Ep. 449: Trials and Triumphs

Summary

How to Decorate – Episode 449: Trials and Triumphs

Date: January 20, 2026
Hosts: Caroline (A), Taryn (B), Liz (C)
Theme: The Ballard Designs team shares the personal stories behind the “trials and triumphs” of decorating their own homes, with everything from paint colors and upholstery projects to major mishaps and mini victories.

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Episode Overview

This lively, candid episode sees hosts Caroline, Taryn, and Liz reflecting on several months’ worth of decorating wins and woes since their last “Trials and Triumphs” roundtable. They swap relatable anecdotes ranging from paint color revelations and upholstery delays to plumbing disasters, helping listeners take comfort and inspiration from the ups and downs of home improvement. The episode stays true to the team’s warm, self-deprecating tone, balancing practical lessons with plenty of laughs.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Living with Color: Paint Choices and Lessons Learned

Liz’s Dining Room Dilemma

• Liz shares how choosing a wall color in winter backfired when spring’s foliage made her pale green “Ancient Marble” blend in, prompting her to repaint with a richer, darker green (“Retreat” by Sherwin Williams).
  • “When I had the room painted in the spring and all of the leaves came in… you couldn't tell that I painted that room at all, and it was ridiculous.” (01:02)
  • The darker color makes the room feel more intimate and “elevated,” especially with the home’s original 1930s Craftsman wood trim. (03:04)
• The hosts discuss undertones, room light, and the importance of living with color before making big changes.
  • “Choosing complex colors that have multiple undertones… It looks a little bit blue at some times, a little more green at other times, a little bit gray.” (02:31)
• Liz is contemplating “Malted Milk” by Sherwin Williams for her kitchen—described as a subtle, “moussey, plastered pink” similar to Farrow & Ball’s “Setting Plaster.” (05:36–07:16)
• Caroline advises starting with white and adapting as you learn how spaces change through the seasons:
  • “When you've moved into a house… you don't necessarily know what it's going to look like in the spring versus the winter versus the summer.” (09:01)

2. Accepting Mistakes and Making Progress

• The group agrees on the value of experimenting and not getting discouraged by missteps.
  • “I take that as a loss. It's totally okay. I learned my lesson.” (01:50 – C)
• Liz keeps paint swatches around for inspiration and laughs at her own indecisiveness.

3. Unseen Triumphs: Small Fixes & Major Relief

Liz’s Basement and Porch Woes

• Liz mentions ongoing “little things” going wrong: broken step garbage cans, an unbalanced washing machine, and a crumbling porch step sparking anxiety about larger future repairs.
  • “The step garbage can in the kitchen doesn’t want to open anymore… the new washing machine is come unlevel and rattling the whole house.” (09:45)
• She’s carving out a creative painting studio in her basement, noting how even minor upgrades (like fixing up a basement entry room) can improve wellbeing and motivation.
  • “Taking that step and having that room fixed up makes it much nicer to enter into my basement. So then it makes me want to go into the painting studio a little bit more.” (11:05)

4. Organizing Overwhelm: Tackling Basement Clutter

Caroline’s Storage Overhaul

• After five years of “just dumping stuff” in the basement, Caroline and her husband finally de-cluttered and installed shelving, finding it shockingly quick and satisfying.
  • “It felt so messy, it seemed like a huge undertaking, but we did it in two afternoons… With two of us working together, we just knocked it out; I wish we'd done it ages ago.” (14:22)
• Lesson: Delayed projects can feel overwhelming, but often prove manageable and deliver a disproportionate sense of relief.

5. Homeowner Heartaches: Trees and Toilets

• Caroline shares the financial pain of removing a lightning-damaged tree:
  • “Taking down a tree, it's just not how you want to spend money… And yet it's a really big check to write.” (16:29, A)
• A major “trial”: An overflowing toilet, caused by flushed wet wipes blocking the main sewer line, ruined carpet and ran water into the freshly organized basement. Luckily, new furniture hadn’t arrived yet.
  • “He said, pretty much no. Someone shoved a bunch of wet wipes in the potty… it stopped up our main sewer line… The water started coming out from underneath the toilet.” (21:13)

6. Needlepoint Wins

• Caroline celebrates the triumphant return of custom needlepoint Christmas stockings, pleasing the family (even if they’re smaller and less stretchy than the knitted versions).
  • “Santa fit everything that he needed to fit into the stocking. It was really shoved in there, but it was in there!” (17:55)

7. Upholstery Projects: Anticipation & Delays

• Caroline’s bespoke upholstered bed with a trundle (intended for holiday guests) was delayed far beyond the promised timeline, but a plumbing mishap made her grateful it wasn’t in place during the overflow.
  • “The reason I had this specific bed made is because I really wanted to have a trundle in her room… it was not ready at Thanksgiving or at Christmas, so that was a big bust.” (19:54)

8. Neighborly Surprises: Living Next to an Airbnb

• Liz updates on her neighbor’s property, now transformed into two Airbnb rentals. Despite a “constant turnover” of guests, the experience has been incident-free so far (bar one car parked on the lawn). Strict rules seem to help.
  • “I have never seen more stipulations and rules and guidelines… if you park incorrectly, that will be $200.” (24:01)
  • “There's been a constant turnover of guests… We have not had any issues with any of the renters there.” (24:17)

9. Design Details: Fabrics, Drapery, and Pillows

Taryn’s Living Room Refresh

• Drapes and chairs in maroon and terracotta hues bring warmth and cohesion to her formerly “too white” living room.
  • “The drapery looks fantastic. The room needed drapery. I knew it… The room was just so white.” (26:39)
  • The custom-upholstered chairs in velvet and pinstripe feel both “wipeable” (kid/dog friendly) and “so sweet” design-wise.
• New pillows (made from leftover fabric contenders) help layer color and pattern without risk.
  • “Pillows, again, feel so like, if I don't like it, you know… low risk.” (29:11)

