Ep. 394: Decorating Throwback Series (Part 2)

Summary

Podcast Summary: Ep. 394: Decorating Throwback Series (Part 2)

Release Date: December 31, 2024
Host: Ballard Designs Team (Caroline, Taryn, Liz)
Guests: Brooke and Layla Gianetti

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Introduction and Recap

In the second installment of the "Decorating Throwback Series," the hosts—Caroline, Taryn, and Liz from the Ballard Designs team—dive deep into their favorite past podcast episodes. They reminisce about memorable interviews with various interior design experts and share personal anecdotes about how these episodes have influenced their own decorating styles.

Reflecting on Favorite Throwback Episodes

Liz opens the conversation by expressing her admiration for previous guests, particularly Kathy Graham from Episode 338, whose insights into floral arrangements have empowered her to become "fearless about floral arranging." She fondly recalls learning to create comfortable and cozy art displays from Philip Mitchell in Episode 217, noting, “Now I always hang art a little bit lower and a little bit more cozy” (02:13).

Liz also shares her excitement about Kristin Kong’s episode, which inspired her to transform her family room with a "purple aubergine bedroom" palette, leading her to a spontaneous trip to the paint store (02:31). The hosts celebrate other unforgettable episodes, including those featuring Latham Gordon, Kate Dunning, and the Gianetti family across Episodes 90, 317, and 318, highlighting the vibrant and engaging content that has enriched their decorating journeys.

In-Depth Interview: Brooke and Layla Gianetti

The Gianetti Family Move to Tennessee

The centerpiece of this episode is an in-depth interview with Brooke and Layla Gianetti, a mother-daughter duo who have recently relocated from California to Tennessee to establish Patina Meadow. Caroline introduces them by referencing Brooke's popular blog, Velvet and Linen, and their extensive publishing work.

Layla explains the thoughtful decision behind their move, emphasizing the desire to connect with the community physically rather than online:

"We really couldn't have events at Patina Farm. And we really had the desire to not just share it online, but to really connect with people in the real world." (08:38)

Establishing Patina Meadow and The Shed

The conversation delves into the practical aspects of setting up Patina Meadow. Layla discusses their innovative approach to living spaces, opting for a smaller, charming log house complemented by a spacious "Shed" that serves as their pottery studio and event space:

"The shed is probably three times as big as the house right now...I just loved it and it works for us." (13:01)

Brooke adds, highlighting their current living arrangement in an Airstream parked by a creek, which has become a permanent and beloved part of their farm life:

"It's becoming this permanent fixture of Patina Meadow, which is really cool and I'm ecstatic about it now." (16:11)

Embracing Biodynamic Farming

A significant portion of the interview focuses on their commitment to biodynamic farming. Brooke provides an overview of biodynamics, emphasizing its holistic approach:

"Biodynamics is looking at the farm as one organism where everything is intertwined and everything is linked." (26:24)

They discuss the challenges of transitioning to Tennessee's clay and rocky soil, adapting their planting techniques, and embracing the benefits of seasonal changes:

"It's like a whole new opportunity has just sort of opened up right in front of our eyes, and I'm stoked about it." (29:27)

The Bloomery Flower Garden

Brooke introduces the Bloomery, a versatile space dedicated to cut flowers, vegetables, and medicinal herbs. She elaborates on their vision to create a space that fosters community connection and offers educational opportunities:

"Everything we're doing is through that lens because that is what has really motivated us through this whole move and through the last few years." (31:03)

Building a Pottery Studio and Community Engagement

The Shed, their pottery studio, is another key project. Brooke shares her journey into pottery, from initial classes to teaching others, and the importance of creating a communal space for artistic expression:

"We're really excited about that aspect of it...a place where artists can come and share their knowledge." (43:05)

Layla emphasizes the goal of fostering a collaborative environment:

"Patina Meadow are all about learning together...we're all unique pieces of this crazy woven tapestry." (45:50)

Managing the Farm and Team

Balancing multiple roles on the farm, Brooke and Layla discuss their team members and the hands-on nature of their work. They highlight the importance of flexibility and continual learning:

"It's lot, but it's great...quiet the monkey mind." (35:28)

Social Media Presence and Sharing Their Journey

Their active presence on Instagram serves as a bridge between Patina Meadow and a broader audience. Brooke speaks about the positive impact of sharing their daily life and farming routines:

"Our community extends with, like, beyond the reaches of Leapers Fork. And that is really awesome." (49:56)

Layla discusses the balance between documenting and living their lives, focusing on authentic moments:

"I find that that's a little bit easier. I can take a few moments and say, hey, here's this." (50:00)

Future Plans and Projects

Looking ahead, Brooke and Layla reveal plans for expanding their offerings, including more classes, artist residencies, and potentially a bed and breakfast:

"The space will become an amalgamation of all of our interests, of the community, of us." (47:09)

Layla envisions a collaborative future where community members can learn and share various skills, enhancing the communal spirit of Patina Meadow:

"This is an opportunity for us to kind of find those people and for us all to learn from each other." (48:01)

Design Dilemma: Helping Allison Add Color and Warmth

Towards the episode's end, the hosts address a listener's decorating dilemma submitted by Allison. Having recently renovated her living, dining, and kitchen area, Allison seeks advice on incorporating more color and warmth without overwhelming her space.

Layla offers practical solutions, advising a balanced approach with a mix of patterned and solid throw pillows in blues and greens to complement her existing color palette:

"If you could find one kind of pillow that has a pattern and then do take some of the colors out of that and use...solid [...] to add some softness." (66:48)

She recommends maintaining a cohesive look by using neutral colors for larger elements like curtains and introducing color through accessories such as placemats, artistically placed plants, and meaningful artwork:

"A platter or something...to add something meaningful to her family." (71:09)

Additional tips include ensuring curtain panels provide "stacking room" (70:46), selecting hardware that complements existing dark metals, and varying textures with throws for seasonal versatility.

Conclusion

The episode concludes with heartfelt appreciation for Brooke and Layla's inspiring journey in establishing Patina Meadow. The hosts express admiration for their dedication to building a thriving, interconnected community space and encourage listeners to engage with their content for ongoing decorating inspiration.

Liz and Taryn reflect on the positive energy Brooke and Layla bring, envisioning future collaborations and visits to their picturesque farm. The hosts encourage listeners to subscribe, leave reviews, and stay connected through Ballard Designs' social media channels.

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For more detailed insights and decorating tips, visit howtodecorate.com/podcast and follow Ballard Designs on social media.

Transcript

[Caroline]

Welcome to how to Decorate from Ballard Designs, a weekly podcast all about the trials and triumphs of decorating and redecorating your home. I'm Caroline. I'm on the marketing team.

[Taryn]

And I'm Taryn, and I'm a product designer.

[Liz]

I'm Liz. I head of the creative team.

[Caroline]

We're your hosts. Join the expert team at Ballard Designs for tips, tricks, and tales from interior designers, stylists, and other talents in the design world.

[Taryn]

Plus, we'll answer your decorating dilemmas at the end of each episode.

[Liz]

We love answering your questions, so don't forget to email [e-mail] now, on with the show. All right, well, welcome to week two of our favorite throwback episodes. This week, I'm picking an episode, and I need a little help. If you didn't catch last week's throwback episode where Caroline picked her favorite Susan Ferrier, please go take a listen, because it's an amazing episode. But, yeah, you guys, I need a little help. We have so many fantastic episodes and so many different folks in different disciplines that have come to speak with us. And, gosh, I just started really thinking about, okay, I know it's a good episode if I'm taking notes while we're talking. And there have been so many good folks, whether it was Kathy Graham who taught us how to do floral arrangements. And I've become so much so I've become fearless about floral arranging, and, like, that was something I wasn't comfortable with. So thanks, Kathy. And that was episode 338. Can you believe how many episodes are you guys?

[Caroline]

It's wild.

[Liz]

It's crazy. And then throwing back to Philip Mitchell. That was a really, really exciting episode for me. Just his approach to living with art was so kind of profound and, like, the way to hang art to make it more comfortable in your space. And so, like, now I always hang art a little bit lower and a little bit more cozy. So that's episode 217, you know, and.

