worked. Sometimes all it takes is someone sharing their own experience to help you feel a little braver to take your own leap, which is exactly why I’m writing this.

If you’ve ever felt lost but known, somehow, that you’re meant for something more fulfilling, this one’s for you!

Read more

Ingrid is an author and designer who has spent over a decade studying the relationship between our surroundings and our emotional lives. She’s also a big feelings person like me. The kind of person who will tell you that the reason your living room doesn’t feel right has nothing to do with the sofa you picked and everything to do with the feeling you forgot to design toward.

I got to sit down with her recently, and we talked about where her obsession with joy actually started, the green kitchen panic that gave her the courage to go bold, and why she thinks slow design might be the most radical thing you can do for your home right now.

On joy (and how it became her whole thing):

Daniela: Everyone loves your TED talk. I’ve watched it so many times (if you haven't watched it yet, do yourself a favor and watch it here). The way you kick it off is so interesting because it sounds like the joy piece was so unexpected, even for you. Was there anything before that moment that would have shaped that, or is that something you couldn’t have even seen coming?

Ingrid: It just never occurred to me that those two things could really be connected. Obviously, I wanted my spaces to be beautiful (I read Domino magazine religiously), but I didn’t think about it in terms of joy or emotion. My dad was a neurologist, so we talked a lot about the brain and feelings, but connecting the bridge between the two hadn’t happened. It was that moment when I was like, “Oh wait, those two things can be connected.”

Do you think the cultural shift toward joyful interiors is something you can take some credit for?

I feel like there are several things happening at once. There’s definitely a reaction to the early-2000s Kinfolk aesthetic of Scandi minimalism spreading everywhere, as in you can walk into a cafe in Hong Kong and a cafe in Cincinnati and they kind of look the same. I think there’s a reaction against that feeling of placelessness.

Things used to be less boring, right? There’s this whole conversation going around about the Panera aesthetic. It wasn't even that it was the most elevated thing; it just felt so much better and cozier than a lot of what came after it.

It was like mass market Central Perk from Friends. And Central Perk was the cafe aesthetic throughout the 90s. Old scavenged velvet sofas, that kind of thing. And I think with the devices (our phones) — this thing is cold and glass, no sensorial quality whatsoever. We’re flooding ourselves with audiovisual movement, but there’s no touch, no smell, no taste. All these more subtle senses get totally crowded out of our digital lives. There’s a craving for wanting to feel like a whole person in a body, especially now with AI, where everything’s getting more and more disembodied. It’s calling us back to textures, senses, and soft ambient sounds.

It really is a full sensory thing.

Yes. If I have helped in any way to bridge the two, I’m very happy to have done so. Anytime there’s a really great lightbulb, it’s my nature to want to share it.

On choosing color and trusting your gut:

I want to ask about the color journey in your current home. How did you get to that kitchen? I was thinking about this space while writing these questions. I was like, this has to be the room she’s really proud of.

When we moved in, everything was brownish. Heavy brown wood paneling in the living room, brown granite, and brown wood cabinets in the kitchen. Just everything brown. We moved in the middle of COVID with a baby and really weren’t comfortable having a lot of workers in the house, so it took a while to get moving.

Eventually, I worked with a designer who said to start with a wallpaper you love and pull colors from it. We ended up picking a Josef Frank wallpaper called Vårklockor. It runs through the kitchen and dining room, so the two spaces function as one. We didn’t match the green exactly; we found a green that felt good with it. When it was going on the cabinets we were away, and the painters were sending me pictures, and I’m like, “Oh my god, it looks like mint green. What did I do?” I was terrified. But when we came back and started putting things back on the shelves, it became such a joy. And it gave me a lot of courage to do other things.

Was it the conversation with the designer that pushed you over the edge, or did you already know deep down and just needed someone to gut-check you?

I knew I wanted to do it. I knew I was going to wallpaper that space. What I didn’t know was how to get the two adjacent rooms to connect. There are architectural elements that are just a little tricky. What someone actively working in the interior space has a sense for is the nitty-gritty: do I paint this side of the pediment blue or green, where does the green stop, does this soffit get painted green or white? She’d seen it before, and that’s really what you need — someone who’s seen it before to give you the confidence to go for it. What I also learned is that you’re so worried there’s a wrong answer, but actually, they’re puzzling it out too. They’re like, “Eh, it could be white, it could be blue.” And you realize: I thought there was a right answer here, but actually it’s just judgment and taste and preference. It was really interesting to watch someone work through it.

People are booking me to ask these exact questions. Sometimes they want me to just do it for them, but sometimes they realize the answer themselves through the process. Like, “Oh, okay, I can just do this now.” It’s almost like you’re asking for permission, but you’re also learning along the way. People need to see the possibility.

Yes, and you just have to rip the band-aid off sometimes. When I was starting out, I felt a great pressure to have all the answers because I’m like, “I’m a designer, why don’t I have all the answers?” But in any field, collaboration is what gets you through trickier problems. You want the head of someone else to think with. Having someone to think with who has a very different perspective can be really helpful.

You’ve talked about learning to trust the feeling that you’re not there yet. What do you mean by that?

Well, in the kitchen, we thought we had settled on wallpaper. It was a much more sedate one. Safer, probably easier for resale.

Two nights before I had to finalize the order, we sat down on the kitchen floor, looked at swatches, and asked, "Is this really what we’re excited about?” We put the original swatch back in (the one our son had picked out first), and it felt so much better. Scarier, but more right. More us. So I’ve learned to trust that feeling of not being there yet. And I just saw you did it too. You repainted your orange living room one shade different.

Yeah, basically one shade darker.

I did this in the room I’m sitting in too. I had painted it Middleton Pink. My husband suggested that if I wanted pink, I should just go for pink pink. It felt so cotton candy when I came back in. I hated it. But I felt pressured to make a decision, and I talked myself into it. I lived with it for a year before I finally set aside two days and repainted the whole thing myself. It feels so much better now.

It’s the best. And it is intuitive in that sense. You can have a gut reaction, but you also have to pause on it. Because, to your point about the mint green cabinet panic, that was just trusting the process. You did make the right decision. But you usually do know if something’s really wrong. You can just feel it.

Yes. And rewinding it to the swatch level, I knew before it even got on the walls. Something wasn’t sitting right, but I talked myself into it. I’ve learned that feeling of it’s not quite sitting right in here means go another round. Unless you can feel it and it feels good, go another round. You can get to that level of certainty.

On rules, trends, and letting your home breathe:

Because you’re so anti-design rules, I would love to know which one you’d most like to see go away.

I really don’t think about design rules anymore, so it’s actually hard to think about which ones should be broken. The ones that really trip people up are around clearance and furniture placement. People will be like, “Well, I have a room with doors on two sides, so I guess I can’t put a sofa in here.” And I’m like, you want to be comfortable, your family wants to be comfortable. Maybe your coffee table’s a little close and that’s okay. There’s still room for everyone’s drinks, and when people come over, it feels cozy. Anything that prescribes that your space needs to be a certain way is a problem, because often it’s the awkward spaces that end up having the most interesting design solutions. You have to look at them as their own thing.

Trends feel similar to me. It’s not always someone telling you to do something; it’s more like, this thing is popular now, so here’s the pressure to do it. How do you navigate that personally?

The flip side of trends is that every year, there are posts that go around — “these colors are dated in 2026, these are the five don’ts for your kitchen reno.” That’s the problem with trends: they’re in for a little bit, and then they’re out. I’m always looking for things that are more timeless. I’ve done three green kitchens. Three different greens, but I love green. When you find things you love, it’s not a hard thing. My kitchen wallpaper is appearing in more places now, but it doesn’t matter to me. You live in your home with your family, and that’s who needs to love it.

Exactly. I understand why publications do it, but it’s so exhausting.

My friends and I were in this text exchange because one of them was like, “What is the deal with this leggings tucked into socks look? Am I confirming my status as an old lady if I don’t do this?” And I was like, “Am I confirming my status as an old lady that I don’t even know what you’re talking about?” She posted a screenshot. “Are your outfits dated? 2018 vs 2026.” I was all the 2018. But it’s so stupid. There’s so much beauty in timeless design. Stick with things you know you’re going to love for a while. And if you love a trend and want to try it, I always advocate for consumables and things that wear out. Towels, sheets, table linens, candles. Something timeless on the wall, and if purple’s out next year, burn all your purple candles real quick.

Slow design feels like the through line in all of this.

Hugely. If you do it all at once, you don’t leave yourself open to inspiration. We went to these cabins in Maine last summer with white walls, painted furniture, striped sofas. A lot more minimal than my usual style, but it really inspired me because it felt so airy, and I was like, maybe I could use a little more air in my life.

If you’re intrigued by Ingrid’s approach to design and want to learn from her, her free workshop is the place to start. It only happens once a year, and as someone who has done it, I can’t recommend it enough! Sign up here. And if you just want to follow along, you can find her on Instagram here.

xo Daniela

📁 IN COLOR ARCHIVES:

If this conversation sparked something for you, this one will too:

🌈 WANT TO LIVE MORE COLORFULLY?

I offer Color Calls for exactly this. One hour to get unstuck and go for it. Book here and let’s work together!

