In short
Transitional interior design principles (mixing antiques with clean-lined modern pieces, edited balance, color choices, and connecting open-concept rooms), plus holiday decorating strategies (themes, reusing elements, planning early, and hosting-friendly table/party ideas).
Guest backgrounds
Sara Hillery is an interior designer with a Richmond, Virginia firm blending function and one-of-a-kind decorative pieces to create story-driven rooms across the Southeast. Her work has been named House Beautiful “Next Wave” and featured in Veranda, The Wall Street Journal, and Southern Living.
Key claims
Transitional style spans decades without looking stuck in one era; harmony comes from “edited” layering and leaving space for life. Color shouldn’t be chosen by decade labels; it should fit the client’s taste, function, and mood. In open floor plans, don’t force identical colors—use tonal “weight” and add small “disruptions” (art, pillows, lighting, ceiling/cabinet color) to keep interest.
Notable examples
A client’s open-concept home using hot-pink painted Queen Anne dining chairs; lacquering the ceiling and adding a mirrored wall to reflect a water theme. Holiday: Sara rotates a new theme yearly (this year pineapples), strings saved Christmas cards across the mantel, uses fresh greenery early (soaked overnight, sprayed, and kept alive with Miracle-Gro), and plans in summer. Hosting: pre-planned guest questions via email for quizzes/place-card prompts.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VODefining Transitional Design
1:30 to 3:40
Discussing the concept and characteristics of transitional design.
“And I know Liz and I, Taryn's not here today, but Liz and I just loved pouring through your portfolio.”
Balancing Styles in Design
3:40 to 6:20
Exploring the balance between traditional and modern elements in design.
“But a lot of my spaces, while layered, aren't overly, you know, busy visually.”
The Role of Color in Timeless Design
6:20 to 9:10
Examining how to choose colors that stand the test of time.
“Again, something sometimes maybe more complex or you can start to appreciate the form of each piece or the trim or the light within its own right when there's space around to really sit back and observe it.”
Finding Your Personal Style
9:10 to 12:20
Advice on how to identify and refine your personal design style.
“Looping back to styles, you mentioned that we have access to so many different styles and so many different things to see on Instagram and Pinterest.”
Connecting Monochromatic Rooms
12:20 to 14:00
Discussing how to create cohesive designs across different rooms.
“You'll also see probably in some of my spaces, I love like monochromatic spaces.”
Creating Visual Harmony in Home Design
14:00 to 20:13
Explore how to achieve visual coherence across different rooms in a home.
“And you don't want your dining room to feel the same as your living room to feel the same as your kitchen.”
Creating Visual Harmony in Home Design
20:14 to 20:26
Explore how to achieve visual coherence across different rooms in a home.
“whether you're updating a room or starting a refresh.”
Creating Visual Harmony in Home Design
20:29 to 20:39
Explore how to achieve visual coherence across different rooms in a home.
“Use Podcast 20 for 20 % off plus free shipping.”
Inspiring Transformations with Color
20:40 to 23:08
Discover a project that illustrates the power of color in home design.
“They had seen a show house I'd done with a pink kitchen.”
Innovative Holiday Decorating Ideas
23:09 to 26:50
Learn unique themes and approaches for festive holiday decorating.
“I love that because you talk about these different things and they're all a little bit taboo, right?”
Show all 22 chapters
Sustainable and Sentimental Holiday Traditions
26:51 to 28:01
Unpack how to reuse decorations while incorporating family traditions.
“So first off, when do you come up with a theme?”
Victorian Christmas Inspirations
28:01 to 30:28
Learn about decorating inspiration from a historic Victorian home.
“It was my favorite activity as a kid to go drink wassail and tour the house decorated for Christmas.”
Planning for Holiday Themes
30:29 to 32:46
Discover how to plan and theme your holiday decorations early.
“You just start gathering items for that?”
Incorporating Unique Elements
32:47 to 35:07
Explore creative ways to incorporate unique elements into holiday decor.
“I draw a line somewhere so okay I love the theme idea for someone that maybe isn't prepared for that level.”
Elegant Holiday Hosting
35:08 to 37:18
Get tips on hosting elegant holiday gatherings with ease.
“And And we do a friend dinner that's themed.”