[Caroline]

A great book, too. Both, actually. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Yeah, Philip.

[Liz]

They both.

[Taryn]

I don't think I did his episode. So now I'm like, I'm writing this down so I can listen. Yeah, I think I was there. Oh, my gosh.

[Caroline]

Yay.

[Taryn]

Okay, keep going. Sorry.

[Liz]

Like, yeah. Master of a gallery wall. Master of, like, like, so cozy. I love his so cozy. Nailing up art and then, like, hanging it low behind a chair. Just brilliant, brilliant stuff. You know, there's Kristin Kong, who I absolutely love, who's been on so many Videos with design school and house tours with us. But I've got to tell you, I. That's one episode that I got so excited about her purple aubergine bedroom that I. I hung up from that episode and I ran to the paint store.

[Taryn]

Yeah.

[Brooke]

Oh, that's right.

[Caroline]

That's the inspiration for your family room.

[Liz]

And that's the inspiration for my family room right here. Yeah. That was a fantastic episode. Oh, my gosh. All of our flower show house episodes were so great. That was just such a joy to go back and to experience those rooms for ourselves and then to be able to talk to the designers and find out their inspirations. And what a great show house that was in 2020 too, right?

[Caroline]

Yeah.

[Liz]

Yeah. And then there's Latham Gordon and Kate Dunning.

[Taryn]

They're like so funny.

[Liz]

I don't think I've laughed more in an episode. They're so fantastic. Oh, and I would be remiss if I did not talk about the Gianettis. So, I mean, Steve and Brooke Giannetti are just phenomenal. They were on episode 90, which was so memorable back when I was a listener, and then we got to talk with both Steve and their son Nick, and then Brooke and their daughter Layla, and just. Wow, that was just such a fantastic episode. And for our listeners. Okay, so originally it was 90 was their first time on the show when they were living in California and then they moved to Tennessee. And Steve and Nick are episode 317 and Brooke and Layla are 318 and just wonderful people. And that was just such a fun episode to record. And then because we record remotely for our listeners at home, we signed off and then we accidentally signed back on and talked for like another half hour. I mean, it was so fun.

[Caroline]

Oh, and you know what, they did invite us out to their farm, so we need to do that.

[Liz]

Yeah, no, we need to road trip to Tennessee. Yeah, yeah, we need to take it on the road.

[Caroline]

And it's really not that far.

[Liz]

It's not that far. And since. Since then, I mean, because at that point they were just building out all of their spaces and they've done so much work on the farm and it's just so pretty just to follow them on Instagram and see their progress. So we will definitely need to do a follow up episode on site sometime soon. Okay. So that's my short, long list.

[Caroline]

But you still have to pick. What are you gonna pick? What do you want? What did you want us to pick for you?

[Liz]

What would. I'm. No, I'm curious to See, like, from that list, if there's any that stick out to you as favorites.

[Layla]

I mean.

[Caroline]

They were all great.

[Taryn]

I.

[Liz]

They were all great.

[Taryn]

Yeah, they were all great. I did enjoy the genetics, just because I feel like they live differently than a lot of us, like, in a very inspirational community built farm kind of way. And I think it's so distant from my day to day that I felt like it's like talking to, you know, it's like talking to, like, you know, I'm like, tell me about this fantastical land you live on. They're like, it's just the earth. You could do this, too.

[Caroline]

You know what I mean?

[Taryn]

So I did love that.

[Caroline]

Yeah.

[Brooke]

Well.

[Liz]

Well, then why don't we. Why don't we go to the episode with.

[Caroline]

But which one? There were two. Okay.

[Liz]

Oh, my gosh. They were so good.

[Caroline]

Ladies are cheating. You're picking multiples.

[Liz]

Oh, I know I am.

[Caroline]

I'm kidding. It's fine. It's great. I think everybody should go listen to both episodes.

[Liz]

They should. They should go listen to both. But let's go ahead and listen to the. The episode with Brooke and Layla. Yeah, but you have to go back and listen to the episode with Steve and Nick. I don't. I don't think there's anything more inspiring like father, son working together like that. We're just. It was just beautiful.

[Taryn]

Yeah.

[Liz]

So that was episode 317 and 318. And right now we're going to listen to episode 318 with Brooke and Layla Gianetti.

[Caroline]

So our guests today are a mother and daughter duo, Brooke and Leila Gianetti. We spoke to Nick and Steve last week about architecture 3D modeling and the big Gianetti move to Tennessee. And today we're going to catch up with Brooke and Layla about all the exciting plans they have in store for Patina Meadow. And so, Brooke and Layla, welcome to the show. Thanks for joining us.

[Layla]

Thank you. It's an honor.

[Brooke]

Thanks for having us.

[Caroline]

Yeah.

[Layla]

Honor to be here.

[Caroline]

Yeah. So, Brooke, I think many of our listeners will probably remember, probably know you by your blog, Velvet and Linen. You had a cult following. And I remember you cataloging the designs of Patina Farm. Of course, now you have four books, I guess maybe three of them are about Patina Farm, which you. But, you know, we asked Steve this last week why in God's name you left that slide. Slice of heaven.

[Layla]

But yes, we can ask that a lot.

[Caroline]

Maybe you can share in your own words, sort of why this move to Tennessee felt like the right One.

[Layla]

Oh, gosh. Well, you know, there was. It was not a decision. It was a decision we didn't make in haste. It was something we thought a lot about. We loved building Patina Farm. We loved living there, but we felt like there was an evolution in our life that had a life of its own. You know, we had been visiting Tennessee because of a project Steve was doing, and there were things that we knew that we could do if we moved here that we couldn't do in at Patina Farm. We were really getting involved in doing a lot of the garden tours and things like that. And Layla was actually, when she moved back during the pandemic, she was really getting involved in that as well. But because of kind of rules and regulations in where we lived in Ojai as well as Ojai itself, we really couldn't have events at Patina Farm. And we really had the desire to not just share it online, but to really connect with people in the real world. So that was something that we couldn't do at Patina Farm. And also just the idea of trying something different. I lived in California my entire life, and the idea of moving someplace that had seasons and being able to have more land, and then, of course, being able to have more land to do things and to have more events here was mostly the draw and leapers. Fork is a super special place, and the community is incredible. So it was also just being drawn to something that seemed really, really cool.

[Caroline]

That's a good point. I didn't think about it that way. You were drawn to something not that away from Patina Farm.

[Layla]

Exactly, Exactly. I mean, it was a pretty magical place. We were very fortunate that when we sold Patina Farm, we were able to live there for another six months. So, you know, knowing that we were then going to leave, so. Which made it even more special. Like, every day was like, you'd. We'd watch the sunrise and the beautiful pink moment sunsets that we have. So really kind of taking that time to really enjoy those moments, because I think it's just our nature, it's human nature to kind of take things for granted after a while. No matter how beautiful things are, no matter how wonderful things are, they just kind of get to be part of your every day. So those six months were really special.

[Caroline]

Leila, were you on board from the beginning to moving to Tennessee, or was that something that took some getting used to?

[Brooke]

Well, it is something that they had been talking about for a while. They actually had potentially thought about moving out here after I graduated high school, which was in about 2018, 2019. And I loved coming to visit here. I had come with them a couple times when they came out for jobs, but I was. It took a second to get used to because it was such a drastic change. But then when I saw the land and I started coming out here more and meeting the people and just sort of imagining what life could be like out here and getting excited for all the things we would be able to do with the community and welcoming people to the farm, that's when I started to get really excited. And now that we're actively doing so much here, we have our bloomery flower garden going, and the shed is going up, and all of these exciting things are happening. It feels like everything is finally, like, coming to fruition, which is a really exciting, exciting thing to feel.

[Layla]

We decided to call our event space and our pottery space the Shed, because we have a barn, which is where our animals are, and not everything could be called a barn. And it was also pottery was in there, and we didn't want it to be called pottery in the barn anyway, so that was a whole thing. So we're calling it the Shed, which we kind of love because it's, you know, this is a very. It's a beautiful place, but we also want it to feel very relaxed. Relaxed and welcoming. And so we thought the Shed was a good name for the space.