10. Low-Cost Lighting Solutions for Comfort & Security

• Taryn solves a guest room lighting problem by putting lamps on timers, controlled via Google Home, rather than investing in permanent wiring before settling on a bed layout.
  • “You can manually take it from the app, you can say it, you can physically turn off the lamp… What I do like is they just come on.” (33:10)

11. The (Literal) Fifth Wall: Painted Ceilings

• Discussion turns to the growing trend of painted, even lacquered, ceilings for added drama.
  • Caroline: “I was on a kick for a while where I really wanted to lacquer the ceiling in our living room… Well, I got it priced out and it was basically $10,000.” (40:04)
• All agree that painting a ceiling is a job for professionals, not a quick DIY.

12. Pool Ownership: Glamour vs. Maintenance

• Taryn wryly notes the glamorous reputation of pools versus the hidden costs and frequent infrastructure needs: “Like an ice maker… When it's working it's working, when it's not working everyone hears about it. But of course, it's always broken.” (35:33)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “I did have it painted again, and it is beautiful now… feels a little bit more period to the Craftsman house, too, and looks really fantastic with the dark wood trim.”
  —Liz, on repainting her dining room (01:50)

• “It felt so bad that it felt like this huge project to tackle. And… we did it in two afternoons. I wish we'd done it ages ago.”
  —Caroline, on decluttering the basement (14:24)

• “Taking on a tree, it's just not how you want to spend money. And you're like… This makes really no impact on my day-to-day life, and yet it's a really big check to write.”
  —Caroline, on tree removal (16:29)

• “The room was just so white because I didn't know what I wanted to do… The drapery looks fantastic… They just add the color and a little bit of pattern that I needed.”
  —Taryn, on her living room refresh (26:46)

• “If you park incorrectly, that will be $200!”
  —Liz, on her neighbor’s strict Airbnb rules (24:01)

• “We’re not really moving that fast, you know, so we do need a little bit of space between them, but not four months!”
  —Caroline, about the time between trials & triumphs episodes (41:08)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Choosing Dark Paint & Impact of Light: 01:02–04:33
• Paint Color Deep Dive (Malted Milk vs. Setting Plaster): 05:28–07:34
• Organizing the Basement: 11:43–14:24
• Tree Damage & Financial Realities of Removal: 16:09–16:47
• Custom Needlepoint Stockings: 17:20–17:55
• Upholstered Bed Saga: 19:12–20:23
• Toilet Overflow Disaster: 20:44–22:14
• Neighbor’s Airbnb Transformation: 23:15–24:49
• Taryn’s Drapes & Upholstery Success: 26:39–29:04
• Lighting Solutions via Smart Home: 32:27–33:43
• Painted/Lacquered Ceilings Discussion: 37:14–40:21
• Pools: Trials & Unexpected Repairs: 34:04–35:55

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Listener Engagement

• The hosts encourage listeners to write in with their own ongoing house projects and decorating dilemmas.
  • “I want to see some listeners who are like, moseying on some things too… I want to know what projects are going on out there.” (41:17)
• They tease future episodes about color trends and more mini-episodes.

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Tone and Style

Consistently friendly, candid, and humorous, with a “we’re all in this together” approach. The hosts don’t shy away from sharing their frustrations but always circle back to positive takeaways and actionable inspiration.

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Summary

Episode 449 of "How to Decorate" is a relatable, motivating mix of home decor journey highlights, setbacks, learning moments, and practical advice. The Ballard Designs team embodies the ups and downs of real-life decorating—and reminds listeners that whether you’re repainting, reorganizing, or just enduring another costly repair, you’re not alone.

Transcript

[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.

[B]

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

[C]

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

[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.

[B]

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

[C]

We love answering your questions, so don't forget to email [e-mail] now, on with the show.

[A]

All right, Happy New Year to everyone, and I am so back to chat with you ladies.

[C]

Oh, it's been so long.

[A]

I know. Way too long.

[C]

It's been ridiculously long.

[A]

Yeah, it's been since I think we recorded our last trials and triumphs in August. That's. So I think you and I think all of us have some backlog of topics to cover months. Yes.

[B]

Of trials in our homes. Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.

[A]

So who wants to go first? Okay.

[C]

Yeah, okay, I'll go first. Okay. So you might remember that I had my dining room painted in the spring, and it looked great, except that when all of the foliage came in the color that I picked, which is a very light green, it was ancient marble by Sherwin Williams. Beautiful color. It ended up being the same color as every other room because I picked the color in the winter. And then when I had the. The room painted in the spring and all of the leaves came in and it kind of like bounced green into my home, you couldn't tell that I painted that room at all, and it was ridiculous.

[A]

I think you shared some photos on that.

[C]

I did. So you know what? I take that as a loss. It's totally okay. I learned my lesson, and I had it painted again, and it is beautiful now. I went with a really rich, dark green retreat by Sherwin Williams, and it's really beautiful. It's really beautiful. It's like, it feels a little bit more period to the Craftsman house, too, and looks really fantastic with the dark wood trim and.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I've only seen it via, like, a zoom background. It has. It looks like it has a little bit of a teal ness to it, or maybe that's just the lighting.

[C]

One of those things that we kind of always talk about is like, choosing complex colors that have multiple undertones.

[A]

Yes.

[C]

It looks a little bit blue at some time. Sometimes during the day. It looks A little more green. At other times, it looks a little bit gray, honestly. At different times, too. So depending on the lighting, it kind of transforms the space. This whole. The whole room. Actually, almost every room in my house is about 13 or 14 by 13 or 14. All the rooms are square.

