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- [00:02]
A
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. And I'm Taryn and I'm a product designer.
- [00:13]
B
I'm Liz. I head of the creative team.
- [00:15]
A
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. Plus, we'll answer your decorating dilemmas at the end of each episode.
- [00:25]
B
We love answering your questions, so don't forget to email us@podcastallardesigns.net now on with the show.
- [00:37]
C
When did making plans get this complicated? It's time to streamline with WhatsApp, the secure messaging app that brings the whole group together. Use polls to settle dinner plans, send event invites and pin messages so no one forgets mom 60th and never miss a meme or milestone. All protected with end to end encryption. It's time for WhatsApp message privately with everyone.
- [01:01]
A
Learn more@WhatsApp.com we have one of our favorites, a big treat for y' all today. He is an eight time author and he's releasing his latest book, Home Again, A Return to gracious interiors. Mr. James Farmer from Perry, Georgia.
- [01:16]
C
Hey, Caroline. Hey, Liz.
- [01:19]
B
Hey.
- [01:20]
A
You're one of our favorites. You've been on the show many times before and I know that you're one of our audience favorites because I have multiple friends who tell me that yours, oh boy, are their favorite episodes. That's sweet. It's such a treat to get to chat with you again.
- [01:36]
C
Thanks, girls.
- [01:37]
A
And talk about your new book, Home Again. Eight Books is a wild number. And I feel like we have to start there because I'm curious how you keep going. What makes you want to keep writing books and what was the initial sort of inspiration vision for this one?
- [01:58]
C
Well, okay, so loaded question. And the answer really goes back to college. And even before college it went back to kindergarten. I know that sounds really strange, but so in kindergarten, our teacher. So we, you know, I'm from a small town and me and my middle sister and my three first cousins, we all had the same kindergarten teacher. And so we all have these stories about, you know, her and. But one of our assignments in kindergarten was we took some construction paper and folded them and, you know, we, we made a book. And I was, I was so excited because we have a big military base in our community. So I wanted to do this patriotic book. And there was a kid A girl in my class named Amber. And so Amber Ways of Grain. And so I drew Amber. She's waving in a hay field. And, you know, fruited planes. Well, I didn't think planes were fields. I thought planes were, you know, airplanes. So I drew airplanes with grapes hanging off of them. And. And, I mean, my book was called America the Beautiful by James Farmer. And I thought this was the best book ever written. And then there was a kid next to me, and he was, you know, real country, like, from the sticks. And. And his mama was always like, all right, you be purdy now. And he was like, yes, ma', am, I'll be purdy. And I guess that meant behave, and so on and so forth. So he wrote a book about a squirrel. And I was, like, just devastated that our teacher chose him to read his book in front of the class. And it was about a squirrel that found an acorn and put the acorn in a nest. And I'm like, that is so unoriginal. So I was mildly devastated in kindergarten when this kid wrote a book about a squirrel. But my teacher said, you know, James, anyone can write a book. And so that kind of stuck with me. And I'm like, yeah, anyone. Especially this kid. But all that said, while I was in college, I had a professor who had written a book, and we used it as a textbook. And then I thought, I would love to write a book that, you know, you could put on your coffee table that you could pull out and think, oh, let me look up. When do I cut hydrangeas? Or how do I set a table? Does the fork on the left or the right? And so the idea of kind of a series of books really came about in college, and this was right before social media. So that's. That's kind of how, you know, a book, a magazine, you know, that's really how you. You know, you published or perished. But then after college, I started working, and I started my design career, which really started as a kid. I mean, my mother's friends were paying me to tell them what color to paint the front. Their front doors when I was a kid. And all that said was I was like, okay, these books, like, it can be in the garden, then it could be on the table, and then it can be interiors. And so it really started, you know, kindergarten, college. And then the advent of social media was huge because I didn't have to just wait for it to print. You know, you could, you know, put it on a blog or whatever. But what I love in particular about my books Is that there's this tactile. You know, you can stack my books together. You can mix them with your other favorite designers and authors, and there's just something about a stack of books. And I'm just so excited I get to do that as part of my. Part of my grownup job.
- [05:33]
A
It's really beautiful, too. I'm not sure that this was your intention, but it's almost like a serial memoir or something, right? Like, it's cataloging your own growth and changes stylistically. And, you know, of course, you write an introduction and then in the chapter about your own home, changes about, you know, your own life and changes to what it looks like and things that prompted you to redecorate. And so I love that it sort of records your own life in there. That's really cool.
- [06:09]
C
Thanks, Caroline. It did it. My. All my. Excuse me. My editor, who I have worked with on all the books over the last 10 years, she really pushed me to write from the heart as opposed to I painted this wall, Ben. More Sherwin Williams, yada, yada, yada. Or this house is, you know, this old, and I use this bow front chest or whatever. She really encouraged me on that respect because I've written from a place where, you know, a house, it's a dwelling, it's a structure. But what I've really tried to integrate into my brand is, is the definition of home, because home is so much more emotional than house. And so I really like to commend my editor for encouraging. Encouraging me with that. And in the last 10 years, a lot of life has happened, and I didn't, you know, when the water was trickling down the walls like it's not supposed to. You know, I was thinking, well, the, you know. You know, my, you know, people who I've loved and lost are no longer here. And I started getting sentimental about it, and I thought, no, Mama would have you loved this. She would say, yes, get a new sofa, get new wallpaper, you know, and I thought I had to channel that. So I do think that's where some of the sentimentality and kind of emotion came from as well.
- [07:36]
A
And I have to point out that several of your books, especially the recent ones, all have the word home in them. Like, that. You kind of have a ongoing. Yeah, my good student.
- [07:48]
C
You are doing so good. See, Caroline, anyone can write a book.
- [07:52]
A
Anyone can start a podcast.
- [07:54]
C
Yes, yes, you're doing. And I love it.
- [07:58]
A
Liz, I'm gonna give you a second to jump in here, because otherwise, I.
- [08:02]
B
Just love this because I'M just here for the ride too. You two have had such a story working on different projects, and you guys are old friends now. So I'm along for the ride.
- [08:12]
C
Well, Liz can attest that before we started recording, we were talking about home tours. Caroline's been to my homes. And so, Liz, now you'll have to come along and come hang out at Farmdale or Joe Pie.
- [08:24]
B
I would love to. I mean, these are the most comfortable looking homes imaginable.
- [08:31]
A
There.
- [08:31]
B
You do such an incredible job mixing a sense of tradition with comfort. And there's just every space feels like everything was just gently placed in just the right spot. And it's just, it's so inspiring. And you feel comfortable looking through this book and reading through this book.