Elegant Holiday Hosting
37:32 to 37:52
Get tips on hosting elegant holiday gatherings with ease.
“You know those friends who support your preference for podcasts over music on road trips?”
Creating Memorable Conversations
37:53 to 42:01
Understand how to foster engaging conversations during gatherings.
“Well, Thanksgiving is about friends and family, so it should not be as stressful.”
Engaging Dinner Party Ideas
42:01 to 43:13
Learn how to create memorable dining experiences with innovative questions.
“I've never heard that before, but that's fun.”
Involving Kids in Holiday Preparations
43:14 to 44:24
Explore how to involve children in festive decorating and planning.
“And then what about, do you get the kids involved in the quizzing, I guess, as well?”
Holiday Decorating Traditions
44:25 to 46:46
Discover fun traditions to enhance the holiday decorating experience.
“I think, I don't know, hopefully that's a sign that what I'm doing will be carried forward and they'll enjoy that spirit when they leave me, sadly.”
Maintaining a Live Christmas Tree
46:47 to 48:16
Learn effective tips for keeping your live Christmas tree healthy.
“it all die on me one year that I guess I'm superstitious in that way.”
Choosing and Sourcing Ribbons for Decor
48:17 to 50:51
Find out where to buy quality ribbons for your holiday themes.
“I have a huge collection of glass balls that were my mom's, and they had the mercury lining, and so they're aged.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:01Liz Toombs: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. 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.
0:22Sara Hillery: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 podcast at ballardesigns.net. Now on with the show.
0:55Sara Hillery:This is incredible! Wow! I am clear in the rest of the day. Disney and Pixar's Hoppers, now available on Disney Plus. Rated PG.
1:04Liz Toombs:Today, we are excited to welcome interior designer Sarah Hillary to the show. Her Richmond, Virginia firm blends function and one-of-a-kind decorative pieces to create story-driven rooms across the Southeast. She's been named a Next Wave designer by House Beautiful, has been featured in publications like Veranda, The Wall Street Journal, and Southern Living. And today, we're going to talk about transitional design, holiday decorating, and more. Sarah, welcome to the show. Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here. Thank you for joining us. And I know Liz and I, Taryn's not here today, but Liz and I just loved pouring through your portfolio.
1:39Liz Toombs:And what really struck me about your rooms is that you do such a beautiful job combining antiques and kind of special pieces with more clean lined, you know, real edited rooms. And it creates this real timeless space that is just really unique, but it feels like it could be, have been for many decades. So I really loved that about your work.
2:09Caroline McGrady:Thank you. Yeah, I, you know, we try to make every project unique and tell the homeowner's story. But I think, you know, somebody said, oh, you're all your projects look alike. And I remember going, really? I feel like they're all so different. But I guess there's like a thread of, I would, I would say that edited sort of balance between old and new that kind of runs through everything.
2:35Sara Hillery:Yeah, you know, your work starts off feeling very traditional, but then you're throwing twists in there. And there's a term that you use, transitional, which is a design style that I think is really fantastic. But do you think that you could explain it to our listeners so that they can have a better understanding of where traditional starts and then where transitional picks up?
3:02Caroline McGrady:Sure. So, you know, I think this can be approached from different viewpoints, depending on each designer and person's perspective. But for mine, I have a deep love of history. And as I mentioned, that storytelling for the clients. And so if we can provide a space that tells the start to sort of today or the finish, it's not really finished, but where we are in that story, that's part of that transition, right? We're not stuck in one period of time. And so it kind of boils down to a little bit of an eclectic mix sometimes. times. But a lot of my spaces, while layered, aren't overly, you know, busy visually.
3:58Caroline McGrady:And I think that that is due to, as you mentioned, the edited quality, you know, and so it's like, it's peeling back the layers of the onion and leaving your favorite pieces there so that there's room for life to happen. And so that creates, there's like these antique pieces. There's maybe something that's a little bit more modern in my spaces. And that's not always furniture. It could be moldings. It could be art. But it's not all 1920 style or not all art deco. And that's what makes it transitional is that it can span kind of through the decades and provide kind of an enduring and lasting a style that, you know, ultimately if the client loves it, then it's always enduring, but that it can be enduring to other audiences visually.