[B]

Amazing.

[C]

And it's. But it doesn't. The darker color doesn't make the room feel smaller. It does make it feel more intimate, but it feels. It feels more elevated. And that's really what I want for my dining room.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[C]

Yeah. Cause my. My dining room does double duty where it's my dining room. It's our breakfast room. It's, you know, we do homework there. It's my office.

[A]

You have that big banquette. Rounded banquette.

[C]

Yeah. I have our Nolan banquette.

[B]

And what's that covered in?

[C]

It is covered in a light blue sunbrella fabric. Yeah. And, yeah, it just. It kind of all goes together. Yeah. Really well.

[A]

I. I do really like in. Again, I've only seen it via a zoom background. But one thing that I think is nice about. You have that dark wood trim, and I find this about your. Your purple room that you record the podcast in.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

The dark wall color looks so good with the trim where it's like, it's not a huge contrast. They sort of blend together and it. Yeah, there's. There's a coziness to it. That's really nice.

[C]

Yeah, I really like the way that looks. And then in my, you know, in my living room, I still have the white walls, which is Greek Villa. Greek Villa by Sherwin Williams, which is just like a really, really lovely, warm white. And that against the. The dark trim is just really kind of just sharp and.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And pretty.

[B]

What age is your house again? Can you remind?

[C]

1930.

[B]

Yeah, I know you have. You have a home that you do, like, have to appreciate the age of. And I love how you honor just its legacy by, you know, with the dark molding and stuff. So I think you working with it versus against it is so lovely and to your point, kind of making it even feel better.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

With the color. So that's really cool.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Okay, so. But, you know, I've always got paint color. Like chips.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

Like, as soon as you settle on one.

[A]

Like, I ran straight to the paint store from one of our podcast episodes or maybe have multiple times.

[C]

Oh, yeah, no, I totally have. And I. And I always. I always keep, like, there's always a paint swatch up in one room where I'm thinking about another room, so thinking about painting My kitchen. But we'll see.

[A]

Oh, this?

[C]

Yeah. I'm also.

[B]

She is. She's on a street now. Room by room.

[A]

I like this.

[C]

I know. Yeah.

[A]

So that's awesome.

[C]

Yeah. So we'll see. Because I always like to think about what the color looks like from the other room too. So now that I have the dining room that looks into the kitchen, it has one of those, like, classic swinging doors with a. With a 3 over 3 window pane in it. It's. It's pretty great. So. Yeah. So we'll see. We'll see if I. We'll see if I actually paint the kitchen or actually do something bigger with the kitchen this year. But if I. If I do just a small thing in the kitchen, I will paint it. And there I'm thinking malted milk by Sherwin Williams.

[B]

Oh.

[C]

Which is kind of It. It doesn't feel so different than the color that you have in your basement, Caroline.

[A]

Oh, okay.

[C]

The faron ball.

[A]

Setting plaster.

[C]

Setting plaster.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

So pink is like a shade of brown. It's like, it's.

[C]

It's kind of a. A. A moussey, like, plastered pink. Like. Right. It feels like a little bit. A little bit flatter, a little bit dirtier, but not dirty.

[A]

Okay. This is gonna sound terrible if I do it, but, like, it's like a flat. It's sort of like a more nude. Like, it's a. It's kind of a nudie flesh color.

[C]

I guess it is.

[A]

Well, like, it's not salmon, but it's sort of in the vein of like, salmon pink, brown.

[B]

I don't know, like chocolate mousse, but lighter. You know how.

[C]

Like Pantone's chocolate mousse but in a very light pink.

[B]

Yeah. Cause, like, I feel like.

[A]

Yeah, two shades, but like two or three shades. Lighter, lighter, lighter.

[C]

Yeah. So this might be a little bit more light pink than setting plaster.

[A]

Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Setting plaster. I think in my zoom, background looks very pink.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

Whereas in reality, well, the paint chip looks a little bit more salmon, like, little more yellow in it.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

But interesting. Yeah.

[B]

Do you have overhead lights in down there?

[A]

Yeah. And I think just there's not a lot of natural light.

[B]

I just was wondering. I knew it wasn't a lot of natural light. I didn't know if. If the lighting we see is overhead being a basement generally.

[C]

Right.

[B]

The norm is overhead lighting in a dark basement. So I wasn't. Yep.

[C]

Well, we've also used malted milk in a few of our photo shoots.

[A]

That's what I was like, it sounds familiar.

[C]

Sounds familiar. Yeah. Because we keep using it in our photo shoots, and honestly, it just looks. It makes every room that we've done it in, like, and it's primarily been bedrooms that we've used it in just feel so warm and inviting. Yeah. So I'm going to see what that looks like in a kitchen. See what happens.

[B]

I hope I. Again, I don't know.

[C]

We'll see.

[B]

I bet you will look really pretty in that color, because don't you feel like the plaster, like, my sulking room pink again, is just like. So I feel pretty in the room. Like, it gives you a rosy glow.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

So I'm wondering if that will give off that kind of, like, pink tone that will make you, the room, feel warm and cozy.

[A]

Yeah, we'll see.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

That's exciting. I love that you're taking us room by room and, like, dipping each one.

[A]

It's fun.

[C]

I mean, I kind of had to figure out the house first before I. Before I started really getting into color.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

But. Yeah.

[A]

Well, I think what you did is, you know, you kind of, like, start with a white and then kind of adjust from there.

[C]

Right.

[A]

A good way to go. Especially because you. When you've moved into a house, to your point, like, you don't necessarily know what it's going to look like in the spring versus the winter versus the summer, and it can change so much and.

[C]

Right.

[A]

You need to live with it a little bit. So I think it's a good lesson.