- [08:53]
C
Thank you so much. That. That's high felt praise and I do appreciate that so much. Thank you, Liz.
- [08:58]
A
Well, I did have to ask about your own house, because I have to admit, I had the book. You know, I've been to your house a couple times and I had the book sitting on my coffee table and on my desk for several weeks now. And not until I was actually reading that chapter did I realize that that is your formally dining room.
- [09:16]
C
Yeah.
- [09:16]
A
That you redecorate it. Even though I've been in that room and I kept looking at it and just thinking like, oh, this is just a. This is a beautiful James Farmer room. Then I got to and I was like, oh, I know this space. Okay. Weird. Yeah. So that I was sort of kicking myself because I was like, I didn't even recognize it. So why don't we start there? Because you have been in your home, Farmdale, which you built, and we did a house tournament last summer. You've been in there 10 years, you're saying you mentioned that you had a little leak, it prompted you to do some changes.
- [09:47]
C
Yes.
- [09:48]
A
So why don't you walk us through that? Because I do love the idea that you did a. A real switcheroo in your living room and dining room. Because I think that's a great lesson for people.
- [09:58]
C
Okay. Just because a room is labeled something doesn't mean it has to stay like that forever. So when I built my house 10 years ago, I was single. My sisters were single. You know, I. If it was the three, my, our, you know, our parents are no longer. So that said, it's like, well, the three of us would get together and maybe a couple cousins and like they were all single as well. You know, it was, it was a fun time. And so maybe there'd be a handful of us. So the dining room was a little more removed from the kitchen originally. And I just kept noticing that as an in law, as a new baby, as people, you know, we. It doesn't matter how big your house is, everyone ends up in the kitchen. And I kept thinking, I need, I need a little more room. And so honestly, I had a friend of mine who's an architect draw this kitchen in addition. And it just didn't feel right, you know, it didn't, you know, the foundation and the changing and the roof line and. And I just kept thinking, well, you know, my dining room is huge, and we eaten there, you know, a handful of times. And I thought, well, what if I just switched it up? So my, my aunt, she has a dinnerware company and so I love using her dinnerware and I have lots of her pieces. And, and we were joking and she said, you know, where are you going to, you know, your dining rooms? I had a big Welsh dresser in there and a sideboard. And she said, where are you going to store everything? And in my kitchen, I'd had open cabinet, open shelves, and some lower cabinets. And I said, well, funny, I'm going to build cabinets in a kitchen. Like some novel, original idea. But what I did was by moving the dining room adjacent to the kitchen for me and for my family, it made so much sense because the island then became the buffet because I could serve all the island. Truly, like everyone walks around the island and, and conserve themselves and they can land at the kitchen table or the dining room table and it's all right there. But we got to, we got laughing because now the living room, formerly dining room, I did two seating areas either side. And it's kind of like this really fun kind of hotel lobby. Like you walk in the front door right into the living room, and it's, it's, you know, more formally arranged. It's a touch dressier, there's no tv, but I love it because it's this like solarium meets salon. And I just was like, hey, what else do I get to do that? So my family was along for the ride. And then, you know, it just went from this point of life where it was either two of us. And I write about this two of us having scrambled eggs on a Sunday night or 20, like there's never an in between. So just the function had to, had to play itself out.
- [12:55]
B
You mention in the book about, about your living room being cozy enough for two or cozy enough for 20.
- [13:01]
C
Yeah.
- [13:02]
B
What's the key to, to really building out a space like that.
- [13:06]
C
I think it comes down to geometry. So I'm terrible at math, Liz, but I'm great at geometry, so I can tell you how many yards you need, how many rolls of wallpaper the repeat for chair bottoms or a skirted table. Gotcha. So I think that it comes down to that as well. If you have a sofa and a chair that are perpendicular, that form that right angle, you know, immediately you're. You're. You know, if you're sitting in the chair and you're sitting on the end of the sofa, you know, your knees are touching, or you're already more intimate because you're. You've turned towards one another. That kind of creates those tet. To tet, those kind of moments. And so by having a sofa with chairs, either side, either end of the sofa, and either, you know, chair are both going to form these immediate, you know, perpendicular right angles where we're more intimate. We really are. We are. Our knees are touching, or if you want to, you know, touch someone's arm, it's right there. Or, you know, if you're reaching for your cup of coffee on the coffee table, it's right there. You're much more together. So the geometry of. Of furniture placement is huge. And I like. I like to push the furniture together and then have open spaces. So there's a. There's an open space in the room, and it allows kind of for breathing room between the two. But I really can, you know, I can see, you know, Baker's dozen to 20 in there quickly. And that's what my family does. We pile in. And then I also, you know, not having a television in there, that's where we go to talk, and that's where we go to chill and hang out, because there's a whole other room for the tv. And if that's what we're doing, if we're watching the Auburn game or whatever our family's gathering to do, then that's that purpose. But I just kept finding there's a crew of us who are just chit chatting, talking. And I get tired of standing in the kitchen, and it's like, y', all, come on. Living room's right there. Let's go. Let's go. So it's that geometry of arrangement that, to me, brings people, turns them towards one another.
- [15:04]
A
Okay. I think the designers do this so well. And the opposite of what a lot of, you know, us normal people, we. We feel like we need more space. Like you need more space in between chairs and stuff, whereas I feel like designers Are always, like, sort of not crowding.
- [15:25]
C
Yeah.
- [15:25]
A
But, you know, squishing things together. So what is. What is sort of your mental allotment in terms of inches for, like. Okay, what's a good amount? That's tight, but not too tight.
- [15:39]
C
Ok?
- [15:39]
B
Because we all got to get in there.
- [15:40]
C
Okay. Yes. Well, I've got to get in there. All right, so let me go. Let me answer your question by kind of proposing. Okay, I can get real nerdy if you want me to, Caroline, but let me talk about this. So, seat height. So seat Height is about 20 inches. It needs to be right at 20 inches, as does a coffee table. So if a coffee table is that much higher or that much lower, you know, to me, then you're bending down or you're reaching up. So think about the form and the function of the room. And so if you are. Everyone's seated at the same level, but then let's say that you have this one chair that's real low. Well, the next thing you know, you've got someone who's kind of like a toad frog. Then you have someone who's real proud, like a peacock. So you want to set the tone first off with, like, your seat height. And then you think about, like, tables. Tables are all 30 inches tall. And, like, there's something about that ratio of, you know, seat height, table height. And then you get into things like counter height or an entry table that can be taller. So all that said is, like, there's this. There's this fun game of inches and geometry and, you know, even. Even. Just that skill of scale. So what I like to do is if a sofa and a chair are going to meet, you know, if they can be perpendicular and form that right angle, that's great. Then give it just a. Just a little. Just a little room, you know, doesn't have to be too far. Let it. Let the sofa and two chairs either side. Let them be a unit, almost a section.