[Caroline]

Taryn and Liz, I'm going to give you a second to jump in because I've.

[Liz]

The Shed is larger than the home that you're living in, right? It is like the square footage.

[Layla]

Yes, yes. The shed is probably three times as big as the house right now, or definitely at least two and a half times bigger. You know, it's funny, when. When we originally purchased this land, we were going to renovate the 1850s log house. Did Steve talk about this? Yeah, the renovation, the 1850s log house.

[Caroline]

But we can cover it again.

[Layla]

Okay. So, yeah, so we. We were just going to renovate it, live in it until we built our other house and. And, you know, all that. So the other house was going to be kind of around 4,500 square feet. And, you know, I have all the kind of bells and whistles, but once we moved into this lovely little 1400 log house, I said to Steve, you know, as much as I think you are the most amazing architect, are never going to do anything that is as charming as this wonky, you know, because I love wonk. I love, you know, quirk, wonk, everything like that. I just love it. And so you know, the walls aren't. No, walls are straight. You know, so I, I just kind of loved it and it works for us. So. So yeah, so we decided what we would do is rather than building a big house is we can put everything else in the shed. And that way also when our, you know, all of our children are older, so, so when they come and visit, they don't have to be in the house with us. They can do whatever they want and you know, not worry about waking us up because we, we have farmers hours. You know, we're in bed by eight, up by four. You know, nobody likes that. No, no 20 year old wants to, you know, live in a house where they have to go to bed. Right, exactly. Even she's out of the house.

[Brooke]

But that's, that's actually my schedule as well.

[Layla]

Yeah, we've now got gotten her on that schedule as well. But.

[Caroline]

So this is like evening for you right now then?

[Brooke]

Yeah, straight.

[Layla]

And then they'll be old dog walk and then there, then there's bet. Yes.

[Caroline]

So Layla, okay, we did hear a little bit about your living setup, but maybe you can show we. We only got like a little tiny offhanded comment, but it sounds very cool.

[Brooke]

It's.

[Caroline]

Where do you live?

[Brooke]

So I live in an Airstream right now. It is parked by our creek behind the shed and I absolutely love it. The plan originally was to live in the Airstream until the shed was done because there's two apartments in the shed and there's like a big one on the second floor that was going to be mine. And as I've lived in the Airstream for six over six months now, I've just absolutely fallen in love with it. I feel like I'm just camping all the time, which is one of my favorite things to do. So I wake up and it's like the perfect space. I don't love to clean, so it's like very easy to clean. I can knock it all out in like a little circuit and it's really charming. We're going to establish a little garden in the front and then in the back. And then I'll. We'll be doing more flowers on the other side of the shed as well where we have the bloomery. But then we're doing more by my place as well. So it's becoming sort of, instead of being a temporary thing, it's becoming this permanent fixture of Patina Meadow, which is really cool and I'm ecstatic about it now.

[Layla]

Okay.

[Caroline]

Is the Airstream like just your run of the mill Airstream, or I imagined.

[Taryn]

It'S like a pimped out version.

[Caroline]

Yeah, that wasn't the wording I was gonna use, but that works.

[Brooke]

It is not a pimped out version. I don't remember what year. I mean, it's. We didn't customize it.

[Layla]

Well, I think it, you know, it's so funny because when we saw was like, we're like, yes, that's. That's the perfect Airstream for us because it's all neutrals. They. The people we bought it from must have loved neutrals too. So it's all kind of. Kind of neutral creams and. And light browns and all of that. So. So Layla could add her, you know, accent colors, but it's kind of like the way our family always has kind of designed things. So it was already done that way. I think it's like a 2017, so it isn't one of those kind of old retro ones that needed to be refurbished. It's. And I don't think these used it very often, so it was in pretty decent shape. So. But yeah, so it's. It's a pretty little space and it's almost all windows, so you really feel this connection. We have this lovely creek that runs in front of our property, and Layla's Airstream is right there, and so she. She's right on the stream. It's really beautiful.

[Brooke]

It's awesome.

[Caroline]

I was doing a little bit of research on your Instagram page, and I just love all of the videos. I mean, if. If people go and look up your page, and this is more the velvet and linen one versus the patina home and garden one. But, oh, my gosh, you're.

[Layla]

You're.

[Caroline]

It's truly so charming. Like all of your animals. The little, you know, creek. I was gonna say, like babbling brook, but it is Brooks babbling brook. Right. So, you know, how did the. All of the video content kind of come, you know, start happening and what. I mean, what a beautiful way to share that with people that can't maybe come visit.

[Brooke]

Well, first of all, thank you very much. That's very sweet. We're really glad that people enjoy it. She started her Instagram when I was. She had been blogging for a while, but started her Instagram when I was in high school and I went to college and she was doing her own thing, doing videos, photos, my dad. And then I came home from college during the pandemic and didn't really have anything to do.

[Layla]

She upped our game, so.

[Brooke]

That's sweet. So I started taking videos of my mom and taking videos of the animals just to sort of have like a motivation to sort of get out and do something and keep life going. So I started doing that and started sort of getting a big passion for it and sharing it with people. That is what I love the most about it, is that we had so many people, especially during those years, that were saying that it was their way to connect with the outside and connect with beautiful nature and animals and thinking about, like, they were going to do something on a smaller scale in their home or, like, do a garden on their apartment balcony and things like that. So that was a really cool. Really cool thing that started to happen was people really seemed to enjoy it and we wanted to share more.

[Layla]

I think Laila is a great storyteller. You know, she was able to. She's great at editing. She has this kind of. Of flow that she does on our videos. And she's right. I think the pandemic was such a stressful thing for us all. And people found a calmness to our routine. I found a calmness to the routine of taking care of the animals in the morning and in the afternoon. And Laila was able to tell that in the videos. And really, people were connecting to that, which was really a nice thing, to be able to share it with people and know that it was giving them some calm during that time.

[Liz]

Even now, I just watched another morning routine where you fed the chickens and the sheep and putting balm on the donkeys. And I was so calm and relaxed. I'm bookmarking it.

[Layla]

Oh, that's really nice. Very sweet. They're incredibly soothing. The animals are amazing. And then they share that kind of calm energy with us. I think the more you're open to it, you know, the more they'll kind of share with you. I think most of the animals we have are prey. You know, naturally they're preyed upon. So they pick up on people, on everybody's energy really quickly because they have to in order to survive. But what it does is it teaches you. Like, you'll see how they mirror you, right? So if you're stressed, you won't be able to get next to a sheep, you know, so it teaches you to kind of breathe in and decompress and. And then you notice that they'll come towards you and you can really. It's like biofeedback, right? Isn't that how you kind of have biofeedback? So they're. They're mirroring you and so you can Actually calm yourself. And they. Through that action between them. Don't you find that's the same?

[Brooke]

Yeah, I think they are a great way to just pull you out of your own head because they don't speak, obviously. So it's not. You're going out there and there's no expectation that they have of you. It's like you give them what you. You have, and they give you what they have. And it's this beautiful relationship, especially when you're caring for your own animals. Like, they depend upon you in such a way, and you. That relationship becomes almost like mother and child. You really become very much connected in a way that is really quite interesting, I think. And it's so beautiful. And to have that here and to be able to share that and for other people to feel that with our animals, like, we get people who like or, like, comment. And, like, the number one thing we got when we move was like, are you bringing the animals with you? And it's like, yes, yes, we are. And people were really excited. And, like, when people have the idea of, like, coming to visit, they really want to meet the animals. And so it's really sweet to have that. That connection with other people as well, because they are. They're the best animals. They're really great.

[Caroline]

It occurred to me, could you give everyone sort of the backstory of the animals? Because we heard from Steve and Nick that, you know, you had this place in Santa Monica. You decided to build a vegetable garden that turned into a chicken coop. So how did, like, the sheeps and the cows and the goats and everything come?