[C]

Yeah. So that's been. That's been a fun kind of growth period between each room.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Cool.

[B]

All right. Those are all trials there.

[C]

Those are triumphs.

[B]

Those are triumphs. Okay, I'll.

[A]

I'll take.

[C]

I'll take those for the w. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Oh, boy. I mean, you know, just, like. Do I have any trials, lady? Trials.

[B]

Trials or trials?

[C]

Yeah, you know, I. I feel like kicking this year off. Like, there's just, like, a whole bunch of, like, little things around the house. Like, the step garbage can in the kitchen doesn't want to open anymore, and the. And the new washing machine is come on level and rattling the whole house. Or, you know, the. The back porch step, like, you know, has a big chunk that might come off. So I'm like, oh, do I need a new back porch, like, this year?

[B]

Right. Like, the one chunk comes off, and you're like, but is it time for the whole.

[C]

But it's. Yeah.

[B]

Because you're like, am I just fixing this step, or are we, like.

[C]

Right. Right. So I'M gonna cozy this year up to my architect friend, and we're gonna see. We're gonna see what we can get done.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

It's just coming back to me that I think in our last trials and triumphs, you did a little basement.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

Makeover with the. The contractor who you did not work out.

[C]

Yeah, that was. Yeah.

[A]

But at least that. So. Yeah, that. But that space is a good, like.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Little upgrade and.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Yeah. And that has actually been really awesome. That's been really nice, especially because I. I carved out a painting studio for myself in the basement.

[B]

Oh, nice.

[C]

So just having that one entry room that I did have fixed up, you know, even then, wasn't happy with the whole process of that. Taking that step and having that room fixed up makes it much nicer to enter into my basement. So then it makes me want to go into the painting studio a little bit more. So. Yeah. Yeah. So that's. That's, you know, that's another win. I'm going to try to stay positive, and we'll. And we'll figure. And we will figure out that back porch when we need to figure out that back porch.

[A]

Well, okay. Your basement. Well, are you.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Oh, no.

[A]

If so, then I'll dovetail off of your basement, because my basement is one of my.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

Triumphs. So I. And I was trying to even think of if we've talked about it, but we have, like, a huge basement, but there's never been any sort of storage in it. And you know, when you move in, like, you kind of move in, you have all these boxes, you're like, oh, put in the basement. We'll deal with it later. Well, it was five years later, and it was finally just. Honestly, every time I went down there, it was such a mess that it felt like a physical weight on us.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, like, because it had gotten so bad and such a disaster, just stuff everywhere. It wasn't like. But there was no rhyme or reason. If you did want to go find anything, it just.

[C]

Yeah. Good luck.

[A]

It felt just like a constant weight on us. And I think it felt so bad that it felt like this huge project to tackle. Right. And I think sometimes I just one day, and I want to say in like, the spring or maybe early summer just blew up and was like, we have to do this today. Will call your dad. He's coming over. He's taking the girls, and we're going to clean out this basement. And I don't know what was that like, we're doing it right now. Now Anyway, so we basically just cleaned out as much as we could. We just, like, dumped stuff. I went to Home Depot and got one of those, like, bagster bags.

[B]

Oh, you like.

[A]

And we just. We had. Because we had, like, old cabinetry in there that the previous owners had left. There was a ton of stuff down there that we just had never gotten around to getting rid of. Old doors that weren't being used. Yeah. Anyway, so we cleaned everything out, and that was wonderful. So I. I don't know if I spoke about that on the podcast, but that was. We did that, but. So we got rid of a bunch of things, but we had a bunch of Tupperware, and we didn't have any shelving. And so finally, sometime this. This fall, Will sort of had the same thing. He's like, I'm just so sick of this. I'm. We're getting. We're. We're going to Home Depot right now. We're getting five of those huge, like, husky.

[C]

Right. Bins.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yellow. Yeah.

[A]

He just put them all together in, like, one afternoon. Put all the tubs on there. And the thing that. And so it's been amazing just because there's actual floor space down there. But the thing that sort of annoyed me about the whole thing is that this literally took us two afternoons.

[C]

And how long did you live with it?

[A]

Five years.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And I'm like, this. I could have done this years ago, but I think it's felt so messy. It seemed like a huge undertaking, but we did it in two afternoons. And I was like, God, like, with two of us working together, we just knocked it out. I wish we'd done it ages ago anyway, but that. That now, at least, you know, going down to, like, get all of our Christmas decorations out and put them away. Like, it was just so much.

[B]

There's, you know, to it, almost.

[A]

Yes. Yeah. It felt like this thing that I had weighing on me is gone. So that was a big. When. Even though it didn't.

[B]

Sorry.

[A]

I'm looking at my notes. Even though it. It really was not. It wasn't even a huge financial investment. It just. But anyway, for some reason, it took a long time, you know, taken care of.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So that was a big one. And then I. But here was a trial. I'm trying to go in chronological order. So I think in September, you know, the leaves were starting to die. And I think I spoke a long time ago on the podcast. I believe this was 2022, about our house getting struck by. Yes. And what actually happened is the lightning struck A tree that was about six feet from our dining room. The lightning bounced off the tree, we think, I mean, and essentially blew a hole in our wall and fried a bunch of stuff. Anyway, we got all that fixed. Well, Will, of course, being someone who works with trees a lot, was all worried about the tree. Was worried we'd have to take it down. It was this beautiful oak tree, like, huge. Really nice. Anyway, at the time we had an arborist come out. We had two arborists come out and give us, you know, multiple opinions. They told us just to chop a limb off and fertilize it. We spent all this money doing that. While this fall it was not looking so great, we had another arborist come out and he's like, you need to take the whole thing out. And as I'm sure you both know, I think you did this recently.