- [17:19]
A
Six inches?
- [17:20]
C
Yeah, like. Yeah. Four, five, six inches. I think a foot is more than plenty, but I like to keep it tight. And then you. Then you have a really good right angle where the sofa arm and the chair arm are, or, excuse me, the chair leg and the sofa leg kind of meet. You form a right angle where your sofa and your chair meet at that plane. So that right angle, you know, that corner. Fit a circle into there. And that's. That's great. And that's geometry right there. So if you. If you have kind of a unit of a sofa and two chairs and a Coffee table or ottoman, you know, that's. That's like a block. It's like a unit. And then you can have negative space in other places. My dear friend and photographer Emily Followell always says, you know, we looking through at an image. And she'll say, you know, negative space isn't always negative. And when she said that to me one time, I was like, whoa. Because I was thinking, I need to fill that corner with a branch or I need a ficus tree there or whatever it was. And sometimes it's so nice to have those tight spaces that are full, that are. That are gracious, but then you have those areas that are spacious. And to me, our minds love that. It's like salt on a chocolate chip cookie. It. Something about it works. It's hard to explain the science of it, but y' all are both nodding. Cause you're like, yes, a salt, like coffee ice cream or whatever it is.
- [18:45]
B
It all kind of just with the sweet. They kind of balance each other out and accentuate each other.
- [18:51]
C
Balance. Exactly, Liz. Exactly.
- [18:53]
A
Yeah. I love the idea of that little unit and then air. Air on it, like negative space on either side. And I think that often, especially in, like, a big open space, people, like, want big pieces of furniture, and they want to fill, like, the whole space evenly. Right? Like, they want to distribute all the furniture kind of evenly within the room. But I kind of like what you're saying where, like, you're sort of creating, like, a little unit and then maybe a little unit over there, and then there's more. The emptiness is in chunks, I guess.
- [19:30]
C
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. It's.
- [19:34]
A
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- [20:01]
C
For me, it goes back to a lot of, like, historical inspiration and some of the most fabulous rooms. Like, we were on a trip to England this summer, and whether it was the hovel of a Cotswolds cottage or Blenheim palace, they all had the same thing. You went in there because you were too cold outside and you need to warm inside or it was raining, you had to come in. But when all said and done, whether it was a palace or a little cottage, everyone gravitates towards the fire or if it's the kitchen, to the stove. And so you think about it, just arrange it to how the room needs to be. But it's okay to give light and air and space and create it. We're working with some friends right now, and she said something about, I just really need a game table. And I thought, why are you apologizing about that? It's your house. You need a game table. Okay, we'll work it in. So I think that's also a big part as well, is don't be apologetic. You can just say, look, we live in this room, and the chairs are closer to the fireplace, whatever it is. And to me, that gives your. Your home that sense of a true dwelling.
- [21:10]
A
So you talked about the. The function of your living room and dining room switch. What about the decorative changes? Like, what. What were you excited to incorporate? What were you sad to get rid of or.
- [21:21]
B
Or move to a different space? Yeah.
- [21:24]
C
Yeah. So, okay, so this was so much fun. Both of my sisters bought houses in this time when I was rearranging. And because I'm the one that still lives in our hometown, I kind of was hoarding a lot of the heirlooms from our grandparents and from our parents. And so I loved that I could say, all right, Maggie, this is mama's console. All right, Meredith, here's mama's sideboard, whatever it is. And I kind of was able to then buy things for myself because I've always decorated a lot with things that were other people's, like, especially in the family. I love giving homage and tradition, and I can be the most sentimental person on the planet. Oh, Caroline sat here. Oh, that was Liz's coaster. You know, I could be so. But those also are our things, and they may not operate the way that I need them to right now. So for me, I was in Atlanta, and I was looking for some artwork. So I decided that the living. The new living room, I was doing these two seating areas, and I needed two large paintings either side. I have two large mirrors that were already in there, and I left them. And the grass cloth that's in that room was originally. It's still the same grass cloth, but it was originally this kind of. I think the color was called flax or linen or something hemp or jute or, you know, one of the colors, but y', all. It has faded to, like, the lightest melon peach color. And I. I can't recreate that. You know, that's. That's good. So it's like. Well, I left that. Had our wallpaper guy touch up a couple places where it kind of peeled off the walls. But I was in Atlanta, and I was Looking for some art. And I found this absolutely fabulous screen. And this hand painted screen, six huge panels, peach and coral and terracotta and cream. And it was Italian and marbleized, but yet so simple. And I thought, wait, that's six panels. Three and three. I can hang three over this sofa, three over that sofa. And you know, it's. I don't ever know the artist's name, but you know what? There's not another one like it. And that was kind of the epicenter right there. And then I kind of stuck with my palette of peach, green, and animal print at a plaid. And there we go.
- [23:59]
A
Fabulous. I. That screen is really spectacular.
- [24:03]
C
Thank you. No wonder you put on the COVID Exactly, exactly.
- [24:08]
A
And I will say there's a hidden little Ballard Designs piece on the COVID too.
- [24:12]
C
Oh, there is, absolutely. Right there, front and center. It's the little edgier little plant stand. I love it.
- [24:20]
A
Yes. I. We no longer make it, but maybe we need to because it looks so cool.
- [24:23]
C
I think you should.
- [24:25]
A
I know. Yeah. We bring it back.
- [24:26]
C
I think you should.
- [24:27]
A
We'll call it the James Good.
- [24:29]
C
It's dainty but sturdy. Kind of like me. Yes. I'm six four, two hundred and something pounds. And I love peach and green and dainty little wire edit chairs and with a begonia and a myrtle topiary on them. Gosh.
- [24:45]
A
Okay, let's talk about some of the other projects in the book.
- [24:48]
C
Okay.
- [24:49]
A
One of my favorites was the condo downtown in Auburn, because you took what I can only assume was a boring white box and turned it into something utterly fabulous. So walk us through that, because I think we could all picture that type of space.
- [25:07]
C
Yeah.
- [25:08]
A
You know, the before, I mean.
- [25:09]
C
Yeah.
- [25:10]
B
And it does not look like it is in a downtown condo at all.