If you made it this far, thank you. It means a lot. Like or comment to tell me what you enjoyed about this interview. I read everything and appreciate you all!

The internet says that being weird means behaving, thinking, or appearing in ways that are unconventional, strange, or outside normal social standards. When you write it out like that, it kind of sounds like a compliment? Like someone who trusts themselves and knows what they like.

I was immediately reminded of this (the beauty of being weird) when Emma Chamberlain’s new collection with West Elm dropped yesterday. Everything is delightful and a little bit odd. I don’t know Emma personally, but in every video I’ve watched of hers, she seems authentically herself. And (with love), she seems to embrace her weird, so I had a feeling her collection would tie back to something personal for her.

Then I saw her quote on West Elm’s page saying, “The first thing I notice in someone’s home is their weird little items — the collectibles you don’t see anywhere else. That tells you a lot about a person.”

Same, girlfriend! I’ve said some version of this to clients more times than I can count, both about color and about the weird tchotchke that has no business working in a room but absolutely does.

Embracing your weird shouldn’t feel radical. Being interested in something because it makes you happy should be reason enough. And yet it is kind of radical, because we are chronically worried about what other people think. The design industry doesn’t help. There are all of these unspoken rules about what “good taste” looks like, what a “serious” designer does, what your home is supposed to say about you. I’ve had conversations with so many friends in the industry, and we always land in the same place: the most interesting work happens when someone stops asking for permission and just does it their own way.

Anyway! Buy the weird thing. You’ll thank yourself later.

My favorite weird things from the collection

Pigeon Everything - Starting off strong with the most fun part of the collection IMO. The pigeon pitcher, the pigeon glasses holder, and the pigeon bowl. This is the weird heart of the whole collection, and I am fully on board. I’d put them anywhere because there is no wrong place for a pigeon (official stance).

Mushroom Lamp - You know how I feel about red, and this lamp gets it. This would look so sweet in an office, living room, or bedroom corner.

Cottage Switch Plates - Kitschy, yes, but in the best possible way. I want to see these in a guest room layered with florals and competing patterns.

Cottage Doormat - Cottage in another format! For anyone who is living their storybook dream and wants their front door to know it.

Embroidered Pendant - I have a pendant obsession, and this one checks every box. Easy for renters and homeowners who want to add light in an unexpected place without calling an electrician.

Enamel Button Coasters - These feel nostalgic, almost like something you’d find while thrifting. I want to gift these to everyone I know who sews.

Floor Pouf with a Built-In Pocket - A floor pouf with a magazine pocket sewn in. Simple and genius!

Lacquer Entryway Mirror - Speaking of weird: this green is the perfect color of weird green.

Perforated Round Coffee Cart - It looks like a beautiful, straightforward coffee cart until you notice the perforated red moment and then you can’t unsee it. That’s the detail that sold me. I’d love this in a kitchen or as a bar cart in the living room.

Tubular Wall Hooks - You can never have too many colorful wall hooks. That’s just a fact. Entryway, bathroom, kids’ room, back of a door, anywhere!

Apple Pillow - This pillow makes you happy every time you look at it. That’s the whole job of an object like this and it does it perfectly.

Icon Pillow Covers - I love a tiny motif moment. These would be darling on a bed, especially the brown option.

Sculptural Drink Tables - The shape is what first pulled me in, but the colorways make them an easy add for any living room that wants a little edge.

Frame Flatweave Wool Rug - This color combo is getting a lot of airtime right now and for good reason. It goes with everything, and the blocky graphic shape in the center gives it real presence.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a pigeon pitcher to add to cart.

xo Daniela

Keep on reading 👀

In the meantime, here’s what I’ve been collecting for you…

At home lately:

• I tackled two paint projects this month using Alkemis mineral paint and I’m a little obsessed. Non-toxic, zero VOCs, no smell (!!!), self-priming, and the colors are genuinely beautiful. I did my living room in Rock Lobster and our guest room/Austin’s office in New Kinda Kick. Both are slightly moodier than my usual go, but they feel so nice. I can’t explain it!

• This ceiling mural made my neck hurt just watching, but I couldn’t look away. The commitment.

• A simple trick you should try: covering an area you’d rather not look at with your favorite fabric. These stripes make it look intentional and fun rather than like a problem you’re hiding.

• While I’m on the subject of pattern, can we talk about Tyree Guyton? His polka dot artwork has been living non-stop in my head. Imagine if we all moved through the world with that kind of singular mission.

• The most attractive birdhouse I have ever seen, in case you need that sentence in your life today.

• I’ve been on a rattan lamp hunt since painting my living room and this one stopped me mid-scroll. If it’s not for me, it’s for you, and either way, someone needs it.

In my closet (and on my wishlist)

• More on this soon, but… Made x Hudson. Go look. Sustainably made, one of a kind, and I may or may not have just become a gal with a custom piece.

• I finally have a real purse and I feel like a person. So spacious, and it’s going to look even better once I add every bag charm I can find.

• I also bought a vintage Basset Hound coin purse because I contain multitudes and I have no regrets. It was one of a kind but Etsy has no shortage of treasures if you know where to look.

• Daydreaming about this dress with something cold in my hand and nowhere to be.

• My friend Ariel sent me these neon orange sneakers and now we might be getting matching pairs, which tells you everything you need to know about both of us. Comfort first, color always.

Small joys of March

• Photographing a finished design project with my friend Nikki Chasin. It’s a fun one. Sneak peek above!

• Scheduling the haircut I’ve been putting off. Not a dramatic change, just the split ends gone. It does something good to the soul.

• Spring cleaning, unapologetically, just a few days into spring. I know it’s annoying to say but it really does work.

• Setting recurring calls with your favorite people so catching up isn’t something you’re always trying to find time for.

• Carving out more time to make silly art without the pressure of it being perfect. Less “is this good” and more “does this feel good.”

• Making movement a non-negotiable. I started strength training in November (cleverly timed right as the coldest months arrived), and the difference in my mood and how I feel in my own body has been real. Also, don’t underestimate the power of a quick walk!

• Treating yourself to something small on a day when you’re craving it for no reason at all. Give yourself a $15 budget and go off. No justification required.

More soon, including new series names, a slightly new rhythm, and a conversation with Ingrid Fetell Lee, who literally wrote the book on joy.

xo Daniela

Keep on reading 👀

When I was a guest editor for Domino’s Home Front last fall, I eagerly predicted we’d start seeing more polka dots in our homes. Not because I want them plastered on every surface, but because polka dots represent joy for me. They have a playful air that makes me smile. It’s very “let’s not take ourselves too seriously.” And I think that’s something we could all be reminded of.

You can watch the full conversation for my elevator pitch on polka dots above (and the color orange—but I’ll save that for another newsletter). TLDR: material matters. Not all polka dots are created equal! Choose your form and set the mood.

Polka dots in the wild

Spotted in my cart

• Linen Noren Curtain - Very tempted to try this as a room divider in my home.

• Dot Pillow - Leave it to Pierce & Ward to make polka dots look sophisticated. The balance of the playful pattern and the earthier colors is what’s doing it for me.

• Habitat Festival Rug - This rug looks like a bird’s-eye view of a giant LEGO, and that sways me to want it even more.

• Dotty Mug - An extremely low lift dot mug that even the most cautious will love.

• Chubby Saucer - Pair this with your dot mug for a pattern-infused beverage ritual.

• Door Mat - I love this spotted door mat from IKEA so much that I just ordered two.

• Polka Dot Shower Curtain - If your bathroom needs a dose of fun.

• Polka Dot Photo Mat - This is such a sweet upgrade to your average photo frame.

• Areaware Waste Bin - Who says trash cans can’t be cute?

• Louis Vuitton Yayoi Kusama Book - The polka dot coffee table book of all coffee table books.

• Meg Musgrove Dot Napkins - My favorite spotted napkins, and maybe your favorite spotted napkins too.

• Origami Lantern Floor Lamp - A rice paper shade floor lamp with a little extra spice (and by spice, I mean polka dots).

• Trot Linen Lampshade - I need to manifest a Basset Hound version of this.

• Polka Dot Salad Plate - Diane Keaton’s take on the classic black and white polka dot.

• Vintage Brown Polka Dot Bowl - I’m not sure how this cutie is still available, but you better run for her!

• Big Squeeze Mirror - Sometimes less (dots) is more, like in this mirror.

• Green Dot Rug - If you’re going to flirt with polka dots, a runner is a very civilized place to start.

• Dot Comb Wallpaper - A funkier spin on the classic dot.

• Handmade Ceramic Bowl - Picture this piled high with citrus. Or cherries. Or whatever feels indulgent.

• Polka Dot Gumball Chandelier - I will absolutely be finding a reason to use this in a project soon.

Have I won you over yet? Are we dot people now?

xo Daniela

One year later, the sentiment still holds. I find myself gravitating toward bright, energetic colors because they genuinely make me feel better. That’s the real power of color: it’s something you can reach for when times feel heavy, when the weather is bleh, or when you just need a small emotional reset.

A friend recently asked if I thought I’d ever get tired of being in the “business of color.” After laughing at how funny that phrase sounds, my answer was a very easy no.

