Ep. 428: Trials and Triumphs

0:01Welcome 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. I'm Liz. I head up the creative team. 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. We love answering your questions, so don't forget to email us at podcasts at ballardesigns.net. Now on with the show.

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1:12This is for the true fans. The people who are interested in listening to us just list, you know, our first world problems on repeat. Listen, we should start calling this first world problems. I know, but we're here to make people feel like when, again, that thing breaks in their house and they're like, ugh. Or that feeling of satisfaction when they finally do a room and they're like, guess what came in? You know, like polar opposites, but like those feelings. No, I have friends that are listening, and every time I go into their house, they're apologizing for their homes. And I was like, oh, no, no, no, no.

1:50It's real here, too. Like, my home is not perfect in the least. And I think that's what's great about Trials and Triumphs. Yes. Like, nobody's in. It's always a work in progress. Exactly. Always. Always. Unlike our designer guests who have a perfectly appointed final product to present, our homes, on the other hand, are we're just toiling away. Yeah. We're living here. We're just the commoners interviewing people with pristine jobs. Exactly. Taking away what we can. All right. So Trials and Triumphs. Liz has to start because she has been teasing her project to me. And I'm like, I'm ready. I know something got delivered.

2:36I do love that we put all on. Something got delivered. I love that we will literally not share things with each other at this point when we see each other at the office. And it's so hard. It's so hard when I see you guys because I get excited and I want to talk about it. And you're like, hey, I might have to dip out of this meeting, but I can't tell you why because it's so true. Okay, that one, I really needed you for you to take over because I was the one presenting and I was having delivery. But I was off the hook. I didn't have to. Oh, my gosh. It's fine. Yeah. Thank God. So yesterday I had a delivery that was happening right during a presentation.

3:10So, Caroline, thanks for being my wingman on that one. So, you guys, I leveled up my bedroom and I got a big girl bed. What? What? I am so excited. So for probably two decades, we have had, you know, just a very basic IKEA bed frame that, you know, again, we got it two decades ago in that phase of life. And we leveled up. I got our Catherine, the Ballard Catherine headboard. Yes, classic. Upholstered in Freya Multi. You guys, this is. Oh, that's a good one. I love this fabric so much for our listeners who can't see it. It is a beautiful linen fabric that has a print that looks like watercolor of succulents and agaves.

4:09And it is beautiful with pinks and greens and blues and purples. And, you know, now we have matching pillows and panels. Girl, you can wipe your whole. I know. I know. This is the most beautiful fabric. It really is. In person, it just sings. That's so funny that you say it's succulents. I always thought it was— We've debated this. Like underwater plants. It looks sort of like coral-y, but it's— It does. Yeah, like coral-y. So at first, we literally debated this in the merchandising area because somebody thought it was coral. Another person thought it was succulents, and we literally picked apart each item on this print.

4:51What did you come up with? The succulents actually won. Most people were like, no, this is— I can see that now. This is succulents. That makes sense. But I was also under the—this is corally because there's kind of like a green thing that kind of definitely feels like under the ocean. Well, that's what I love about both coral and succulents is like, you know, they have similar shapes. Which is just crazy because two wildly different environments. But, yeah, I am not the biologist. Right, because you can leave it up to your own interpretation and interpret from it what you like. Totally, totally fits with our home and our vibe.

5:29This is such a beautiful headboard, and it's so tall. It's taller than me, and I'm 5 '4". Amazing. It's so beautiful. Yeah, it is so great. So what happened was, you know, you upgrade one thing, and everything kind of snowballs from there. 100%. Because we took apart the IKEA, you know, bed frame, we needed a frame and box spring to support our existing mattress. So I took my husband to the mattress store and was like, okay, let's check it out with kind of the idea of, you know what, let's check up some of these adjustable beds too. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. You guys, he tried the adjustable bed and fell asleep immediately.