- [25:16]
C
Thank you, Liz. Thank you. That was the. That was the goal. So our clients, they did one of the best things that a client can do to a designer. And they said, okay, we trust you. And, you know, he's a. He's an engineer. I couldn't even begin to do his job. And he said, all right, I trust you. So this, this condo, the whole building, like, it wasn't there when I was in college, but I walked past it every single day. I lived about two blocks away, and it's across the street from the art school, so as an art history major. So I did art history and horticulture because I love design and plants. So I told y' all I'm a nerd, But I walked past this, you know, two or three times a day every Day for five years. And if college James knew what grown up James was going to do there one day, like, I don't think he'd believe it. So our clients, you know, when we found out that, you know, this isn't. They're not just coming for a football game, you know, a few Saturdays each year, they truly wanted to have a home in Auburn where they could stay with their family, with the grandchildren. It is across the street from Toomer's Corner and the art school. So I was very familiar with it. But the only other thing that the client said I thought was so interesting is they said, all right, we don't, we don't. We don't need to be orange and blue with a lot of tiger stripes because truly, you're looking onto tumors corner. You know, it's like, if you need Auburn, there's the sign. Truly, there's the sign right outside the window. So I got to thinking about it and I thought, well, a shell, this white box shell that's just Sheetrock. The first thing that it's lacking is, you know, definition. And to me, it was just asking for it. So, you know, there's this big, huge space that's supposed to be the kitchen, the living room, the dining room. And I thought, this is Auburn. Like Acre is one block away. Hamilton's is out the back door. Like, big blue bagel for breakfast every morning. Like, you're not, like you're not going to sit down with 18 people and eat dinner in here. You're going to walk outside the door and go, go eat. And so when we kind of started defining it, we realized that we needed more so areas where you could sit to, you know, if you're not at the game, be able to watch the game. You needed to be able to, you know, entertain like a big island as opposed to a smaller island that a lot of condos have and then a dining area. Like, we figured out what our clients needed, but because it was a shell, we were able to build in things that oftentimes have to be front and center. So we were able to build in like, you know, the wine refrigerator, the ice maker, the cabinets and things like that into, into kind of another, another area. So we, we, we were able to borrow because it was just space. You know, we were able to kind of create. The best analogy that I'll use is it was more of like a loft than it was a condo because of like, the volume of it. And it was just one of my favorite projects to date. And, you know, we added crown Molding. And, you know, the ceiling didn't have to be a drop seat. You know, we're able to panel. You know, we were able to put pretty wallpaper. You know, engineered hardwood floor has come so far. You don't have to. Have to have the clicky, clacky sound because of, you know, there were some variants that we couldn't change. You know, like a poured slab was there. But guess what? Great tile in all the bathrooms. And we had so much fun with it. And when we revealed it to our clients, they're. They're real avid supporters of Auburn athletics, in particular the basketball team. And so they brought some of the basketball players. Y'.
- [29:05]
B
All.
- [29:05]
C
I'm six four. Okay. Caroline. You know me. I'm tall. I was the shortest guy in the room. And they came in there, and some of these guys are plopping on these beds that we just had made and had the new, you know, duvet monogrammed. And they're like, oh, I like these beds. And they're like, oh. And they loved it. And so immediately I was like, okay, it's pretty, but the basketball team can hop down.
- [29:28]
A
It's obviously comfortable.
- [29:29]
C
It's comfortable. So that made. That made me really, really happy. Right. Right there. So you just have to think about what your client needs. And sometimes thinking out of the box really means thinking inside the box in a different scope or scale, so.
- [29:44]
B
Well, it's a good thing you didn't drop that ceiling too low. Sounds like you got a lot of tall people in there.
- [29:49]
C
We did, but.
- [29:50]
B
But that drop ceiling, I really think is what helps make that space so fantastic too.
- [29:56]
C
Thank you. Thank you.
- [29:57]
B
Because you put so much extra millwork up on the ceiling and. And really just made it feel like a really cozy space.
- [30:04]
A
It had all the feelings and nostalgia and warmth of an old home. So it was really. And I mean, unless you truly had read the chapter, you would not have realized that it was a brand new condo building.
- [30:17]
C
So lots of good antiques, too. Some great pieces. Yeah.
- [30:22]
A
And I'm glad you mentioned not using an auburn color palette. It didn't really even occur to me. Now, you did kind of do that a little tiny bit in your Oxford project.
- [30:30]
C
Oh, yeah, I did. That was a. It started as a game day house, so. Yeah, there's a navy and red connotation there.
- [30:38]
A
I loved that house as well. Can you tell us a little bit about that one? There was especially the little bunk room with the red check.
- [30:44]
C
Yeah. Okay, so what's the old expression, you know, like, you know, tell God, your plans and watch him laugh or something like that. So our clients, you know, they had a game day house in Oxford and you know, adorable. Great. Well, you know, they decided we're going to retire here. Well, all their grandkids moved to Oxford as well. So, like, they're building this bunk room, like to house all the grandkids who now live on the same street. And so they were doing this because they were thinking, oh, you know, one day maybe they'll come visit for a football game. And now they, you know, spend every weekend with them. So what happened was, you know, Oxford is full of these beautiful kind of, whether it's craftsmen or kind of, you know, early bungalow kind of shotgun style cottages. And so there was a shotgun style cottage. You know, you open the front door, you see straight down out the back door. And it was, it was condemned. Like it really could not be rebuilt. So we did redraw it and you know, worked with a great local architect and local builder and. But we kind of drew it. But then we were able to like do a little bit better pitch on the roof so that way we could have this bunk room upstairs. And then the other thing that was so neat about kind of a theme or color scheme, I love one. You know, if a client's like, hey, my favorite color is whatever, or I've always wanted a yellow dining room. Whatever it is, I'm like, I'm going to run with it because it's kind of fun because it's. Where do you start on a design project? You know, where do you actually say, okay, this wall is Benjamin Moore xyz. It's sometimes hard to start. And so when you have that, when you have that spark, you know, that first little flame, like, okay, this is where we can go. So then from Ole Miss colors, I was able to think, well, Imare Amare red, you know, could be kind of interpreted and that, that amare red and that sang to buff and that, you know, you can pull those there and you know, hottie Toddy blue could go. Well, it goes several shades of blue. And so we, we ran with it from more of a French blue to the hanked blue on the porch ceilings and give yourself some, you know, inspiration and parameters and then go for it. So that was so much fun. Also great, great clients and trusted us and they had some beautiful art as well.
- [33:15]
A
Tell more about the, the jumping off point because that's a great insight. And you know, if you, if you really have no, if the clients have given you no parameters and maybe this doesn't happen very often.
- [33:29]
B
I don't know.
- [33:29]
A
But if they've. They haven't given you any direction in terms of a color palette, what is your goat? Like, where do you start? Because that is you. If you can go anywhere, that's hard. Because then, like, what is. What is sort of keeping you on a. On a path that's going to be consistent?
