Podcasts about ballard designs

Caroline and Liz—joined by guest host Nakyrna Milner from Ballard Designs—welcome award-winning Atlanta designer Olivia Westbrooks. Known for her vibrant use of color and emotional approach to home design, Olivia discusses her new television show, 'Homes is Where the Heart Is,' on Hallmark Plus. The show highlights her journey of transforming family homes filled with emotional significance.  Olivia also shares insights into balancing bold colors with a client's personal tastes, the challenges of filming a design show, and how she manages her creative projects alongside family life. The episode is packed with inspiration and practical advice for anyone passionate about creating homes with true heart and soul. What You'll Hear on This Episode: 00:00 Introduction to Ballard Designs Podcast 00:35 Meet the Hosts and Special Guests 00:51 Nakyrna Milner's Background and Expertise 01:10 Introducing Olivia Westbrooks 02:44 Olivia's Journey to Television 04:35 The Emotional Connection to Home 07:44 Challenges of Filming a Design Show 13:53 Balancing Creativity and Client Needs 22:27 Color Theory and Design Tips 24:50 Fun with Color Pairing 31:40 Navigating Color Choices 31:58 Trusting Your Instincts 32:40 The Squint Test 34:26 Exploring Unused Colors 37:58 Trends in Design 39:52 The Comeback of Glass Blocks 45:34 Balancing Art and Life 48:16 Creative Passions and Family 52:19 The Joy of Needlepoint 55:30 Encouraging Authenticity 56:49 Show Information and Farewell Also Mentioned: ⁠⁠ballarddesigns.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | Shop Now ⁠oliviawestbrooks.com⁠ | Designer Website ⁠@oliviawestbrooksinteriors⁠ | Designer IG Please send in your decorating dilemmas + pictures so we can answer them on an upcoming episode (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠podcast@ballarddesigns.net⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) . And, of course, please subscribe to the podcast if you haven't already in Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss a new episode. Happy Decorating!

This week, Caroline and Liz are joined by special guest host Jamie Corona from Ballard Designs' merchandising team as they dive into a delightful conversation with Nashville-based interior designer, Kate Figler. Kate shares her remarkable journey from a kindergarten teacher to a celebrated interior designer with insights into using regional influences to shape beautiful yet practical interiors. What You'll Hear on This Episode: 00:00 Introduction to the Podcast 00:33 Introductions of Special Guests and Host Announcements 01:53 Meet Kate Figler: A Journey to Design 02:32 Kate's Path from Education to Decor 11:26 Family-Friendly Design Tips 23:17 Kate's Nashville Influence 31:52 Kipps Bay Room Challenges 32:59 Venus Drawing Room: A Case Study 35:49 Creating Space Illusions 38:02 Furniture Planning Essentials 45:19 Addressing Listener's Bedroom Query 58:55 Closing Thoughts and Goodbyes Also Mentioned: ballarddesigns.com⁠ | Shop Now Kipps Bay Show House Various wall coverings and fabrics by Lilly Wallace Please send in your decorating dilemmas + pictures so we can answer them on an upcoming episode (⁠⁠⁠⁠podcast@ballarddesigns.net⁠⁠⁠⁠) . And, of course, please subscribe to the podcast if you haven't already in Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss a new episode. Happy Decorating!

In this special episode, Caroline and Liz take a deep dive into the fascinating world of product development and sourcing at Ballard Designs. Joined by special guests Patrick Farrell, Vice President of Merchandising and Product Design, and Sarah Hall, Senior Manager of Sourcing, the team unveils the intricate journey from initial concept to finished product on your doorstep (spoiler alert: the whole process takes 2-3 years!). Patrick and Sarah share behind-the-scenes insights on how ideas are generated from customer feedback, trend reports, and market influences, then refined through design iterations and meticulous testing. They also explain the complex logistics of vendor selection, how products are engineered, and the importance of global partnerships to maintain quality and craftsmanship.  The episode covers everything from drop testing and packaging to navigating tariffs and supply chain challenges—shedding light on how every detail ensures a stellar experience designed to unleash your inner decorator. What You'll Hear On This Episode: 00:00 Introduction to the How to Decorate Podcast 00:34 Meet Patrick Farrell and Sarah Hall from Ballard 01:12 The Product Design Process: From Concept to Creation 05:09 Sourcing, Vendor Selection, and Collaboration 09:42 Packaging & Drop Testing: Ensuring Quality & Safety 27:54 Quality Checks & Manufacturing Standards 28:18 Understanding Minimum Order Quantities (MOQ) 30:29 Successful Product Negotiations & Cost Savings 31:58 The Art of Handcrafted Production & Manufacturing Journeys 36:47 Visiting Manufacturing Facilities & Europe Sourcing 43:54 Logistics, Tariffs, and Navigating Supply Chain Disruptions 50:40 Commitment to Quality & Customization Options 53:52 Local Store Experiences & Customer-Centric Approach 55:12 Final Thoughts & Insights Also Mentioned:   ballarddesigns.com | Shop Now The collaboration behind Ballard's new product collections How vendor partnerships drive innovation and quality The importance of quality assurance and sustainability practices Please send in your decorating dilemmas + pictures so we can answer them on an upcoming episode (⁠⁠⁠podcast@ballarddesigns.net⁠⁠⁠) . And, of course, please subscribe to the podcast if you haven't already in Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss a new episode. Happy Decorating!

We welcome Frances Lacefield Hovis to the podcast, founder of the dorm-focused furniture company Room 422. Caroline, Liz, and Frances excitedly unveil the new Ballard Designs Dorm Collection in partnership with Room 422.  Throughout the episode, Frances shares her inspiring journey in starting Room 422 and discusses the creation of custom dorm bedding and decor. Frances also offers a wealth of advice on creating cozy and stylish dorm environments using Room 422 products, focusing on essential items such as headboards, bed skirts, and decorative pillows.  Watch the video version of this week's episode now on Ballard Designs' YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/nTAXTvqZC-I What You'll Hear On This Episode: 00:00 Introduction to the How to Decorate Podcast 00:34 Exciting News: Launching a Dorm Collection 00:43 Meet Frances Lacefield-Hovis 01:45 The Birth of Room 422 03:34 Growing the Business Through Trunk Shows 04:29 Adapting During the Pandemic 05:57 Designing Dorm Room Essentials 10:33 Collaborating with Ballard Designs 16:05 Mother-Daughter Bonding Over Dorm Decor 19:20 Choosing the Right Bedding for Dorms 22:37 Freshman Dorm Room Essentials 23:50 From Interior Design to Event Planning 25:27 Starting a Business in College 26:01 Parental Support and Entrepreneurial Spirit 26:36 Tips for Designing a Dorm Room 29:27 Checklist for Dorm Room Essentials 38:14 Transitioning Dorm Decor to New Living Spaces 40:24 Budgeting and Splurging on Dorm Decor 42:56 Where to Find the Dorm Room Collection 43:16 Conclusion + Where to Follow Francis and Room 422 Also Mentioned: Ballard Dorm Collection | Shop Now ⁠⁠@flhovis⁠ | Designer IG ⁠room422.com | Room 422 Website @room.422 | Room 422 IG Please send in your decorating dilemmas + pictures so we can answer them on an upcoming episode (⁠⁠podcast@ballarddesigns.net⁠⁠) . And, of course, please subscribe to the podcast if you haven't already in Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss a new episode. Happy Decorating!

In Part 2 of our Outdoor Mini Series, we welcome back landscape designer Carmen Johnston to talk about the art of decorating your outdoor spaces. Caroline and Liz discuss Ballard Designs' new Spring releases with Carmen and the importance of planning, choosing the right plants for your garden's sunlight exposure, and the use of frost-free dates for planting. Carmen also provides practical advice on container gardening, from soil preparation to plant selection using her 'three T's' method (tall, thick, and trailing plants). She emphasizes the importance of texture, variation, and the use of irrigation systems to keep plants thriving. Additionally, Carmen offers solutions for dealing with common issues like deer in the garden and highlights the benefits of professional garden planning. What You'll Hear On This Episode: 00:00 Introduction to the How to Decorate Podcast 00:34 Welcoming Landscape Designer Carmen Johnston 01:16 Discussing the New Ballard Spring Release 03:06 Gardening Tips and Frost-Free Dates 09:40 Planning Your Garden Layout 13:19 Bespoke Garden Plans and Professional Help 15:40 Container Gardening Tips 34:00 Sun-Loving and Shade-Loving Palladium Varieties 34:43 Choosing and Planting Palladiums 35:08 The Importance of Texture and Variation in Containers 35:52 When to Buy Palladiums and Seasonal Availability 37:39 Understanding Plant Variation 38:22 Tips for Container Gardening 40:37 Choosing the Right Number and Size of Plants 43:35 The Versatile Kimberly Queen Fern 47:46 Irrigation Solutions for Your Garden 55:53 Dealing with Deer in Your Garden 01:01:59 Final Thoughts and Where to Find More Information Also Mentioned: Ballard Designs | Shop Now @carmenjohnstongardens | Designer Instagram Please send in your questions so we can answer them on our next episode! And of course, subscribe to the podcast in Apple Podcasts so you never miss an episode. You can always check back here to see new episodes, but if you subscribe, it'll automatically download to your phone. Happy Decorating!

Join Caroline and Liz as they welcome back Nashville interior designer Stephanie Sabbe to the show for an insightful and engaging discussion about her latest book Interiors of a Storyteller. Known for her unique ability to blend historic charm with modern sensibilities, Stephanie shares the personal stories that inform her design philosophy and journey. In this episode, you'll discover not just the importance of storytelling in the creation of timeless spaces, but also tips for effective yet livable color palettes, approaches to window treatments for challenging or unique features, and closet solutions that combine functionality with clean design. ***Watch this week's episode as recorded on Ballard Designs' YouTube Channel*** What You'll Hear on This Episode: 00:00 Introduction to Ballard Designs Podcast 00:35 Welcoming Back Stephanie Sabbe 02:06 Stephanie's New Book: Interiors of a Storyteller 05:37 The Importance of Timeless Design 10:17 Stephanie's Design Journey and Inspirations 16:49 The Role of Storytelling in Design 25:49 Color Palettes and Design Techniques 32:07 Starting the Design Process 32:37 Choosing the Right Paint 33:33 Designing for Different Climates 34:54 The Art of Fabric Selection 38:43 Breaking Design Rules 41:13 Client Interactions and Personal Touches 50:30 Window Treatment Dilemmas 55:46 Closet Space Solutions 58:53 Final Thoughts and Farewell Decorating Dilemma: Hi Kristen, The hosts dive into your dilemma regarding your master bedroom's window treatments and closet space, offering thoughtful advice to enhance your space. Stephanie begins by discussing the importance of practicality and aesthetics for your semi-circular window. For the window treatments, she suggests opting for a slimmer, potentially antiqued brass or polished lacquered rod. Stephanie recommends using a zip rod that allows for easier operation without the hassle of rings, making it manageable to open and close even with the height of your ceiling. She encourages you to maintain the arched shape without cutting it off, as this preserves the window's character. Regarding your closet situation, Stephanie advises against a traditional closet build and instead proposes creating built-ins that serve as a stylish and functional solution. Positioning cabinetry to square off the room, particularly near the entry to the bathroom, will offer efficient storage while adding character without overwhelming the space. This approach combines detail and functionality, ensuring you have a beautiful, organized area. Ultimately, Stephanie's guidance aims to help you balance style and usability, making your master bedroom feel more personalized and inviting. Good luck with your updates! We hope these recommendations help you create a space you love.  - How to Decorate Also Mentioned: Shop Ballard Designs | Website sabbeinteriordesign.com | Designer Website @sabbeinteriordesign | Designer Instagram Interiors of a Storyteller | Order Now Please send in your questions so we can answer them on our next episode! And of course, subscribe to the podcast in Apple Podcasts so you never miss an episode. You can always check back here to see new episodes, but if you subscribe, it'll automatically download to your phone. Happy Decorating!

Join Caroline, Taryn, and Liz for another exciting Trials and Triumphs update! Liz kicks off the episode by sharing her winter projects, including hosting Thanksgiving successfully and revamping her dining room chairs with Ikea fabric. Taryn follows with her creative updates to her son's room, including repurposed headboards and DIY bedding. Caroline then shares a recent triumph with reupholstered vintage armchairs sourced from Facebook Marketplace, perfectly fitting into her TV room. Watch this week's episode as recorded on Ballard Designs' YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/3QY46IN What You'll Hear on This Episode: 00:00 Introduction to the How to Decorate Podcast 00:30 Trials and Triumphs: Holiday Recap 01:21 Spring Refresh: Dining Room Makeover 03:32 Unexpected Challenges: Heater Breakdown 04:26 Christmas Tree Decorating Tips 07:07 Taryn's Home Projects: Twin Beds and Wallpaper 13:03 Outdoor Updates: Adirondack Chairs and Greenhouse 16:27 Caroline's TV Room Makeover 18:42 Discovering Vintage Chairs on Facebook Marketplace 20:08 Reupholstering the Vintage Chairs 21:07 Choosing the Perfect Fabric and Trim 23:06 The Cost-Effective Transformation 24:55 Exploring Needlepoint as a New Hobby 26:57 Needlepoint Stockings for the Family 32:22 Spring Projects and Outdoor Plans 34:51 Upcoming Home and Garden Plans 36:16 Conclusion and Farewell Also Mentioned: Shop Ballard Designs | Website Please send in your questions so we can answer them on our next episode! And of course, subscribe to the podcast in Apple Podcasts so you never miss an episode. You can always check back here to see new episodes, but if you subscribe, it'll automatically download to your phone. Happy Decorating!