Why? Well, I’m biased, but I think this is the most fun job ever. I feel incredibly lucky to have found my superpower and to get to shepherd so many people through their own color journeys. It’s also deeply rewarding. There’s something powerful about encountering a color that truly lights you up!

One shade that comes up again and again in my own home is pink. I know—it can be a controversial color. But I’m a longtime believer in pink and will happily argue that it’s a neutral. I said what I said!

A Brief (but Fascinating) History of Pink

I’ve always been intrigued by the history of pink. Did you know that pink might actually be one of the oldest colors on Earth? Scientists discovered a bright pink pigment preserved in rocks beneath the Sahara Desert that is more than 1.1 billion years old. Billion! With a B! The color came from ancient microorganisms, meaning pink predates dinosaurs, flowers, and pretty much everything else we associate it with today.

Despite how gendered pink feels now, it wasn’t always coded as soft or delicate. Pink was associated with strength, status, and confidence in much of the 18th century, and it was commonly worn by men as a lighter, more playful version of red (remember, red = power).

It wasn’t until the 1940s that pink became rigidly gendered, largely due to—you guessed it—marketing. Once companies realized they could sell more by associating colors with identities, pink was boxed into a very narrow narrative. In other words, pink’s reputation has been misunderstood for a very long time.

Color Psychology of Pink, Explained

I’ll be the first to say color psychology isn’t one-size-fits-all. But what is interesting is how consistently pink shows up as a color associated with reassurance and emotional ease. Take Baker–Miller Pink, for example.

Back in the late 1970s, a psychologist named Alexander Schauss was so convinced that a certain shade of pink might actually calm people down that he talked the directors of a Naval correctional facility in Seattle into painting a couple of confinement cells that exact color. They wanted to see what would happen when inmates spent time surrounded by pink walls, and through his studies, he found that it appeared to have a calming effect, temporarily reducing feelings of anxiety and aggression.

The next time you instinctively reach for cream or blue as a calming base, consider pink instead. Color psychology might tell us it promotes feelings of comfort and approachability, but the only test that really matters is how YOU respond to it. Paint colors, after all, are emotional before they’re aesthetic!

Next week, I’ll take you on a little field trip to some particularly pink places (say that three times) that I adore.

xo Daniela

Now that I’m back in New York, I keep thinking about the last-minute “urgent” things on my end-of-year to-do list, and it’s funny how frivolous some of them feel after a little time away. That’s the beauty of stepping out of your home for a bit: you come back and suddenly you’re in love with it all over again.

Today I wanted to pull a question from the Dear Daniela archives because I think it’s timely and worth talking about!

Dear Daniela,

How can I stay motivated and not lose focus on the home projects on my neverending list? I tend to go through bouts of inspiration, start a couple of things here and there, and then completely drop off. Did I get tired of my own idea or am I just lazy? The process leaves me feeling sad and then I start comparing myself to others. Any tips on how to break this cycle? At what point do I call in help from the pros?

Dear Reader,

It might be a cliché, but it’s true: comparison really is the thief of joy. The moment you start measuring your home against other people’s spaces is the moment you lose the plot. Your home shouldn’t look or feel like anyone else’s. It should feel like yours. What fun would it be if all our homes were carbon copies of each other?

Staying on top of home projects is challenging, and you’re not wrong to wonder if you simply got tired of your own idea. But let me say this clearly: you probably aren’t lazy. You’re questioning your choices, and that can be incredibly exhausting. Whether you bring in professional help is entirely up to you, but I do find consultations helpful for getting a second opinion and finding a direction you might not have landed on alone.

In the meantime, here are six ways to stay grounded and keep momentum with home projects:

1. Determine one thing that will motivate you.

This looks different for everyone, but I know I’m a sucker for branding—even at home. Having trouble finding design ideas? Give your home a name and design under that lens. Love a good tchotchke? Take it a step further and make matchbooks for your home. More of a smell person? Tap into your senses and create a custom scent for your home (I did this at Poured Candle Bar in Hudson and I might start making it a seasonal activity!). It might sound silly, but all of this works to motivate me.

2. Find a tool to organize your ideas.

There needs to be a method to the madness. For me, the key is finding one system that brings everything together. I love Asana (it’s free for most features!) because I can create boards for each room and track ideas, to-dos, and urgency all in one place. Notion and even the Notes section on your phone work great too.

3. Create a realistic schedule for your projects.

I like to determine this by asking what will make the biggest impact in my home, what will bring the most joy, and what is the quickest thing you can accomplish. Maybe your first project is a healthy mix of all three! If you’ve worked with me before, you’ll know that I am a big believer in the process of slow design. There is (nine times out of ten) no rush when it comes to decorating your home. We put a sense of urgency on things because we want to get that immediate gratification, but you can really take your time.

4. Pull inspiration to inspire—not dictate.

I love dissecting inspiration images I’ve saved like it’s my job. Ask yourself: What am I actually responding to here? How could this element work in my space? Think about adapting what you love, rather than copying it outright.

5. Give yourself permission to let things shift.

The way you decorated your home two or three years ago might not serve you anymore, and that’s okay. Functional needs change. Aesthetic tastes change. Of course, we’d like things to last as long as possible—but that doesn’t mean you need to create unnecessary blockers for yourself.

Timelines will shift, too. You might build the perfect Asana board, then everything changes because you got sick or life happened. Don’t let that derail you. Just keep going!

6. Find accountability buddies (because everything is more fun with a buddy).

Last year, I started hosting virtual “Unstuck Sessions” with a couple of dear friends who are also designers. Sometimes we talk about home projects; other times we end up talking about what’s happening in our businesses and helping each other work through whatever feels stuck. I look forward to these calls every month and truly treasure them. They’re a good reminder that momentum doesn’t have to be a solo effort.

If you found any of these tips helpful, I’d love to know in the comments below. Don’t be shy! Also, while my Dear Daniela calls are on hold, I’m always accepting questions via email. Send your design dilemmas to hello@danielaaraya.com. I feature one question a month, and love reading through them all.

xo Daniela

Today’s In Color interview is with Mallory Solomon, the founder of Salam Hello—a brand I’ve known and admired for years. The rugs are beautiful, yes, but what’s always stayed with me is the care behind them: the craftsmanship, the stories, and the women who make each piece by hand.

Mallory talks about color in a way that instantly made me lean in. Not as something you pick or perfect, but as something you feel. Something that holds memory and emotion and a kind of quiet power (my favorite way to describe color!). Read on for a thoughtful conversation about color, craft, and the beauty of living with things made by hand.

Daniela: For those who may be new to you and Salam Hello, can you share a little about yourself and the story behind the brand?

Mallory: I’ve always known I wanted to start a business, even while climbing the ladder in the advertising world. After years of nonstop work, I finally booked a two-week trip to Morocco—not realizing it would change everything.

From the moment I arrived, I felt an unexpected sense of home. As I wandered through villages and medinas (doing what any traveler does, shopping for textiles), I had a moment of clarity. I was in awe of the craftsmanship, but even more so by the quiet presence of the women behind the rugs.

Back in New York, I became obsessed with understanding the history of Moroccan weaving. Amazigh women have been handweaving since 600 BC, passing their techniques from mother to daughter. Each textile carries a story—months or even years of labor—often woven between raising children and running households. These rugs are living works of art. Yet when it’s time to sell, their stories disappear. Rugs move through middlemen and bulk buyers. The artisans, who invest the time, material, and generational knowledge, are rarely part of the negotiation. Most don’t earn back even a fraction of what their work is worth.

Salam Hello was born in 2019 to change that. Our mission is simple: preserve the story, honor the maker, and ensure fair pay. We meet directly with every artisan, learn the time and labor behind each weave, and make sure her voice is part of the journey from loom to home.

At its core, Salam Hello exists to ensure these women and their stories are seen, heard, and valued the way they always should have been.

What was your gateway to color (an experience, a place, or maybe even a specific rug that first made you fall in love with bold shades)?

The very first family I met while building Salam Hello—Mbarka and Khadija—made me fall in love with bold color through a vibrantly dyed Hanbel they were weaving.

They welcomed me straight into their home, where their loom was set up in the living room. They wove as they talked, sharing their stories while serving tea, bread, olives, and almonds. I remember watching their hands move across wool dyed in saffron gold, pomegranate red, and deep indigos—and realizing that color in Moroccan weaving isn’t chosen for aesthetics alone. It carries memory.

That was the moment I fell in love with bold color, not as a trend, but as a language. That day with Mbarka and Khadija became the foundation of how Salam Hello operates. We meet every artisan in person. We listen to her story. And we bring the rugs directly to the customer, so her work isn’t diluted through middlemen.

How has being immersed in Morocco’s world of vibrant colors shaped your approach to Salam Hello’s collections?

Living and working in Morocco has taught me that a shade isn’t just a color, but a pigment with a story. Henna becomes rich reds, pomegranate skin turns to golden yellows, and dried alfalfa leaves create green hues. Every color is tied to geography, season, and ritual.

That shifted our entire approach to building collections. We no longer choose palettes for aesthetics alone; we choose colors that belong to a place, colors that carry memory. The palette becomes a form of storytelling.

When you’re starting on a new rug, what comes first for you: the palette, the story, or the artisan’s vision?