- [33:47]
C
You know, that's a great question. So I don't know if I have one very acute answer, maybe a little more obtuse. So that said, if a client has called me and says, I need you to decorate my house, it's just the same thing as me calling my accountant saying, I need you to do my taxes. I can't do this. I was just on the phone with my plumber. He's installing a new ice maker. I can't do it. So they're. They're calling because they're requesting a skill set. And what I have to do is kind of weed through. They'll tell us. They're going to tell us what they want without telling us what they want. And so to me, that jumping off point is, oh, my gosh, I saw this great, you know, something from Ballard, or, you know, so and so has this fabulous new fabric, or, you know, you may have something and it's twirling in your head or like, okay, could. I would always love to use that. But honestly, for me, what it comes down to is this. I love that each room has a name. And we started talking about this. Each room has a name. Living room, dining room, kitchen. And it does have a form and a function, but kind of even going back to, anyone can write a book. Well, anyone can decorate a kitchen. But how am I going to do this? So is our client left handed? You know, is she going to reach for, you know, is. Is he six, eight? Or is, you know, does she need this much height? Or, you know, so we start getting into the weeds of very personal details very quickly, and then sometimes it's already answered for you. You know, he says, I love red. He actually may mean like, you know, cranberry or burgundy or, you know, or a different color Ruby. Or she may say, you know, I'm really adverse to the color yellow, but every photo she shows us is a yellow room. So maybe she doesn't like gold, whatever it is. So one of my favorite design professors said that interior design is 90% psychology and it's 9% logistics. The other percent is where the creativity comes into play. So it's not necessarily being creative. Like, oh, I'm gonna put the kitchen on top of the roof, and the tree house is where you're gonna slide down into your bathroom. No, I mean, we're humans. We're people. We have to live, we have to eat, we have to sleep. So you have to put all those things into. Into it, kind of into the mill. And they work themselves out, but a client will tell you a lot of things without telling you. And so that jumping off point for me usually is at that consultation. I see their artwork. I'm like, okay, okay. They collect majolica. You know what? Oh, got it. They're a silver pattern. I know that sounds crazy, but Francis, the first girl is going to like this more than that or whatever it is. So there are some. There are some tells kind of at the poker table right off hand that I'm able to decipher. But it. It does go back to. They can't do it on their own, and just like, I can't do my taxes or plumbing. So you have to ask someone to help you. And that's okay. That's why we all have jobs.
- [36:59]
A
Okay, so say you've got a big house like the one that you did in. What was it. Was it Columbus? That was like a new build out in the. On some land. Anyway.
- [37:11]
C
Yeah.
- [37:11]
A
So you've got a big house, and you've. You've done the living room, and you picked up a color palette, and you did the dining room, and you've kind of got all the big rooms, but then you've got some of these sort of secondary spaces. Laundry room, mud room.
- [37:24]
C
Yeah.
- [37:24]
A
Guest bedroom. Are you going in the same direction that you already went, or are you, like, okay, we. We checked the blue, we checked the green. Like, what's. What we haven't used. Like, what. What would you. What direction would you go?
- [37:37]
B
There.
- [37:37]
C
Okay. So did y' all ever, like, growing up, you had your favorite toy book, whatever, and you always played, always read, always had those. And then, like, you. You'd be cleaning up the playroom or doing your chores, and you realize, I love this ball. This block is. Oh, this puzzle. And you kind of rediscover something that maybe may be a part of you, but you, you know, out of sight, out of mind or whatever. Maybe your sister took it to their room or the dog took the ball out of the backyard, but you rediscover it. So once I get those big spaces done, that's kind of where, to me, the. The. The discovery of creativity really comes into play. So it's like, for example, you know, citrus garden by Schumacher. It's, it's been around a long time. It's lovely. Fabulous, fabulous. If I put that in a huge living room. Whoa. I mean, that's a, that's a lot of oranges and lemons and everything. I mean, it's a lot. However, in a laundry room where it's contained and I can pull that blue out, that's like not cobalt, but not aqua. I mean, it's like, oh, that's cool. So then those, those spaces are where the, to me, the creativity really gets to have its moment. Because in the big rooms, in the big rooms and those primary spaces, you really want a touch of neutrality so that every season can shine a Christmas tree, you know, blue hydrangeas for a summer cocktail party, whatever it is, you want to have seasonal shine. But those, those spaces are really fun. So to me, that's where I get to really scratch that creative itch. You know, it's not just, you know, an accrue velvet sofa, sage green trim. It's pretty and I love it all the time, but sometimes you just, you know, need that little fun kind of moment. And those spaces, like laundry rooms, powder rooms, butler's pantries, you know, bunk rooms, like that allows you to do that.
- [39:31]
A
So you're taking that as an opportunity to do something totally new that you haven't done elsewhere in the house.
- [39:38]
C
Yes. And it's also closed off usually. And so I know that sounds strange. So like if you are all into tortoiseshell and you want a tortoise shell, powder room, ceiling, walls, you know, this incredible jewel tone rug on the floor, and let's say the next day you're not as into it, just shut the door. You know, it's like to me, your primary spaces, those living spaces, let those have personality, let those have doses of it. But it's those jewel boxes that can be opened and closed and enjoyed for their form and function. And it just is so fun. And what's coming to mind also, down on the Georgia coast on Sea island, for a client's powder room, is a small room. And we jokingly called it the, the Delta lavatory because it was like, it was so tight. I mean, the commode width is about the width of it, but we did this huge pattern paper and it's so funny how there's. You'll read about it in the magazines and it's in every design, but use a large scale paper in a small room to appear larger. It did. Mm, it did. And so sometimes you know that like that scale of a. Of a pattern, it's one of my favorites is it's burnt thistle by Brunswig. And I love it in every colorway, but in a tight space, what it did was I see the whole vine. I'm like, oh, there's the bird, there's the thistle. Like, it's. It's really cool how it works in a big room. It gets lost. It kind of becomes like this really big something. So I was. I always love when kind of Design 101 really, really works. And Doug Limu and I always tell you to customize your car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mut. But now we want you to feel it. Cue the emu music, Limu.
- [41:28]
B
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- [41:32]
C
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A
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C
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A
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C
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- [41:47]
B
You know, one of the things that you mention a couple times in the book is that you like to create rooms for the seasons. And. And you mentioned seasons just a little bit ago. Can you explain to us what. What you mean by creating a room for the seasons?