Taryn and Liz welcome designer Stephanie Mahaney to the show. Formerly the lead designer at the esteemed Campbell Interiors, Stephanie founded Stephanie Rae Interiors in 2014 and brings her flair for bold, colorful design to a wide array of clients between coastal Jupiter, Florida, and serene Maine. Our discussion dives into the nuances of designing homes in contrasting coastal environments, tailoring spaces for seasonal use, and crafting personalized, vibrant interiors. Stephanie also shares insights into her design journey, from early inspirations in her childhood to setting up her own thriving business. Her experiences offer listeners a masterclass in marrying practicality with creativity in home design. Watch this week's episode as recorded on Ballard Designs' YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/43ghnE7 What You'll Hear on This Episode: 00:00 Introduction 00:50 Meet Stephanie Mahaney: A Vibrant Design Journey 02:00 Growing Up in a Constantly Evolving Home 05:00 Transitioning Between Florida and Maine 06:30 Adapting Design Styles to Different Seasons 10:30 Building and Designing for New Homes and Compounds 13:00 Collaborative Roles of Designers, Builders, and Architects 15:00 Addressing Homeowner Frustrations in New Builds 19:00 Seasonal Homes: Infusing Fun and Flexibility 22:30 Latest Trends: Rechargeable Lighting and Art Acquisitions 25:00 Embracing Bold Art Choices in Design 28:00 Avoiding Coastal Decor Clichés 31:00 Incorporating Color and Pattern with Confidence 35:00 Making Smart Choices with Rugs and Natural Textures 37:00 Highlight: The Barn Project in Maine 41:30 Decorating Unique Spaces with Natural Views 44:00 Listener Dilemma: Reimagining a Dining Room with Style 49:30 Conclusion Decorating Dilemma: Hi Gabriella, The hosts understand your struggle with the dining room's current setup. Stephanie offers some creative solutions to enhance the space's aesthetic and functionality. Stephanie begins by recommending a new rug, suggesting that a larger, well-fitted rug can instantly make the room feel more expansive and cohesive. She advises selecting a rug made of wool for easy maintenance, especially considering the dining room's usage. For the dining set, Stephanie suggests a round table slightly larger than your current one to comfortably accommodate six chairs instead of four. This change could improve both the functionality and flow of the dining area. Stylistically, Stephanie encourages incorporating texture through your seating choices. Consider options like chairs with textured or patterned upholstery to add depth. A high-gloss finish on the table could provide a striking contrast and complement your existing mural and hutch. Moreover, she suggests adding a tall, collected item such as an antique vase to the table to create a focal point, balancing the room's visual interest. We hope these tips inspire a fresh and inviting atmosphere for your dining space. Best of luck with your redesign! - How to Decorate Also Mentioned: Shop Ballard Designs | Website stephanieraeinteriors.com | Designer Website @stephanieraeinteriors | Designer Instagram Please send in your questions so we can answer them on our next episode! And of course, subscribe to the podcast in Apple Podcasts so you never miss an episode. You can always check back here to see new episodes, but if you subscribe, it'll automatically download to your phone. Happy Decorating!

Caroline, Taryn, and Liz welcome back Debbie Mathews to the show, an antiques expert & dealer with over 30 years of experience running her showroom and design business in Nashville, Tennessee. Debbie shares her valuable insights on selecting timeless antique pieces that can seamlessly integrate into any home. Debbie also addresses essential pieces for newcomers to the antique world, provides practical advice on what to look for when buying and caring for antiques, along with tips for identifying current trends in the antique market. This week's episode is packed with expert tips and fundamental knowledge essential for anyone interested in antiques or looking to enhance their home decor. Join us for a delightful conversation filled with practical insights and a lively discussion on antiques! Watch this week's episode in video format on Ballard Designs' YouTube: https://youtu.be/ZEyirzhTWWg What You'll Hear On This Episode: 00:00 Introduction to the How to Decorate Podcast Podcast 00:35 Welcoming Antiques Expert Debbie Mathews 01:22 Key Pieces for Young Antique Collectors 02:41 Versatile Antique Furniture Recommendations 13:11 Shopping for Antiques: Tips and Tricks 24:26 Understanding Antique Pricing and Value 41:04 Dealing with Infestations in Antique Furniture 42:35 Exploring Antique Lighting Design 44:36 Collecting Vintage Lamps and Mirrors 48:23 Challenges of Rewiring Antique Fixtures 55:41 Trends in Antique Furniture 59:49 Solving Kitchen Seating Dilemmas 01:10:08 Conclusion and Farewell Decorating Dilemma: Hi Jess, The hosts empathize with your kitchen seating dilemma, highlighting the cozy nook as a beautiful feature in your home. Debbie offers several insightful suggestions to improve your space. First, she emphasizes the importance of comfort, noting that the current banquette seat depth is insufficient for enjoyable dining. Debbie recommends either rebuilding the banquette to provide a deeper seat or removing it altogether and incorporating a standalone table and chairs, allowing for greater flexibility in the space. For the table, she suggests considering an oval design, which can enhance movement around the area and better accommodate the flow of your kitchen. Debbie also addresses your lighting concerns, recommending that you either center the existing fixture or consider using a ceiling medallion to create a polished look while covering any patch jobs. Ultimately, Debbie encourages you to trust your instincts and make the changes that best suit your comfort and style, ensuring that the space serves your needs. Best of luck with your kitchen updates! We hope these tips help bring a fresh approach to your seating area. - How to Decorate Also Mentioned: Shop Ballard Designs | Website DebbieMathews.com | Website @debbiemathewsdesigns | Instagram Debbie Mathews Antiques | Instagram Debbie Mathews Antique & Design Shop | Chairish Ep. 177: Debbie Mathews | Prior Appearance on Podcast Please send in your questions so we can answer them on our next episode! And of course, subscribe to the podcast in Apple Podcasts so you never miss an episode. You can always check back here to see new episodes, but if you subscribe, it'll automatically download to your phone. Happy Decorating!

What interior design trends are we seeing across the industry here at Ballard Designs, you wonder? Join Caroline, Liz, and Taryn as they welcome back two of Ballard's talented product designers—Hillary Park & Will Turner—who share their expert forecasts, insights, and opinions about 2025's expected decorating trends. On top of unveiling industry trends, we also excitedly announce this year's new products and Spring collections, featuring the Venice and Asher outdoor collections, the Newberry furniture line, and some innovative new indoor/outdoor lighting solutions that we're 100% sure will be a new fan fav. What You'll Hear On This Episode: 00:00 Introduction to How to Decorate the Podcast 00:34 Color Trends for 2025 05:38 Highlights from the Spring Collection 10:15 Exploring Color Trends for Fall 18:01 Modern Home Decor Styles 33:05 Maximizing Space Efficiency 33:45 Embracing Maximalism and Personal Touches 34:36 The Rise of Feminine Details and Soft Textures 35:03 Celebrating Artisanal Work and Unique Creations 35:50 The Role of Decorative Elements in Upholstery 37:28 Curves, Arches, and Sculptural Lighting Trends 41:02 The Indoor Garden Movement and Nature-Inspired Designs 41:57 The Resurgence of Classic Styles: Brown Interiors and Castlecore 42:36 The Popularity of Art Deco and Surrealism 49:42 The Shift Towards Comfort and Personalization 54:54 Exciting New Products and Collections 01:05:08 Wrapping Up: Encouragement and Final Thoughts Also Mentioned: Visit the Ballard Designs website for the latest collections: Ballard Designs Follow us on Instagram for daily design inspirations: @ballarddesigns Have decorating questions you'd like to hear us answer in a future episode? Send us your decorating dilemma (and pictures!) via email at podcast@ballarddesigns.net | Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts to catch all future episodes. Happy Decorating!

Get ready to dive headfirst into fall with over 200+ NEW products from Ballard Designs!    This week, Caroline and Taryn are joined by Valerie from Ballard's product design team. The trio not only discuss their favorite new fall products from last week's launch, but also highlight the creative journey behind each new collection & design, revealing insights into this Fall's design trends, materials, and the true artistry that goes into each piece.    Don't miss out! Watch this week's episode on YouTube to see our new fall products in real time.    What You'll Hear This Episode: The inspirations that fueled the design of the fall collection. Highlights from the new Dover bed collection and the chic Anderson dining furniture. How to mix classic and modern aesthetics for a timeless look. The role of color and texture in elevating your home decor. Essential elements of multifunctional designs that suit various lifestyles. A closer look at the whimsical Lily canopy bed and its unique features. Insights on selecting the right textures and finishes to enhance your space. The fascinating process behind choosing names for new products. Tips for styling your home to reflect the warmth and charm of the season.   New Fall Products Mentioned: Shop All New Items Dover Collection Newberry Collection Bone Inlay Collection Jax Burl Sideboard Jax Dining Table Astrid Round Accent Table Bow Napkin Rings Liliana Buffet Lamp Nash Ottoman Lucaya Ottoman Kenzie Hand-Knotted Rug Anderson Collection Lucie Round Dining Table Lily Canopy Bed Hewitt Sofa Terry LED Lamp Birdie Lamp   Also Mentioned: Ballard Designs Bunny Williams Stained Bamboo Article

‘Tis the season for all things outdoors! This week, we welcome Kelly Petrino and Amy Jordan from Ballard's merchandising team for their expert advice on mixing and matching outdoor furniture and accessories to create beautiful and comfortable outdoor space. They talk about cushions, pillows, rugs, lighting, and planters to complete the look, along with sharing some great tips for incorporating different materials, styles, and textures to define your outdoor space. What You'll Hear On This Episode: Considerations for using outdoor fabrics like Sunbrella that are stain-resistant and fade-proof. Ideas for incorporating outdoor rugs to define spaces and add texture. Factors to consider when choosing outdoor sofas and seating, like cushion fill and frame materials. What should you look for when it comes to outdoor sofas and seating? Kelly and Amy's perspectives on the pros and cons of mixing collections versus opting for a coordinated set. Entertaining essentials such as outdoor safe drinkware, candles, romantic outdoor lighting, and lovely lamps. Mosquito-repelling drapery panels? Yes, please! Reasons to think about furniture layout in relation to your daily and entertaining needs beyond just aesthetics. Tips for defining spaces with planters. Ballard Designs 

This week on Talk Shop, Ariel welcomes one of the most talented names in design, the queen of contemporary American decorating, Bunny Williams. Known for balancing refined beauty, welcoming livable appeal, and attention to detail, Bunny is one of Architectural Digest's “AD100 Hall of Fame” members, among many other accolades. Born and raised in the countryside near Charlottesville, Virginia, Bunny moved to New York after college and kicked off her career at the antique gallery Stair & Co., followed by 22 years with the iconic design firm, Parish-Hadley Associates. In 1998, Bunny founded her own firm, Bunny Williams Inc, and design history was made. Last year, Bunny welcomed business partner Elizabeth Lawrence to join her under the firm's new name, Williams Lawrence. Bunny's businesses include Bunny Williams Home, the firm's line of furnishings, lighting, art, and accessories; and licensed product lines with Ballard Designs, Lee Jofa, Dash & Albert, Currey & Company, and Mirror Home.  And if that doesn't keep her busy enough, Bunny is the author of eight design books and is a sought-after speaker and mentor on decoration, gardening, and entertaining. Her most recent book,  “Bunny Williams: Life in the Garden,”, leads readers on an intimate look at her much celebrated home and gardens in the Connecticut Berkshires that she has spent the last 40 years developing.  Learn more about Bunny's firm, Williams Lawrence: https://williamslawrence.com/ Plus order a copy of your own of “Life in the Garden”: https://www.rizzoliusa.com/book/9780847899692 -- Join Ariel and Fenimore Lane at the Mayflower Inn & Spa in Washington, CT for a celebration of design on Saturday, May 18th. Pick up your tickets now: https://aubergeresorts.com/mayflower/experiences/fenimore-lane-design-summit/

This week, we catch up on all our trials and triumphs that have been collecting since before the holiday season. We talk about our paint color powerpoints, water-related issues, learning from our mistakes to plan ahead, and the beauty of a delicious home-cooked meal. We get updates on Taryn's basement renovation, which leads to a conversation about the challenges that often come with big DIY projects. Ballard Designs

It's all about trends this week as we forecast what will be “in” for 2024, and what things we are happy to leave behind in last year. We are joined by Will and Hillary, both part of the product design team at Ballard Designs, who are on the frontlines of seeing all the upcoming trends in design. We discuss the resurgence of classic colors navy blue, the growing interest in environmentally conscious design, and the emergence of new trends like celestial yellow and pink. We also chat about materials used in furniture making, with a focus on personalization and blurring the lines between indoor and outdoor living. Watch the full video version of this week's episode now on YouTube. What You'll Hear On This Episode: Is beige no longer the go-to neutral? The trend alert for finishes, wallpaper, patterns, trims, and color. Will the explosion of soft colors carry over in 2024? The trend of bringing nature indoors through plants, materials, and decor. A few of our favorite “trendy” color patterns. The use of natural materials like bamboo, wicker, and even mushroom leather helps expand our eco-friendly options. How technology is also helping design - hello mosquito repelling drapery! What are some on-trend items that surprise us to the core? A few of the trends we are over and feel are so oversaturated. Also Mentioned: Ballard Designs Coloro: The Design Color System WGSN: Industry Trend Forecaster Please send in your questions and decorating dilemmas to podcast@ballarddesigns.net so we can answer them on our next episode!  

It's a fun episode this week as we get ready for all things holiday. From large holiday parties to intimate festivities, we answer your questions about food, decor and hosting. We discuss how to set a beautiful table for the holidays, great food and drink that will wow your guests without costing a fortune, and setting up your home to welcome guests. We also share our checklist for when expecting guests to stay over and why it's always more fun at the kids table.  Watch along with this week's episode here on the Ballard Designs official YouTube channel. What You'll Hear On This Episode: Kids tables - yay or nay? And if yay, how to make them cute, decorative and easily cleanable after the inevitable mess has been made.  Setting a beautiful table on a budget.  Favorite dishes to bring to a holiday dinner.  Flow of the party: pacing the meals out correctly and making sure everything is served in the right order and in time.  Some suggestions for great table wine that won't break the bank.  Getting creative with seating that will make your guests feel social and comfortable.  A check list of items to prepare for if you are expecting house guests.  Mentioned in This Episode: Ballard Designs  Bunny Williams  Mr. T's Pierogies  Barefoot Contessa   

In this exciting episode, we are joined by the renowned TV personality Carson Kressley, known for his roles on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, How to Look Good, and as a judge on RuPaul's Drag Race. Unveiling a lesser-known side, Carson shares his recent experience taking over Ballard Designs' Instagram and showcases his top entertaining tips. Returning as a special guest, we dive into Carson's love for Ballard as we explore his stunning poolside oasis and dive into the art of entertaining in style. What You'll Hear On This Episode:  The best parties are when the host and hostess are relaxed and happy. What we can learn from a scary experience with Carson's flaming chicken thighs. How Carson approaches design in New York versus in Pennsylvania. Great design is all about tension, whether it's an outfit that you're wearing, or a space that you're designing, everything shouldn't be expected and match and be from the same designer or the same period. All about design for his second home, a farmhouse in Pennsylvania. The beautiful touches create a spectacular guest house including sheets, towels, utensils and much more. The pros of using seeded glass. Carson's Christmas party sounds like the most fun holiday party of the year. Tip - if you entertain a lot, have a rug that you can easily clean. Remember: confidence is key when hosting. Mentioned in This Episode: Ballard Designs @ballarddesigns Carson Kressley  The Holiday House Palm Springs 

Today, we're joined by our fearless leader, Karen Mooney, at her dining room table to discuss an exciting development at work, exploring a grab bag of various topics along the way. We chat about tips for personalizing your house, shopping what you've already got, and what we're currently loving in the Ballard world. We also get an update on the St. Pete house and some tiny tweaks that have made all the difference. What You'll Hear On This Episode: Getting outside your comfort zone so you can get new ideas and fresh perspectives. How hearing our podcast guests inspires and lights a fire for our own design. Good news - we have lower prices on close to 1000 items, including the very popular Tuscan collection. What was it like during the height of the container shortage? Personalizing your house. Shopping in your house for the beautiful things you may own and love, but just have forgotten about. The beauty of a fresh eye and asking someone you trust to give their objective opinion. What we are loving on clearance and using our double rewards points on. Our current love of a pleated lampshade. Picking a flattering wallpaper. A Ballard Designs credit card?! Mentioned in This Episode: Ballard Designs @ballarddesigns Home Tour