[Layla]

Yeah, I. I've said before that chicken are the gateway animals. It's like the gateway drug of the gateway animal for sure. You know, like, oh, my God, these are amazing. What else can we get? I need some more. I need them bigger. You know, when we moved to Patina farm and I looked out at the land, it was so beautiful, but it was so quiet. And I talked about it in Patina Living the book, our third book. Just about when we had the fire, there was a big fire and we had to evacuate, and there were. We had to take all the animals. And for a minute, while the animals were all in. In the trailers and the back of my station wagon, we walked around the land and it was so quiet, but it was that, and it wasn't alive anymore. There was something that the land spoke to me and said, it needs to be enjoyed by others. And so at first, we went to the Ventura County Fair and we met these adorable Sicilian donkeys And I said to Steve, we're supposed to have donkeys. We need donkeys. And Steve looks at me, he goes, what are we going to do with donkeys? And he says that to me every time we get a new. I say, we need a new animal. He says, what are we going to do with baby doll sheep, you know, or whatever. And I said, we're just going to love them and we're going to care for them and they're going to help us care for the land and give back to it. And that's what we're going to do. You know, they're going to become a part of our family. So that's how it all started. So then we got the donkeys and we'd look out and they would roam the land and they would mow everything. And then when we started getting. Then we got goats. And they're hysterical. They're like, they're like teenage boys. They're mischievous and they're just hysterical. They're like little clowns. But the donkeys, then they patrol the land and they kept our goats safe. And the donkeys, the goats eat brush, but the sheep eat kind of the lower stuff. So we got some baby doll sheep. So everybody kind of does something on the land. And then we started looking into biodynamic farming and all of that because we knew that, you know, I have a lot of aches and pains, I'm gluten free, I'm all this stuff because, you know, I had leaky gut and like everybody else in the world. But. But what I started to do when I started to do research, I came to realize that a lot of it is caused by some. By the things that they're putting on our, you know, the pesticides and all of these things. And I didn't want. I wanted to make sure we didn't have to do any of that on our land. This. The only thing I could could control was our land. And so we started looking into biodynamic farming and then the animals became part of that, of how to care for the land and, and enrich the soil and make stronger plants so that we wouldn't have to use pesticides. Because for the most part, pests only hurt plants that are not healthy. And if you can give the plants healthy soil, it becomes a healthy plant and it cannot fight against pests and things kind of like us, you know, when we are healthy, we can fight off illnesses. It's only when we're sick and we have compromised immune systems that we aren't able to. So anyway, it's a long story for a short question of how all the animals came into our life and are now part of our whole ecosystem and our family.

[Taryn]

Well, the biodynamic part, this yermeadow is so important. You speak to it a lot on your blog and webinar. So I didn't know if you would give everyone just a quick what it is because I don't think a lot of people know Layla.

[Brooke]

Absolutely. So biodynamics was started by a man named Rudolf steiner in the 1920s. And he was approached, he was a. He was a very interesting man, sort of like a spiritual leader and teacher and scientist, very interesting guy. But these group of farmers came to him and said that they had been sening issues, seeing issues with crop yield, like decreasing nutrients within their crops and things of that nature ever since the advent of industrial agriculture, so the invention of pesticides and herbicides and such. So he sort of looked back on ancient wisdom of farming, of using the lunar calendar to farm, of really focusing on soil health and doing crop rotation and cover cropping. And the whole idea of biodynamics is looking at the farm as. At the farm as one organism where everything is intertwined and everything is linked. And it's all. It's one organism within the bigger organism that is the entire world. So the animals have a very important role to play when that. Because they're a huge part of increasing our. The fertility of the soil through their manure. They keep the grass down. We use their manure in our garden and we are really focused on improving that soil health. So another aspect of biodynamics is biodynamic preparations, which instead of using artificial nitrogen fertilizers, we use manure and different medicinal herbs and things like that that are either buried in the ground for a season or hungry in a tree for a season and different things like that. So you get this sort of beautiful. Well, I think it's beautiful, this beautiful relationship that is formed between the cosmos and the Earth through that burying or that hanging that you're able to sort of get these forces and apply them to your garden. So it's looking at farming rather than just what you're getting, what you can see and really integrating what is all the energies and the forces that we can't see but we know are happening. Like how the moon moves the tide. The moon is also moving the sugars within plants, the liquid sugars and all of that stuff. So really just viewing all of us as interconnected, it's that's really the whole premise of it. And it's like.

[Layla]

I call it, like.

[Brooke]

It's like organic farming on steroids, basically.

[Layla]

But not using steroids.

[Brooke]

But not using any steroids.

[Taryn]

Yeah.

[Brooke]

All right.

[Caroline]

Was it hard to. Was it hard to, like, adjust your sort of farming and farming practices moving to Tennessee? I mean, it's a totally different, you know, climate and, you know, plant life and all of that.

[Brooke]

It has been. So this is our first season doing anything, so we will get back to you on how different it is. But we've definitely noticed, you know, different soil. So Tennessee soil is like. Like clay and rock. So we have. We had to build up our soils so that we weren't just planting in straight clay. I have to water a lot less because we get rain here, but the. Because of the clay, the soil also retains a lot of moisture. Getting late, freezes. It's like, okay, can't plant that. Or I planted something and it just died. And you're like, oh, that's because it got really cold. Okay, I have to cover my plants. Like, different things like, that is definitely just, like, learning as I go has been, like, just sort of going with the flow and just learning all the lessons that the land has to give. And it's really exciting for me because there's a lot of things that I can plant here that I couldn't necessarily plant in California because it got too hot or it didn't. Like, there wasn't not enough freeze or different things like that. So we're really excited about all the different opportunities of things that we can do out here. It's. It's really. It's like a whole new opportunity has just sort of opened up right in front of our eyes, and I'm stoked about it.

[Layla]

There's. You know, gardening is not an exact science. It is all trial and error, you know, and. And no matter where you are, it's always like that. You know, we had so many microclimates in. In Ojai. You know, we never knew what was gonna work. You know, some things did and some things didn't. I think the same thing is gonna happen here, you know, in every year, you try different things, and, of course, you know, you're in a delicate dance with mother Nature, and she likes to wing it, keep us all on our tip.

[Taryn]

Yeah, well, speaking of that, I want to go back to your bloomery, because I just. I think, again, you have plans on your. On your blog, but just talk people through kind of the design and the why behind it. Because of course, now I. I need to see this.

[Brooke]

So bloomery is our cut flower garden that we've planted right in front of the cabin. We knew when we got here that we wanted to work the land. I think that's like one of the coolest things about having this much land is being able to do really cool stuff with it. But we didn't know what we wanted to grow. So when we first thought about doing the bloomery, it was going to be mostly veggies and medicinal herbs. Then as we started talking more, we were thinking, how cool would it be to do a cut flower garden? So then it turned into that, and now it's half cut flowers, half herbs and veggies. Because I think growing your own food is just the most incredible thing. I love it. So we have that out there. We have some blueberry bushes and raspberries and blackberries as well growing in there. And we have two greenhouses that we will also be using during the winter months to try and get a head start on spring planting. And we also are building a little building in between the greenhouses is going to be our drying room for dried flowers to dry herbs and different things like that. And that sits right in front of the cabin. And also in front of the shed that we are building, which will have the pottery studio. It will have sort of like a classroom space that we'll have for different classes that we're going to do here on biodynamics, on just like the whole gamut of things. Floral arrangements, basically. Like, our goal is when people come and visit here, they feel more closely connected to nature and the abundance it provides. So everything we're doing is through that lens because that is what has really motivated us through this whole move and through the last few years. Absolutely.

[Layla]

Yeah. And I think we also decided to do the bloomery because we just. We just had our little beehive village installed here, you know, and. And so it's right near the bloomery as well. So we've got a lot of flowers for our. Our new pollinator friends.