- [42:00]
C
Yeah. Okay. A room for the seasons. Liz, I love this question because I'm such a seasonal person. My mother always joked about, like, she's like, oh, I'm a fall. And I'm like, what does she mean by she's a fall? And she's talking about her. Her color palette, you know, like, what looked good on her with makeup and clothes. But I get it. So think about this. A room, if we have the luxury of having ample, like, quantities of room. So let's say that you have a room that faces south, you know, that's wonderful, like, for that light coming in. And it may be a great room, you know, for Ballard out of Jers, to grow your little begonias in the wintertime. But that said, when you have a little bit of ample space, let's say it's a fireplace, you know, you. You know, I don't sit by my fireplace and read in July. You know, I'm wherever the air condition is full blast, that's where I'm going to be. But as soon as that, you know, first nip you gets us in the mountains. I am right there by the fire. I cannot wait. So seasonally, you know, we react. You know, we crave a fire or maybe it's warm stew or whatever it is. So a room for the seasons. Needs to be able to react to that. Some people completely rearrange their lives for Christmas time and their rooms. And it's because you're bringing a tree into your house. It's like you're bringing this big thing, or maybe it's a party and you're like, okay, I have to move all the furniture out, but then you have to rent chairs. That's a father of the bride quip right there. That's one of my favorite movies. But think about that house. George Banks says, this house is warm in the winter, it's cool in the summer and looks fantastic with Christmas lights. And I'm like, that's. That's a. That's a house. That's a room for the seasons. You can sit by the fire in the wintertime, or you can be removed from it and, you know, be scrolling on Instagram in the ac. But what really makes it happen to me is to me, your coffee table is the epicenter of that. And I think a coffee table, and Caroline and I have talked about this before, like, a coffee table needs fruit, flowers, and fire. And so have a bowl of fruit. It may be peaches, it may be green apples, it may be lemons. I know it sounds weird. Have a bowl of fruit in your living room. But it tells you, like, what season it is. And it's pretty, you know, and then. Or your flowers, you know, your foliage, you know, blue hydrangeas. You know, it's June or July, you know, it's like in the mountains. I love right now. The hydrangeas are kind of this raspberry kind of coral color. And, you know, that shows. Hey, y', all, it's this time of year. It's this late September. So all that said is you're, you know, then the fire is like a great candle or maybe even a diffuser, but it kind of engages those senses. So a room for the seasons is. Is not a sterile, you know, grayish, beige linen homage to nothingness. It's a room that can easily say, oh, it's fall. Oh, it's winter. And it can. It may be the. The throw that you put over a chair that you only have out there for a few months, or maybe it's summertime and you edit it real clean and you just have a couple stacks of white leather bound antique books and a seashell on top. There's so many things you can do that just eschew or welcome in the. The seasons. And I think coffee tables are the best way to do that.
- [45:22]
A
Do you ever, I guess Take into account the season when you're building out the color palette of the room.
- [45:26]
C
Oh, yeah.
- [45:27]
A
You do? Okay.
- [45:28]
C
Yeah. The first thing we do, I mean, is what way is it basing? I mean, interior design is, like I said, 90% psychology, 9% logistics. And the creativity is like, this much. The work's been done for us. I mean, you can open up any old school design book. Well, if your room faces north, it needs to be these colors. If your bedroom faces y', all, it's because it's tried and true. It's. It's science, it's art, it's mathematics altogether. So you could take the vast world of choices of interior design and kind of condense it to, well, the master bedroom, the primary bedroom, or the dining room, whatever it is, faces this direction. Well, these colors look good in these lights that. So paint color is a great example on this. We were working on a project in the Midwest, and we used Pharaoh and ball color, and it's, you know, kind of a Tony paint brand. And our client was really. She really wanted this paint color. And then she loved it so much, she wanted to use it at her home on the coast. It wasn't the same. And so to me, that is really important to understand is that sometimes, you know, depending on where it is, what direction makes all the difference in the world. And so that's what we really put into play. We always ask our architects to make sure that they have a compass, or the landscape architects really do that. But we always take a compass out there and know, okay, the living room faces here. And another thing, now that I'm on the soapbox, you didn't know you'd open this can of worms, But I'm loving it. Another thing that a lot of people do is with dining rooms and living rooms, they primarily use dining rooms for dinner parties at night, or let's say it's like Christmas dinner or Thanksgiving dinner, darker, moodier. And the. Sometimes the dining room gets, like the best view. And I'm like, the dining room, like, over here and had the. Or make that the breakfast room, you know, So I love when we can kind of get a. Get on board, like, with the architect right off hand and be able to offer something like that. Like, for example, in the mountains, I have some friends, their dining room's not that big. And they said, well, we don't need a big dining room because we go out to eat. But the. What had been the dining room originally at this house, they made into a porch. Because if you're in the Mountains. You want to be on the porch. And I loved how we were able to kind of re. You know, reconfigure that and just fill out. Just. Just fill it out. Who gets top billing and why? And to me, it's direction, season, and it all kind of starts funneling into place.
- [48:13]
A
And are you thinking when you're setting up the living or, you know, laying out the living room, like, this is where the. This is where the Christmas tree is going to go?
- [48:19]
C
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [48:20]
A
And you tell your client. You tell your clients, like, this is what I would do, so. Or do they know?
- [48:25]
C
Yes and no. Some people. I'm not kidding. We have had more clients who would say, okay, where do I put my Christmas tree? Like, first question. Like, I don't even know your name yet, and you're. We're talking about a Christmas tree. This is. This is confidential, y'. All, but I guess we'll share it with everyone. Like, I like Christmas trees. Like, I don't love that. Like, a tree dictates how a room is designed for 11 and a half months out of the year. So there's this part of me that's like, yeah, I love Christmas tree, but it doesn't have to say, like, okay, the house has to be framed, plumbed, wired. Like, for this, you know, it can be a shorter tree. It could be on a table. It could be, you know, kind of over there. Like, over there. Like, you know, and so that's so interesting to me that that's often one of the very first questions that a client will ask me. Where's my tree gonna go? And I'm like, honey, you have a grand piano. Let's talk about that. You know, like, you. You have a dining room set for 18 people. Like, we might need that. The tree is there for two, three weeks. Like, you know, so we. One of my favorite clients, she. I mean, she's a Christmas tree in every room kind of girl, and awesome. Love it, do it. You celebrate it. And she would say, well, you know, where's my Christmas tree gonna go? In the. You know, whatever room it was. And I just said, well, I guess we'll have to. You know, you'll have to store that sofa that's in front of the window because that's the best place, because I knew she wanted it to be seen from outside, you know, so, yeah, to each. To each their own. But that's my little Christmas tree soapbox.
- [50:10]
A
Like, I am shocked, actually, that you're not a Christmas tree guy.