Caroline sits down with Amy Ross of Ballard Designs' FREE Design Services program for a special one-on-one interview focused on demystifying design consultation. Whatever your at-home design dilemma may be, our team of experienced design consultants like Amy can help you turn your design vision into reality either in-person at our stores, by phone, or even virtually. Additionally, Caroline and Amy chat about the best ways to go about scheduling a consultation with a design expert and what you can expect if you are eager to try out Design Services for yourself. Mentioned in This Episode: Design Services Ballard Designs

Karen Mooney, our fearless leader and President of Ballard Designs, joins us to celebrate the milestone of Ballard's 40th Anniversary. We dive into the company history, how Ballard Designs grew into what it is now, and then Karen shares a few of her favorite trends over her 22 years with the brand. Then, we talk about what's next for Ballard as it enter 2023 and everything beyond. Thank you so much for your support for Ballard Designs: we couldn't have helped inspire home decorators over the past 40 years without our lovely patrons, community, and listeners like you. What You'll Hear on This Episode: Who is Helen Ballard? The 40-year story of Ballard Designs. The value add of upholstery and unique other special touches Ballard is proud to give their customers. The history of architecture and design and the importance of mixing both high and low. Okay for real, how do you sneak an ottoman into a room during a coffee break? What really went on in the Ballard backroom? What products do we think “what was that?” Yes, monogrammed toilet paper is a thing. The importance of doing your homework in the design process. New Ballard news for 2023 and beyond. Mentioned in This Episode: Ballard Designs

We are so excited to have former host Karen Mooney back on the show! On this special holiday episode, Karen gives us an update on her life since becoming President of Ballard Designs, walks us through her new beach house design, shares her favorite holiday Ballard products, and joins Caroline, Taryn, and Liz in giving tips for entertaining, holiday decorating, gift ideas, and more. Also, be sure to check out Ballard Design's Black Friday Deals while they last! What You'll Hear on This Episode: Karen gives us an update of what she's been up to since becoming President of Ballard. Karen surprises us, and herself, with how colorful she has decorated her beach house. How the podcast has helped Karen expand and embolden her design style. We each offer our best hosting tips. Thanksgiving dinner in the day or the evening? Karen gives us her secret recipe for gravy. How to set the table so it breaks the ice for guests. What are the main parts of the house we decorate for the holidays? How to accent faux decorations with “real” natural elements. Does holiday decor need to match your existing decor or have a theme? We gush over a few of our holiday items available. Which Ballard products make great gifts? Mentioned in This Episode: Holiday & Seasonal Decorations Andros Linen Panel Café Dinnerware Collection Holiday Dinnerware Collection Drinkware Flatware Ballroom Folding Chairs Marseille Linen Napkins Tree Garland Angel Pine Garland Essential Stocking Holder Mercury Glass Hurricane Belissima Flax Linen Bedding Amelie Bath Towel Collection Faux Fur Blanket Petite Acrylic Easel Personalized Coir Mats More Personalized Products Holiday Pillows Book Assortment Candles Angel Bottle Wings Celebratory Cocktail Napkins Ornaments Ep. 117: designer Janie Molster Tom Scheerer

We conclude our special series highlighting the FLOWER Magazine Atlanta Showhouse with a recap of our in-person tour! Ballard Designs is proud to be one of the sponsors of the house. We share our initial thoughts and takeaways and go room by room to marvel at each designer's work. Our biggest takeaway? The house is so awe-inspiring that we have to go again! And if you're local, we highly recommend a visit. What You'll Hear on This Episode: We start with the breathtaking entryway which includes textures, patterns, and a plethora of wallpaper. We dig into the wallpaper, the details, and the cohesiveness of the house. We are hoarse from talking so much at the showhouse; everyone was so inspiring and welcoming! The house had everything you could imagine; including LIVE birds! Did we mention there was pink marble? We attempt to pick our favorite room. Is it even possible? Which room had hand-painted tiger wallpaper? Each space, even the small ones, was designed as its own room. A reminder to maximize every space. Our only complaint was the space-age toilets the builder put in. Why every single space was a wow moment; you must go in person if you can! Mentioned in This Episode: Visit the FLOWER Magazine Atlanta Showhouse to preview each designer's space. Buy tickets to the Showhouse HERE!

We are back with our special series highlighting the FLOWER magazine showhouse here in Atlanta, and the fun continues with acclaimed designer Barry Dixon. His work can be found all over the world, and on the pages of your favorite magazines like House Beautiful, Traditional Home and of course, Flower magazine. Barry talks about designing for all five senses, telling the story of a space from beginning to end, and his choice of textiles, colors, and books in the beautifully inspiring library. Ballard Designs is proud to be one of the sponsors of the house, and we are so excited to share all the gorgeous spaces with you. If you'd like to visit the house in person you can purchase tickets here, and also follow along with the podcast series whether you can see it in person or not! What You'll Hear on This Episode: Barry talks about the foundation of the library, and the little bit of Hollywood Regency appeal to the house. The views of the exterior are such an important part of the beauty of any interior. Some masculine ways to bring in florals. Barry talks about his curation of the books in the library and the intention behind the visual cues on the shelves. What advice would Barry give to people who are trying to blend styles or work with someone who doesn't have their same opinion on design? A beautiful truth: you're never alone in a room that speaks to you. How do you balance the personalities in your home (aka ones that love taxidermy and action figures)? How design is like writing a story, and it's important to tell the story from beginning to end. Barry's love of the extreme in design in every way, including location, architecture, and style. Mentioned in This Episode: Barry Dixon Barry Dixon's Books Decorating Dilemma: Thank you for writing in! First, Barry has some great thoughts and advice for you. The buffet always traditionally belonged in a dining room, so you can keep that and you can also keep the chairs you have. Maybe you want to paint those Hepa white chairs a really pretty French Gray from Farrow & Ball so they look fresh. Mix that with the green buffet, and it leaves your table to be brown, with some beautiful yellows and grays to add a sorbet of color. Let's buy a really beautiful paper with a pattern that goes with the Tudor or Arts and Crafts style - Barry has some good suggestions for ones from the 1800s. The Benjamin Moore color can be brought in as the trim color for the windows, baseboards, and door casings. Since you are just investing in the paper, maybe you can even do a coordinating pattern for your seat cushions on those chairs. This ties everything together in one grand statement. Please send us after photos so we can see your final choices! 

This episode continues our special series highlighting the FLOWER magazine showhouse here in Atlanta. Ballard Designs is proud to be one of the sponsors of the house, and we are so excited to share all the gorgeous spaces with you. Each day this week we will interview a different designer from the showhouse to talk about the room they designed, their inspiration, trends throughout the space, and much more. This episode features Julie Dodson, of Dodson Interiors. For 20 years, she has brought chic French inspired spaces to her Houston clientele. Her love of antiques and ability to add a fresh spin on traditional elements is evident in her polished spaces that she creates her clients. Julie talks about the inspiration for the showroom, her choice of the color palette, and how we can find the balance between the old and the new with antiques. If you'd like to visit the house in person you can purchase tickets here, and also follow along with the podcast series whether you can see it in person or not! What You'll Hear on This Episode: What do you look for in a wallpaper especially in a space that small? Why it's important to keep scale in mind when picking a wallpaper. Can one have too many wallpapers in a home? Does Julie feel like brass is going to wane in popularity as far as finishes go? Are wallpapers in bathrooms a good idea? Julie talks about the camaraderie in the house, and how the design community comes together and is excited to see what everyone is up to. Why Julie loves antiques and the character that comes with hard to find finishes. Julie provides some great resources for getting great antiques all year long, including the Round Top Antiques Fair. How does Julie start helping her clients create their art collections vs. ones that have been collecting for years? Mentioned in This Episode: Dodson Interiors @dodsoninteriors The Original Round Top Antiques Fair Decorating Dilema: Julie would do a custom rug that covers the entire room, and cuts out the hearth of the fireplace. A nice wool flat leaf would allow you to open and close the door, and it would make the room feel like one big comfy space, as opposed to multiple smaller rugs. Whatever you can do to bring it a little bit closer to the door would be nice. This brings up a great tip: if you're layering rugs on top, maybe go a little closer to the wall. As for the windows, Julie feels like adding trim is not a good investment, and you won't even notice if you are dressing them nicely. Julie would keep the marble surround that you have, but add an old beam or boxed shelf that goes the length of the fireplace. 

We are continuing our special series highlighting the FLOWER magazine showhouse here in Atlanta. Ballard Designs is proud to be one of the sponsors of the house, and we are so excited to share all the gorgeous spaces with you. Each day this week we will interview a different designer from the showhouse to talk about the room they designed, their inspiration, trends throughout the space, and much more. Our guest today, Melanie Milner, discusses her work on the scullery in the showhouse. Melanie is an Atlanta-based designer with The Design Atelier known for her timeless style and use of colors. Her work has been featured in Atlanta Homes & Lifestyle, LUXE, and more. If you'd like to visit the house in person you can purchase tickets here, and also follow along with the podcast series whether you can see it in person or not! What You'll Hear on This Episode: What is a scullery and why did it speak to Melanie? Why Melanie worked alongside the dining room team of the showhouse to coordinate designs. Melanie chose plaster finishes for the scullery for a durable, unique, and ethereal look. All of the lighting in the scullery is recessed to have a functional and practical workspace. What appliances go into a scullery? Why the small details can be the star of the show; especially in a kitchen space. How was designing this space different from designing other clients' kitchens? What are some new things Melanie is seeing in kitchens? What goes in the cabinets of a scullery? Why do Taryn and Melanie like bridge faucets? What other trends is Melanie seeing that she's excited about? Why organization can be such an important, albeit luxury, design element. Indoor/outdoor rugs are a great way to soften a space in a kitchen while still being easy to clean. Decorating Dilemma: Hi Nancy, There are a lot of really cool switch plates out there if you're willing to spend the money. A metal backplate would be a good place to start or you can find a colored one. I wouldn't paint it since it doesn't generally last. If you were to get wallpaper, you can have the installer cover that as well for an easy solution. Depending on how you design the bar, it could be a good idea to integrate the metal from the plate with hardware and accessories. I would say it depends on whether you want to be more subtle and integrate the switch plates or make a bold decision. We appreciate your level of detail, Nancy! Let us know what you decide. And thank you for listening to all of our episodes; twice! Mentioned in This Episode: The Design Atelier The Design Atelier on Instagram Domingue Finishes - Plaster Forbes and Lomax - Switchplates Lutron - Switches

This episode kicks off a special series we're doing highlighting the FLOWER magazine showhouse here in Atlanta. Ballard Designs is proud to be one of the sponsors of the house, and we are so excited to share all the gorgeous spaces with you. Each day this week we will interview a different designer from the showhouse to talk about the room they designed, their inspiration, trends throughout the space, and much more. Our first designer, Nellie Jane Howard Ossi of Mrs. Howard Design Firm walks us through her powder room design for the house. She's a lead designer, a domestic expert, and has a tabletop line coming out next year with Dillards. If you'd like to visit the house in person you can purchase tickets here, and also follow along with the podcast series whether you can see it in person or not! What You'll Hear on This Episode: How did Nellie get the chance to work on the showhouse? What was Nellie's inspiration for how to begin the powder room design and what is the theme? How do you account for no natural light when choosing design elements? Why did Nellie choose blue trim for the powder room? Nellie shares last-minute dilemmas while working on showhouses. What are the most common delays still happening in design, decorating, and building? What are some must DOs when designing a powder room? Why the powder room is a great place to do something bold–like wallpaper on the ceiling! Lighting is one of the most important elements of a powder room. Nellie's tips for getting it right. What are some must DON'T's when designing a powder room? How antiquing has influenced Nellie's design (and her personal life!) All about growing up in a design family and how it influenced Nellie's style. Why accessorizing is expensive but can't be overlooked. It's what finishes a room. Will Nellie continue to do showhouses? How kids have impacted Nellie's design; for better or worse! Mentioned in This Episode: Nellie Howard Ossi on Instagram Nellie Howard Ossi Mrs. Howard Andrew Howard Interior Design Visual Comfort Lighting Pioneer Linens Made Goods

On episode 222, we are LIVE in the WYXR studio on the radio airwaves with Memphis-based interior designer, content creator and lifestyle blogger Carmeon Hamilton. She is the winner of HGTV's Design Star: Next Gen and star of HGTV's Reno My Rental. Her 15 years of experience in multiple facets of the design industry, from public health-care to residential to retail and merchandising, is the foundation of her work in discovering the beauty in all things and helping others find beauty in what surrounds them every day. Her work, story and content around design, business and branding and elevating the everyday are featured and referenced in Architectural Digest, Southern Living, Essence, Domino and more. She's often asked to share her insights and opinions by way of podcast interviews or panel discussions with major industry associations, such as Popsugar and Ballard Designs. Take a listen as Carmeon so beautifully shares her amazing journey that includes her process of creating Reno My Rental in Memphis, managing multiple personal projects,the tragic loss of her husband Marcus and how she's highly sought out now in the speaker circuit.

On episode 222, we are LIVE in the WYXR studio on the radio airwaves with Memphis-based interior designer, content creator and lifestyle blogger Carmeon Hamilton. She is the winner of HGTV's Design Star: Next Gen and star of HGTV's Reno My Rental. Her 15 years of experience in multiple facets of the design industry, from public health-care to residential to retail and merchandising, is the foundation of her work in discovering the beauty in all things and helping others find beauty in what surrounds them every day. Her work, story and content around design, business and branding and elevating the everyday are featured and referenced in Architectural Digest, Southern Living, Essence, Domino and more. She's often asked to share her insights and opinions by way of podcast interviews or panel discussions with major industry associations, such as Popsugar and Ballard Designs. Take a listen as Carmeon so beautifully shares her amazing journey that includes her process of creating Reno My Rental in Memphis, managing multiple personal projects, the tragic loss of her husband Marcus and how she's highly sought out now in the speaker circuit.