[Brooke]

And we wanted to be able to sell flowers in the store as well at Patina Home and Garden here in Leapers Fork. I mean, I love putting fresh cut flowers in my house, and I've always seen my mom do that same thing. And something about it is just so. It's just life giving to me. So to be able to give people that like, that is grown flowers that are grown locally, that you know that chemicals haven't been sprayed on them, that you're bringing into your home that they adjust this beautiful reminder of the beautiful world that's outside your door that you can sort of bring in and have a closer relationship in your home. I think is. Is really wonderful.

[Caroline]

Okay, I need to ask a logistical question.

[Brooke]

Yes.

[Caroline]

We've got Layla, we've got Brooke, and we've got Steve. How are you doing all of this? Who is, like, tending the garden?

[Layla]

We definitely have a team. You know, we were.

[Caroline]

Okay.

[Layla]

I'm like, a couple of things. We're very fortunate. We have a couple, Carrie and Dan, who actually loved the idea. And actually we're talking about moving to Tennessee, who they. They worked with us in Ojai and helped us at Patina Farm. And actually, when we were thinking about moving here, I was talking to Carrie and she said, that's so funny, because both Dan and she and Dan had loved Tennessee and wanted to move as well. So they help us. And then we have, you know, we have Stephen and Claire who helped us with our beekeeping, who help us with our beekeeping. I mean, we have. We have other people who help us. Bebe, who has been a biodynamic, who's a biodynamic consultant. So he's been wonderful. So, yes, we have other people, but we. We are also very hands on. I mean, Layla is happiest when her hands are. And her feet are indoors.

[Brooke]

Yeah. So I do most of the planting or most of the planting I do with are some other, like, guys who help me out as well. But it's. I think either sometimes people think that we do it all ourselves, or other. Other times people will think, like, we do none of it ourselves and it's somewhere in the middle. Like we were. The reason we do what we do is because we love. Love what we do. Like, we're very much invested in it. And so the bloomery is like my baby. Like, I'm out there every day doing something, washing the plants, making sure everything looks okay. And so we're all very hands on. And they take care of the animals. Every morning they're up at 5:00 and they go out there and they do it all themselves. And unless I'm out there, like, videoing them, it's just them. And they. They love it. And it's. It's really our favorite way to live. Live.

[Caroline]

I'm like, between the hives and the pottery studio, the shop, the bloomery, the vegetables, the animal, like this. That's a long list. So.

[Layla]

Yeah, it is a lot. It is a lot. But it's it's great. Yeah. I mean, it takes up. My goal is to have enough going on here that I don't have time to do anything else. It also quiets the monkey mind. I have a very busy monkey mind.

[Brooke]

Me too. It runs in the family.

[Layla]

Yes, yes. Barrel full of monkeys.

[Caroline]

Oh, yeah.

[Taryn]

We were joking with Nick and Steve. I was like, I feel like you guys have 50 hours in a day, and somehow I have 24 just based.

[Caroline]

On talking to you.

[Taryn]

Like, I. I don't have any clue how you get it all done, so.

[Layla]

Yeah, no, I, I don't. Sometimes I don't know either.

[Brooke]

Some days we don't get it all done.

[Layla]

Yeah, that's okay, too.

[Brooke]

And that's okay, too.

[Taryn]

So how do you plan.

[Caroline]

I, I.

[Taryn]

How do you even plan your. Your week of, like, work?

[Layla]

You know, I don't have a set schedule. I mean, Rachel, who's amazing and is the manager of the store, will put me on the schedule at the store a couple days a week. And I try to pop in there, at least, you know, that and maybe a little bit more than that. But other than that, I really try to not have a schedule and just have. Other than taking care of the animals because they need to be taken care of. But I try to kind of address things as they. As they come up, you know, and. And not have it so planned, you know, I think. I think Layla is probably the same way. You know, there are certain things that, you know, have to be taken care of, but, you know, there's always, like, today, my schedule was blown out of the water because we have these guinea fowl, which. We have a guinea fowl because they. They eat ticks. And we live in Tennessee now. And so this morning, Steve yells across the pasture, we have baby guinea fowl. You know, we. I guess some of them had laid some eggs, and there was a mom, and there was 12 guinea little baby keats, which is what they're called, are running, you know, behind her, which. And then I look up that mother baby. Like, guinea fowl. Guinea hens do not make good mothers. So I'm like, okay, so if we don't do something, these. These little keats are gonna die. So I'm like, steve, get. You know, I called Layla. I'm like, we've got to get some. You know, look at. Thank goodness for Google, right? You Google search. What. What do you need to do to, you know, keep these little keats alive? I didn't even know they were called keats. So. So, you know, that was, that was the. The morning. Yeah.

[Taryn]

So you learned something new immediately, 5am yes.

[Layla]

We had to keep these guys alive. And, And I guess, you know, I grew up in Los Angeles. You know, this is all new to me. And we certainly have learned a lot in the 10 years that we lived at on Patina Meadow, I mean, on Patina Farm. But we're still learning that learning curve allows us to, or forces us to not have too much of a schedule.

[Caroline]

How. How did the shop come about? We haven't talked about that yet.

[Layla]

Oh, gosh. You know, the shop was not, you know, Patina Home and Garden was not something that I thought I was going to be doing. But I am one of those people that really, I do everything from my gut. I never went to design school, so I designed from my gut. I live from my gut. So when we were. We were a couple months before we moved here, Steve's client, who's the reason we ended up here, he was doing his. He was doing his house, and that's why we discovered this place. Anyway, he is friends with this man or this couple, Aubrey and Michelle Preston, who own several properties in Leapers Fork and is actually. They're one of the main reasons that Leapers Fork is so charming. They're big on preserving all the old houses there and actually putting a lot of land in the land trust and all of that. But anyway, they owned a couple of the shops or the actual structures, and they had asked Steve's client if he knew of anybody that was interested in opening up a store, that the people who were running this garden or this home store were closing it down, and they needed somebody to open a store and they wanted it to feel right, you know, for, for Leapers Fork and, And all that. And so Steve's client had recommended that they look into us because we were moving here. So Michelle and Aubrey, I guess, looked at all our, you know, the blogs and all of that website and also started talking to some of the other shop owners in Leapers Fork who also happen to know about us because we had been visiting for a while and we had talked about this. This place as well on the blog and all that stuff. So anyway, so Aubrey and Michelle reached out to us and asked if we had any interest in opening a store. And I was, I looked at Steven, I was like, I, you know, I don't know. And we, we kind of sat with it for a couple of days and kind of made the kind of pros and cons list. And there was something about it that really Was exciting. You know, it was the idea of we were moving here. One of the main reasons we were moving here is to become part of a community. And what better way to become part of a community than to open up a store smack dab in the middle of the town, which is only like this big, you know, it's tiny. So we knew it was a way to become part of the community. And it was also a way to. To give back to the community that. That, you know, already had given us so much just in the time that we had come to visit and all of that. So we decided that to do it, you know, and it was a way to also meet kind of like minded people and be able to have a place, place to gather. I mean, when we kind of had this image of what patina home and garden would be, we imagined it as a place to gather, A place to gather beautiful things for your home, but also a place to gather together and to learn and to just become part of a community. So that was what happened. And we're really happy we did. It's a lot of work, but we've met so many incredible people. And Libras really is a very special place Filled with really amazing, creative, welcoming people.

[Caroline]

It's amazing. So how will the shed sort of dovetail off of. And where did the pottery thing come from? Did y'all do. Do y'all throw pottery? Like, was that something you already did?