- [50:16]
C
I love a wreath. Give me Some garland. Let's whomp to whomp to whomp. The mantle. Oh, I love a mantle. All done up. Let's set the table. You know, let's have some lights outside of the tree itself, like I do a tabletop tree. Presents go around actually now presents, I just give everyone a, you know, a book and a card with money. Venbo Christmas. I'm not a scrooge, but I'm like borderline, borderline.
- [50:46]
A
This is the man who just told us we had to decorate our coffee table for every season.
- [50:50]
C
For every season. And you can, and your coffee table can be decorated for Christmas without, you know, a 12 foot spruce, you know, in your. And yes. And don't forget you said we're going to decorate something for Christmas too, for Ballard. So we got to figure that out. And I'll know. We will. No, no, we will, we will. But like for example, I have this. I love wreaths. Like I love a wreath. And you have a great wreath and a ribbon on the door. Like to me that says a lot. So I'm probably going to flack now. But, but I think there's other ways.
- [51:25]
B
It sounds like you've got sentimentality for all 12 months. So yeah, maybe by Christmas time it's a little spent.
- [51:32]
C
Yes, yes, yes. And honestly, here's what it comes down to for me. So we don't, we don't do like Christmas decor anymore. We, that used to be a part of our business. And I think once you have been in the business of selling ribbon by the yard and branches and then, you know, it can take the jolly out of the holly. So I think that's kind of where, where I stand. What I love to do for the holidays and for Christmas in particular is I love to have a party. It gives me the excuse, great food. I get to have the music, I get to have the friends over. I get to wear, you know, a new sweater or whatever it is. And that to me is my kind of celebration. And then all my nieces and nephews are young and they get to have, you know, Santa and the trees and all the blow up stuff at their mom and daddy's houses and I, I love it. And you can go visit and I can go visit. But yeah. Oh, silver julep cups with red roses and red berries on the mantle and a wreath and every crepe myrtle lined with, you know, white lights. Bring it on. Let's, let's do it.
- [52:39]
A
I do think you're right though. Not like you can find a place to work the tree In. Yeah, you're going to find a spot for it. Don't. Don't sacrifice comfort and functionality the other 11 and a half months out of the year, like you mentioned, just to leave empty space on the tree.
- [52:57]
C
I'm not kidding. Like, this. This. This family has a baby grand. Like, it's been in the family for three generations. And, like, that was in storage. The Christmas tree was the first question. I'm like, oh, okay.
- [53:14]
A
Other fabulous spaces in the book, I mean, there's so many. Obviously. We got to see your casher's little cottage, which we also did a house tour of. So I don't know when, if it's up yet, but, oh, gosh, it was fabulous.
- [53:30]
C
You're so sweet.
- [53:31]
A
You'll get to see more of that, all of our listeners, when that goes up on our YouTube channel. But I also loved the. Wait, was it Martha's Vineyard? No, Martha's in your.
- [53:42]
C
Yeah, yeah.
- [53:43]
A
Tell us about that space, because that was. That was also really fun.
- [53:45]
C
If my imagination came to life and it was a village, a place, it'd be Edgartown, Massachusetts, between, like, August 15th and November 1st. I mean, y' all want to talk about. I love Gilmore Girls. I rewatch it every fall. I mean, I watch it kind of year round, but, you know, it's like Stars Hollow meets Gray Gardens. I mean, I know it sounds so wild, but it's everything. And some clients of ours, you know, we've helped them with things in the past, and they're also very dear friends. And that I love because I'm like, yeah, he. He likes this. She's going to want that. And that. That kind of is. Is helpful. But she gave us a really neat kind of set of guidelines. And so Martha's Vineyard, in particular, the little kind of Edgartown Village. When I say it is cute, y', all, I mean it, like, hurts your eyes. It's so adorable. It is just. I mean, nothing is wilted. Now, I wait till you have to go in January and February for a site visit and you're freezing on the ferry. That's a whole different ball game. But I know why people want to be there, you know, for that. It is as Americana nostalgia as just about any place I have ever been. And our client said, okay, how do we do red, white, and blue without doing red, white, and blue? And she just kind of said it off, off the cuff. And I'm like, red is coral. Coral white is more of a cream, more like Lenin white. And the blue, it's. It's more of Like a cerulean kind of turquoise, you know, And. And so then that allowed, like. Well, with that kind of lighter kind of shade of blue, then that kind of caramel topi check could kind of play in. Instead of red, it's more of that coral Nantucket red, faded from the summertime, you know. And then the white, you know, I always have to quote. We have a painter who always says, is this going to be white or white? White. And that's a huge. A huge difference. And I love, like a creamier, more of a warm white. And that is so indicative there. The white picket fences and the white houses, all the clapboard, you know, so you don't see a lot of stone. You don't see a lot of brick. You see shakes, you see wood. You know, you see lots and lots of hydrangeas. And those hydrangeas are that blue. They're not like navy. They're more that hydrangea, cerulean blue. And that was that kind of inspiration right there. And it's tight quarters, and so we kind of treated it like a ship. Like everything's kind of built in. It's, you know, it's. It's. It's. It's tidy and fun, but. Oh, it's one of my favorite projects.
- [56:32]
B
I love that you called it a ship, because you even have a sea captain in there.
- [56:35]
C
Oh, yeah. Oh, and. And, you know, he was at. From a junk shop of like, you know, like, that's where you find those treasures, you know?
- [56:43]
A
Well, it was. I just loved seeing that, you know. Of course you do coral in so many projects because it's one of your favorites. But I love seeing all the different ways that you can use it, because it's really not a color that I think many people play with. Certainly not as much as you do.
- [56:59]
C
Well, it's. I think it's neutral. I know that sounds weird. I mean, I'm wearing a peachy color right now, but, you know, coral can be like peach salmon, you know, even into the. More pinky, into raspberry. I mean, Carl. Carl's a great guy. You can use Carl just about anywhere. But my mother was very confident. And then my grandmother also, she always said the best dish that a host or hostess can serve is confidence, you know, so don't be. Don't apologize. I don't have enough chantilly to set 12 places. Mix it. It's fine. Just serve confidently, love graciously, you know, and that's. That's what people love and remember. And so Mama would use Carl and She never would say, I'm sorry. That our room is this peach color. You know how good it looks with blue and white. Cash pose on the mantle. You know, what do you do at Christmas? Carl and red. They look great together. I love red. Alex berries and coral roses and, you know, greenery. It's beautiful. So I think that's just a part of it. If you don't like it, great. That's. You don't have to use it. But I do think there is some. Some bending of the rules. I don't like to break them, but I do like to kind of bend them. So red, white, and blue, you know, Carl Cremen turquoise.
- [58:09]
A
So pretty. We do have decorating dilemma.