6:18He's one of those people who can just like fall asleep at the click of a finger. Yeah. It was no joke. He started snoring. And then he woke himself up snoring and like played it off to the mattress guy. Like, you know, no, no, I'm fine. Like it was a joke. Oh, yeah. I was like, dude, I was like, I've known you for too long. I know you fell asleep. So that got delivered. Amazing. The adjustable bed. Is it delightful? Oh, my gosh. So was last night? Wait, when was your first night? Last night. Last night, I slept so well. It was amazing. It was amazing. You do have a little extra pep in your step this morning.

6:53It's so unbelievable. So great. And I think it's so funny because, you know, the sales guy was like, you know, as we season, we really need to take care of our bodies. And I'm like, oh, as we season. Like, I'm using that one. We're not aging. We are just seasoning. Okay, you're just getting more flavorful. I am so flavorful now. We are so transparent. But as I've been talking about this to other friends, they're all kind of coming out of the woodwork of like, oh, yeah, I've got that. That's amazing. And so, yeah. Sounds to me like you need some new sheets. Yeah, well, what brain do you have? Just because I feel like we're so transparent on here.

7:37If you love it. You know, it's just, it's not top of the line. I was talking to Karen about this, and Karen has, like, the ultimate, like, sleep number. What's the ultimate? Okay, sleep number? Sleep number, and I think hers, like, heats you up. Heats and cools in different sections and stuff? Yeah. Yeah, and you have your own mattress. Yeah, yeah, she just has the top of the line. We did not eat it for everyone. Oh, Karen doesn't have stuff. I kind of half-stepped but I just wanted to I just got a base frame that we both sit up at the same time we both lean back at the same time did you play in it last night I could oh my gosh like I was so I know I totally like Lucille Ball like wedged myself up like this I couldn't get out It was great.

8:34Yeah, no, it's so fun. It's so great. It's so, yeah, loving it. What bedding do you have to go with this beautiful new headboard? What's your next step? Or is that, yeah, the cookie? That kind of is the next step. I did, before I got the headboard in my house, I did just get some basic like green sage bedding just to kind of dip my toe into what the color palette is going to be. So, yeah, but I have some images that I can share. Please. Even if, like, it's just kind of what you're thinking about buying. I know I love that Juliet wave bedding would be really pretty. Oh, my gosh. I love that one.

9:19Yeah. So this is actually a headboard that we showcased in our catalog March of two years ago, maybe. Oh, did you get the photo sample? I got our floor sample. It's been in our retail store. And twice a year, we have floor model sales where we refresh everything on the floor. Some things stay that are a little bit more classic. Was not anticipating this to be a classic, but, you know, I saved my pennies and waited and there it came. It's so fantastic. It is a really, it's one of my favorite fabrics. And the nice thing about it, I think, I think there's not any fabric with lots of colors, but, like, you can kind of take it anywhere, which is, it's nice to have that flexibility.

10:07If you just get, like, a single color, then, you know. Yeah. If you want to, like, redo it, you got to reupholster it. Right. Well, I feel like it's, again, you take, there's obviously so many approaches to a pad, But to your point, you either you can do a fun headboard, then your bedding has to coordinate, right? And somewhat is usually a little more calm because you want people to look at the headboard. Or vice versa, you can go with a solid headboard because you know you want to put the pattern like on the actual bed. Yeah. Right. Right. So I definitely toned down my bedding because when the bed was lower and I had some really pretty loud bedding on there because I needed for it to be the focus at some point.

10:54But it was so low that it was hard to really kind of see it. This now is up on its highest setting. The mattress is up high. Like we almost need a step stool to get in. It's pretty great. Well, if anyone wants to see it, if you look actually at the fabric, the Freya fabric on our website, there's two shots of it. The second shot is the headboard, the Catherine headboard that you got, like in the fabric. So you can see exactly what you're working with, which is super fun. Right. So that was really great. Big one. Yay! That is my big triumph. Congrats. Honestly, big one. And, you know, before I got it all in, I consulted my design books and specifically Elaine Griffin's book to really kind of see, like, because she's got so many things about, like, dimensions and how high should your bed be.