Episode 10: How to find great furniture pieces on Facebook marketplace?Keep in mind who's listing. Search in simple terms and multiple terms.Night Stands may be under bedroom furniture, bed side table, nightstandSearch in local pickup areas (get rid of shipping if you're looking for a true bargain)When looking for a leather sofa, you may get vinyl pieces because not everyone knows vinyl from leather. Look for styles. i.e. Chesterfield, French provincial. Don't search for terms like: antiques, modern, contemporary. They are too subjective.If you need 6 matching chairs, search 6 chairs. Don't worry about 6 upholstered chairs or 6 wooden chairs. Keep it broad.Search by well-known brands you know and love. Pottery Barn, Arhaus, Restoration Hardware, Ballard Designs, etc. You never know what gem you find someone giving away. Tips for how to know if something is genuine leather or not. Genuine Leather, Faux Leather, Leather Match, Bicast, Bonded, etc.. Generally, you can tell by brand. If it reclines, its most likely not full leather. Don't worry about color. You can always paint it or stain it using ALL-IN-ONE Paint products. This podcast is sponsored by Heirloom Traditions ALL-IN-ONE Paint, the number one paint choice for cabinets, front doors, leather, vinyl, furniture, brick and now WALLS! Available up to a gallon size! Get a free sample today at www.allinonepaint.com/freesample and see why over 400,000 users are loving the results. We hope you enjoyed these tips from Paula and Melissa. Be sure to subscribe to Hey Paula! Help me with my DIY Project! wherever you listen to podcasts to get more home improvement tips. If you're inspired by this podcast, please leave a review & share the link to your social pages. We'll be picking a winner on each episode from the reviews to win $25 to shop with. And don't forget to check out www.allinonepaint.com and get yourself a free sample! Share the link with your friends!This episode's winner is Mim*iX6. Congrats! You win $25 to shop with at www.allinonepaint.com. Please email melissa@htpaint.com to claim your prize. Here's their review:“Thank you for creating this Podcast forum! I love that if I'm listening and have to leave the house for some reason, I can finish listening in the car. Or I can put in my Airpods and listen while I'm busy doing other things. Great ideas & Helpful hints!”

This week we're catching up with our trials and triumphs of the month. Thanks to an email from our listener Judith, we decided to talk about some of the Ballard Designs products we love! We talk about many products and how we style and customize them; from bedding to sofas to lighting and more. Plus, Taryn gives us an update on The Schwartz House…which is almost done! What You'll Hear on This Episode: How Caroline and Taryn customized their Brie Channel Bed and why Liz wants one! Why we love our different bedding options and how we care for them. Caroline loves our towels; especially the Suzanne Kasler Trimmed Towels, but Taryn is still on a mission for the perfect ones. What Taryn likes about her new Suzanne Kasler Mathes sofa and her standby Sofia sofa. Liz is asking the big question; sectional or no sectional? Why the Hartwell Sofa may fit better under a window. The Connelly Bench is great for additional seating and an easy piece to customize the fabric. Caroline sold Taryn on Nala Stool. It's a great nestler for extra seating! The Schwartz House is going to be chock-full of Ballard products like lighting, mirrors, and wallpaper. What is the update on the rest of The Schwartz House? Taryn's fireplace and sconce trials and what she's learned from building a custom home. Some of the tips and tricks Taryn got from you…our listeners! Mentioned in This Episode: Brie Channel Bed Margot Velvet Bedding Belgian Linen Sheet Set Suzanne Kasler Trimmed Towels Suzanne Kasler Mathes Sofa Hartwell Upholstered Sofa Connelly Bench Nala Stool Felicity Acrylic Side Table Amelie Wall Sconce Bodhi Dome Pendant Atoll Mirror Felix Sconces Juliet Floral Wallpaper World Traveler Wallpaper Spoonflower Wallpaper The Schwartz House

We're doing something a little different and very exciting on the show today! Zoe, Hillary, and Taryn are here from the product design team. They give us the inside scoop and their different perspectives all around the in-house product design process here at Ballard Designs. When we did our listener survey a little while back, so many of you said you wanted to know more about the product. Well, we heard you and today we answer all of those questions and more! What You'll Hear on This Episode: How far in advance does the planning for product design happen? Where does the initial concept for product design come from? How much input do different Ballard Designs employees or customers have on product design? Why a problem or challenge can lead to the best product design. What tools do we use to design products? What are our favorite recent projects? The Hutton Office Collection and exciting updates that are coming. How we are improving and updating our Original Home Office (OHO) line. Have there ever been times when the sample from a design comes in terribly wrong? How small design changes can actually make a BIG impact. How does having only US-based upholstery vendors affect design? How many new products Ballard launches each year. What are some upcoming materials and trends the team is excited about? Mentioned in This Episode: Ballard Designs Hutton Office Collection Original Home Office Lucille Chandelier Allister Upholstered Chairs Abbeville Collection Request a Catalog

Today is all about, you guessed it, furniture shopping! We have scoured your questions, consulted with our SVP of Merchandising and Design Skye Kirby Westcott, and used our collective knowledge and personal experiences to bring you today's episode! We're sharing our best tips on what to know before you buy furniture, how to not regret your purchases, what to splurge on, and so much more. Plus, we bring back the “highly divisive” Trials & Triumphs! What You'll Hear on This Episode: Trials & Triumphs with welcoming a new baby, redesigning a home office with our Hutton Collection, organizing and storage, a housewarming party, house building updates, doorknob dilemmas, tile adventures, and more. The piece we got the most questions about – all about choosing a sofa! Breaking down the differences in fabric and why you should splurge. Why you should consider additional seating. How to navigate long lead times. Why you need to measure, measure, MEASURE! How to evaluate your family's needs when choosing a dining room table and chairs. Why you should always talk to the store and showroom sales associates. How to select furniture that makes a space feel collected but not like a showroom. Do all of the woods in a room need to match? What items to splurge on. How to set up a budget and develop a plan. How to stay focused for a room design with an inspiration piece. A tip to “sample” a rug before purchasing a large one. What to do when you love a piece but don't have room for it. How to know if a piece will look and fit right in your home before purchasing. How to take your color palette everywhere with you. What furniture regrets we have. What our favorite furniture pieces are. What we know now about furniture after working for Ballard Designs. Mentioned in This Episode: Hutton Collection Lemonde Dining Table Ep. 159: How to Pick the Perfect Chair Meet Skye Ep. 138: Skye Kirby Westcott Ep. 212: Light & Livable with Skye Kirby Westcott

We've got a hilarious duo for you today -- comedienne Heather McMahan and designer Jared Hughes. They're longtime friends, and they recently made over Heather's bedroom using Ballard Designs products. Today, we're talking about mixing styles, adding traditional elements to a modern design, and more. What You'll Hear on This Episode: Why Heather designed her whole bedroom around our animal print Robbie Chair Animal print inspired the whole room How Jared took Heather's style to the next level and helped her learn what decorating rules to follow and which ones to ignore Why painting every wall white isn't always the answer How Jared really reigned in his bold style to ease Heather into the room design How important is it for your room to look big? Why a small room isn't necessarily a bad thing We talk about Heather's mom and how much of a say she has in the design Show Notes: Heather McMahan's Tour Schedule Heather on Instagram Jared on Instagram Jared Hughes Design Robbie Chair in Serengeti Fabric Giselle Bed Acrylic Console Table

We've been in business for 16 years and are fortunate to have acquired many wholesale furniture accounts, as well as having an arsenal of talented artisans that we purchase for both our residential and commercial projects. There are times though that we turn to online sources and catalogs for certain items.  Our wholesale sources may be out of stock, a client has specifically requested something or the products are very unique and not available through our sources.  In This Episode: [04:18] Pottery Barn [12:05] Ballard Designs [18:44] Etsy  [24:09] Crate and Barrel Key Takeaways: Etsy packages often come with hand written thank you notes and the products are packaged well.  To avoid shipping damages, communicate with the seller for the best solutions. Over 50 inch width benches are perfect for the front of a king or queen-sized bed. Pottery barn has an entire home office collection  Sponsored by Wexel Art: Wexel Art is a female-owned company by Morgan Doherty and Natasha McCray. They built the company on the principle that showcasing life's little pleasures should be simple and rewarding. The word Wexel means “Change” in German. It started the concept of a floating acrylic panel that works with pairs of magnets to hold your art in place, allowing you to seamlessly change out what is in the frame and seconds. It provides you a contemporary way to showcase your art, photos, and memorabilia without the hassle of custom framing.  https://www.kandrac-kole.com/our-podcast

Hawdy tawdy gosh almighty who the hell is she!She is Jessica Roan and she is the co-founder of Interior Philosphy in Atlanta, Georgia.Jessica worked as buyer for Saks Fifth Avenue in New York before relocating to Atlanta to work in merchandising for Ballard Designs. She opened Interior Philosophy in September 2007 with Mandy Mayers. They now are working with customers daily and collaborating on projects for the clients who have enlisted their design services.Interior Philosophy has been featured multiple times in Atlanta Homes & Lifestyle which serves as a definitive guide to cultivating Atlanta style, offering unmatched entrée into the area's most inspiring residences.Opening Song - Better Place by GodfordEnding Song - Ben Folds Chat Roulette Fun in concert 2013 https://youtu.be/vhJyX08GecU?t=35Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/hphs1995. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listen in today as I chat with Karen Mooney (Senior VP of Brand Management), Caroline McDonald (Content Marketing Manager), and Taryn Schwartz (Product Design Manager) from Ballard Designs. These amazing ladies are sharing the secrets of their impressive gift for insight, how they empower their ideal client, and why failure isn’t a bad thing. We’re talking about the impact fashion has on interior design and why it’s so important to think ahead in our businesses.  Get full show notes and more information here: https://rachelcannonlimited.com/44

Inspired by architecture, art, fashion, and travel, Suzanne Kasler designs spaces and products that are luminous, distinctive, and timeless. Suzanne’s designs always reference the past but move towards the future with an edited and discerning eye on the present. Mixing the high and the low, traditional and contemporary, the new and the old — creating signature interiors and products that convey a sophisticated simplicity. Her designs inspire everyone to live a more beautiful, stylish, and authentic life. Suzanne’s work has been published in major design magazines, including Architectural Digest, Elle Décor,House Beautiful, Traditional Home and Veranda. She has been named to Architectural Digest’s AD100 and Elle Décor’s A-List. Her award-winning interiors have been captured in three books with Rizzoli, Inspired Interiors, Timeless Style, and her most recent title, Sophisticated Simplicity. In addition to designing timeless interiors for her clients, Suzanne has produced signature lines for Ballard Designs, Hickory Chair, La Cornue, Lee Jofa, and Visual Comfort.

Considered one of the most talented names in design, Bunny is also an accomplished businesswoman, entrepreneur, author, and philanthropist. A lover of dogs, gardens, and china, Bunny’s knowledge and expertise is on par with her enjoyment of life. Her eponymous firm — launched in 1988 following a 22-year apprenticeship with the esteemed Parish-Hadley Associates — has wrought its own indelible imprint and legacy. Bunny Williams Associates is renowned for balancing refined beauty, welcoming livable appeal, and attention to detail. While the creation of delightful rooms is Bunny’s passion, her firm’s success above all, is anchored in long-lasting and valued relationships with its clientele. The resulting commissions over three decades — many for repeat homeowners — are found across the United States and abroad, in city apartments, country estates and cottages; in the mountains and by the water. Bunny’s own houses and her long career have provided ample material and inspiration for six books to date, and she is a sought-after speaker and mentor on design, decoration, gardening, and entertaining. Bunny grew up in the countryside near Charlottesville, Virginia. Her parents encouraged her passion for the arts and led her to Garland Junior College in Boston, where she studied interior design. A watershed moment at age 15 was visiting the Dorothy Draper-decorated Greenbrier Resort, which had a color palette unlike anything Bunny had ever seen. “It really opened my eyes and the lesson I learned was not to play it safe,” shares Bunny. Upon moving to New York, Bunny worked at Stair & Co., an antiques gallery frequented by Sister Parish and Albert Hadley. Bunny subsequently joined Parish-Hadley and remained at the venerable firm for 22 years. “I was honored to work there and was exposed to so much; their extraordinary projects and partnership, the design process, everything. By the time I left, I’d been the secretary, an assistant, and a buyer. I had the tools and experience to run my own enterprise, which I did — starting with three people working out of my guest bedroom!” Shortly thereafter, fueled by her devotion to gardening, Bunny opened Treillage in 1991 along with her husband, the antiques dealer John Rosselli. Considered both ground breaking and industry changing, Treillage drew A-list designers, editors, and tastemakers to its off-the-beaten track, Upper East Side destination for the ultimate in home and garden. “Twenty-five years ago, Treillage was something entirely new, but all good things come to an end. Now, with Bunny Williams Home, I’m proud to show an entire line under one roof and we’re creating accessories with the aim of becoming a complete home-furnishings company.” Never one to rest on her many awards, accolades, and honors, Bunny keeps her eye on what’s next, whether it’s her collaborations with Ballard Designs, Bunny Williams Home, or her next book. Forward thinking always, Bunny says, “While it’s certainly nice to look back on one’s accomplishments, it’s more interesting for me to look ahead. The firm, while instilled with my expectations and objectives, is taking on an exciting new dimension with Elizabeth Swartz as my partner. Together, we are all part of a greater legacy that branches out from Parish-Hadley and it feels very relevant in our fast-paced world. She completes my vision and takes it a step further: we work hard and have fun in the process.”