- [58:12]
C
Oh, okay.
- [58:13]
A
If you want to get to it, I mean, we could sit here and chat all day, but we do have a question for Kayla that we want to get to. Okay, y' all are all ears. So I'm going to read it, and then we'll take a stab at it. She doesn't have any questions. I mean, she doesn't have any images.
- [58:28]
C
Okay.
- [58:29]
A
So it's just a question. She says, hey, ladies, quick question for y'. All. What is the best way to choose paint colors for a new build? I can't test colors in the rooms because the rooms don't exist yet. Should I just narrow down to a few options for each room and then pick one once I can test it in the space? We're trying to make as many decisions and purchases ahead of time as possible. Thanks as always. I love the podcast.
- [58:53]
C
It's a very good question, Kayla. Yes.
- [58:55]
A
And I bet you do this a lot.
- [58:57]
C
So first thing we do is we tell our client. So if Kayla's my client, I'd say, Kayla, you need to finish schedule. And a finished schedule, you can be an Excel spreadsheet. It can be a legal pad, however you want to organize it. But a finished schedule is going to tell you, your builder, your contractor, the craftsman, any of the people so much. So, for example, new build, you're probably going to have Sheetrock. And Sheetrock comes in white. White. I mean, that's just the color it comes in. So right off the bat, you know that you're going to have a very kind of bright, kind of sterile space. So kind of work from there. You can get paint samples now peel and stick, or, you know, that are foot by foot or can order all the. All the paint companies have them create that finish schedule. So when you know your material. So if your hardwood floor is pine versus oak, you know, pine is more honey and yellow oak is more brown, you know, to, you know, darker, darker, warmer brown. Or if it's white oak versus heart pine, you know, know your materials, line them up, and know, like, what planes are meeting, what. So if you have, you know, red oak floors, which are more of a red, brown, and then as soon as those sheetrock walls go up and they are white, white, you know that you've got a contrast right there. So maybe that's when you try those paint samples from the two or three you've picked ahead of time. You don't have to commit right now to paint, but what you do have to commit to the guts of it plumbing. You've got to pick out your faucets, your lighting. You know, the. The contractor is going to need to know, well, is there wood on the wall? Because then he has to frame it differently. You know, is. It doesn't matter what, you know, like what color it's going to be painted. This room is going to be wallpaper. So all those finishes need to be decided really ahead of time. And Kayla, just like any of our clients, we tell them we are. The first thing we're going to show you is a finished schedule presentation, and we're going to show you what you're walking on, what you're looking at on the wall. We'll even show you some inspiration fabrics. Those are very helpful as well. But one of the first things we're going to show you is your plumbing and your lighting, and then you won't see them again until you move in. So you have to pick those things out first. Paint, give yourself some grace. It's okay. You can pick one or two colors now and then try some samples once that white, white Sheetrock is up, and then you'll be able to, you know, kind of go from there. But knowing, is it tile, is it wood, is it a brick floor, or is it, you know, trotso? I mean, there's so many things that could be. So I think you've got the first place to think to start with is a finished schedule. And that's probably some of the best money you can spend with a designer as well.
- [61:44]
A
That makes so much sense. So smart. So she's picking all the materials first.
- [61:49]
C
Yeah.
- [61:49]
A
She wants to. You want her to have, like, a general direction in terms of maybe where she's going. Pick a couple color options. You know what, she could even order some of those sample eyes. Stick on sheets.
- [62:03]
C
Yes.
- [62:03]
A
Early.
- [62:04]
C
Yeah.
- [62:04]
A
And then she's already got them at her house when the goes Up. Go over, like, stick them up there. Yeah. So. So then she has some options, but she hasn't officially picked her.
- [62:15]
C
Yeah.
- [62:16]
A
Until she's in the room. That makes sense.
- [62:18]
C
I actually think Kayla's ahead of the game because she's already thinking about the finished product. And that's what I do on a design project, is I see the finished product and then I have to kind of peel it layer by layer by layer to get down to the studs or crawl space or whatever it is.
- [62:33]
A
It seems like a lot of times people want to have a wall. Like that's where they're starting is the wall color. But to your point, you can kind of go anywhere with the wall color. You can make your own custom color, but you only have so many options in terms of your wood.
- [62:46]
C
Yes.
- [62:47]
A
Like your flooring or the wallpaper you're going to use.
- [62:50]
C
So like we were saying earlier, sometimes decisions are made for you, and that's great. Then you can have fun with other stuff.
- [62:55]
A
Well, James, what a treat, as usual.
- [62:58]
C
Wait, our time's up? I thought we were doing this all day.
- [63:00]
A
I mean, we could, but you're busy. You got other books, new books to write. Are you already working on your next one?
- [63:07]
C
I could be. I don't know. I would like. I want to. We need to see if my publisher's game for it. Hey, y', all, I would like to. I love it. I love. I love writing books. It's. There is a. I'm working on a real book. I call it, like, kind of like a memoir, like Southern Stories of Growing up in a Small Town. That's what I would love to be able to work on as well. But another kind of design, coffee table book. All for it. We shall see.
- [63:34]
A
The one that just came out is Home Again, a Return to gracious interiors by Mr. James Farmer. The third.
- [63:40]
C
That's right. One, two, three.
- [63:43]
A
Tell everybody where else they can find you. Follow you. All that good stuff.
- [63:47]
C
Yeah. On Instagram at James T. Farmer and James Farmer, Inc. And I have a shop now, a little store called A Place to Call Home. So you can see all of those. Yep. On Instagram and James Farmer.
- [64:02]
A
Are you going to have any events this fall?
- [64:05]
C
Yes. Coming up very soon, the first weekend of October, we're doing a big kind of launch event at Farmdale Home and Garden Tour. And then we'll have kind of a Christmas, kind of a holiday open house at the shop. And we'll be at Mistletoe Market in Perry, Georgia, as well. And then follow along, you know, from Charleston to other places around. I'll be whether speaking or signing books at great shops and places around. So follow us on social media and you can see where we're heading.
- [64:35]
A
Perfect. Well, such a treat. Thank you again.
- [64:39]
C
Oh, absolutely.
- [64:39]
A
It's a fabulous book.
- [64:41]
C
You're so sweet, Caroline. Thank you, Liz. Thank you.
- [64:43]
A
That's our show. And that's our show. You can find all of the show notes on our blog. Howtodecorate.com podcast to send in a decorating dilemma, email your questions to podcastallarddesigns.net so we can help you with your space. And of course, be sure to follow us on social media.
- [64:59]
B
Ballardesigns 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.
- [65:07]
A
Until next time, happy decorating.