It’s always a mix of palette, story, and the artisan’s vision—they inform one another from the very beginning. Sometimes we start with a heritage motif and reinterpret it; other times, the artisan is ready to explore something entirely new. From there, the story and palette evolve naturally. Nothing is dictated. Color and pattern are co-authored.

A perfect example is our latest collection, Atlas Form, which draws inspiration from the natural rhythm of Morocco’s topography, where desert meets mountain, and ancient pathways bend with time. Each piece traces the fluid lines found in nature: the curve of a dune, the edge of a canyon, the silhouette of a hillside kasbah.

What colors or textures are you most drawn to right now, and how are they showing up in your life or work?

Lately, I’ve been drawn to earthy warmth with soft contrast, tones like burnt sienna, olive green, sun-faded taupe, and rich clay red. They’re everywhere around me in Morocco, from terracotta buildings to olive groves to sunbaked walls.

Instead of bold blocks of color, I’ve been leaning into softer transitions. Almost like watercolor instead of paint. In our designs, that meant reimagining traditional color-blocking in a more sculptural way: gentle shifts in tone, sweeping forms, one shade melting into the next.

If someone’s a little intimidated by color, how can a rug make experimenting feel less scary?

Think about your rug as your fourth wall. It is the perfect place to experiment because it grounds the entire room. Even one bold stripe or a patterned border can shift the energy of a space without overwhelming it.

Start with a color that feels like you. Not trendy, not loud, just one that makes you feel something. If beige feels safe, try sun-baked terracotta or dusty saffron instead. They are still neutral, just a little more alive.

Thank you to Mallory for sharing her colorful world with us. You can explore Salam Hello’s newest collections, Atlas Form and Izra (created in collaboration with General Assembly), on their website, and follow along on Instagram here.

I shared this analogy in my color workshop last week, but it applies perfectly to gifting too: think of yourself as a scientist. As you move through your days, you’re collecting tiny bits of data without realizing it—little clues, passing comments, quick moments that hint at what someone actually cares about. The key is simply paying attention.

Keep a note on your phone. Make it top secret! Jot down the specifics: the dish your mother-in-law loved at lunch, the candle brand your friend keeps meaning to try, the vacation your sister won’t stop talking about. These oddly precise details are gold when it comes to giving a great gift.

And because we’re still in scientist mode, look back at your past “experiments.” Which gifts seemed to genuinely delight someone in the moment? Which ones found their way into everyday use? Which ones maybe didn’t quite land? All of that is gentle data you can tuck away.

The whole point here isn’t to turn gifting into a lab report or overly complicated homework assignment. It’s just about thoughtfully paying attention earlier, so you’re not scrambling at the end of the year trying to remember what people actually like. Learn from what you notice, refine as you go, and, most importantly, keep it fun! If a gift is chosen with intention, it’s already special. When in doubt, never underestimate the power of a handwritten note. Those always make me melt into a puddle of mush.

Okay, now to the shopping…

100 joyful gifts for everyone you love, curated by moi! You can browse the full guide with images here, or scroll down for my thoughts, bit by bit.

A tiny disclosure: I’m now on ShopMy, thanks to my friend Ariel’s encouragement. This means if you purchase something from this list, I may earn commission. But nothing in here is fluff. I only include pieces I’d happily buy, gift, or already own myself. Scout’s honor!

SHOP JOYFUL GIFTS

For the Artsy Creative Person

Little upgrades and small luxuries to fuel their next project (and maybe the one after that).

The Studio Set - I spotted this studio set at Nickey Kehoe and haven’t stopped thinking about it since. It’s that good.

Flower Press - For the person who’s always foraging.

Serena Set - Who doesn’t love a fancy set of pencils and a beautiful place to put them?

World’s Smallest Paint Set - Small enough to carry everywhere, cute enough you’ll want your own.

Zippered Pencil Pouch - Do you see a theme here? A sweet little pencil pouch made from scrap fabric by one of my favorite shops here in town, Made X Hudson.

Creatively Broke Purse - A creative coin purse for your creatively broke friend.

Painter’s Palette - A painterly palette puzzle that doubles as a color study.

Fruity Sticky Tabs - These tiny sticky tabs would look very cute in a journal.

Pipsticks Sticker Subscription - A friend gifted me this years ago, and I still think it’s one of the most fun, thoughtful gifts!

Thank You Letter Seal - Snazzy letter seals for your snazzy pen pal.

Palette Scout - A deck of colorful cards to help you build color confidence.

Smile Pad - A notepad that sparks a lot of joy.

Korean Muddle Crayon - Probably the coolest crayons I’ve ever seen in my life.

Water Color Set - A foldable watercolor palette with 56 shades (!) and a water brush.

Chroma Scissors - One of those “maybe they’d never buy it for themselves, but they’ll freak out when they open it” gifts.

For Your Friend With Impeccable Taste (Or at Least the Desire for It)

Design-forward picks that spark instant joy.

Doodads Laquer Tray - A dedicated spot for all the doodads (because every design lover has a few too many).

Cabana Magazine Subscription - A great magazine is a little treasure. This subscription is one they’ll obsess over.

Heart Charm - These charms are so cute for hooking onto necklaces or (my new favorite) earrings.

Mini Chunky Cup - IYKYK (and your design-loving friend will know).

Bespoke Cushion - Give someone the chance to design a custom pillow with Colours of Arley. Dream!

Portable Reading Lamp - The perfect little colorful reading lamp.

Everybody Nightlight - A cheerful nightlight for anyone who needs a little extra light and a little extra joy.

Beige Candelabra - For the friend whose tablescape game is already strong, this takes it up a notch.

Wave Matchbox Sleeve - A sexy matchbox that you can engrave. How chic!

Silk Eyemask - I wasn’t an eyemask person until silk converted me. Gift it and watch the same thing happen.

House Ceramic Butter Dish - A tiny house for your butter. Adorable, clever, and very giftable.

Filtered Showerhead - Upgrade someone’s entire morning routine with a shower head that filters water and looks cute.

Sunshine Flower Frog - A tiny burst of sunshine for someone’s flowers (or their desk).

2026 Planner- A diary–planner hybrid that’s the best of both worlds.

Insulated Lunch Box - A lunch bag that’s cute and insulated. Yes please!

The Storyboard - Perfect for the friend who likes to mood board the old-school way.

Abaco Bottle Opener - A bottle opener so pretty they’ll actually want it on display.

Tulip Mug - You can never have too many cute mugs (that’s what I tell myself as I gift them to everyone).

Beyond Measure Cup - A measuring cup that’s pretty enough to pass as glassware.

Lighter Case Bag Charm - For your friend who’s always losing their lighter.

Gingham Slippers - Delightfully cute house slippers.

Sauntering Socks - Fun socks for the extra fun person in your life.

Seashell Trinket Box - A very sweet trinket box for the friend who can’t resist tiny treasures.

Silk Skinny Scarf - I bought this green polka-dot scarf and immediately felt cooler. Great quality and comes in a fancy gift box.

Namita Napkin Set - Very nice napkins for the host in your life.

Gigi Glass Espresso Cup - The detail in these espresso cups is perfection.

Bare Hands Manicure Kit - An extremely underrated gift, especially in the winter when hands need extra love.

Navigli Bag - A new favorite, versatile find. Each one is hand-stitched by refugee and migrant women using upcycled leather.

For Parents, In-Laws, or Anyone Who Says “We Don’t Need Anything”

Lovely, reliable gifts that are guaranteed to land.

Thoughtful non-things: A neighborhood date-night itinerary you plan start-to-finish (dinner, dessert, a walk), a staycation you map out for them, a “one free night off” card where you take their kid/dog/errands, a “let me cook dinner for you” night, a playlist made solely for them, a local class they’d never book for themselves, a library card sign-up paired with book recs, a “choose your own adventure” set of three experiences they pick from, a handwritten letter, or even an extra long and sweet voice memo telling them something you appreciate about them.

But if you want to get them A Thing…

Jar Wench Jar Opener - Because we’ve all struggled with the impossible jar.

Sheba Cardigan - A splurge, yes, but one you’ll be very loved for.

Linen Cocktail Napkins - To add a little spice to your loved one’s dinner parties.

Food Stories Conversation Deck - For the foodie in your life who also appreciates a good story.

Chunky Martini Glass - The perfect chunky martini glass for the martini drinker in your family.

Mom of the Year Notepad - Make your mom’s day with this “Mom of the Year” notepad.

The Chevron Autofoto Strip Mount - Such a fun way to gift someone your favorite photo booth moment together.

& Tread Well Hand & Body Wash - The best-smelling hand wash, made locally here in the Hudson Valley.

Mosaic House Socks - Not slippers, but house socks… which might be even better.

Crown Affair Gift Card - Crown Affair has single-handedly changed my hair for the better, which is why I want to gift their products to everyone I know.

Preston Lane Kitchen Set - Cleaning supplies that smell so good, you’d never guess they’re cleaning supplies.

Blue & Green Cutting Board - A bright, happy cutting board that makes meal prep way more fun.

Radicchio Leaf Spoon Rest - A radicchio spoon rest that is so perfect it needs no explanation.