[Brooke]

So my mom and I started doing pottery together. Actually sort of. I think it was 2021. Beginning of 2021, there's a pottery studio in Ojai that has classes. And we went together the first time, and I immediately was like, I don't know if this is for me, because I don't like failure. And this just seems like a whole lot of failure until I get to be anything good. But after going to, like, the second class, I was sort of hooked. And so we started doing it together. And I kept doing the wheel. And after a while, my mom started to do more pinch pots and hand building. And we both just loved the sort of mindfulness that pottery brings that you really have to. It really forces you to just be in the moment and focus on what you're doing. So we love that aspect. And of course, the creative aspect of it was also really exciting and really cool. To be able to make a beautiful vase out of what used to be mud is an awesome feeling. So we started doing that. And then I started teaching hand building classes for kids at that pottery studio. And then we decided when we were moving here, we were talking to people and I would say, like, oh, yeah, I do pottery. And almost every time I say that, someone's like, will you teach me? Like, I would love to do pottery. We'd like. I think that's so cool. Like, my kids would love to do pottery. And so I was looking around here and in leapers, we don't really have anything that is like a big pottery studio. So we thought, thought maybe that would be a really cool thing to bring. And there's a lot of kids who seem excited about it, a lot of adults who seem excited about it. So we decided to just go for it. Not only to have a space for ourself, but to have a space for all the people around us who really want to try it out. So our hope is that we'll have people come from all over the place and teach pottery classes. I'll do some classes, she'll do some classes. But we also want to be a place where artists can come and, and share their knowledge because we are not like the best potters in the world. And I don't. I think that's the beautiful thing is, like, we all have our strengths and we all have our weaknesses in all aspects of life and in all mediums. So I think it's really. We're really excited about that aspect of it.

[Layla]

Yeah. The store and Patina Meadow are all about learning together. You know, it's. We, none of us, you know, it's. We all have something to share, you know, we're all unique pieces of this crazy woven tapestry, you know, And I love learning from other people and seeing, seeing things from different perspectives.

[Liz]

I'm sensing a Patina artist residency soon.

[Layla]

Absolutely amazing. I mean, that's the idea. You know, like Layla said, we did put two apartments in the shed. One of them was going to be for her, but the other one really was to be able to have people come and stay and do classes for the community. So that was always in the plan.

[Caroline]

Yeah, I've been thinking, like, you need like an, like an Airbnb or like a little. A bnb, I guess, maybe.

[Liz]

Right, right, right.

[Caroline]

Like, I know.

[Layla]

No, I, I love that idea. I love that idea.

[Caroline]

But one more thing to your list, right?

[Layla]

You know, the problem is a multi talented human being. I mean, she loves pottery, but she, and she does great videos, but she is also an amazing baker, so I could totally imagine having a little, you know, bed and, and she could make all the, you know, the breakfast muffins and cakes and all that stuff, you know, she makes some really delicious things. But maybe that's in the future. We'll see. We'll see.

[Caroline]

Yeah.

[Brooke]

Like, that's. I think that's the really exciting thing about this place is, like, patina farm. There was only so much we could do because we had five acres. We were in a neighborhood. We were in a space that didn't really want too much green growth. But being here, like, the opportunities that we have available are just. We're just at the beginning. We're building something completely new from literally from the ground up. And that is a super exciting thing. It's like, to know that it's not just going to be done at the end of this year. It's not even going to be done in five years. It'll continue to be this, like, beautiful place that will always be evolving and changing and growing with us and what we want to do. So when we become interested in new things, like, we'll have new classes because we want people to come and sort of experience what we find interesting, and our community will let us know what they find interesting. We can have classes on that as well. It'll be just this. The space will become an amalgamation of all of our interests, of the community, of us. It'll just be incredible. I'm so excited about it.

[Layla]

I think there's something going on right now where people really even know. The pandemic took away a lot of things that we thought. It gave us time to think. It gave us time to think about what was important. And I think a lot of us decided that what was most important was going back to a slower pace and to something more connected with nature. So. And we found that there is a lot of people who are feeling that same exact way. So this is an opportunity for us to kind of find those people and for us all to learn from each other, you know, because we all can't do it. It's like you said, you know, there's not enough time in the day. I mean, Carrie, who I mentioned before, has found this love of just making her own laundry detergents and cleaning supplies and, like, flavored butters. And she wants to make her own butter. She wants to churn butter. She wants to do all this stuff, and I think it's so cool. And. And then she can teach us how to do those things, or at least give me the laundry detergent, because I don't think I have time. But that we can all kind of learn from each other and maybe, you.

[Caroline]

Know, maybe trade wares.

[Layla]

Exactly. Exactly. I tell you, her laundry detergent is amazing, and there's nothing bad in it. I was like, this is so cool. But, you know, so we're all kind of focusing on these little segments, and then we can all come together and learn from each other. It's so cool. Cool.

[Caroline]

That is very cool. The thing that is amazing to me is that you capture all of this so beautifully on your Instagram. Like, it just translates so well, because I think it could be very easy for all of this stuff to be going on in Leapers Fork, but then, you know, not make it to out into the world for people to see.

[Brooke]

And, yeah, I think that's the constant. The constant battle.

[Layla]

Yeah, it is. It is. You know, because there's that balance between documenting your life and living your life. So that's where we are living in that little space between, you know, trying to make sure that we're living enough. You know, I put things up on. On my velvet and linen Instagram, but I think before I was doing it way more than I do now. Now, I. I mean, I'll do a lot more on my stories because it's more forgiving. It's not up all the time. You can just say, oh, hey, guys, look what's going on. I'm so excited. Oh, the sweet peas are starting to bloom. This is so exciting, you know, and it doesn't have to be something where you, you know, kind of have to craft something because, you know, it's. It's there forever or whatever. So. So, yeah, so I find that that's a little bit easier. I can take a few moments and say, hey, here's this. Here, look at this. Amazing. You know, the walk up our. Up our hill with the dogs, and then we sit down. Steve and I sit down and watch the dogs play. And sometimes I'll take a little video of them, just kind of, you know, the. The grass and the mountains in the background, and it's just so beautiful that I want to share it with people, but it doesn't have to be something that's like this huge thing and then, you know, and then we share the huge things, too. But those. Those don't have to be, like, every single day, you know, so that we can kind of live it.

[Caroline]

So tell us. Tell us about your. Are you still doing design work? And you also have a fourth book, right? Or fifth book?

[Brooke]

Book.

[Layla]

Well, we have a fourth book that came out 2021 Patina Homes. So that was our fourth book, which is about a little bit about Steve's History and, and our. And Patina Farm, a little bit about that. And then it went. It goes into other homes that Steve and I have done together and some homes that Steve has done with other designers. So that was our last one. And then there will be probably one or two, probably two more books. There will be another one about Patina Meadow and all that goes on here. And I think that's probably going to fill a whole book. And then there's. There'll be another book about some of our latest projects, which are pretty amazing. We just shot with Lisa Romarin, who's an amazing photographer. We just shot three of those recently. And then there's another big one that's finishing probably in September. But so, so we're still doing design. I'm sure Nick and Steve, you know, talked about how Nick is now starting to do design work. And we, we have other designers that are working with us as well that are very talented and, and I do still see oversee some of the interior design stuff, but I do find myself wanting to kind of focus on other things as well. So I, you know, I feel like the incredible's mom, right, that would be Elastigirl, you know, where you kind of pulled in all these different directions. So I still love design that will, it'll still be a part of my life forever. But I do think that, and even, you know, Patina Home and Garden has allowed me to have that kind of still, you know, I'm constantly designing in there. You know, we're constantly redoing the stores and still connecting with designers because we do have a design program where we offer discounts to designers at our store and, you know, are trying to connect with design community in that respect as well and, and with, with people who just come into the store and kind of want help. Just kind of, you know, looking at different pillows and throws and, you know, different things that are in the store and how to. How to incorporate them into their. Into their home. So it's always going to be a part of my life and, you know, it just kind of is evolving, you know, like everything, like everybody, we all wear many hats.

[Caroline]

Well, it's really incredible what y'all have built. Not only you and, but now your whole family together. And thank you for sharing that with us and thank you so much.

[Layla]

Yeah, thank you. Thank you.

[Brooke]

Liz.

[Caroline]

Taran, any last questions before we do our design dilemma?

[Liz]

Yes, I, I do. So Nick was talking about how much he learned through osmosis about design. And Layla, it definitely seems like you have learned a lot from your time on Patina Farm. And so what. What would you say that you've learned the most through osmosis of having such talented parents?

[Layla]

Well, talented parents.

[Brooke]

They are very talented. And that. I think I grew up not understanding that because it's just my normal. And then I went. It was funny. I went to college, and I looked at a college door, dorm room, and it was that moment I realized that design was not as important to everybody else as it was to my parents. And my dad went in, and he moved the fridge, and we moved the bed, and we lifted it up, and he just, like, went through, like, a tornado and, like, changed everything around, I think.