Recording from Karen’s cozy and mythical basement, President of Ballard Designs Ryan McKelvey joins the show. Ryan talks about what it is like to be the fearless leader at Ballard, and how he got here on his own career path. He discusses moments that made him grow professionally, gives us a glimpse into his own home designs, and shares what we can look forward to next at Ballard. What You’ll Hear on This Episode: More about Ryan’s start at L.L. Bean as a Manager in Product Development, and how he got to be the President of Ballard Designs. Ryan has been working at Ballard for 19 years, and he has learned so much. He shares what is so special about the Ballard team, and his love for working with manufacturers to make the best products they can stand behind. Ryan is a finance guy that can also plug into his creative side, and he loves both. What Ryan means when he says he loves solving people’s issues with a sense of style. The design concepts that Ryan uses in his own homes to get a traditional yet eclectic look, using almost 90% of Ballard items (and where that other 10% comes from). How they built their home from the ground up and used scale drawings, a great builder and team, and a lot of research to do it correctly. What life at a river cabin is really like, and the funny story of how Ryan created his electrical plan on the fly. Our expert tips on how not to go completely crazy during a time of home building/renovation! What Ryan learned about honesty and transparency when it comes to customer service, and examples where they also learned from their mistakes. The next Ballard product that Ryan personally is excited about. Why Ballard waits until a product is really ready to go to market rather than forcing or rushing something. Mentioned In This Episode Ryan McKelvey LinkedIn L.L. Bean Rebecca McKelvey Amy Vermillion Ryland Table Ballard Designs

Accent chairs add so much character to a room and can help make it feel cozy. Picture a comfy chair sitting by a fire or a window. Inviting isn't it? Add a small table, a book or magazine and you have the perfect destination. To help you find your perfect accent chair we are sharing our favorites. Anita's favorite chairs are below. Nightingale settee HERE Heritage young armchair HERE Swedish rococo chair HERE (https://www.wisteria.com/Handmade-Chippendale-Side-Chair/productinfo/T20267). kubu chair HERE Louisa bergere chair HERE Shephard armchair HERE Lyster armchair HERE Kelly's favorite chairs are below. Anatasia tufted chair ( one In Kelly's kitchen ) HERE (https://amzn.to/2Wz9jZ8). Rattan is hot again and this chair has all the good vibes rattan can give. HERE (https://amzn.to/2XBc8Kq). Buffalo checks are classic & so it the style of the wing backed beauty. HERE (https://amzn.to/2MEt0yX) Secretly recliner lover? Check out the Brooke recliner by Ballard Designs noone will ever know! HERE (https://www.ballarddesigns.com/bd/224070?SourceCode=BDG006&intlShippingCtx=US%7CUSD&CAWELAID=120245430000100671&CAGPSPN=pla&CAAGID=68602813413&CATCI=pla-296303633664&kclid=fa0b7dce-54de-41fa-a684-d4bfc1024a28&gclid=Cj0KCQjwov3nBRDFARIsANgsdoF7X7_OCqIYM7zfssY_OlyS2KzLK7-QiEfXJHvKZSC0el1iLVuNCKgaAi2GEALw_wcB) This is simply a very cool chair. HERE (https://www.article.com/product/2146/medan-graphite-lounge-chair?forceCurrencyId=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_ODWBRCTARIsAE2_EvWakQNp2zoWGyjjbcp5MJTXPm_VKgPP5fZQTueVi_BTGWi-fya_N_QaAq8dEALw_wcB) The black chaise Kelly added to her living room is HERE (https://www.wayfair.com/Ave-Six--Blake-Tufted-Chaise-Lounge-BAK72-L913-K~AVS2332.html?refid=GX103455980923-AVS2332_20138552&device=c&ptid=311143222004&network=g&targetid=pla-311143222004&channel=GooglePLA&ireid=35679020&fdid=1817&PiID%5B%5D=20138552&campaignid=398251723&gclid=Cj0KCQjwsvrpBRCsARIsAKBR_0JDYl5FsOhhh3OIhdzcL5UCY1sHsQ24DvE1jKRl5Er15gI8yNRkt4QaApCBEALw_wcB&piid=20138549). Kelly is crushing on Sezane,  CLICK HERE. Anita is crushing on FranceNet.com CLICK HERE Want to stay on top of everything DTT? Get our emails! CLICK HERE.  XOXO, Anita and Kelly

022: Diving Into the Deep End of Business with Lindsey Cheek Lindsey Cheek is the owner, principal designer, and creative director for Gathered Group located in Wilmington, North Carolina. Lindsey’s work has been featured in Southern Living, HGTV magazine, Martha Stewart Magazine, The Huffington Post and many more. Lindsey shares with us how her business took off quickly after using photos of her personal home renovation and how this meant diving into the deep end of business quickly! Topics Mentioned: Quick growth Business not hobby Staffing and Leadership Planning Thoughts from Lindsey: There was grace in the mistakes of the first project because it was large and the family was flexible and encouraging.  Also with the family living in China, they were hands off and didn’t care about the details in between; they just wanted a beautiful home when they moved to California. My business is a “gathered collection of professionals”. My biggest challenge with the company was realizing it was a business and not a hobby.  I was challenged as a leader and learned to be decisive in what I wanted for my firm and my clients. I want the space I own to be where my team feels inspired and cared for and where they can do their best work. Being unclear is being unkind. Some great advice I was given from the Vice President of Ballard Designs is don’t name your business with your own name because you’ll struggle to be able to grow it or sell it and there might be resentment from employees. The quality of the design work from anyone on the team should be the same no matter what name is on the door. I look to hire staff that have the strengths that I don’t have. We should complement each other.   Socials: Website: https://gatheredgroup.com Facebook: Gathered Instagram: @gatheredgroup, @fificheek

1.  INTRO I’d be surprised to meet someone not familiar with HGTV in some way. HGTV has become quite a force in our American culture kicking off the DIY phenomenon, the urban farmhouse movement with Chip and Joanna Gaines, and the young, colorful, whimsical design aesthetic that HGTV is known for. Honestly, HGTV probably doesn’t have a lot of high end designer fans because of their not-so-realistic design transformations as it relates to the budget but we still appreciate HGTV for a lot of ways. We appreciate them VERY MUCH right now as we are finalists in the 2018 Faces of Design competition which we want to tell you all about. First up, a little bit of background and stories about K&K and HGTV. 2.  OUR FIRST PILOT IN 2012 - HOUSE ARREST WITH CINEFLIX A. Basis for the show B. Scope of work C. The best part – the host – Chris Lambton 3.  OUR SECOND PILOT IN 2013 - MOVE IN OR CASH OUT WITH DEPARTURE FILES A. Basis for the show i. working with Charles and Michael Holmes of List-4-Less Realty ii. Andrew Grein of Grein Productions B. Scope of work i. Weatherby Renovations ii. Kitchens by Caren Danneman iii. Ballard Designs iv. Donations to make it happen! 4. HGTV AS A RESOURCE A. Published twice always relating to our use of color – Joann porch/Jeanne Sellers B. HGTV.com i. What’s new in decorating ii. Craft Projects iii. The famous home giveaway C. HGTV Magazine 5. FACES OF DESIGN 2018 A. 8 Categories this year i. Waterside Retreats ii. Countryside Escapes iii. Big City Digs iv. Living large in small spaces v. Master Retreats vi. Color + Pattern vii. Kitchen & Dining viii. Dramatic Before & Afters B. We entered (5) categories and are finalists in (2) – Color & Pattern (Kelly’s house) and Kitchen & Dining (Wrigley) – There will be an Editors Pick and a People’s Pick for each category and (6) nominees for each category. Vote from August 23rd to September 27 2018. www.hgtv.com/facesofdesign

This week we go to New York to catch up with Miles Redd, and his design partner in crime David Kaihoi. Miles has been featured in Vogue, W, House Beautiful, Architectural Digest and now he brings his one of a kind style to outdoor furniture at Ballard Designs. We talk with Miles and David about the inspiration behind the new collection, which offers beautifully designed quality pieces that look expensive and high end but are affordable and functional. What You'll Hear on This Episode: Decorating should be fun, and not a source of stress or pressure.How Miles and David overcome a creative dry spell or artistic lull and get in touch with their inspirationThe importance of feasting your eyes on beautiful homes to gather ideas, even if it’s just on vacationWhat it’s like to see things again with wonder and newness from the fresh eye of childrenThe role of performance fabrics and durability in a home with kidsThe balance of giving their younger clients what they want between what is functional and makes the most senseTheir new self storing cushion chair in the outdoor furniture collection blends stunning aesthetic with practical usage.Their special dining room tables that feature options and versatilityThe colors and materials that they love enough to bring in to their new office,Their work with Housing Works and Design on a Dime to help people get back on their feet and feel comfortable in societyTheir special theme of color and wallpaper for the booth this year, and their inspiration behind itA quick and easy way to decorate using wall sculpturesHow Miles switches from designing for clients and interior design to product development and designMiles and David’s propensity for adding in ebony or chalky white furniture to add an elegant and high end touch

We love to buy decor items online, and yes we have lots of favorite places to shop. You've probably heard of some of these, but we've also got some tips on getting the best deals at some of these stores. Although we have worked with some of these companies, we were not compensated for mentioning them in this episode.  This is where we often shop. Some of our favorite online stores are.... Wayfair.com affiliate link We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Amazon.com (this is a link to Anita's favorite things on Amazon) Overstock.com Pottery Barn Ballard Designs Soft Surroundings Wisteria.com Frontgate Bella Notte Linens Bag Borrow Steal Kate Spade Lands End Saphyr Sheets Old World Polderware hayneedle Here's the link to see Anita's rhinestone buckles and she's included the link to the Etsy shop where she bought them.  CLICK HERE David Austen Roses World Market Jennifer Lanne   You know what would be SO awesome?  If you would share Decorating Tips & Tricks with your friends.  Do it in person or on Facebook using THIS LINK. It is easy just click & share DTT to your page. Thanks in advance!! x Subscribe so you never miss an episode. And please drop us a line and let us know what you think of the podcast. Our email is decoratingtipsandtricks@gmail.com XOXOXO, Anita, Yvonne and Kelly    