Fun Mom Hat - For the Fun Mom in your life.

Aura Carver Mat - A gorgeous digital frame that keeps the family photo stream alive.

Passport Sleeve - A stylish passport sleeve for your favorite globetrotter.

Snack Spreaders Set - The cutest snack spreaders for anyone who loves hosting, or just loves cheese.

Rainbow Chopsticks - For joyful eating, duh.

Password Journal - A journal for your parents to finally write down all their passwords.

Garlic Candle - For the garlic-obsessed family member who will absolutely lose it over this.

Chalice - A handmade vessel that would look excellent on a bookshelf or mantel (can confirm).

Ina Ornament - An Ina Garten ornament for the person who wants to be friends with Ina.

Laundry Stain Stick - A stain stick that really works!

Baggu Set - Forever on a mission to get everyone I know using Baggu. Bonus points if you use one to “wrap” another gift.

Small Tissue Box Cover - A cute upgrade for an otherwise very boring household item.

Le Nine Moods Poster - For the person who feels lots of feelings and embraces them all.

Garden Essentials Hand Soap - The dreamiest hand soap.

Surprise Fanny Pack - Each one is one-of-a-kind, which makes it feel extra special (and very fun to gift!).

Metal Farmhouse Sink Dish - A miniature farmhouse sink for your sponge that’s equal parts charming and completely unnecessary in the best way.

Crocheted Chicken Pot Holder - A tiny crocheted chicken that moonlights as a potholder.

Balsam Fir Weather Stick - A weather stick your dad will inevitably explain to everyone who walks in the door.

For the Guy Who Never Knows What He Wants

Practical, good-looking things they’ll actually use (and won’t shove in a drawer).

Greetings in the Guest Room - Aesop for the guy who claims he needs nothing (he’ll use every single item).

Pebble Erasers - Erasers that look good on any desk and feel even better to use.

Face Glass - A cheeky face cup that feels like a tiny piece of art to sip from.

Packing Cubes - A tidy little system that turns even a messy packer into a neat one.

Puffy Earbuds Case - A tiny padded case that stops earbuds from disappearing into the abyss.

Lavender + Smoke Candle - My husband picked out this scent, which feels like it could be a good sign if you’re shopping for yours.

Block of Cheese Bookmark - Cheese lovers and book lovers both win with this very adorable bookmark.

Log Notes - Tiny log, lots of notes. Very cute.

Tin Cloth Travel Kit - More than likely a big upgrade from his old toiletry bag.

Super-Plush Robe - Peak coziness, delivered in robe form.

Single Layer Toolbox - Perfect for someone who owns exactly three tools but wants them displayed like museum pieces.

Magic Fire Log - Something to make your next campfire with your boo just a little more magical.

Stainless Steel Fish Travel Flask - A clever fish-shaped flask that makes any outdoor adventure feel a tiny bit funnier.

Popcorn Bowl Kernel Sifter - A popcorn bowl that eliminates the jump scare of a rogue kernel.

Mushroom-Shaped Incense Burner - A charming little mushroom incense burner.

Canyon Jacket - The jacket he’ll wear nonstop the minute he opens it.

Collect Records Frisbee - Art, but make it a frisbee.

Magnetic Wall Clipboard - For the list kinda guy.

For the Kiddos (aka Your Cool Friends’ Cool Kids)

Basically, a list of things I recently saved and wanted to share with others who have kids or are shopping for them.

Turtle Backpack - This little turtle backpack is cute enough to make any kid excited to carry their own things.

Draw Your Own Rug - I’m doing this in a client’s kid space and immediately thought: wow, this would make an incredible gift for the tiny artist in your life.

3D Cardboard Rex - A build-it-yourself dino mask that fuels big imagination energy.

Farm Crayons Box Set - Farm crayons = maximum cuteness.

Block Party - Endlessly stackable and very cute toys.

Baby Hooded Towel - The happiest hooded towel on earth.

Mushroom Kaleidoscope - Looks like a mushroom, acts like a lightshow.

Magic Power Potion Kit - A potion necklace kit that even adults secretly want to play with.

Ocean Color Changing Umbrella - An umbrella that changes color in the rain (!!!).

Sticker Earrings - Sticker earrings that deliver maximum sparkle.

Stripe Trouser - Kid pants so cute they’ll upstage whatever you’re wearing.

Mushroom Lamp - A very cozy mushroom lamp.

If you enjoyed this gift guide, give it a little heart or drop a comment so it can find its way to more people who need a little gifting inspo this season.

Thanks for reading!

xo

This time of year can feel especially tempting to impulsively repaint your entire apartment because the sun goes down at five and who doesn’t want a dose of color-induced joy? I support the urge… as long as you’re not going in blindly.

Here’s what I want to focus on today: how I make color decisions in real life. And lucky for both of us, I’m knee-deep in redesigning my guest room in Hudson, which means you get the ride-along version, messy photos and all.

Step 1: Assess the Space (AKA: Don’t Skip This Part)

Before you get excited about swatches, assess what the room is doing and what it needs.

• What’s not working about this room?

• What is working?

• Are there functional elements to consider, or is this more aesthetically driven? A healthy design project is always a mix of both.

Here’s the current state of the room for full transparency:

I’m dealing with a few issues here:

• This room has become a catch-all room, so it’s not exactly a joy to be in.

• The use of the room has changed—it needs to serve as both an office for Austin and a guest space.

• The lighting is not great in here.

• It’s all pretty bare with nothing on the walls. No artwork, no fun paint colors, nothing!

I’ve already solved for items 1 and 2, which leaves me with 3 and 4. So…

How do I use paint to make this space feel better? And how do I actually choose a paint color?

Step 2: Find Your Anchor (This Is the Game Changer)

My secret to choosing color always starts with (feeling, duh, and…) finding an anchor.

An anchor is your room’s hero piece. The thing that makes you stop in your tracks because it hits the exact feeling you’re designing for. It could be a piece of furniture, a rug, artwork, a weird ceramic bowl… anything.

Finding your anchor early cuts your options in half. It eliminates decision fatigue and gives every choice a starting point. Most “paint panic” comes from choosing color without defining the anchor first.

For me, the anchor didn’t show up until very recently (which I talk about in this joyful roundup). But once I found it, I knew I had a direction.

From there, I played with new room layouts and auditioned the other pieces I was considering. Piece by piece, a palette began to emerge. Eventually, it was time to figure out which color would go on the walls.

Step 3: Zoom Out & Look for Patterns

When I zoomed out and looked at the colors taking shape, I realized they reminded me of a space I recently visited and fell in love with: Quarters.

Tip: If a palette feels familiar, ask yourself why. Your home will always feel most “right” when something internal is being mirrored back to you.

This is all when it started to click. I knew I wanted warm walls, and the idea of something moodier (rather than opting for a bright paint color) was intriguing. A dark, muddy mustard would contrast beautifully with the reds, blues, and pinks I was pulling in.

Step 4: Sit With It, Literally

I’m still waiting for some furniture to arrive, and I’m sitting with the paint decision, but I have a clear direction. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be testing samples to see how they play with the room’s lighting and finishes.

And if I go back to the “feeling words” I chose at the beginning—cozy, comfortable, cocoon-like, inspiring, grounded—this muddy mustard is checking every box. In Austin’s words, “a professional, yet casual home office where I can either choose to focus or relax.” And in my words, “…that also captures the elevated and comfortable feeling of a hotel room for our guests.” Feels like it’s working, no? Time will tell. I’ll keep you posted as the journey evolves!

In the meantime, let this be your reminder that while it’s thrilling to paint on impulse (believe me, I’ve been there), there’s a different kind of joy that comes from slow design.

xo Daniela

P.S. I’m taking a pause on Dear Daniela (my group consultations) for now, but I’ve decided to open it up and answer your questions here instead! I’ll pick one question for every newsletter. Send your design and color dilemmas to hello@danielaaraya.com for a chance to be featured in an upcoming edition.

Hi everyone, and a big, warm welcome to all the new faces here! Whether you found me through Substack or the School of Joy newsletter, I’m so happy you’re here.

It feels fitting that this month’s joy roundup is arriving alongside a workshop I taught for School of Joy founder Ingrid Fetell Lee and her community, the Commons. Ingrid’s work has always inspired me, and her commitment to finding joy in the everyday is both contagious and extremely appreciated. So when she invited me to lead a session for her community and share something that I am passionate about, I said yes immediately.

The workshop is a peek into how I approach storytelling through design, and specifically how color plays a role in that story. Color is deeply intuitive for me (I realize not everyone feels this way), but I believe that with the right questions and a little creative muscle-building, anyone can get there. You can learn to trust your instincts, find the colors that feel like you, and say a confident hell yes to the ones that belong in your home.

If you’re not sure what your “hell yes” even looks like yet, you might love this workshop. It’s made for people who…

• Feel stuck choosing colors for their space

• Crave more personality at home but don’t know where to start

• Are overwhelmed by options and want a clear jumping-off point

• Want to build confidence in their creative decisions

• Have a home that looks “fine” but doesn’t quite feel like them

• Miss feeling excited about design and want to get their spark back

I’ll be teaching it again live in just a couple of weeks. Hop on the list here to get more details sent to you.