[C]

Yeah, we've had a tree taken out.

[A]

Taking on a tree, it's just not how you want to spend money. And you're like.

[B]

And it's a lot of money.

[A]

It is a lot of money. And you're like, this is really. This makes really no impact on my day to day life. And yet it's a really big check to write. So that was really unfortunate. I mean, obviously I'm glad a tree's not going to fall in our house, but that was kind of a bummer.

[B]

It is a bummer.

[A]

But, you know, onward and upward.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Okay. So also, I have to do an update because I believe the last time we recorded trials and triumphs, I was speaking about my stockings project, how I was needle pointing my stockings. Well, in October, I got my stockings back from the stocking finisher and they look beautiful. It was our first Christmas with our new stockings. It was fabulous. And if you would like to see the stockings, you can go look at my TikTok. But they look. They turned out great.

[C]

I've been loving following your whole foray into getting the stockings done on TikTok.

[A]

I was like, oh, okay, well, I have it somewhere. So anyway.

[C]

Yeah, they look so good. Okay.

[A]

Yes.

[C]

And how did they perform this Christmas?

[A]

They performed great. My family did report that they were slightly smaller than previous than our old stockings, partially because the old stockings were knitted and so they really stretch. Yeah, there's a lot more give. Yeah, these didn't have much good give, but we did fit. Or. Or I shall see Santa. Santa fit everything that they needed to fit. He needed to fit into the stocking. Fit into the stocking.

[C]

Great.

[A]

It was really shoved in there, but it was in there, so it was fine. But yeah, I will say I. They looked really pretty in the room. I didn't necessarily want to design stockings that would only go in one room, but I felt like the color palette worked really nice in there, which. Yeah.

[B]

Each stocking is also a different color.

[A]

Yes, each stocking is a different color.

[B]

Yep. You also have a. You know what I mean? It wasn't like you picked one palette.

[A]

Yeah, it's true.

[B]

You have a mix.

[A]

Right. So in future living rooms. Yeah. There's options.

[B]

Correct.

[A]

Yeah. Anyway, so that was a big win. And then I. I have lots of needlepoint projects, some home related for the future. So I. I'll talk about that on a future episode. But anyway, stockings were a win, so. Yay. Okay. I'm just going through my whole list, so. Okay. I also spoke, I believe, previously about Birdie's bed. Did we talk about this? I had a. I took. I picked out a fabric. It's one of our. It's a fabric of ours, I believe. It's called Kier Capri. It's sort of a graphicy batik e cat. I don't know what y' all would call it. Like, it's. Yeah, it's a graphic print, but it's sort of.

[C]

It has some organic qualities to the geometric pattern.

[B]

Yeah, exactly.

[A]

Thank you. And it's sort of in a greeny blue color. Anyway, so I took that to the upholsterer to get made into a bed. I did this in July. He told me that it would be 12 to 14 weeks max. The reason I had this specific bed made is because I really wanted to have a trundle in her room. She can only fit a twin in there. But I wanted to trundle because Blair's room, our oldest, which has a queen, becomes our guest room when we have family in town, My parents specifically. So I wanted to have a trundle for Blair to sleep on when we're using her room as a guest room.

[C]

Right.

[A]

Me thinking, oh, July, we'll have plenty of time to get it for like Thanksgiving and Christmas when we have guests. It was not ready at Thanksgiving or at Christmas, so. So that was a big bust and I was pretty annoyed. But, you know, it's supposed to be ready this week.

[B]

So they're holstering this bed.

[A]

I mean, he was building it from scratch, basically. Yeah.

[C]

Okay. Yeah, but I mean, like building the whole frame. Building a trundle mechanism.

[A]

Yes.

[C]

And then upholstering the whole thing.

[A]

Correct.

[C]

Okay, yeah.

[A]

Um, so that was kind of annoying because I was really hoping it for it to be ready for the holidays, but it wasn't. And I suppose it's good that it wasn't because our toilet overflowed in the adjacent bathroom the day after Christmas and got all. In Birdie's room. All over the carpet.

[C]

Oh, no.

[A]

It ran down into the basement. So we were really glad that we actually had organized the basement because.

[C]

Oh, no. Oh, that's just.

[A]

Oh my gosh. It was y'. All. It was. I actually, I actually asked the plumber about the thing with your in laws because I was like, is this what happened? He said, pretty much no. Someone shoved a bunch of wet wipes in the potty, flushed it, and it stopped. Stopped up our main sewer line. So it wasn't that it was shooting.

[B]

Water, but it was the road, like.

[A]

No, no, it was overflow. That basically it line. Essentially it was the main sewer line. But then it got so backed up that it. The water started coming out from underneath the toilet.

[C]

Oh, that's so terrible.

[A]

And thank God we had gone out and then it started happening.

[C]

So you came home to this.

[A]

Yes. Luckily Will had been at the playground with the girls and for certain reasons, they had to come home for an emergency.

[C]

Uh huh.

[A]

And so luckily, like, we had planned to be on for four or five hours. Luckily he came back after 45 minutes and could turn the water off. Thank God, because.

[C]

Oh my gosh, I can't even imagine four or five hours of that. Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

Anyway, so I suppose it's a good thing that this bed was not made and recently installed, because then it would.

[B]

Have been, oh my God, you know.

[A]

Covered in potty water. But anyway, so that was fun.

[B]

Mm.

[A]

Um, we did not have to get a new toilet, which was great. But you know, plumbers, like that is not an expensive, not cheap. Yeah. Like, anytime you're gonna have a plumber out to your house, you're gonna spend 500 bucks minimum. Like, that's just the starting rate.