An interview with Bryon Colby (@bcolby6), SVP of Digital Commerce at Cornerstone Brands. Cornerstone Brands is a billion-dollar omni-channel retailer comprised of multiple leading home and apparel brands including Frontgate, Ballard Designs, Garnet Hill, Chasing Fireflies, Grandin Road, Improvements, and TravelSmith. Cornerstone is a business unit of HSN, Inc. We spoke with Bryon about his background, where digital commerce sits in the Cornerstone organization structure, how Cornerstone benefits from it's catalog heritage, the challenges and opportunities of customized products, and the future of personalization. Bryon mentioned a custom product configurator for furniture on Ballard Designs, which can be found here. Don't forget to like our facebook page, and if you enjoyed this episode please write us a review on itunes. Episode 104 of the Jason & Scot show was recorded on Wednesday, October 11th 2017. http://jasonandscot.com Join your hosts Jason "Retailgeek" Goldberg, SVP Commerce & Content at SapientRazorfish, and Scot Wingo, Founder and Executive Chairman of Channel Advisor as they discuss the latest news and trends in the world of e-commerce and digital shopper marketing. New beta feature - Google Automated Transcription of the show: Transcript Jason:  [0:25] Welcome to the Jason and Scott show this is episode 104 being recorded on Wednesday October 11th 2017 I'm your host Jason retailgeek Goldberg and as usual I'm here with your co-host Scott Wingo. Scot & Bryon:  [0:40] Hey Jason and welcome back Jason Scott show listeners, in this week's episode where excited Futura guess that we have literally been trying to get on the show for over a year due to scheduling conflicts between the three of us that has been hard to do but today the stars have finally aligned and we are very excited to Welcome to the Jason Scott show, Bryon Colby SVP of digital Commerce at Cornerstone brands welcome brand. [1:09] Where are you located in the world today in the home base of Cincinnati Ohio. Like being over usually on the road like you guys but I see your point stars align. Jason:  [1:23] And just to be clear Brian it hasn't taken a year because you've been doing a lot of other shows right you've been saving yourself for us. Scot & Bryon:  [1:29] Whatever makes you feel good then go for a Jason. Cook and I'm excited to see if I understand you have a Tesla now so we are in the Tesla owners the electric vehicle club together at this point. Loving it you know can't say enough good things about it I actually thought that was going to be at your giveaway 400 shall I was hoping to get a guest on that one but it was like Tesla's free to your listeners, yeah we we tried that and we ended up with some stickers that Jason printed on his LaserJet they're so close but we were quite able to get it to that level. Jason:  [2:09] It is a premium LaserJet though. Scot & Bryon:  [2:11] Is premium gas to color so it's pretty exciting. Jason:  [2:18] I feel like you guys have have a lot in common you both had the fancy cars and you both spell your first names unconventionally. Scot & Bryon:  [2:26] Yes it's one of those things that makes you very Google Bowl which is a double edged sword. [2:32] I love you find that bread. So far 3 other people that spell it my you know my way you know one guy at the local. Movie theater that selling a popcorn was amazed to see his name tags felt the same way and he's the one there actually is a Facebook group for you know Brian's that's valid Bryon and this guy was it when it started. I don't know. If you ever need. You ever meet anyone else, I have met a couple other people there's a lot of Scott wings with two T's so there's that and then there's the hero of a popular novel, it is at his got Scotland 20 sets and wrestling. Yeah I run into like two or three every five years or so so so kind of price solar distribution I did I don't know if we have a Facebook group or not I might have to explore the Cradle. We left a check there about 5 of us on itself but that was a couple years ago is that Super Active like you guys just guy talk about. I'll leave it at that. Jason:  [3:48] And I think there's one other important piece of business we have to get out of the way before we we jump into Cornerstone big movie trailer came out this week. Scot & Bryon:  [3:59] Yeah yep the know some some people are keeping themselves spoiler-free so I have nothing to talk about it but I, where I draw the line is I try not to read rumor sites or anything like that but I do watch the trailers and this trailer was awesome. I'm very excited for the Last Jedi, tickets are purchased 7 p.m. showing December 14th through the Wingo Clan is locked and loaded for Last Jedi. Jason:  [4:23] That's awesome. Scot & Bryon:  [4:24] Scotty tractor your dress up you and your family for it. We don't we usually say that for Halloween and we're usually a bunch of Star Wars characters for Halloween but we're not cause players just never not not my scene but I'm more of a collector toys that canister. Jason:  [4:44] It's been interesting that there was some controversy coming up to the trailer about whether the director was excited or not about it but I feel like all the reviews of the trailer I've read even from people that are not like huge Star Wars fans are like it's one of the best. Made trailers of all times. Scot & Bryon:  [5:02] Yeah it's a misunderstanding so it's Ryan Johnson and he he was just kind of tweeting that if you want to stay spoiler-free don't watch the trailer and then a lot of people misread that to say, the trailer is not good or something so I don't know so then later he was like all caps watch the trailer people it's great I'm excited up moving. Jason:  [5:20] Heck yeah that was an odd thing to have had thought he said so that I'm glad you were able to clarify Force awesome, well with that Brian let's jump into the topic of the day we want to talk a little bit about about your business and what you're doing now but before we get to that it's always nice to hear about how you got there and what you're you're sort of digital background is. Scot & Bryon:  [5:46] Sure you know just thinking through it's been amazing and I've been involved so I guess any Commerce incident of 1996, where are you know it's part of the great team that we actually helped build some of the initial pay for Content sites football number Publishers including USA Today times-mirror the Usos, Associated Press this is where they had don't you know the publisher that don't websites had no idea how to monetize it and we're looking to monetize some of their archives they're all content people coming in search for so we had that. Company was called in Fanatics had you know had a technology Riri, purpose from our consumer consumer product that was out there in the marketplace and turned around handle the customer service the billing, you know all this is way back when in about 1996-1997 for these customers, since then you know what has really held the number of different you know a hats in the space but all focused on transactions including are running a digital marketing Consulting Group. I'm heading out by you know you asked operations of an SMS Commerce startup which was fascinating just about, it's Wednesday in the year about 2000-2001 so just slightly ahead of its time being able to buy things via SMS was also a managing director at fry and another you know, kind of Legacy in e-commerce space. [7:17] Fantastic also group of e-commerce if we're all veterans right now that we had our own not digital eCommerce platform and we helped run some of the online businesses and Technology, multiple retailers across some. Different categories including Ann Taylor a good diver craft PC Richards and many others so you know after that for a while and actually said okay looking to jump over, to the. Pure retail side so you know the strong desire to actually own the project from start to finish so when I joined Marc Ecko. I was an apparel company and then of Last Stand and currently as he said at Cornerstone brands. Jason:  [8:08] Awesome and the fried that always brings a smile to my heart that I think there's still a few fry sites living in the world then it's obviously been defunct for quite a while. Scot & Bryon:  [8:21] Yep yeah they got you know purchase by Microcenter and of course mikroskop purchase so there still are some out there and it is that's all you go to you know shop.org you got any other conferences, it's one of those amazing get-togethers cuz you see people that you know of work with way you know way back when I just are now you know leaves and heads at all, under the different colors are other e-commerce companies out there. Jason:  [8:47] Yeah so let's talk about Cornerstone Cornerstone might not be a familiar name to some listeners because it's a, it's a house of Brands and then it has a familiar parents so can you tell us a little bit about about a Cornerstone and who you are. Scot & Bryon:  [9:04] Sure Cornerstone wasn't even familiar to me when I joined the head corner, Cornerstone brands it's a billion-dollar plus retailer it's comprised of a portfolio of different aspirational home and apparel brands that include Frankie Ballard Designs, Garnet Hill Grandin Road and improvements in overtime with awesome different companies with divested different companies we have a strong catalog heritage, that's our background but now we're at a point where over 70% of our overall demands is transacted via digital channels with an opening up some new retail store. So you know where as a whole it's again most people won't know Cornerstone but the brands very well-thought-of Rhymes doing very well. Well parent company is hsni which of course the other Division if they own besides Cornerstone is HSN which is more 2 Legacy broadcast. You know broadcast Commerce company that has course has also evolved into a strong digital Anthony. Jason:  [10:16] Very cool and one of the things that I was interested me about Cornerstone is the. [10:23] Sort of portfolio is is interesting Lee diverse not so much in terms of. The offering a consumers although that's the first two but act like I think some of the Brand's don't have stores do I have it right into their pure digital some of the brands, have stores, some of the brand sell products that aren't super convenient to ship until I I sort of think about the whole portfolio and I go man there's a lot of unique. Different business cases for each of the brands is do I have that right or is it all pretty much the same thing. Scot & Bryon:  [10:59] No you're totally right on The Mark with it and it's to the point where it's at extended differentiation extends to the products or the the product photography. How to get out of quality or of the paper that the catalogs are printed on. People are usually amazing like oh yeah you know I never even knew that Ballard Designs in front they were quote related, what part of the same as the wall you know part of the model is and we really we do have a hybrid model here so I we share a digital platform, fat and other back and operation such as call center and supply chain areas where we would really get operational leverage but then. The majority of all the customer-facing aspects such as creative product pricing merchandising. That's all at the Brand level and the strategies for those are really formed at the Brand level so we may have some may say stores are the best, way for us to connect with our customers others may go with a different private label credit card and all of that ensures that you know, really strong Believers and keeping a unique DNA of each brand so while we are for a portfolio, we want to gain leverage everywhere we really focus on not wanting to lose what makes each brand special and their connection to the customer cuz what we normally hear when people come in and saying hey you know what we could save x amount. I may be consolidating, you know all the photos shot so you know all the models of the photo shots into one area and it's really ghetto people resisted overtime and you know it's actually been the right call is what we're learning. [12:36] So I can practice walk us to how your piece works so let's see you have a front gate Ballard at cetera, you guys can operate as an agency that supports what they're doing or do you do help them with strategy and they have their own groups so so let's just use something kind of practical that that everyone doesn't e-commerce like like, I see my Google AdWords do you have a group that kind of like centralized does that say for the various brands or do they do it themselves and you guys, I had an evil strategy for the. [13:08] It's really the latter each brand does have right now just for this specific example and it changes of course what you're talking about but for something like sem each brand has their own marketing department. Then their own people on the ground in a managing their ass Leon campaign. Where are the cross brand leverage and where my team myself and my team's role will come into play is one in Short helping to ensure, at all the brands are using the best technology. More info or let's say I see I'm dead management as well as you know making sure we're leveraging our relationships with our third-party Partners so okay this interests you know again where Billion Dollar Plus, company, I'm as a whole but if it was each individual they're going out there as a snow still larger but smaller entities so a lot of that is managed from a central location. As well as helmets Europe what you mentioned helping a form what maybe some of our strategy should be in the space, like okay you know it's part of letting you know the shifter increase mobile spend helping to highlight the importance of that and digging into the data so a lot of that is a partnership, other aspects of you know my team's role here that are shared services where R you know request. LeBron saying hey this is a project we need to do for our business. On the other hand it could come from a side you know my team and I resent the corporate level to say hey this may be a good strategy for the entity as a whole. [14:45] Around where things are really pushed off down at the partnership model where the give and take on both sides. My specific role is again heading up the digital Commerce at the corporate level so it impacts you know what the overall digital strategy should be, as well as a day-to-day operations and management, digital platform and technology that is shared among the brands as well as you know what the team here driving learnings and leverage across the portfolio but if it's touching that and you deserve like I said before. Back in from the brand side so you know an overtime this model has evolved and you know we've looked at all the different, ways you can actually do this that there you know some organizations that say you know everything should be centralized some saves everything should be at the brands. We again it's a hybrid model is how we trying to tend to operate some things we didn't my team will get more involved in other times it's where the brands about it. Jason:  [15:48] Interesting you had mentioned that a lot of the the brand on the cornerstone portfolio had started as catalog doors and I wanted to touch on that for a minute cuz I think that's super interesting. Personalized was handled Walmart earnings report this week and Mark Lori mentioned something that I hadn't thought about before but he's like. Hey we've all been shipping products to Consumers homes for a hundred plus years that's not really the the new thing in that the e-commerce bring for the party. What e-commerce really changing the party is the the front end merchandising a product that essentially you know the whole delivery thing, it's something I've been doing for a long time and that you know cataloguers in particular have been doing and the new thing we've all had to learn how to do is use digital to merchandise products in so it like. Is that true at Cornerstone that you inherited. Good Supply chains and and facilities for shipping and that sort of thing because of your catalog Heritage or weather like a lot of. [16:54] Sort of traditional methods that had to be had to be dramatically changed to accommodate your e-commerce growth. Scot & Bryon:  [17:02] Wiz. Cataloguers one of the inmates things I think would see know when I took on the role that I quickly saw was an advantage was that the wreck Market in skill set. Cuz it's a very different business in terms of prospecting customers and reaching out the customers and it maybe from Hyder having bread, and mortar stores or whether you're just starting a secure play without that direct marketing background so, you know a lot of our operations with always been selling direct the customers and ship into them there from the supply chain from a customer call center, that's always been in place I mean right now we have a small retail store for friends and that you know I'm like a lot of other companies, that was kind of a you know later stage move that we move that we went forward with so you know and have some of this goes back to. You know what you at you know your man crush Andy Dunn marriage a sin in terms of you know you're quoted him a number of times that a lot of these think eCommerce pure plays and I'm a big fan of eventually hit a wall. Because of stacking up with you in the fact of customer acquisition at the right price. Just so you know you you actually start to say okay we have to get other channels to go after customers but it starts are going to retail in the everyone now it's time to go in the catalogs and the thing is kind of hard work really well, you know you need that direct marketing skill set but the good part is once you actually have it. [18:34] Working friends and now I'm really excited because I feel that a lot of digital channels are starting to catch up I mean you look at what Facebook is now offering what Google's offering me know and I've got in a little trouble, in the news recently just buy, how well you're able to Target in or if you're from Russia that you can actually buy specific keywords now on it and do respect of look-alike mod, look like modeling but now with you know you could have specially take what we've been doing for catalogs for a while and go out there and do it digitally. And the other part with catalogs is that fascinates me is you think okay on the filming of, you know you guys also we go at that we check our mailbox every day but there really isn't too much in it now and catalogs get a lot of the attention so. You know digital you. People have also asked well as digital going to kill catalogs and all that but the goal is actually to do a martyr sentence. Like okay Mel books a lot smarter and integrated with digital and that's what was doing so that's why all the back you know when you say a lot of the back office activities, you know we of course need to Reno and want to improve on it in terms of speed of delivery in terms of customer interactions but that's been there since day one. Jason:  [19:58] For sure so first of all tell me that wouldn't be a great selling book is the kgb's guide to Facebook marketing. [20:07] She like we should write that right now the. [20:12] Like so is it true like that you you have catalogs it like that are continuing to be good performers and that you've you've sort of evolved them to to fit better in the digital world that they're still a significant acquisition channel for you. Scot & Bryon:  [20:25] Yes they are you know that Nicole is always you whenever you you know if your mailing a lot of catalogs it's a. Numbers game where are you know a high percentage of them are not going to generate sales the ones that hit well generate you know you know I do a lot of sales so it's over time figuring out more and more. How to reduce the number of mountains that you do or else reduce unproductive maling. The Golan is to take some of those Savings reinvested in digital and with digital actually you know have different contact points for the customer. That is you know right now baby they real catalogs work well they do or the challenge of course is that they tend to be expensive. They tend to be some things that are out of your control you know what would a long-term you have cost of paper you have postage and all that, it's you know why won't you know what the start while I was saying you over 70% of our transactions happen digitally you know Catalina. Catalog for major marketing channel for us. Jason:  [21:29] It and it's interesting because you see it going both ways there there you know famous traditional cataloguers that has kind of gotten out of the catalog so you know I'm I obviously think it like a Sears or. Victoria's Secret and I think even come in your face Crate & Barrel me over Tire their catalog at one point but then at the same time you see a lot of. Companies including digital native Brands adopting. Catalogs as a marketing channel and so it you almost have wonder if some of those Legacy cataloguers missed the boat by turning them off when you know maybe there was just a way to to evolve them. [22:08] I'd be. Scot & Bryon:  [22:09] And we started when you started keeping track of it where you know where the 90-day. Exactly you had some major companies such as Victoria's Secret they were out of catalog. Other companies saying we reinvent you know we're investing in and doing more so there really you don't normally you say okay there's a herd mentality one way this is where it's you know the really isn't, people argue no finding their own past but Summer Valley more summer mailing a lot less. Jason:  [22:35] And Scott do I have it right isn't Amazon even doing some catalogs and some categories. Scot & Bryon:  [22:42] Yeah yeah I've seen them experiment usually do a holiday catalog now which is kind of highlighting some offerings that are good gifts. Jason:  [22:49] Yep in Bryan I be curious the so when you talk about. [22:55] Digitally infusing the catalogs I think of sort of two things. Obviously in a digital let us know our audience a lot better and Target are audio so I better so I can imagine using digital to you no have a higher hit rate and get more of those printed catalogs in the hands of the right people and fewer. In the hands of the wrong people but I also would be curious about sort of Prince. Two digital interactions like either their features you built into the print catalogs now to make it. Easier for someone to to make the jump from the printed page to the the product detail page or or is that not important. Scot & Bryon:  [23:36] But it's definitely important I mean we've you know over the past couple years we've tried out a lot of things you know we've done some basic you know, when I call you now. Barcodes what not you know when you have the codes in there that okay those were going to be the next stop where you can actually just Decor scan it and have the reader and instantly go to the website. We've also had different experiments in this some of these were great learning where you could pick your phone hold it over the catalog and actually the product reviews with Sprint. You can see the product reviews or if we had a couch in Ocala lots of limited space so let's save your show the couch and two colors you can hold your phone up to that page and it instantly scan and the other couches you could get, so it's done that you know and we'll try some other experiments. [24:29] I really think we've reached a point where you don't need the coach people saying okay you have this physical catalog then here's what you need to do to get online or here's what you need to do if your phone people are at a point where they're doing it anyway. So in terms of actively trying to dry them online with kind of said hey you know what we're not trying to drive consumer behavior when I ride in that way. [24:54] Michael O'Brien listener the show in any kind of heard us, talk a lot about the Amazon impact out there and, what is the best way to defend yourself from that is to make your own products you haven't heard it yet but the episode before this one was a deep dive on private label which is a strategy that that everyone's really employing a lot of people feel like even Amazon Whole Foods acquisition was driven by a desire to have a deeper private label offering and grocery so you guys are in an interesting position if I understand it correctly I think, bus your brands of Lee the manufacturer and the brand the seller of the brand it is is that correct. [25:35] That's correct but the majority of what we sell all proprietary Goods. No we do still at the big differentiate or I personally believe this in that you know it. It gives us now more permission to generate brand Authority and connect with our customers so it also allows us to do a lot more with either you know product customization because it's all under our control, so it's something you know that we've been firm Believers in and I personally believe it that you know the worst thing you could do is become commoditized. So I'm doing our proprietary product and then I'm looking forward to listening to your next you know that the cell before this when it comes out but is, one of the ways that okay if you're looking to compete against Amazon or any of you know any of the other you know larger big boys out there think it's key, so these brands have been around since the catalog era has if you guys done explicit things with digital to kind of, accelerate that Loop because some of the newer generations of Brands like a Casper of bonobos Indochina you're one of the nice things about being born digital is you get that real kind of customer feedback very quickly because there's more of a, put it out quick and get feedback Rose I can imagine the catalog world you know what let's say 15 years ago it would be more of a you know, some of the product to do testing put it in the catalog and then probably takes 12 to 18 months to get any feedback is that something that you guys have felt in your brands that that your. [27:10] You're able to close at Loop faster and innovate faster I mean that it's a great that you know part of the challenge always are catalogs is the lead time. Involved, actually got things in there so one of the things of course is scaling back okay the knock knock the number about the types of promotions you put in catalogs cuz you talk about being responsive to, the market needs and business needs a little tough you're putting an offer in a book that you know may go out okay 3 months from now that's going to be off. Doesn't mean it's not done so that's one thing where you can you know we're gaining more flexibility on mine as well as in the product reviews and then you know that. From Prague reviews from product feedback from customers even though I may be in the book we're taking that and wearing you know where it integrating work or messaging on the side about the Prada. So you know we still have again at Heritage we're okay it's still going out there ahead of time but we already know part of it is gaining learning from what some of the digital natives are doing and you know it's family. [28:15] Yeah, see it flipping where, and I bet now you could probably you know let's see you have a catalog coming out next spring you're probably planning that one you do a bunch of digital quick things to test that out now and then you know maybe take the winners and put them in the catalog that is that is that kind of inverted with with the evolution of e-commerce. It's definitely something that we're exploring and yes it is I mean that's where it's great we're okay you could still. You could still have the print medium that has that lead time but you're able to accept feedback before it goes in there and it's involved in some of the older models, that had a catalogs get put together and you know what needs to be in them it's really I mean. That and I really trick it's the shift you know for merchandising as handsome as a whole. I know that's come up you know I'm different episode and you know the kind of merchant you know the merchandising Prince roll that that's a ball, now become much more data-driven and you know you use much more real-time feedback and all that are aspects that we. Jason:  [29:22] Interesting and you had mentioned that some of the products that you guys make our our customizer personalized for the individual consumer do I have that right. Scot & Bryon:  [29:32] Yeah yeah we've been we've been doing it for a number of years and we you know of the past couple years has really been expanding it you know, because the point earlier about okay if you're going to differentiate one how to differentiate it from Amazon but I know also how to fit the needs of the consumers, in the consumers really enjoy you know have a lot of trust in Our Brands and in and enjoy them but they also like, feeling that heavy I have the ability to make it my own Stafford's ample at Ballard Designs which has, very strong ties to the I'm designer Community with built-in house configurator and this configurator and you know you reviews, be able to build it where you can have a chair and maybe put the seat collar now you feel that you know you could configure on some, found my chairs at the 12 different configurations now heads this color. Alexis color of the you know the chair front and back the welts the seat skirt the chick I'm kick plate you can have all of that customized to it so one of the things we learned as hell you know. [30:41] People are fat enough fascinated by using a stool or actually able to also expand the use of it in our store so that every Ballard store in their Design Services Center the configurator gets a lot of play You & Me now this is cat time, really taking it to the nth degree cuz of course knowing one thing by the way you learned at least I learned from this as I can make some really ugly chairs so not everything, you know how to volunteer to have me come in and do it and waited the three of us have a competition one of these days and it tool who can make the worst looking one but you know we also take a step back and we do a lot even just the basics of product monogramming. Across all of our all of our Brands we ask you know we do it all in-house there are really strong. Personalization Center within our DC and we also been expanded to it they stores that within some of the Ballard stores. Now you could also in-store monogramming. You could buy a tote there and then go and instantly get it monogrammed with what you want and we were able to turn around like with the recent Star of course hurricane, you know the first I hate you stand we went in and within 24 hours I mean two teams here that a fantastic job, wrabel to create customized totes saying okay this is you know it towed for Texas program purchase the toad x amount goes to, helping a local areas that were in pack, and you know what that was from a combination of having that monogram and personalization capabilities as well as a team that's always thinking okay how can we pick up products to the next level. Jason:  [32:17] That's very cool that we talked several times on the show about that that person was a ship being one of the good ways to to combat Amazon in particular you know it's probably not a perfect note forever but but certainly like. You know that. Customizing the product before you ship it to a customer negates a lot of the advantages that Amazon has with the the huge number of fulfillment centers that don't have personalization capabilities. Scot & Bryon:  [32:45] Yep and it's also I mean customers you know you still want to get it there as quickly as possible. Johnny Maddox fan of a custom shower at least this week maybe I'll change in another 2 weeks they're not expecting it to be delivered in 2 hours. Jason:  [33:00] Yep. Scot & Bryon:  [33:01] Because they recognize what goes into it and they're all so you know there's different price flexibility you have with that. So you know I know and I'm sure it's going to shift over time I was joking before that there will be no hiding expectations. Dodge customization is Major strategy for us. Jason:  [33:19] Cut in migraines customer expectations rarely ever get lower they do it's not for a good reason. The the other great thing about precise product though is you probably don't accept returns on that right there turn right it's probably zero. Scot & Bryon:  [33:35] Exactly I mean they're always circumstances but no matter what your name is for mothers out there almost customized products the return rate drops tremendously on it whether you allow it or not. Jason:  [33:48] Sure I totally get that and I mean. But I do feel like people sometimes underestimate what a big part of the economic equation returns are in most e-commerce businesses so even when you just. Dramatically curtail returns that that is a huge economic impact on you know if and when a company can get your profitable in e-commerce oh I certainly like that. That Trend overall I wanted this sort of flip. The personalization question for a second though with most people we talked about personalization we're not so much talking about, personalizing the actual product we're talking about personalizing the user experience of shopping for the products and we talked a little bit about that in the discussion, but where where do you guys sit in the whole spectrum of personalization are you doing some interesting things is it soda on your road map. [34:45] You think it's worth it. Scot & Bryon:  [34:46] Yeah actually doing doing personalization for a while and you know we, we've been doing it in and what always fascinates me about is that if a company is doing it really correctly a lot of times, individual doesn't you know why they don't realize it it just hard to tell personalization unless you know what I do in my spare time if you have enough five different browsers open keep on hitting different categories On fight to doing different things and see if the sites about, what your behaviors are but we you know it, different brands of the brands we have you know on the website you go to the home so you can go to the homepage and after a couple visits it actually, call Paige Cadet personalized that we break it up into dista sites broken up into different if you know whether you called Widgets or different components, where Venice is you know some of this is basic wear if you're coming from you know a Colder Weather climate, we're going to show you different products but then that also could extend into what content you see at the ideally if you doing this right where we're also shooting, if you want to extend that until k then the kind of messages and personalization of people get on the back end if they're calling in to the call center. Or if they are also you know what day I'm outbound marketing materials that they got. So we've been doing a lot of that you know the way I usually say it is we've gone a lot better. [36:18] Personalizing the individual The Experience excuse me at that point in time for that individual in one channel, where we see the evolution of that is okay then recognizing them on their mobile phone and doing the same as I said when I called to the call center they should have that same experience. Part of it is you know that challenge with personalization enough spoken to a lot of others about it is actually. One prioritizing what you want to do but then also had a scallop. You know it does require more creative resources they have to make an investment in it and it and you know it. [36:58] It's rare you do personalization in something that you know your metrics just jump off in your the man jumps up it's a lot of singles and doubles. So you need to do a lot of them and they're you know and just hit a lot of the users to send you know in jail personalized ways and air companies out there, you know do a great job Zulily does a strong job with it where are you know, babe I forgot the exact number about how many you know personalized home pages of personalized emails get created every day and I do feel that again it is also the interact with the end-user customers going to start it's going to become table Stakes. Companies are going to expect that personalization it's just that I think it kind of got over height. You know really hasn't lived up to its potential yet but you know well of course we haven't spoken about it you know AI machine learning I think that's going to lead to really be the next. One of the next Generations of what e-commerce is and I'll be around personalization. Jason:  [37:57] Yeah it certainly I mean a basic premise is that that machine learning is the way you can you can you can scale personalization particularly when you even get into a I doing content creation. Scot & Bryon:  [38:12] It's at if that's true point. Jason:  [38:14] It it's interesting like the. [38:17] Because personalization is such a big word like they're such a broad spectrum right like you could say hey we did a personalization on our site. And in that could mean you set up a data Lake and collected way more information about all your customers than you ever had before and produced you know thousands of a torn to pieces of content in are giving everyone a bespoke experience or I can also say. You know you added the words welcome Brian to the homepage right like. [38:43] And so it's it's it's hard when people talk about having done a project at you and what was the ROI like there's not. [38:49] It's not a binary thing like I didn't have ratings and reviews and now I do or you know I didn't have 360-degree Prada quotations and now I do, and you can you know it turn it on and measure the effectiveness. Personalization is it in my mind is a spectrum minute it's therefore much harder to measure the the ROI of personalization overall although. You can sometimes do it for individual tactics. Scot & Bryon:  [39:16] Right exactly knows individual tactics and normally do singles and doubles and you know I've written a number of round tables with all the retailers on personalization, you know it always fascinated me because you'll read whether it's our star Gardner you know any of the you know anyone that's doing their annual summations you know. Top areas that people wanted want to develop in the future next year we're going to spend money and personalization is usually up there but then when you get them, with the retailers you know on the ground sit around the table and you ask a question okay on a scale of 1 to 10 where is your company, you know on that where you view where on the road map of personalization I've never had anyone say higher than A3. Jason:  [40:03] Yeah. Scot & Bryon:  [40:04] And I'm sure you see that all the time when you're with clients that one it's a definition but there's just a lot of dish in there but it hasn't really taken flight yet. Jason:  [40:16] Yeah and I guess I would also even say that there are people that have like achieved a meaningful amount of personalization and it increasingly. Personalization just for personalization sake doesn't automatically win right and so the fact that you communicated uniquely with me. In and of itself isn't compelling it's if the communication with me made the communication more relevant to me. Then it's compelling right and sometimes the most relevant communication is exactly the same for a million consumers and when it is. [40:53] That that's perfectly fine but the the fact that like. [40:59] You said that a million different emails if it does it's something that's different in those emails doesn't make them. Resonate better with the audience is kind of a wasted effort and with you know sometimes we see people doing personalization as sort of a checkbox exercise where there you know. They're hell-bent on doing some personalization so they do something and you know they they can claim that it's more personalized but they haven't necessarily you know solve the problem for their customer. Scot & Bryon:  [41:27] I know tire and part of it is then tearing at personalization in an ongoing way and that's why you know the person could sue the email goes to the landing page and it could be personalized to them but then when they're throughout the rest of this site may not be. And that's where the whole experience you know it's not Barren you know maybe I'm older optimistic on it I think it we are going to get there. [41:50] Again that's going to be in next week for. Jason:  [41:52] Yep I'll tell you one that drives me nuts and I'll pick on a company that's probably generally well-known for personalization that are, our friends at Adobe right so so that you know they do personalized retargeting advertising like like a lot of B2B companies and and you know so there I'm sure there's a marketing person there that would say hey we have a really effective personalized advertising campaign. [42:13] And. So I get personalized ads on YouTube from Adobe and on the one hand that's pretty impressive but on the other hand most of those add show up when my two-year-old son is watching a.m. Like some kind of cartoon video on YouTube and. You go hey you know what they yes they personalized that that has something unique for me in it but they completely missed the contacts like why are they buying an ad trying to sell me Adobe marketing cloud in the middle of content design for 2 year olds. Scot & Bryon:  [42:46] And that's by that's good trivia it's tough. Jason:  [42:50] Yeah yeah I'm bi I'm not making fun of it because that was it you know any easy easy solved but I just I feel like that the state we're in right now is it still early days and getting all this stuff right. I do want to go back I'm neglected one question we are talking about the personalization of products and you mention the the the configurator that use a ballad for the chairs, did you have to build something unique that you guys use or were you able to buy some sort of off-the-shelf. Configuration package and then adapt it to your your products. Scot & Bryon:  [43:23] We we we looked at a number or item number of either off-the-shelf products are working with a third-party to build it and I've done some of this again earlier Mike we can figure Raiders and one of learning, back then was the toughest part about building a configurator is an ongoing support. As products change read so you know your systems change how you actually keep keep it running so based on that when we looked you know for the Ballard Designs one we decided to actually build it ourselves. Cuz you wanted specific ties and sir are back in systems who wanted a specific URI for it and for ongoing maintenance. That was to know something for you third parties for but that was a team here to felt. [44:11] Cool one of the I saw one of your exact speak at a conference and they're talking about, kind of you know omni-channel in and store experiences and the digital native, Brands as you mentioned her are kind of catching on to this and the latest kind of catchphrases o + O which is online and offline and I feel like you guys have had stores for a while but if I call you're doing a lot more of these pop-up experiences, tallest Tuscan of the little bit of history of of the stores monster Brands and then some of the things that you're experimenting with around other, online offline interactions. Some reason retail footprint a small one though for a number of years that actually no predated my company but the majority of them. In all honesty we're not good and the customer experiences that some of them were, outlet stores which are fine but they were they look like outlet stores with you no products dumped all over the place and again they didn't really capture the essence of the brands and it wasn't any one person's doing it's just wives. You know a part of the business that most people did not pay attention to so a couple years ago though, when from doing surveys and talking to a customer's we start to experiment and Ballard Designs is one of the first this it wasn't a pop up but with a new design you know a new store concept. Focused on Design Services and you know one of the stories that. [45:43] You know which is accurate that the present in the Ballard Designs frequently tells is that when we would go and you know we met with a lot of that people that design stores and they're well all I called Design Services that should be in the back corner of the store. You know what I go through out of the line of sight and you know the people at Ballard this is and this is why again that. You know the individual bran were the people that helped design the store cuz they are closest to the customer and they understood that it wasn't necessarily a corporate initiative to know that Design Services of watching porn. African what makes us different so they put that in the middle of the store and you know since then, and what we also want to look at his okay when we open the store what happens to the business overall and we're seeing in the surrounding you know msas are digital business also takes a little less. Pics of Bomb Pop, so you know Ballard that's open some stores in Roosevelt Field mall New York King of Prussia Mall Tysons Corner and we brought on you know some additional I people inside to actually run the retail business operations and, Hickenbottom doing a great job now. pain in front gate also by the way which it worth now testing it was Frankie just open the store and in Plano Texas brand new design concept cuz, Macatawa green our point of view of a beer at the Rack business and cataloger to grow you know Furniture businesses at the, now that I've grown Frankie Ballard improvements grandinroad without allowing people or giving people the opportunity to feel and touch it. [47:18] And we Sunday our experiments and all that where it really isn't the same it's good of being there in the store that this seemed like the next and it was the next logical step. Garnet Hill what you were referring to his they did a great mobile Boutique. Today is kind of retrofitted a container and drove it around in South Street Seaport New York as well as about the Exeter New Hampshire and opened up the container and it was a mini on a store, it would help educate people to what the brand wise you know we, so when the container that we had over $5,000 to it we have local celebrity chefs we have book signings so we can Max an experiment doesn't mean we necessarily going to do it again but we also tried different you know Frontgate had different pop-up stores, it's a lot of issues learning. And we learn that customers definitely in a one it's amazing when you're at the store openings that people that have you know only bought from but they are mine. We actually are in the store it is just a log fast that open and you know you invite some of the top customers in your people discovering the store and just speaking to them about what the brand means to Diamond Phoenix physical location. Jason:  [48:31] They call it the show when you said you were traveling a lot is that because you're driving that that container around. Scot & Bryon:  [48:37] Exactly. That's fine that's my side stand. Jason:  [48:43] Other duties as a. Scot & Bryon:  [48:44] My responsibilities exactly so. Jason:  [48:50] Impressive impressive. Scot & Bryon:  [48:51] Kids dead call at your side hustle that's your side Hustle and I know who to clean a call of course. If I need it cleaned so that we're all set. Jason:  [49:01] That's a great time to mention not only if you need it cleaned but if you need it so oil changed mobile one. Scot & Bryon:  [49:08] Yeah yeah yeah we we announced a partnership with Exxon today so pretty excited about that. Jason:  [49:16] Scot doesn't feel like I follow him but I totally do. Scot & Bryon:  [49:20] Thin line between stock and follow their Jason. Jason:  [49:24] Yeah yeah but luckily he has a several State buffer to keep him keep him safe. [49:29] Bryon like I know in your role you get pitched a lot from a bunch of different vendors and you got all these different brands that want to, try different things and different business users in each of those things and then like you know Scott and I are at a lot of the industry events hearing about the new things. Help us help us create a little bit like are there any sort of new Trans or up-and-coming practices or technologies that. That you're particularly interested in or excited about. Scot & Bryon:  [50:01] I've been seeing a lot more where. [50:07] Companies that can and you know their name and some the specific ones that have traditionally come to the table and said, hey you know we could help you with email on drip campaigns are trigger campaigns or that even we could help you or personalization that becoming a lot more data-driven. Which excites me and now you know using data and you know new, that would say in different ways but really trying to maximize in and they're also Focus now on how they're going to tie into your photo ecosystem which goes fast and that's been the biggest challenge you know that if we had one company that did personalization, an email and one company that made them personalization on the site and they're not talking to each other. It's a fragmented experience but there's a lot more of that overall I mean for the overall where I seen the future and where companies are doing a lot more if that's why I said it before. You know I'm one hand I hate it because you know you said we go to all these different industry advance and now you know you it's rare I guess, Eddie pitched it doesn't mention some kind of machine learning where but I do think it's going to go over that high curves sometime soon but how we intelligently going to recognize, and I promoted and personalized experiences whether it's emotions Smyrna tractions inventory pricing, a lot of companies that are doing that now and it's still in its beginning stages but in that way I space. [51:38] Very interested in and you know just looking around that okay you know. For Cornerstone in for Our Brands what is the right way to do that immediately I don't think we're at a point yet where I would recommend going to go all in on that. That you know would want to definitely test it first then that's what I also love it at the portfolio model here is that you know what we are normal, standard operating procedure is doing a new initiative or finding a new company like you were mentioning earlier its try it on one brand prove it out, and then actually roll it out to others. So I mean that other aspects are augmented reality we really haven't spoken a lot about but you know I mentioned it earlier that's not the same as being in the physical store but you know we launched and try with ad, I've got about a year ago now and the technology finally has reached a point where are you know beyond just Apple adopted it, states where you don't need markers anymore I mean you got to make this as easy as possible and just holding up the phone and it working is great so. That's the one area I guess. The last one if you know I got a whole other our discussion on and this is what I mean we don't have that sell for I'm not even going to pretend to myself that I do it's just. [53:00] I look at it like okay. Five years are even ten years out it's so much and you've spoken about the somewhat about what you mean you know that there's going to be disintermediation in that things are going to be come between our brand message and the customer. We're going to lose some control of that contact and we're going to lose it to you know voice space services such as you know how to sign in Alexa Google Facebook. Yeah you at all so I no mention on an earlier podcast about you know what Scott Galloway talking about the four. They're going to control it it's going to have a fundamental impact on Brad's and. [53:39] Companies that are I think they're going to start to ignore you know partners and vendors as they start to learn to how to solve an address those that was going to be really interested in. Jason:  [53:49] Yeah that that certainly is a a big disruption I'd be slightly curious so so we've done a rvr deep dive and I. At a high level. Like I think we feel like we are super interesting in the entertainment industry in the gaming industry but it's certainly overhyped for e-commerce. That you know a r has some really interesting in Store applications and in-home application but almost. Every vendor in the air VR space for Commerce, the demo use case that their nana laying is your products right like it's it's the sort of Home Products and Decor products in in you know products that are customized and require some visualization. Like does it feel like even in your space it's sounding like you're saying it's maybe even still a little earlier and we're just starting to get to the point where it might truly be viable. [54:44] Is that. Scot & Bryon:  [54:45] Oh I think that I think the technology and I mean. [54:48] Technology is Rihanna's is there in 2 years ago where I was at you no talking at companies that would provide a our services and I like always easy to use the customer just go to the website and imprint. Page. [55:05] Pay back page for the wall and the phone of that page and then I'll be able to see it and I'm like you talked about friction. Jason:  [55:14] We've eliminated the Scotch tape from the process now. Scot & Bryon:  [55:17] So exactly from now and that's what it was yet to see steps and size you know and when, we went out with you know partner with a company and launched it and it was just really signed out it was really fascinating to me because we would test it out with users and we're going to our stores and show it to them and what really frustrated people as they kept on, wanted to take their fingers you know when do the pinch move on the product cuz they're like hey I'm trying to get it to fit in the space and it won't fit so I want to grow it and shrink it, the doll notion you can sure you know it's size on purpose to see if they can fit in so you know you were trying manipulated which just didn't work but. [55:59] You know it gets a we found them you know what others are fine and I think you got a lot of you know customer interaction with it but you know and I do we did actually see them more customers to know what he'll conversion rate. You know there's a lot more testing to be done because okay I didn't know those customers were going to convert anyway cuz they were highly engaged so I think that. It's definitely there and you see all the way you know every really every home goods company now is coming out with it that. You know what even I mean house did it you know what I think it's great cuz that is multi again multi products in it I I think that and you know what I agree that VR is going to be you know it. Love Stocker Thrift we have here and everything it's all great but free Commerce application still a heart to you. The ones that I've actually experimented it that would be are a little wild on the road but they are is going to be here I think sooner than people think. Jason:  [56:56] Yeah and one thing that has changed since the Deep dive is both Apple and Google have released these very robust. [57:06] Trap eyes in their operating system in so it's a good news bad news thing it actually makes it a lot easier to develop. AR applications in there much cooler cuz the programmer doesn't have to do all the. The heavy lifting they just have to Define their products and stuff like that so I feel like that's what it's going to be a huge enabler for AR the downside is from the time that Apple and Google like released. Stuff in their newest technology it still takes a long time before it's in every consumers hands right so you know. Apple gets most people to upgrade the operating system but it only works on the the phones that are one year older or newer and Google like nobody ever upgrade the operating system and said they're not getting. The Google AR kit until they replace their phone so it if you like we still might be an upgrade cycle or two away from from those. Does kids being Broadway to play but when they are it's going to be much easier and cheaper for developers to add those those kinds of features and I feel like that could really be a. Enabler a lot of this technology for for at least 4 retail applications. Scot & Bryon:  [58:14] Yeah I feel the same way me before it was honestly was a novelty. Oh cool you could do it but it was more people could use it it's going to start to grow with your point when the and I just. Okay with the adoption rate of the newer you know phones that it's going to be there but it's just easier to use the friction is much more minimum wage now. Jason:  [58:36] Yep and I think we know from almost all experiences that when she get that freaking out it makes a big difference in an adoption so, so hopefully we'll see some interesting stuff there in the future but Brian that is going to be a great place to leave it because it's happening again we've wasted a perfectly good hour of our listeners time, so I really want to thank you for joining us you know it's it's been a long time coming but. Totally worthwhile and we wish you all the best with Cornerstone and look forward to following your success I want to remind listeners that they're always welcome to continue the dialogue on our Facebook page and O'Brien hangs out there all the time so if you have any questions we can cajole him into participating as well, and of course if you love the show we desperately need that 5 star review on iTunes if you hated the show don't don't feel the need to write an interview at all. Scot & Bryon:  [59:29] Crack guys thanks so much again I really really really enjoyed it. [59:34] Thanks Brian we really appreciate your patience on scheduling this so what kind of used grit and gutter done and really appreciate you taking time out of your busy day to share your digital experience with our listeners. Jason:  [59:48] Until next time happy commercing.