11:52And it should be proportional to your bed frame or to your headboard. And so lots of really great tips in there. It was just really, it's been really nice. It's been a nice upgrade. An upholstered headboard is like you just can't, it can't beat it, right? And honestly, now that we— It's like drapery. It feels—when you custom do a project, like a bed, like that, a headboard, it does feel very unique to you, right? Like, I agree. It's really special. And here's the thing. It's easy to talk yourself out of it because functionally there's no difference. Right. In a upholstered versus, right? Like, it's not like you can be like, oh, well, like, I really want, you know, good drawers, so like I need to make it.

12:38But I think in the fact that it's just a luxurious upgrade, that does a little something to you. It is a totally luxury upgrade. You know what? And it's also a storage upgrade because I've got it up higher. I can actually put suitcases underneath the bed or, you know, things that in my 1930s home I don't have closet space for. They make such good underbed storage now, too. Like so many drawer options, too, if you want to do like real drawers or store, like you said, items. Right. But the other thing about a headboard, too, though, is if you, you know, like sometimes art and like wall stuff is hard to do.

13:17So like the good part is it's if you're not big on that and you have this big old wall, a headboard will like really like fill it out. Right. I feel like we're always talking, too, with designers about when you make your bedroom, the bed should be the focus because that's why you're in there. And that's where everything should be. And now I have that. So it makes me feel really nice. So exciting. I guess I do have a little more pep in my step because I got a great night's sleep. It was fantastic. That is amazing. Now you just need that like aura ring so you can like see how many hours you're getting.

13:52Oh, you should have it before, though. So then you could have seen if your sleep was better on the night before and after.

13:59Yeah, so that is my triumph, which is just fantastic. I do have a bit of a trial. Oh, no. And it's, you know, it's something that comes up every now and again, and it's the trees. Oh. We have some trees on our property that keep dropping limbs into our neighbor's yard. Oh. So. I think we're having some trees taken down in the backyard. I hate that. It's so expensive. And you're like, this changes my life in no way other than maybe there's no insurance claim. Right. Or like my car doesn't get smushed. You don't want that either. But yeah. Right. Yeah. But there are some big old trees in our backyard that really make a shady canopy, which is really nice in Atlanta.

14:52Yeah. Can you just trim limbs or do you have to like take the whole tree out? Have you had an arborist come check it out? I have. I have. And the arborist, when they came out last year, kind of gave these two trees both about five years. And since they're dropping limbs now, we're just going to take care of them. Yeah. Unfortunately, we had some trees we were worried about. Actually, the one that got struck by lightning. and um for any of you listeners that have been around a while that um but we instead of taking the tree out we just like trimmed some limbs and i think now we have to actually take it out so you're probably doing it the smart way which is just taking it out because we kind of slow drip did it halfway the first time really kind of mostly hoping to save the tree but now we're gonna have to actually take it out so right anyway yeah well the good news is that maybe some other surrounding trees nearby will like, they can like grow their limbs into the new space and then, yeah.

16:00Or maybe I can actually have a vegetable garden in one area where I'm actually going to have sunshine. That's true. Maybe get a little more sun in the yard. So, yeah. Or you can maybe get a different type of tree too. You could do like a Trees Atlanta. Trees Atlanta sale. I know. We do like a good Trees Atlanta. For those of us in Atlanta, Trees Atlanta will, sometimes they'll give you a tree. Yes. I think that's only for your front yard. Yeah. It has to be in the, what's it called? I think it has to be in the setback. Like you have to plan it in the setback. Okay. I believe. Something like that.

16:31Or within like 20 feet of the street. I don't know. Yes, there are stipulations. So. Yeah. So trees are the trials. We'll figure out what exactly has to happen with them. Yeah. Yeah.

17:15All right, Taryn, what do you have? Guys, I don't know what I've complained about and not complained about. So you guys are just going to have to list quickly so you can tell me you've already talked about this, Taryn. Because I feel like I have said on many recent ones that our house has hit that whole point in time where things just have started going wrong. So we're like four years in. I still like every time you say it, I'm like, you're lying. That's not true. Like, I just can't believe you've been in it for four years. Yeah. Yes. So things that have gone wrong that are so and then I'll give you that.