[B]

We have some like, small tweak things we need at plumber, but it's like to your point, we're just like, wait until we have a plumber. Yeah, yeah. Like we're just living with the tweets.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Because we're like, oh, I'm gonna have plumber come out. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. So anyway, that is my. My whole laundry list of all of my trials and triumphs from the last.

[B]

That was really good.

[C]

That's a whole lot. That's a whole lot.

[A]

Just going down the list. But my God.

[C]

Yeah. You totally reminded Me that. Yeah, I had a tree taken out in this whole time, too.

[B]

See, I know. We're reminding.

[A]

Four months especially.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Like, it's been some time.

[C]

Yeah. A tree taken out, a fence rebuilt part of it, like.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Oh, how's your neighbor's house. House going, by the way? There was a lot of. A lot of activity over there for a minute.

[C]

Oh, so the neighbor who's now an Airbnb.

[A]

Yes.

[C]

Yeah. So he built a small house in the back. Just to remind everybody. He built a small two bedroom ADU additional dwelling unit in the back, and then he moved out of the main house in the front. So both the front and the back are two separate Airbnbs.

[A]

Oh, wow.

[C]

So it's been like that for about a year now. And honestly, it's no big deal.

[A]

Okay, that's good.

[C]

So I checked out his listings, obviously.

[B]

Yeah, obviously.

[C]

Um, and I have never seen more stipulations and rules and guidelines. And if you park incorrectly, that will be $200. And if you do something else, that'll be $200.

[A]

How much activity is over there?

[B]

So.

[C]

So there's a constant rotation. There's nobody there this week. But it's also the first week in January that we're recording this, so. But there's been a constant turnover of guests there. And thankfully, I'm like, where's the wood to knock on? We have not had any. We have not had any issues with any of the renters there, so. But again, like, he's got so many stipulations.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

So.

[A]

So it's good for you.

[C]

It's good. It's good for us.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Although the other week somebody did park their car in the front lawn. Yeah. When there's clearly, like a driveway and it's a front lawn. Like, it is not.

[A]

You don't park on grass unless you're like, parking on, like a soccer field for like a. Yeah.

[C]

Or like, you know, in. Before he did all this, there was like a parking pad that was like half grass and everything, but that was in the back of the house. Like, it's clearly a front lawn.

[A]

Maybe that one we.

[C]

That one we did send a pic. We're like, hey, just FYI, was the.

[B]

Fine for where you park. Add it to the listing.

[C]

No, I know, right? I'm like, so that person probably got fined. But. But yeah, it's actually. It's actually been okay. And because we don't. Because our house isn't huge, I've honestly considered, like, come on down and visit and stay in The Airbnb next door.

[B]

Oh, it makes sense.

[A]

Family. I know you're saying, come on down to visit to the Airbnb renters. No, no, no. Friends and family and stage.

[B]

Hi. Stage nice.

[A]

Strangers got awesome.

[B]

I got my bean pot.

[C]

Oh, my gosh. My bean pot's working overtime, love.

[A]

All right, Darren, you're up. Oh.

[B]

We had a really good fall winter season, I think, overall, or at least I'm feeling really positive about it from when I was trying to trials. I'm. I know I have them, but they're not like, of course, top of mind. So triumphs. I know I had talked about. I picked out some fabric for some drapes and some. And reupholstering to these little low round back, little city chairs.

[A]

Oh, my gosh. Yes. Wait, sorry, continue. And I forgot about the chairs, but I got to see the chairs at the Halloween party, so I'm.

[B]

Oh, yes, yes. So the drapery looks fantastic. The room needed drapery. I know. We're all rolling our eyes because we've said this so many times. I knew it. The room was just so white because I didn't know what I wanted to do.

[C]

Right.

[B]

Left it white. It was too white.

[A]

It has a lot of projects, so, you know, you were just getting around to it.

[C]

Thank you. Yeah.

[B]

Just getting around to the spot. So, yes. I did not have a large vision for my living room, and I gave up. I will. When I was designing the whole house, it was like a. There'll be sofas in here on a television. So triumphs are. We just got a frame television. We're getting. We're gonna put that in. So I'm sure that'll be a trial as I talk about David and I hanging it soon. But we needed to shift TVs around in the house, and so we ended up just getting a new one for there. We got the drapes in the living room, and they look fantastic. They're like a maroon. They're just printed, so they're nothing too special, but they're perfect for this season of life. And they just add the color and a little bit of pattern that I needed in the space. And then I had the two chairs upholstered, and the front is in a velvet of Rs, which is this very kind of terracotta color. And then the back is a pinstripe, and I did all the buttons and the pinstripe because it's a tufted back, and they are so sweet. And all the piping is in the little stripe, too. So they are. I Think the stripe's called cinnamon something. So it's. It's a little dirtier than the. Of a. It's more of a brown than the actual velvet that is the front. And what I love about the velvet is it. It is essentially wipeable and kind of. And so far, with the dog sitting on it, it hasn't been a problem. And the kids. So those. They just look. So what I did by adding those two things is I've really made that space feel. I'm down to like, picking out pillows. So I bought some fabric recently to finish out a pillow. Like, I've never really, like. The pillows have always just been like, in, out, whatever. I've seen two here, one there. So I kind of have more. The fabrics that didn't. That were contenders for the drapes that I didn't go forward with, I'm making into pillows because they still work with the rug and they work together.

[A]

So there's.

[B]

Well, and. And I. I don't know. Pillows, again, feel. So like, if I don't like it, you know.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Go to. Yeah.

[A]

Probably low, low risk.

[B]

Yeah. The chairs being upholstered were probably the highest risk, but they were the most reward. And then the drapes, again, we stuck to a cheaper cotton printed fabric. So I'm happy about those. Cause I didn't overspend. And I absolutely love them. And I know with the kids running out and touching them, and it's right by the back door where the dog comes in and out. So, like, it's worked out great. Other than the one drape is over the one by the door that we open to let everyone in the backyard. There's an air vent.