Crushes are so much fun!  Some fade and some last, but they are always of the moment and make your heart beat a bit faster.  We have some current decor crushes to share today and we don’t mind if you fall in love with them too! Today’s Sponsor is Thomas Avenue Ceramics.  The best on line purveyor of tile.  Check out the tile we are crushin’ on – like the porcelain wood tile Kelly loves!  Use the code DTT20 at check out for 20% off your order. You can see Yvonne’s lucite monogrammed bracelet HERE. (I chose “crystal” for the face of the bracelet) Find Anita’s favorite bolster pillow from Bella Notte HERE See Yvonne’s acrylic stacking tables HERE. Learn about Jennifer Lanne & her palette paintings HERE. See Yvonne’s ghost chair pick HERE. See Anita’s favorite bench from Soft Surroundings HERE. That brushed gold metal sconce Kelly is crushin’ on HERE. Yvonne’s Ballard Design favorite pillow is no longer in stock, but check out all the other great pillows from Ballard Designs HERE. Yvonne’s Turkish towels, see them HERE. Kelly’s favorite palette painting is HERE. Yvonne loves Fiddle leaf ficus plants, see HERE. Anita’s favorite pastry stand from Ballard Designs is HERE. Small white pitchers are so versatile in decor.  See one of Kelly’s favorite Etsy shops that carries them HERE. Have a moment to subscribe rate & review our podcast?  Awesome – thx! Do it HERE. Subscribing means you’ll never miss an episode.  Rating & reviewing let’s know how we are doing. And you can call us @ 323 480-4408 we’d love to hear from you! You can suggest a topic for us to cover or ask a question. XOXO, Anita, Yvonne, and Kelly   The post Episode 43: Decor We Are Crushing On Now appeared first on Decorating Tips and Tricks.