And while November might seem like a chaotic time to add one more thing to your plate (travel, holidays, deadlines!), it’s actually the perfect moment to pause and take stock. Before the sale madness fully takes over your inbox, we’ll slow things down, look at what’s really working in your home, and do a quick exercise to get you feeling clear and grounded so you can head into January with a little more calm and confidence.

Now, onto the joyful things…

• When’s the last time you got stuck in the pouring rain? It happened to me a few days ago, and the emotional arc was cinematic: annoyance → fury → full-body laughter. I was channeling my inner Drew, of course.

• Speaking of getting caught in the rain… this rain cap is absurdly chic.

• Block Shop Textiles just dropped a new collection, and I can’t stop thinking about this checkered tablecloth as the backdrop for all future dinner parties.

• I listened to this song at least 100 times in October. It gets me every single time.

• Everything in this kitchen is delightful, especially the food-centric cabinet knobs and decor.

• It’s officially mood lighting season. This one costs $5K, which is tragic because I want it with my whole heart. But we can still appreciate its beauty.

• Xenia Taler is giving away these incredible chunky plates, and I’m only telling you so we can have a little healthy competition over who wins. (If it’s you, I expect dinner invites!)

• Can’t confirm that this wardrobe makes life more joyful, but I have a strong suspicion.

• A stylish dog bowl made for long-eared friends. Finally, something for my Basset Hound and her damp-eared pals.

• I’m sorry if you are not a dog person, but I need to tell my people about one more dog rec: this adorable Peter Pan collar.

• Need a solution for winter? Try these sleeping bags for your feet.

• Strawberry Pop-Tart sandwiches. That’s it. That’s the sentence!

• Mustard Made is having a 25% off sale. Yes, I know what I said about sales overwhelm, but I am who I am (a loyalist to joyful storage). I promise they’re really great.

• For anyone who, like me, loves pencils and a little drama. Introducing a product that unites my two great passions: stationery and stirring the pot.

• Closing out with a personal joy: watching my husband complete his first 50K after months of training. Hubba hubba!

Your turn. What caught your eye or made you smile last month?

xo Daniela

P.S. Fellow white-wall lovers… If you’ve been wondering how white and color can actually play nicely together at home, I’m resurfacing a little love letter I wrote about what Leanne Ford taught me about doing more with neutrals. You can read it below.

There’s nothing I love more than falling down an online rabbit hole—the kind that starts with a single photo and somehow leads to a full-blown obsession. A few months ago, it was a photo of the most beautiful floors I’d ever seen (I’ve been calling them galaxy confetti terrazzo floors, if that helps paint the picture). I posted the image on Instagram, it took off, and the internet did what it does best: it solved the mystery.

Turns out, those floors belong to the Fashion and Textile Museum in London, founded by none other than Zandra Rhodes—Dame Zandra Rhodes—the original Queen of Color (or the Princess of Punk, depending on who you ask). One thing led to another, and somehow, I found myself on a call with Zandra herself. Within minutes, we were laughing about tech mishaps and talking color like we’d known each other for years.

It’s hard to sum up Zandra in a single sentence, but here’s my best attempt: she’s an 85-year-old British fashion icon who’s dressed everyone from Princess Diana and Jackie Onassis to Freddie Mercury; she has short pink hair that makes me want to get a blunt bob immediately; and she’s spent her life proving that color, confidence, and creativity all belong in the same sentence.

Below is a snippet from our chat, me in my pink Nikki Chasin sweater, Zandra sitting in front of storage bins filled with decades of her archived collections, where we talked about her rainbow penthouse above the museum, how she chooses colors by feeling (not formula), and why subtlety has never really been her thing.

Daniela: I actually want to go back in time. I just turned 34. What were you doing at 34? Where were you in your career?

Zandra: It was a very exciting time in my life. I was going backwards and forwards between America. By that time, I was selling in Palm Beach, Bal Harbour, and New York. I was doing appearances for Neiman Marcus across the country in Dallas, Houston, and San Francisco. I was producing my really colorful chiffon dresses, all hand-printed here in London, in my factory underneath the floor I’m on now. They were hand-beaded and edged with pearls, which we dyed. A very exciting period.

So, around 10 years into your career as a textile designer?

Yes. That’s when I started doing direct work making dresses, so I could show how the prints would look. That really founded my career.

Incredible. Did you imagine then that your life would look like this now?

No. I enjoyed designing and doing my work, but I didn’t know where it would lead me at that time. At about 34, I was just coming up and up in my adventures. It was rather wonderful. Like being in The Wizard of Oz, tapping heels and going forward. In fact, my hair wasn’t pink then. It didn’t turn pink till 1980.

Is your natural color brown?

A darkish brown, and now it’s naturally gray—but kept pink.

We’ll say it’s naturally pink.

I like that.

Thinking about the evolution of your career, have you always been colorful?

I had a very exotic, colorful mother who I thought was over-colorful when I was younger, but she didn’t have pink hair. Because she could make clothes for me, I never had a problem being dressed up if I wanted to be. Although when I was actually working, I was usually in overalls. But with a lot of jewelry.

So, your mother influenced you in terms of style and color?

I’d say style more than anything. She was very stylish. She worked in Paris before she got married in 1940. She’d wear jewelry and always look great.

And now she’s passed the baton to you.

That’s a lovely one. She’s passed the baton.

Let’s talk about your home now. You live above the Fashion and Textile Museum you founded. How did that come about?

I’d always saved all my clothes, thinking they should one day go to a museum. I never sold my originals. I had them in boxes in storage. My great friend Andrew Logan, a sculptor, said, “Zandra, there’s a building going near Tower Bridge, an old cash-and-carry building.” I said, “What do you think I am—made of money?” Then I worked out that my house, which I bought in 1974 near Portobello Road, had suddenly become quite valuable. I could sell my house and it would buy the building. And then I convinced the top architect of Mexico (Ricardo Legorreta), known for color, to redesign it for me. It’s now bright orange and pink. It’s very nice. It brightens up the street with its orange and pinkness.

So the floors that caught my eye…. Are they throughout the museum or just the entrance?

The floor at the very front of the museum, and the floor you’re talking about is the entry to my own block of flats. Those are by an Australian terrazzo artist, David Humphries. He also did the patio floors on the beach when I lived in Solana Beach, California. We drew out my designs and he worked on doing them in glitter and different colors for all the wonderful terrazzo.

*If you’re as interested in the making of these floors as I am, please enjoy this video:

Your home feels like a technicolor kaleidoscope. You have just about every color in there. Can you tell me about it?

Yes. First, we designed the total floor in the colors of the rainbow—pink, red, orange, green, blue—in a lovely twisty way. Then we echoed those colors to drift up into the wall.

Almost an ombré look, right?

It’s an ombré-looking rainbow. Not subtle.

We’re not going for subtle here.

No, no. We’re not going for subtle.

How did you decide where to start decorating and choosing colors? Do you have a process?

Not quite like that, because I already had furniture from my old home. I’ve got a big circular table that seats 14. And that has, in the middle of it, a wonderful tulipiere with red tulips hanging—artificial, because when I used to go away, people would forget to water them. I have wonderful silk tulips for that, surrounded by stones I collect from all over the world. Agate from Australia, shells from New Zealand. I collect pottery, so I have some wonderful, big, colored urns that hold flowers, by Kate Malone or Carol McNicoll. Paintings on the wall. Again, quite bright paintings. And when you look out of the window toward the street, there’s a four or five-foot-tall wall painted bright ultramarine blue with white hydrangeas growing along it. So my rainbow penthouse looks onto a bright blue wall.

For you, does color come as a feeling? People assume I’m doing something technical, but it’s intuitive for me.

You’re exactly right. It’s intrinsic. You just work with it and see how happy you feel. If it doesn’t make you feel happy, you have to work out how you’re going to change it.

That’s a great base rule. People often want a process they can follow. Any advice for those who are color curious?

Start by experimenting and try a little bit. If it doesn’t work, change it again. Sometimes a color can just lift you up. You don’t know why—it just does. The sun shines in, and the yellow floor glistens. The green outside through the windows says something. It just makes you feel great.

And if it doesn’t make you happy, change it.

Yes, you have to change it. Once when I was a student, we had a small bedroom and we painted it black. We couldn’t get up in the morning! The corners disappeared. It lasted a week, and then we repainted it white before deciding what to do next.

What inspired the black?

It seemed like a good idea at the time. It wasn’t a good idea.

We learn from mistakes. It can feel high-stakes to choose paint, but once you do, if it doesn’t work, you can change it.

Exactly. And try to establish your own character.

There’s a fine line between inspiration and replication. Where do you draw your inspiration from when designing?

Anywhere. You might visit somewhere and love it, or you could listen to your friends, who might say, “Why don’t you do this?” I tend to do drawings of what I think something should look like, and then put the colors on the drawing.

So you physically want to see it.

Yes. So you could take a photograph of a room and draw it out, then recolor bits and see how it looks. Provided it’s not costing the earth, you try the changes and see whether you feel great.

And anyone can do that—print a photo, mark it up, color it.

They just have to be brave enough.

Bravery can be tough, especially around color. People fear choosing wrong.