[C]

So they're a little Marilyn Monroe, like always.

[A]

Like one big.

[B]

And I was like, I should have thought of this. I'm sure there's a way to tack a string to the back of it, some sort of way to the wall and like to hold it from. Like. I'm sure there's a way, but it is right over an air vent. So I'll go ahead and say that's my slight learnings for anybody is now I just like the lining and the front just like puff up into one big ball when the air is on. And so I have to like, shift it down. So I scooted down the drapery rod.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

When it. When that happens, just kind of over in front of the door and then back where it needs to go. But.

[A]

But I. I recall when you were talking about this before, you were a little worried about the chairs, so. Yeah.

[B]

The chairs, like Chef's Kiss. They're great. They are so great.

[A]

The room ticking stripe was such a good choice.

[B]

And so the rug has so many colors in it, but the drapes are definitely, like, a maroon raisin port color, and then the kind of terracotta and the browns and the dirt. So everything's kind of a dirty, muddy pink. Like, I know I keep going in that family, or reds or. But there's some blues in the rug, too, that I'm hoping I can pull out a little bit of. So I'm very happy. I'm so happy.

[A]

So, yeah, that's awesome.

[B]

That's been good. We also. Trial would be that when we did the primary downstairs, because we weren't living in it right away, didn't really pick out any. We have it all sorts of like. Like, it's ready for sconces of all sorts, all strung up in the walls somewhere. There's wiring, but we didn't pick any because we weren't in that space. We're using it as a playroom. The problem is you can't turn on the lights when you go in there. And we're using as a guest room. And when you walk in, walk in, you can get to a lamp, but until then, you know, it's one of those where you're, like, floundering in the dark of a room. And I was like, this is such a bad guest experience, too, because we're using it as a guest room. So I finally had David put the two lamps in there on Google, on their little, like, switches or whatever. So you can control it by, like, asking Google to turn it on, but it's not. It's a timer. It's just a timer. So now they come on every night. So you can. Like, there's light in that room no matter what time, and obviously during the day, and. And it has people. Guests can turn them off, so it's not an issue there either. So that has been like a. That was like, a thing where I was like, I just. I don't want to install sconces where I don't know where I want to put the bed. You know, like, it was like one of those where I was like, do I just install lighting so you can flick the switch, or do I just, like, what can I do in the meantime? So I recommend if you have a situation like that, having him on a timer or having it on the Google thing, it's so, so nice.

[A]

Yeah, that's smart. I would not have thought of that.

[B]

Well, he has all of our living room lights and we have bedroom lights that are like. We have multiple. And you name them so you can talk if you have a Google speaker. And I know that there's many systems, so I. We just use Google in our house.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And so you could just say, hey, Google, turn on living room lights, Turn off living room lights. So it's just nice. Cause they come on every evening. I'm not going around and turning on all four lamps.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So it's been better.

[C]

I do the same thing and it's really great for when we go out of town too, because you can set like it's so much easier to set the timers for your whole house.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And then I. You have to have a Google speaker, turn them off.

[B]

I know.

[A]

Could you just use your app?

[B]

Yeah, sorry. I like it because.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You can manually take it from the app. You can say it. You can physically turn off the lamp. There's multiple options. What I do like is they just come on.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

Don't. There's not. You know, growing up and even in our last house, I remember like every evening it would be go around the room, all the lights, turn them all off in the evening. And so that was just one. That again I let go and then I was like, why is this not on a timer? It's so funny. We did all these other spaces that we live in all the time, but the ones we don't.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And to your point, it's also nice just when you're out of town. Yeah, it.

[C]

I was turning lights off in my bed from Michigan. I was turning lights off in Atlanta.

[B]

It was like, okay, let people know I'm there but not there.

[A]

It feels very like home alone, where he's like. Right. Got the. The little cut out cardboard cutout dancing in front of the Christmas tree. Yeah. I.

[B]

And I think lastly was just the pool. We're not in it, which is the comical part. But man, we like our pool maintenance people. But also it is the most comical thing. One day we get there and all of a sudden we just hear sawing. Like they're just doing their. They're there for routine, whatever. And then we hear sawing. And I'm like, what is happening? Like, no one's spoken to me. And then they're just literally sawing pipes and putting in new pipes back there. And I'm like.

[A]

Feel like this was like a.

[C]

You should maybe infrastructure things.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

About.

[B]

So then did I complain about the. Did I. I should say trial.

[A]

The trial being that you Mentioned something about the pool. You needing a new filter.

[C]

Right.

[A]

You're like, how did this happen?

[B]

Oh, yeah, just a new filter. Like a brand new. Wasn't the right size for the pool.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

Which. Whatever. So they put in the big one anyway. So this last time, they just are out there putting in some new pipe. I don't know. We didn't think anything goes wrong. And then recently we went to. We had a very warm Christmas time, and so we had said, let's warm up the pool and go swimming, because it was warm enough out that you could sit.

[A]

It was like 70 degrees around Christmas.

[B]

Time, so it was like the pool water was still cold, but we could bring it up to 80, and then it would be comfortable to be in and sitting around, you know, for an afternoon with all the family over, and the heater wouldn't work. And why we were like, man, pool life. And you know this. Nobody who has a pool is like, it's like an ice maker. You never hear positives unless it's work. When it's working, it's working.

[C]

Right.

[B]

When it's not working, everyone.

[A]

But it's always broken.

[B]

But of course.

[A]

And when it breaks, especially an ice maker, it's just a total disaster.

[B]

Yeah. Oh, that one's like a. Again, you walked out of the house, and now the thing.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Like, you ruined your floors, and you.