We can't help but be struck by how powerful yet restrained interior designer Melanie Turner's spaces are, and we were even more struck by how down-to-earth and cool she is. In only seven short years after opening her interior design business, she's earned such accolades as Veranda's Southeastern Designer of the Year, Trad Home's Top 10 Designers, Architectural Digest's 2010 Kitchen of the Year, and many more. We were beyond thrilled when she sat down to talk with us about her recents trip to Morocco, the power of vision boards, why she never puts bookshelves in a home, and so much more. WHAT YOU'LL HEAR ON THE SHOW: How Melanie uses vision boards to turn her dreams into reality We talk about the photo shoot Ballard Designs did at Melanie's house The powerful history of her historic home and the spiritual connection she has to it Why she feels like a steward of her house instead of an owner She talks about how practical the home is for modern life, even though it was built in 1923 We talk a bit about Atlanta architect Phillip Shutze and historic preservation How owning a historic home has helped her with her client work All the fabulous locales where she currently has projects She tells us all about her trip to Morocco, including what she brought home and visiting Yves Saint Laurent's house How you remember much more if you can't take photographs Why instead of gifts, they take a family trip every year during the holidays Why editing is the most powerful thing you can do to refresh your home Her approach to picture frames -- framing them in one big mass on a stairwell instead of spread throughout Melanie talks about how she manifested her project onto the cover of Veranda magazine with a vision board How rewarding it is to give purpose to her client's homes How at her client installations, the husband is usually the one who cries the most! Why you shouldn't dismiss how important your home is Why she loves decorating for bachelors Why it's so hard to decorate her own home How many times she's moved since she's been married (she's married to a builder and developer) How you can give a new build home that old character that gives a house soul

Natalie has worked with us here at Ballard Designs for years, so when we caught a glimpse of her chic, layered family home, we knew we had to share. We posted her whole home tour here on How to Decorate yesterday, but we couldn't pass up the opportunity to get even more decorating goodness out of her to share on the podcast! We talk about decorating with kids, styling, layering, and so much more! WHAT YOU'LL HEAR ON THE SHOW: I hosted my largest ever dinner party and I give you a whole run down My seriously embarrassing 'trial' that involves my robot vacuum Another installment of Taryn's dog chewing disasters Taryn tells us about her trip to South America and what she brought back We ask Natalie about her style which she calls 'collected, global' Why Natalie likes to choose neutrals for her large furniture pieces, then adds in colorful accessories Her history with Ballard Designs and how she got started styling rooms We talk about her dining room, which you can see here Natalie talks to us about how she prioritized decorating each room We talk about the cute little ways Natalie styles her home, like buying cute hand soap (shown below) Please send in your questions so we can answer them on our next episode! And of course, please subscribe to the podcast in iTunes so you never miss and episode. Of course, you can always check back here to see new episodes, but if you subscribe, it’ll automatically download to your phone.

This week, we're talking to stylist extraordinaire, Ginny Branch. Ginny is a prop stylist who has worked with some of the most beloved brands all over the country, including Southern Living, Country Living, Martha Stewart Weddings, Design*Sponge, Cooking Light, Coastal Living, and Ballard Designs! She shares with us how she got into styling, her favorite accessories, her most recent travels, and even her hoarding tendencies. WHAT YOU'LL HEAR ON THE SHOW: Ginny talks about becoming a stylist Why it's so important to love the people she works with Which people or brands she's dying to work with An insider's view to how catalogs are shot The magic of shooting a catalog in Italy The craziest thing she's ever brought home with her on a plane She tells us about her little house in Atlanta As always, we answer your questions. This week, we talk about the best sisal rug to use if you are concerned about spills, and we answer Rosemary's questions about hanging a mirror over a bed. We want to teach your how to decorate! We'll help you unleash your inner decorator with interviews from designers, sharing trials and triumphs of our own homes, and answering your burning decorating questions. Brought to you from the Ballard Designs.

Hosting each episode will be three ladies from the Ballard Designs team — Caroline McDonald, Taryn Schwartz, and Karen Mooney. You know Caroline from rour blog How to Decorate where she is constantly posting and answering your questions in our comments section. Taryn Schwartz is a trained industrial designer (and also super talented artist) who designs product for Ballard Designs. Finally, Karen Mooney is our fearless leader who we sit down with to discuss each new season. You’ve read our interviews with her here, and we also shared her kitchen renovation … and her backyard. In today’s episode, we’ll be telling you more about each of us, how we work together designing the rooms you see online and in our catalog, and what projects we’re working on in our own homes. We also answer questions about which sofa pillows could coordinate with the floral pillows Lauren already has. We answer Samina's question about how to layout a room if you have a corner fireplace, and we help Rachel decorate the stair landing that is a focal point right when you walk in the door.

Have you been listening to the weekly podcasts? In episode #8 I talk about inspiration. So many people ask me “how do you think of this stuff”?  Tune in to this week’s show to hear a little bit about my thought process.   Above are the projects that were discussed in episode #8, the links and details are below in the show notes:   Be PINSPIRED by following along with My Repurposed Life on Pinterest.   Gail talks about the hall tree she made that was inspired by Debbie from Refresh Restyle. You can see the $2 hollow core doors and more recent finds here.   Gail’s inspiration for marrying 2 pieces of furniture originally came from Sharon S on a message board from years ago. You can see Sharon’s work on her Facebook page, Another Man’s Treasure. You will find lots of inspiration there!   The second $2 door and a $5 dresser mirror were used to make a DIY entry way piece. Gail made the easiest hall tree ever from a door for a Habitat for Humanity event in Madison Indiana.   After seeing a desk/hall table in a magazine, inspiration struck for this project: Ammo Box coffee table Cutting up furniture is a favorite pass time, where these projects evolved from desks: Tower of Terror, desk into a tall lingerie chest.  Another desk into a chest or  lowboy piece of furniture. Early on, Gail was inspired by Ballard Designs to make a drying rack out of an old crib rail. Don’t let your budget deter you. Hear all about junking, and how an old curbed ping pong table plywood was used to make a corner headboard bench.     Thanks to today’s sponsor:   Follow DIY with MRL on Facebook and listen to any episode anytime. Email Podcast@MyRepurposedLife.com Visit MyRepurposedLife.com Subscribe to DIY with MRL on iTunes, Google Play and Tune In Call the help line 844 HELP MRL (844 435 7675) Click the little purple ASK ME A QUESTION button on the blog

Mike Nichols has been programming computers since 1981. He has written major systems for several companies, including Hallmark Cards, the Litho-Krome Company, and Ballard Designs. Nichols has served in various companies as Vice President of Information Technology, Chief Software Architect, and as President and CEO. He started working with WordPress and Thesis in 2008, and has built over 150 sites, many with membership, e-store, forum, integrated multi-site installations, accounting integration, automatic media generation, and other custom features. He has designed and built several Thesis Theme skins for sale. Mike is considered a WordPress and Thesis Theme expert. He specializes in small and medium-sized businesses, though he also accepts personal site projects as well. He is proficient in a number of computer languages, including HTML, XHTML, CSS, PHP, JavaScript, and JQuery.