[Layla]

Did Nick say the same thing? I bet you did.

[Brooke]

Yeah.

[Caroline]

Literally almost the same.

[Taryn]

Amazing.

[Brooke]

He can't help himself. But I think what they taught me when it comes to. To just in all aspects of life is to dream and to work hard and just go for it. And I think that that is one of the biggest things I've learned from them in the sense of, like, garden design. I would say the biggest thing I've learned from my mom and my dad when it comes to that is to have a limited plant palette. I think a lot of the times we get super excited, and we want to grow every type of plant and we want to do every type of thing, and I' struggling with that right now. But if you're trying to design a garden that feels cohesive, that feels calming, picking a limited palette of plants, picking a few plants that you can do in abundance, that really make a statement, can be really powerful compared to just doing onesies, twosies sort of thing. And then when it comes to what I do with videos, I would say it would be the power of a beautiful vignette. So if you watch my videos, you'll notice. Notice that it's pretty zoomed in. It's pretty focused on a certain moment that's happening, and that's really intentional, because I want to focus in on the small. The small moments get close into the small things like the chicken pecking at the worm on the table or, like, things like that that oftentimes get lost in the bigger sort of pizza of it all, that I think that those tiny moments are really important. And in everything I do. The other thing that I would say is the big lesson they've taught me is to be intentional. So when you're dreaming big, one of the reasons that you can dream big and achieve things is because when you have a dream, you're intentionally making choices that work towards that Dream. When you have an idea of what you want your garden to look like, you can be intentional and make those choices. When I have an idea of what I want my pots to look like, I throw in a way that that's how I want to achieve. And, like, everything has a purpose, everything has a reason. And that is, I would say, another big lesson I've learned from them is the power of crafting things with an intention and not just, you know, going willy nilly. Sometimes I have a tendency to do that is like, I get so excited and I'm just like, plant it all, put it wherever, just get it in the ground. And it's like, no. If you take the time to really sit with it and think about what is it going to look like when it's done, how are the heights going to look? Will these colors work well together? I think that has been one of the biggest. One of the biggest lessons I've learned from my very talented parents.

[Layla]

That's awesome. Oh, boy.

[Taryn]

Well, thank you so much for sharing so much of your life and the farm. It just. It allows anybody who would like to, you know, dive in and really learn so much. So thank you for all that work on that end because it is wonderful to. To go through.

[Brooke]

It's a pleasure to share it, truly. Like, it's. It's so lovely. People are so incredibly kind on Instagram. Like, I know the Internet could be an interesting place and there can be a lot of negativity, but from what we found, people have just been so sweet and so supportive. I mean, I did a video touring, a video tour of the Bloomery, and people were just so incredibly kind underneath it and being super supportive and telling me tips that they had for putting newspaper under their squash when it starts to grow because it keeps the bugs out of it and keeps it from getting too soggy on the ground. And just, it feels like our community extends with, like, beyond the reaches of Leapers Fork. And that is really awesome. That's like, a really big positive of the Internet that I think what we want to do by being on Instagram is to sort of spread that joy and spread. Spread light and spread information that makes people happy.

[Layla]

Happy and spread joy.

[Brooke]

Spread joy.

[Layla]

She's my little joy and light spreader. Yes. Thanks, Mom.

[Caroline]

Well, we do have a decorating dilemma that we love to help us bring. I. I hope you see you saw the question. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Layla]

Yes. Okay. Yes.

[Caroline]

All right, so I'll read it real quick, and then we'll just discuss and hopefully you can help Our friend Allison with her questions.

[Brooke]

Sounds great.

[Layla]

Sounds good.

[Caroline]

Okay, so Allison says hi. We just finished a whole home renovation where we opened up our living dining and kitchen area. We purchased a new rug and sectional in the photos, and now I'm trying to figure out how to add more color and warmth to the space.

[Layla]

Space.

[Caroline]

I've ordered the white Ballard cafe curtains for the windows on either side of the TV for privacy. But now I'm thinking we need different throw pillows for the living space and curtains in the dining area. But I'm overwhelmed with the options. For example, patterned or solid curtains and pillows, rod pockets or rings. What kind of curtain panels? I'm sorry? What kind of curtain rods? We've used blues and greens in other rooms in the house, so I'd like something to complement those colors. Colors also, our home was built in the 1940s, so we're trying to make modern slash traditional choices. Other details that may help. The sectional is a tweedy material with some black, gray, and white. The swivels are kind of a tweedy blue gray. We may swap the swivels or recover them at some point, so I don't want to make any decisions based on that fabric. The rug is an Annie Selkie diamond fieldstone ivory. Regarding rugs in the kitchen, I'd like to find a vintage runner for the kitchen and love the look of a rug under the dining table, but with two toddlers, that is not an option for us currently. The walls are Sherwin Williams Drift of Mist and the trimming cabinets are Benjamin Moore White Dove. Any advice on how to add color and warmth to this space and any other suggestions would be so appreciated. Thanks for all of your work on the podcast, Alison. She has a beautiful space.

[Layla]

Yes, it really is pretty. She. They've done a great job so far.

[Brooke]

Lots of natural light, which we love.

[Layla]

Yes, yes, yes. And lots of windows. And to bring in all that natural light. Yes, I would agree. So if she wants to bring. If Alison, if you want to bring in more color, my opinion is, yes, stick with. I'm always of the pick colors that are outside. You know, I always am inspired by the outside. So the ideas of her using blues and greens would appeal to me as well. And to stick with those things as pillows and throws, you could do a combination. You know, if you could find one kind of pillow that has a pattern and then do take some of the colors out of that and use. Get some pillows in those solids as well. And I would stick with probably the same with the solid throw, too, because I Don't like a ton of pattern, but just in just little, simple ways. I like the idea of the white. I think she had mentioned she was. Oh, no, that was Nyx. I read his, too, about balancing it. So we don't to worry about that.

[Taryn]

We should have given y'all the same one. That would have been funny to hear the answers.

[Layla]

Yes, Right, Right. But, like, in the kitchen, I love the idea of doing a runner and then has, like, thought of doing maybe even some. Either some flowers, like, Layla was talking about doing some flowers in there, or some. Some other greenery on the island. I love the natural color on the bar stools. And I'm wondering if, you know, even having, like, a little shade above the window in that. Like, a natural woven shade above the window would be kind of nice to add a little bit more of that texture in there and even, like, a basket above the fridge for some extra storage and just to fill up that extra space up there would be rather nice. I know this sounds kind of funny, but we actually have a painting above our stove, and it's. It actually looks really great as a focal point, you know, and it could be even, like, a landscape or something that she could put above there just to add something. Or she could even do a pot rack above there, too, if she wanted to add a little something over there, too.

[Caroline]

The way that hood is done, it, like, calls for a focal point. Like, it needs that.

[Layla]

Exactly. Like, it could be either that or she could even paint it a color, you know, to add, like, a. To be a focal point there. But it. Because it is. It is a. It's a big focal point, and it would be nice to kind of do something whether it's a piece of artwork or, again, like, the pot rack with some really pretty, like, copper pots or something like that on there. It just seems like it'd be nice to kind of. Your eye is already drawn to it, you know, Be nice to have something that would catch your eye there.

[Caroline]

I love the blues and greens that you always pick. They're always sort of these, like, muddy, earthy shades. That sounds gross, right? But, you know, they're like.

[Layla]

Yeah, it's sort of like.

[Caroline]

Like that Swedish blue that sort of looks like it's been worn out over the years and, like, an olivey green. And I think that could look really pretty in here.