[A]

Have to reflow everything.

[B]

That's when you hear about the ice maker. Luckily, the pool's not that way, but I guess we're not using it. We're like, well, it.

[A]

Guess we'll just wait for the heater.

[B]

You know, of course, we're, like, kicking the can down the road on putting money into that when you're not using it. So I guess that was another trial that we're like, all right, we need. Yeah, we don't. So those are. I didn't have any. I was gonna say my living room was my big thing, but I have bought fabric for the cushions in my dining room because something about finishing up my living room to, like, visual chef's kiss. I'm now. I'm now need to finish the chairs in there so I can say, okay, the dining room is at a point where I'm okay with it. It's like, content. Living room's a little more content. Just in time to change my mind, I'm sure. But you know how that.

[C]

Yeah, but you know what I mean? That's kind of the fun of. Of. Of. Of all of this where, you know, we think we've got one Room done. And then you just like open your eyes to another room and you're like, oh, but I could do so much more in here.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Or you see something that just sparks that idea. Something creative. Like, I think we were talking about trends at some point and they were talking how people are just like even doing the ceiling, just painting the ceiling. I was like, you know what this room would use if I did, like a port colored ceiling to go with.

[A]

All this in the living room. Okay. But. All right, I. I won't. I'm struggling with the ceiling. But doesn't it connect to.

[B]

It would need one piece of molding.

[A]

I've looked. Okay, okay, okay.

[B]

It would need one trim piece attached to the ceiling to break it from what becomes in the kitchen area. Okay. Yes. I would have to trim out the kitchen, but I truly think it's a like, double piece of molding. Like.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Glued to my ceiling.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I don't know. I do wish I had done more. I walked into a friend's living room, they had the ceiling. You know, the fifth wall. That again, was far past my level. Again, why people hire decorators and designers. And this was an area I was like, I wish I'd done more in our ceilings. But it was just like, I can't think about the fifth wall right now.

[A]

I gotta do.

[B]

I gotta pick the floor.

[A]

The four walls. Right.

[B]

The fifth wall, please. Like, just like no one look up. But now it's more of, like, I would. I wanna add some details. So anyway, that was my, like, again, just speaking about. All it takes is like a picture somewhere and you're like, but would that add it?

[C]

Yeah, Yeah. I keep. I keep pinning a whole bunch of images of painted ceilings. And I'm like, do I want to? Should I? And like, how difficult is that? Like, how big of a pain is it to. To paint your ceiling?

[A]

You or a painter?

[C]

Either you're like, either, right?

[A]

Are you asking DIY or are you asking to have someone paint it? Because I.

[C]

Well, having someone paint it. Listen, believe me, I am a huge proponent of hiring a professional painter because let me just tell you, they did. Like, all I was responsible for was moving my dining room things out of the room, which was enough. And then they were done in three hours to make coats of a dark paint.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And then I had to move everything back in, which, again, was enough. So I. Yeah.

[A]

So I mean, you know, it's a.

[C]

One day project, but the one day.

[B]

And that much impact. Yeah. To your point.

[C]

Oh, so much impact. Yeah. But so I Would. For. So, for a ceiling, I. I would hire somebody.

[A]

Yes.

[C]

For sure. But I. I'm. But it always does make me wonder, like, could I do a ceiling? I wouldn't be necessarily moving anything out. I would have to tarp everything.

[A]

Lighting is the one thing they'd have to take on. Lighting and then paint.

[C]

Oh, I don't want to deal with that.

[A]

Well, hopefully they would do.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. I mean, I would never want to DIY painting the ceiling because I have done that once only on, like, a bathroom.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

And it is a real pain in the rear end just because you're okay. Like, you know the. When you've got a roller in your pain.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

You're going.

[C]

It's.

[A]

It's a different arm muscle, for one. And it's. And it. Everything's overhead is just really terrible. Would not recommend it.

[B]

Doesn't sound fun. No, it doesn't sound.

[A]

I was on a stick, like a sort of kick for a while where I really wanted to lacquer the ceiling in our living room.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Well, I got it priced out and it was. Wow. It was basically $10,000. And I was like, that is actually comical because.

[C]

Yeah. No, thank you.

[A]

No.

[C]

And no. No, that's be.

[B]

I mean, it is. It is beautiful, but.

[A]

Oh, it would be stunning. But I. But I'm also like, my house is not fancy enough or worth enough to warrant a $10,000 when the oak tree would have fallen. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Beautiful. Real. Yeah. Shellac ceiling. Oh, my God.

[B]

Yeah. Amazing. Yeah.

[A]

All right, well, what was a good update, everyone? We will. We promise to not go so long.

[B]

26. Let' on it that way.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

I can remember all these trials.

[A]

I will say early in our. In our podcast, there was a point where we just did not have enough content to update all the time. So I do think a little bit of space is good because we didn't.

[B]

Have that many trials.

[A]

Yeah, we. We're like. We're not really moving that fast, you know, so we do need a little bit of space in between them, but not four months.

[B]

So. I know. And I want to see some listeners little. Who are like, mosing on some things too, because I know anyone listening is also trinketing. And so I want to know what.

[C]

Yeah. What other projects are going on out there? Yeah. Write in and tell us.

[A]

We also have gotten some great emails about our Pantone Color episode. So thank you everyone for listening to that. I enjoyed our conversation. So we'll have to do that again.

[C]

We'll have to do more mini episodes like that.

[A]

Yeah, we'll try. Okay. All right. Well, that's our show. And that's our show. You can find all of the show notes on our blog howtodecorate.com podcast to.

[B]

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

[A]

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

[B]

AllardDesigns.

[C]

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.

[A]

Until next time, happy decorating.