There really is that fear. But, for example, if you get a sofa and know it’s the wrong color, you could get a piece of fabric and cover it over to see if that’s what it needed. You can’t do everything drastically, but you can think it through.

I read in an interview that you said your home is an extension of your work. It wouldn’t make sense to have a boring home. I love that—what you wear, how you live, it’s all one.

As a designer, you represent your work. If you’re saying to people, “I like bright colors,” that doesn’t mean they always have to have them, but you need to try it.

Do you have an all-time favorite piece you’ve made?

At the moment, I’m wearing all my lovely Celia B’s because the sun’s out and it feels bright and shiny, and the prints look great in the sun.

I like that you can dress them up or down. Dual-function pieces you can wear often.

And I’ve worn them in colder bits. Just put a polo sweater underneath with lots of jewelry. It feels just as good.

I’m noticing a theme: you want things to feel good. Your work is obviously cheerful, but is there one thing you want people to take away from your work?

Joy. I like to think people say, “I put your dress on and I felt wonderful and couldn’t wait to wear it again.” It brings a smile to their face.

Huge thanks to Zandra for the chat and for proving that life really is better in full color!

You can find more information about Zandra on her website or on Instagram. Her newest book, Iconic, was just released in paperback. It’s a memoir told through 50 of her most personal objects, each one a little window into her wildly colorful life.

xo Daniela

When I asked friends and clients what their process was, here’s what I heard:

“I saw it online, tracked the paint source, and just copied it.”

“My friend used it in her home, so I figured it must be good.”

“I liked the name, so I went for it.”

The name thing especially struck a chord. One friend said, “I literally veto a color if the name isn’t the vibe. This strategy has yet to lead me astray. In fact, it adds to the energy of the room, especially when the paint color is fun or resonates with me or my family in some way.”

Another friend chose her daughter’s room color because it was called 36 Hours in Marrakech (a warm and delicious pink). She hasn’t been to Morocco yet, but the name was enough to make the room feel like a little slice of that dream!

And last but not least, a whopping 70% of you told me in a past survey that you’ve chosen a paint color because of the name.

Why names matter

Paint companies know names sell. A gray could just be Neutral Gray 145, but call it Off the Record or Interior Motives (both from Backdrop), and suddenly you’re buying a vibe, not just a gallon of paint.

Farrow & Ball might still be the king here. No one else leans harder into names that make you pause. Think Arsenic, Dead Salmon, Mouse’s Back. They’re a little strange, but that’s the point. You can’t forget them.

A name turns a wall color into a story.

Where it gets tricky

That’s all fun… until it isn’t.

The shade you fell for online might fall flat in a north-facing living room. The “safe” swatch from the hardware aisle could glow icky green at sunset. And the name you loved? Sometimes it sells you a dream that doesn’t hold up in your space. We’ve all been there.

While it might feel like a loss (and pure frustration) in the moment, it’s not failure. It’s just paint doing what paint does: shifting with the light, bouncing off your floors and furniture, and picking up on the stories you already live with.

A more playful way in

What if you let names inspire you, but not have the final say?

I once gave a group of my friends their “power colors,” or colors based on their personalities, and it served as a good reminder that color is never just a visual aspect. It’s associative and emotional too.

Here’s your challenge this week:

• Grab a few swatches or tester pots of colors you’re drawn to, even if it’s just for the name.

• Paint them on big sheets of paper or poster board. Bigger = better.

• Move them around the room throughout the day: morning, afternoon, evening. Notice how the color and feeling shift throughout the day.

• Write down the paint names next to your three words from Part 1. Do they line up with how you want the space to feel, or is the name selling you a story you don’t actually want?

This is where you start to see the difference between a name that makes you smile and a color that will actually feel good in your home.

Next time, I’ll show you how to think like a color expert and make choices with confidence.

xo Daniela

Top Posts 🧃

Now, I’ll start by saying I don’t love throwing shade (pun intended) at any color. Khaki is fine… it can be warm and feel good in the right space, and Universal Khaki does have some depth to it. But what stopped me was the way people were already talking about this color: safe, approachable, comforting for anyone overwhelmed by too many choices.

That’s the part that gets me. Not the khaki itself, but the idea that we need to default to “safe” because we don’t trust ourselves with color.

It’s the same logic behind paint companies that promise to spit out your “perfect shade.” Plug in a few details, and voila, you’re done. Except… not really.

Yes, undertones exist. Yes, your light direction matters. Those things are very real. But color isn’t a math equation you can just solve and be done with. It’s your space, your memories, and the story you want that room to tell.

One person’s dreamy warm white is another person’s dingy rental beige. A blue that feels nostalgic in my kitchen might scream “hospital blue” in yours. (True story: an internet troll once told me my kitchen felt like a hospital!)

That’s why outsourcing the choice with a quick plug-and-play solution rarely works, and why we shouldn’t mistake a Color of the Year for a universal truth. One is an algorithm, the other is a marketing trend, but neither can tell you what’s right for your home.

Here’s what I see happen all the time:

• You find your “top pick” from an article, quiz, or algorithm.

• For a minute, you feel validated.

• The paint goes up… and the color feels off.

Now you’re second-guessing again. Because no formula can fast-track you through the personal part of the process. Color is personal, people!

Just to be clear: outsourcing the decision to a quick fix is very different from working with someone to actually figure it out. When I’m with a client, my job isn’t to hand over a single swatch and walk away. It’s to guide them through the process, coach them past the fear, and help them see how color works in their home. That’s what builds confidence.

I feel so strongly about this that I've decided to put together a mini-series: three parts on how you can start working through your own color dilemmas and build a process that feels right for you.

Everyone here gets the mini-series (because color confidence should be universal). But paid subs will get a workbook to take it further, plus a little discount code for something else I’ve been cooking up. Consider it a thank-you for keeping this newsletter rolling!

Before even thinking about starting with swatches, start with yourself:

• Pick a room you’ve been thinking about painting.

• Ask: How do I want this space to feel when I walk in? Write down three words.

• Then, a bonus step, check the room in the morning, afternoon, and evening. Notice how the light shifts. That way you’ll start to see what you’re working with before you even look at swatches.

That’s already a stronger foundation than any algorithm will ever give you.

Next, we’ll get into the funny, very human ways people actually pick paint colors (read: choosing a shade for the name alone, which an overwhelming amount of you do apparently!), and why those choices matter more than you’d think.

xo Daniela

Tell me: do you buy into Universal Khaki as Color of the Year? And more importantly: what three words did you land on for your space? I’d love to share some of your answers in Part 2!

Keep on Reading 🧃

Sure, there are real deadlines we can’t ignore, but most of the time, “feeling behind” just means we were out having a life. Busy hanging out with friends, busy enjoying the last bits of summer, busy doing whatever we feel like doing because we’re the boss of our own days. Earlier today, a friend told me to never feel bad for doing too many fun things. She’s right. It’s my birthday month! Life is full, and that fullness is something to celebrate. The fast days, the slow days, and everything in between.

So instead of measuring my week by what didn’t get done, I’m counting the little things that did. Here are 15 tiny joys that made me smile, caught my eye, or stuck with me.

• Few things top reuniting with old friends. In the last month I’ve hugged some of my best people and met their new babies. Joy level: off the charts.

• So many of you sent me this clip from Ingrid Fetell Lee’s TED Talk that’s making the rounds on Instagram, and it makes me so happy to see it getting airtime. She unpacks why things like confetti, pops of color, or even fireworks spark something in us, and it’s not frivolous. It’s survival. As she puts it: “On the most basic level, the drive toward joy is the drive toward life.” Which feels like a very good reminder to look up from our screens and actually notice what’s delighting us right now!

• Speaking of confetti… I present to you: postcard confetti.

• I’m currently fixated on these lick-the-pan picnic bars that my friend Ariel made. Picnic in September, anyone?

• Apparently there’s a gratitude journal app that lets you join with friends and peek at their daily gratitude moments.🥹

• Bemz teamed up with designer Patricia Rodi on the La Maison collection, and it’s basically proof that an IKEA sofa doesn’t have to feel like an IKEA sofa. French-inspired stripes, florals, and slipcovers that turn your living room into a little maison of its own.

• Don’t underestimate the power of a one-night staycation just a few towns over from where you live. I'm just coming back from a trip with my friend Diana, and it was such a nice reset. More to come on the hotel we stayed at!

• Debating re-painting my cabin this cheery shade of red.

• I manifested my dream hutch, and it’s now living its best life in my guest bedroom. Here’s the exact moment I knew it had to be mine.

• I love a yellow and lime green color combo, and I’m always pleased when I spot them in nature as the leaves start to turn. This tile duo from clé is making me want to bring the look home.

• This entire shoot on the World of Interiors, inspired by Jane Asher's Fancy Dress, is so weird and magical. I’d love it if we all brought this level of playfulness to our homes.

• I’ve written about evidence folders before, but I have to say it again: 10/10 recommend creating an “evidence” folder on your phone or computer to throw screenshots of nice things people say to you when you need a pick-me-up.

• The gasp I gasped when I saw this colorful home on Architectural Digest. There are so many things to love! A slide connecting the kitchen patio to the backyard! A secret DJ booth! All the color!