[Layla]

Absolutely. And even in her kit, in her dining room, like, to do some either, like, placemats in those colors and you could do. Because, you know, there's not much going on in anybody's living in anybody's dining room. So, like, you could do pattern on the. On the placemats, or you could do on the two end chairs. You know, maybe you do a couple slip covers that have some color in them, you know, to add some. Add some softness. And it could even go. Those could go down to the floor. So maybe it adds a little bit more softness, because I know she can't right now do any sort of rug in there. So that might be nice in there. The other thing that might be nice, although I know she's got kids, so is to do some more like a. Like a tree in there. But it could be even be. You know, they have so many trees that are, like, not real. The faux trees that she could do in that corner where the. Where her extra chair is right now could be really pretty to bring some greenery into that space, those touches of.

[Liz]

Color, and bring some height into it. I'd love to see her get some artwork, just smaller pieces that. I noticed that you have a lot of pieces that are from local artists in your kitchen.

[Layla]

Yes, yes. Such a great thing. Yes. Again, that idea of bringing that kind of outdoors inside. You know, when we were in Ojai, we did the same thing, and our colors were different because it was California. So the colors here are. There's a lot more green, and so that's why the natural, the local artwork really works well in our space. And Allison could definitely do the same thing in her place. It'd be great.

[Caroline]

What about. Okay, she did ask specifically about. Okay, so you said maybe one pattern pillow, and then, like, pull some solid colors out of that to complement it.

[Layla]

Yeah, so I always do, like. Like, in the summer, she could just pull some, like, linen pillows, you know, some, like, some blue or green linen pillows. And then in the winter, when it gets kind of cooler, they could be more kind of either mohairs or velvets or things like that. That's what's so great about pillows. You know, you can change up the whole look of your place with pillows and throws, you know, so maybe in the. In the summer, there's. She could also do some light linen throws. And then in the winter, some know, some alpaca or some, you know, wool or something like that that's more cozy to wrap up in.

[Caroline]

She asked, like, for. She said she felt like she might need some curtains in the dining room, but she asked, patterned or solid, what would you do if it were you? Would you put them there, and what.

[Brooke]

Would they look like?

[Layla]

So she could. And she could have them in a. If she were.

[Brooke]

I don't.

[Layla]

I'm not big on patterns in big moves like that because it's a commitment. You know, you're not going to be redoing your draperies all the time. So I would do something that. That's the same. Like. Didn't she talk about using white draperies in the other part of the room?

[Caroline]

Yes. She had some white cafe panels or curtains on either side of the television. Sort of on the bottom half of those.

[Layla]

Oh, okay.

[Caroline]

Because there's a window seat.

[Layla]

Okay, got it. So she might want to do the same white in there. And. And that way it would connect to that room. Or if she. Color. Then I would do just one color. Either maybe the green or the. Or a pale blue or something like that. And then that way they'll last longer. If you do a pattern again, then you're going to have to see how it goes with every single thing in that room. It's a bigger statement, and it's a bigger commitment, and you want those bigger pieces to last longer. That's why I tend to go with them either being the white or a neutral color. That way it'll still provide the softness, but it will go with it. Everything else that you do in the room.

[Caroline]

And what about the broad pocket versus rings?

[Layla]

So I'm not a big pocket person. I'm more of a ring gal. Especially if she ever thinks she's going to close them.

[Caroline]

Pockets just don't really work.

[Layla]

No. Unless they're stationary and they're really there just to provide softness. Then I would go with rings. And then I usually, like. I see that she has a lot of dark metals. Like, even the. The dining room chandelier is a dark metal, so it'd be nice to match it. You know, I would probably do like a. An iron or a bronze.

[Caroline]

Okay.

[Layla]

To kind of match the colors in there.

[Caroline]

Okay. Well, I just wanted to go through and make sure we were answering all of her questions and ticking all the boxes. So I think. I think we got it.

[Brooke]

Ask a design question that goes with this. Would you have the curtains go past the end of the window or which the curtains stop at where the window stops?

[Layla]

You mean the length? Yes, the length always goes down to the floor.

[Brooke]

Okay.

[Layla]

I know the floor and. And the width. I don't like to, you know, it has to go. You want it to not cover a lot of the glass because you don't want to cover a lot of the natural light coming in. So once when they're open, you don't want them to. To be covering a lot of the glass.

[Caroline]

Yeah. So the outermost bracket of your curtain panel should be far enough past the molding to where when you pull the curtain back, it's in front of the wall, not in front of the window.

[Layla]

Yes, exactly. Exactly.

[Caroline]

How do you articulate that idea? Tartan.

[Layla]

Yes. Yes. No, you need to provide stacking room. Yes. Yes.

[Caroline]

There you go. Stacking room. I like that. We've never. We've never. We've never talked about that before.

[Layla]

Yes.

[Caroline]

Okay, well, I think. I think we've covered it all. I loved all of your ideas. The placemats, the plant, maybe some curtains. The pillows. Love it. And then. Oh, yes, the art over the oven. That'll look really great. Or, like, what about even a platter? Like some sort of hand platter or something? Who knows?

[Layla]

Yes. Yes, absolutely. Something. You know, she. She might even have something that's meaningful to her family or something. You know, it's. It's. It. It really does tend to be a huge focal point, you know, so it's a good place to put something pretty.

[Caroline]

Oh, my gosh. Well, Brooke and Layla, thank you so much. This was. And we. Okay. We went over time with Steven. Nick, too, so we could just talk all day.

[Layla]

We're just probably chatterbox. Exactly.

[Caroline]

Very interesting. Wonderful questions to ask you.

[Layla]

Well, it was. It was great to see you all again.

[Taryn]

It was so good to see you.

[Caroline]

Next time you're in Atlanta, please give us a call, and we can.

[Layla]

We can hang out and continue. And continue this conversation. Love it.

[Brooke]

Very nice to meet you guys.

[Caroline]

When you open that. That patina meadow bnb, give us a call.

[Layla]

You're welcome anytime. Welcome anytime. And. And if you want to get all muddy with us, you can either take a. A pottery class here or just. Just join Leland.

[Caroline]

Help. Help feed the animals. Yeah.

[Liz]

Oh, my gosh. Wasn't that just such a great episode?

[Taryn]

It just reminds me we do need to follow up with this.

[Caroline]

You.

[Liz]

We do. We definitely. We definitely need to get out to get out to check out. Well, we definitely need to get out to see them.

[Caroline]

Yes. You know, I also love Brooke's voice. She has, like, a very calm, like, sort of, like, vibe to her, which I find so nice to chat with. I mean, and, like. And she. I cannot. Like, she is so good at sort of. What is the word?

[Liz]

It's like, everything I was gonna say.

[Caroline]

Like, you know, when you.

[Taryn]

Checkpoint.

[Caroline]

No, like, when you make something that you want happen, like.

[Liz]

Oh, she's so fantastic at manifesting.

[Caroline]

Yeah. I was like, yeah, what is it? Yes. Manifesting. It's like she was like, oh, like, I want to live out on a farm and, like, you know, grow my own stuff. Like, we're just gonna make it happen. We're gonna, like, sell our house that we built and like. Like, I don't know. I don't know if it's like she has more energy than the rest of us or she just has some sort of God Godliness to her or something, but I'm like, how did she you. She wants something and she goes out and get it. I think that's so cool.

[Liz]

They as a family, just building so much community is just so awesome. It's so awesome. And, you know, I'm so excited for everything that Leila's doing on the farm and she's just growing so many incredible flowers and just living such a good life. Yeah, we love them.

[Brooke]

Very cool.

[Taryn]

A little air stream by the stream, right?

[Liz]

Love them, love them, love them.

[Caroline]

Good choice, Liz.

[Liz]

Well, thanks for listening and if you didn't get a chance to listen to last week's episode where Caroline shared her favorite episode with Susan Ferrier, please go ahead and do that. And then let's gear up for next week's where we are going to hear Taryn's episodes. Thanks for listening, everyone.

[Caroline]

And that's our show. You can find all of the show notes on our blog howtodecorate.com podcast to.

[Taryn]

Send in a decorating dilemma, email your questions to podcastallarddesigns.net so we can help you with your space.

[Caroline]

And of course, be sure to follow us on social media. Alard Designs.

[Liz]

Don't forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss an episode. And please leave us a review. We'd love to hear your feedback.

[Caroline]

Until next time, happy decorating.