17:52So this is trial triumphs in multiple ways. So a one of my Roman shades from my blinds dot com not sponsored that we love so much. One of them in Miles room started when I tried to it wouldn't retract and it's the cordless ones. So I just call to be like, is there a string you can send? like I try to take it apart, you know, like an engineer and be like, why is this not working? And I look at everything, blah, blah. I was under the warranty by like, it's a four-year warranty, three-year warranty, something like that. I've made it by like a month, like no joke. It expires next month. And they're like, we'll send you out a new one.

18:28It was so easy. So it's not here yet, but I will say that part was amazing. So I'm pretty excited that I'm just getting a new one. um so that was great news so trial and triumph real quick on that one uh our ice machine has like stopped working david's tried everything and then the light in our freezer has stopped working and these are like recent things you know things you can kind of deal with because we still have ice in our freezer because it's a fridge with a ice combo but we have a straight up ice machine that's scotsman's which is like a brand of ice machines that many people know so we finally last or this week, called someone out to come look at both items.

19:06The freezer light, they're like, that's going to be real expensive. And our fridge is a Thermador. And I was like, cool, cool. Send me, let me know what it is. And we'll decide, is it worth like having that replaced? Probably not. Is that just like a new light bulb? Not in this case. It's like a flat LED thing on the back of the, anyway. Yes. I swear it used to just be like a light bulb you screwed in on the top of your freezer this is of course fancier than that but not communicating to the board you know like the so you're like oh my god any sort of control panel thing you're like yeah so it sounds like it's a little bit of that and so it's probably not happening but anyway the ice maker is making ice again he just had to decrease the size of the ice cube or something he changed and you're like what and i didn't think it would work but so far it's working again so that was something we put off the lights in the basement just went out like a whole section couldn't figure that out for a while electrician just came out this week as well and he of course clicked it and it was one of the ground anywhere where there's liquid there there could be water so basements bathrooms you have a ground gf i'm not remembering it now of course there's like a four letter yeah i know what you're talking about like it's a um it's a ground a different type of light it's a grounding so if water happens, it will break the circuit of the electricity so that you're, it just saves the rest of the house and all the wiring.

20:31So it's a safety mechanism. But it was right behind, and David checked all the outlets to make sure, except for this one that was hidden behind a stack of tables of like, we just have a stack of the little pop-up tables. And it just happens that those got stacked against this wall and the outlet was right behind. So the electrician came and fixed it in one second. David was like, it was the most embarrassing. He literally was like, oh, it's not working. Click. Okay, done. And David's like, cool. So while he was here, David was like, can we put, we have a bathroom in our basement. I've never used.

21:03It's not done. David's going to finish tiling it. It's like an unnecessary place, but it's not finished, but it does have a toilet and running water. So David did have him put the actual, we had an extra light and he put that over the sink. So while he was here, David was like, can you just put this light in. So we got a light in that bathroom now. So that can actually be used, I guess, at some point when we finish the basement, which we're hoping to do more this winter. But we are like, because it's a non-needed thing, we're like winter. When it's cold and we can't do anything else, we will work on the basement.

21:35So we fixed that this week. My dryer started squeaking and that thing's been on the fritz because it's like 12 years old. So like, we're trying to make it to Labor Day sale, but that thing is definitely, David's not even wanting to like have it fixed. He was like, no, take that thing until it, and I'm scared it's going to catch on fire. But he's like, keep going. And I'm like, okay. What kind of, what kind of washing machine are you going to get? Are you going to get a Speed Queen? So everyone loves a Speed Queen. I don't know if I love the Speed Queen. Do you have a Speed Queen and love it? No, but I also need a washing machine and I've been so, also waiting for it to die to get a new one.

22:11Man, the Speed Queen is the one of the news. So I feel like I need to do my research. Everyone raves about it. Everyone raves about it, but my mom has one in her house in Maine. And I swear, it is the fastest thing you have ever seen. But I swear my kids' clothes always come out with stains. I don't think it does. But people must, I don't know if it's her, the one she has. Pardon me because people love it so much. But I know when I go to Maine that whatever I'm putting in there that has popsicle dirt, that like I have to make sure I check it before it goes into the dryer. So I have a negative towards it because of that, but I'm worried that, like, there's a missing link because everyone else loves it.