• A reminder to buy the weird thing you’ve been eyeing.

• I’m not rushing into fall just yet, but I will say: I squealed the first morning I felt that pre-fall crisp air.

Your turn! What’s something joyful you noticed recently?

xo Daniela

P.S. I made a reader survey to figure out what you actually like reading here (and what you want more of). It’s short, I swear! If you have a couple of minutes, will you take it? Thank you!!

Keep on reading 🧃

My work as a color consultant involves me constantly chasing inspiration, and I wanted to bring a bit of that same discovery to you by showcasing the wonderful people I’ve met or admired along the way. I hope that these profiles remind you that there’s no one way to do color. It’s your world, your rules!

Today’s guest is Emily Keating Snyder. Emily’s work feels like color in its happiest mood. Neon yellow, bubblegum pink, shades that immediately change the energy of a room (or honestly, your day). I first met Emily at a designer meetup in New York City, and since then, I’ve loved seeing the way she builds a world that’s equal parts playful and intentional.

Something I really admire, though, is her generosity and enthusiasm for the creative process. Emily has built a membership to help artists grow their businesses, shares free resources without hesitation, and speaks honestly about what it means to make a living as a creative. She’s not a gatekeeper (love!). She’s someone who believes there’s room for everyone, which feels as bright and refreshing as the colors she uses.

Keep reading for Emily’s thoughts on inspiration, the color she thinks deserves more love, advice for curating your walls, and one hue she wishes she could take back!

ON BECOMING AN ARTIST:

“My early inspirations were craft projects I did with my mom—embroidery, scrapbooking, sewing. As a kid, I remember always being amazed by any grown-up I met or saw who was creative. I always had art supplies around and a knowing that I wanted to do something artistic when I grew up.”

ON LIVING WITH COLOR:

“As a painter, I’m often mixing and testing new paint colors and sketching ideas (always in color!). Even in my minimalist, cream-walled apartment, color is the first thing I notice in the morning: the deep blue painting of clouds on my wall, then the orange-pink-purple stained glass lamp by Friend of All, and the rich greens of all the trees outside my back window. I even try to surround myself with beautiful colors in small ways, like with the toothpaste packaging I choose, the mug for my coffee, and my phone case. Ironically, though, I wear mostly black, white, and denim.”

ON CURRENT COLOR OBSESSIONS:

“So tough to choose! It’s probably a light/bright magenta, something Barbie would be into. I’ve never been ashamed to admit that I love pink, but a lighter, more lavender-toned pink has been feeling a little more grown-up to me lately, while still very fun. And I feel like it’s a surprisingly versatile color.”

ON TAKING COLOR RISKS:

“I’ve always loved one of the most polarizing colors out there: bright orange*. Growing up, I was told by everyone that it was a risk (for paint, for pillows, for clothes), but it just felt normal to me. My high school colors were orange and black, so to me and my friends, it became almost neutral after 4 years. And now I stand by my gut feeling that orange is amazing and so misunderstood.”

*Editor’s Note: Girl after my own heart!

ON WHAT EVERY HOME NEEDS:

“This is not a sexy design answer, but I think every home needs a giveaway bin. We can get so wrapped up in adding things to our homes, but taking something out can make such a big impact too (both visually and mentally).”

ON COLLECTING ART:

“I think of building an art collection like curating a wardrobe with a true sense of personal style. Mix high and low. I would say invest in originals when you can—even a small canvas painting brings so much texture and weight, it can really elevate a home. And then mix in prints everywhere else, or even digital downloads you can print yourself from places like Etsy and Juniper Print Shop.

Just like with clothes, I would splurge on the pieces that you feel really connected to and can see having in your home for many years to come (original paintings, large or editioned art prints, buying directly from an artist or gallery).

Then, if you want to play with art styles or colors that feel more trendy and perhaps short-term, that’s where I would look for less expensive options like posters and prints from big stores or, again, digital downloads you can print easily on your own.”

ON GETTING STARTED WITH COLOR:

“This might sound obvious, but start small. It’s easier to learn what colors you like through a few pillows or candlesticks than to learn the hard way by buying a huge couch in an experimental color. I don’t think you can truly know what colors you enjoy having in your home until you’ve lived with them for a while. I like to keep a neutral base and then sprinkle in colors to feel out what works together. Like I said, my walls are all the same shade of cream, and I usually have a solid white linen comforter on my bed, but rugs, wall art, mugs, and flowers from the farmer’s market—those are all full of color. That’s where I really play.”

ON FINDING INSPIRATION IN NYC:

“All the art museums, of course. I also find a lot of inspiration at stores like ABC Home and John Derian, as well as little gems like Measure Twice (Cobble Hill) and Mexico in My Pocket (Carroll Gardens). I also love getting a mental reset and secret-garden vibes in cozy parks like Elizabeth Street Garden and Cobble Hill Park.”

COLOR CONFESSION:

“I regret getting the royal/primary blue canvas chair I picked out when I moved into my apartment (eek!). A very narrow stairwell meant the best course of action for seating in our living room was two Japanese lounge chairs. We already had one in a lovely light blue, but for some reason, I thought it wouldn’t work to have two of the same (silly!), so I picked a darker solid blue canvas for the second chair. I’ve secretly wanted to swap it out ever since.”

The recs Emily couldn’t keep to herself, straight from her texts:

• SENT TO HER BOYFRIEND: “I came across these wild tennis ball sneakers that I can’t stop thinking about. They’re actually made out of bright yellow-green tennis ball felt. I’m a big tennis fan and get very excited about fun colors (obviously), so I think these are a no-brainer for me. I texted my boyfriend immediately.”

• SENT TO HER MOM: “I just texted my mom about this art organization I found called Islam & Print in Baltimore that focuses on amplifying contemporary Muslim artists. Their exhibits look so beautiful, I can’t wait to see one in person. I grew up in the Baltimore area and have a special place in my heart for the local art scene.”

• RECENTLY SAVED: “Ok, this one I saved on Instagram, so basically sent it to myself (but I’m going to count it!). Elizabeth Mayhew (AKA The Dutchy of Millbrook) makes super intricate, collage-like cakes that are so fun and unique. I can’t wait to order one (or many), just waiting for the next occasion.”

Want more color from Emily? Follow her on Instagram, and don’t miss her print shop for pieces that will help you bring your signature palette home.

xo Daniela

To those of you who stuck with me through my impulsive decision to host a creative challenge (Creative Recess!) during one of the busiest months of my life… THANK YOU. And to those of you who didn’t participate but still followed along week to week, you get a gold star too ⭐️

Candidly, one of the reasons I wanted to put this together was just to see if I could. I’d been thinking about hosting a challenge for months, and finally had the realization: if not now, when? The annoying part of me chose to do it during an already chaotic month, but that’s also kind of the point. My two cents:

• It’s so easy to put off the thing you’ve been thinking of doing, big or small.

• Making room for creativity (even just a tiny bit a day) is not only possible, but it gives your overworked brain a chance to soften.

Over the past few weeks, you’ve carved out time to get curious and experiment (on top of everything else going on in your life). I hope you’re proud of that!

Before we jump into week 4, a couple of quick housekeeping announcements/asks:

• New interview series: Next week I’m kicking off a new series featuring creatives, designers, and anyone with a strong point of view on living beautifully (and colorfully). I have some truly wonderful people lined up, and I can’t wait to share their worlds with you.

• Tiny joys: ARE BACK! That is the message! I know the tiny joy format resonated with a lot of you, so don’t worry, it’s hitting your inbox very soon. I’ve been busy being a little joy collector, hogging all these happy treasures.

• Help me with a paint story: I’m working on a new piece about how we actually choose paint colors. If you have thoughts on this topic, reply to this email! But also, if you just have a sec to answer this one-question poll, I’d be so grateful:

Read more

This email is part of Creative Recess—my four-week creativity challenge running through August (though you can jump in anytime!). It’s a little gift for paid subscribers, and a chance to carve out space for play, color, and low-stakes creativity at home (and in life) when things feel full.

This week is all about color! (Then again… isn’t it always?) But this one is extra focused.

Before we get into the week 3 task, I wanted to share something exciting: I was featured in ’s Home Front! The piece dives into my philosophy on making colorful decisions with no regrets and includes some other fun bits, like what color I think is about to take off next, what design trend I can’t stand, and more.

Home Front

How to create a color palette with no regrets

Daniela Araya is a real-life color fairy godmother. When you’re staring down a brick-like deck of paint swatches or stuck between two seemingly identical shades, she swoops in to guide you. A meeting with Daniela—or Color Call, as she fittingly calls them—is arguably the secret to no regrets. Daniela also hosts group advice sessions, writes a…

Read more

9 months ago · 4 likes

As a fellow magazine girly and long-time reader of Domino, this was such a treat to be part of. And I will never recover from being called “a real-life color fairy godmother.”

One thing I talk about in this is how confidence doesn’t come from memorizing color theory, it comes from testing things out through play.

That’s what this week is all about.

If there’s one idea I hope you take from this prompt, it’s this: The best way to build confidence is by trying, not perfecting. Write it on a sticky note if you’d like! Make it your mantra! The world will give you a million reasons to second-guess your instincts. Don’t be one of them… 😉

Read more