22:50Doesn't Martha Stewart just post about it? We need to hear from some speed queen, like, you know. Maybe someone will comment here. My sister has one. Loves it? But I think she really likes it. And she's got four kids, so she's, like, doing laundry all the time. I will say it's quick. Like, if you are, like, I will... So it lives up to its name. Yeah, the Speed Queen. I've also heard they're like a thousand pounds and never break. Huh. Well, that's just like they're very like, I'm pretty sure they're made domestically and they're made out of actual metal and not like plastic. And they're meant to be like essentially commercial.

23:35So they are supposed to not break often. I don't know if we talked about this on Trials and Triumphs or not because I can't remember anything anymore. But I got a new washer and dryer. Oh, no, we didn't. Oh. What kind did you get? My husband left, and so I, you know, did something big. Like, every time he leaves, I kind of, like, do something, like, ridiculously big. Like, buy a headboard. Did we get a new washer? And you're like, what are you talking about? Yeah, but I bought a new washer and dryer set. I got an LG front-loading, and I really like it. You know what? I had one in our old house, and I always liked it.

24:13I feel like people complain about it, but I thought it was great. My Whirlpool's been great. Like, I've had no problem. Yeah. I'd be interested to see what everyone else was, like, into. All right, folks. Send in your favorite washer and dryer. Yeah. Is it working for you? Because I really need a new one. Ours is, yeah, I really need one. Well. So I've been sort of. Dave has been doing research, too, so I'll tell you what. But I do feel like, like you were saying, the Speed Queen has been like top of people talking about it. Like, I feel like Martha Stewart just even commented how much she loves it.

24:48So I feel like, don't use my comments. Like, mine I just, I'm like, maybe my mom's is off. But she does, she loves it. I think because it's quick. But me who has, I'm watching a lot of things that definitely are stained. And that's where I'm like, I don't, it's not getting it all out for me. which could be, yeah, a multiple, you know, other reasons. Okay, real quick, because I know I've talked a ton. So the other thing is the pool filter. Oh, no, no. And the pool is an area, again, it's kind of like the ice machine. I don't know enough about this. I don't want to know enough about it. I don't want to, like, know more.

25:24I just need you to fix it. So it started screeching a few weeks ago. I think I might have talked about that. I can't remember, but like it was just me and the boys out there and it's screeching like that noise. And I was like, not good, not good. So I like call the pool guy, leave a message. He does call me right back. He's like, yeah, just turn the breaker because otherwise it's going to turn back on. So I like click the breaker off so that it can't, the filter's off. And they come out the next day, but they're not very good at like communicating at the time of doing it. So just later we got this invoice.

25:58It's just like, if you want to do these parts, it's going to be two grand. And you're like, hmm, excuse me, what's happening? So it's one of those things where you're like, I don't understand it exactly, but essentially we need a larger filter system. And you're like, then why? Why wasn't that put in at the beginning, right? Yes, because it's, you know, so we like debate like, well, why? We do all the whys. And, like, so if we do change it, is, like, is the problem still, like, what is the actual problem? Why the too small one? Like, what's happening? Is it overheat? You know, like, you're trying to understand.

26:37But anyway, it's one of those things that we also just have to pay it because we want our pool to work. And, yeah. So, unfortunately, that was my other, like, wah. And then my last and final thing for this week is I got back on my train of wanting to reupholster the two chairs in my living room and put up drapes in there because my living room is a big white box, has white built-ins. It was like oddly the center of my house, and I had no idea what I wanted to do in there. And I still continue not to except for this one Chilean blanket that I'm obsessed with and the rug that we all have. And it has like some many, many colors in it.

27:18It has like some good cognacs in it and some good deep berries and like kind of softer mauve-y colors. And it has some sage in there and some kind of light teals. It has a whole bunch of colors. But I'm now playing with swatches and I ordered a whole bunch of fabrics because I got to get a pattern up on those windows. So stay tuned. But I mean, when I say I ordered a whole bunch of swatches, I ordered 50 swatches. 50. Oh, from where? From us? From all over? All over. So I have swatches from us because I can see those two in office. So that's the great part about the office is I can, you know, really see the pattern too.