4:46Liz Toombs:Yeah, I saw a lot of like clean line, especially in upholstery. It seemed like that is an area of maybe the design that you air on, you know, a tapered arm, tuxedo arm, straight lines, you know, something that's more clean. And I was curious what in your mind makes that push and pull of like a clean line sofa or upholstery piece with an antique so compelling? You know, there is, I love detail.
5:22Caroline McGrady:But if you have an overabundance of details, then it gets to be that nothing feels special. And so, you know, sometimes just a simple track arm or a rolled arm can feel very at ease when paired with something that maybe is super organic next to it. And so that's where those clean lines, you know, there's like this push and pull. I think because I have this art background and there's one of my favorite art words is chiaroscuro, you know, the positive and negative space. It's the same with the line weights and shapes. And so if you kind of create this friction that's not overpowering, but complementary in a room, then everything starts to feel harmonious and work together.
6:17Caroline McGrady:And so I think that's why you see some very simple shapes mixed in my spaces. Again, something sometimes maybe more complex or you can start to appreciate the form of each piece or the trim or the light within its own right when there's space around to really sit back and observe it.
6:42Liz Toombs:The other thing that I was noting was just the color palette. And I was curious how you think about color. Timelessness is obviously sort of a priority, right? You want to design a space that is going to be around for a while and that your clients can really live with and take even to the next house. and I was curious how you think about color. I often feel like color can be really specific to a certain time. So how do you, you know, there's always those colors that like you think of and you're like, oh yeah, that was that time. So how do you pick colors that are going to live outside of that?
7:23Liz Toombs:Or is that even something you think about, you know?
7:25Caroline McGrady:I don't think about color as specific times. Certainly, avocado green kind of is reminiscent of the 70s and Williamsburg blue is, you know, the 80s. But I don't think about it that way because I think what made those colors indicative of the certain decades is the overabundance of them. and you know if you are creating a space for your client and it's true to them it shouldn't look like their neighbor's house at all and and so I think and I don't know in today's world if you were as much in jeopardy of going down that road because we have things like social media and Instagram that show so many styles.
8:14Caroline McGrady:And so I think everybody has access to so much more to help define what their personal taste and style is. So in terms of color, no, I don't think about it in terms of, oh, that color feels very 1990. And I think about it as what feels right for our client And what does that space functionally supposed to do and what color promotes that and creates that right mood for what's happening in there? And then I think it's also how you apply it, right? So if you wanted to use little floral platterns that were indicative of the 80s in the same scale, then that probably would. But if you mix it with something totally crazy and, you know, orange or something that wasn't part of that stigma, then it doesn't feel the same anymore.
9:14Sara Hillery:Looping back to styles, you mentioned that we have access to so many different styles and so many different things to see on Instagram and Pinterest. For our listeners that are looking to find their own style, do you have any advice on how to find their style or pick two and start mixing or ways to kind of figure all that out? Because it can be overwhelming. It can.
9:45Caroline McGrady:You know, I would say do what I do. You know, within our office, we have giant pin-up boards. And when we're working on a space, I put everything that I want to see in a space and I pin it all up. And then I step back. And that's where, you know, it's like peeling that onion I mentioned. We start pulling things apart and saying, you know what, that doesn't work. This is too much. This feels harmonious over here. And this is a juxtaposition. and and and so when you start peeling back the layers you get to the essence of what's really important in that space and I think that's the best way to sort of define your style is what can you live with and before you run out to the store and go buy a bunch of stuff live live with it for a little while of you know in terms of imagery and make sure that you know tomorrow when you wake up you still like it or hire a designer who who you know can really tailor that for you.
10:40Caroline McGrady:But I think it's about being smart and not impulsive. So when you're doing that exercise, are you pinning up like inspiration images, fabrics,
10:51Liz Toombs:or like products that you're going to shop for? Right now, you know, it's got wood samples on our board.
11:00Caroline McGrady:We're working on a project. It's got magazine tear outs. It's got wallpaper. It's got trim. It's got textures. We've got everything pinned up because sometimes you need that imagery to say, remember, this is the look we're going for. This is the mood. This is the feel. And then these are the literal pieces that kind of pull that together. And then you have to, then I fold the fabrics, right? It's like, okay, here's a big piece, a big memo, but if it's going to be representative on a small pillow or something, we'll fold it to be really little and step back and say, okay, proportionately, how does that now feel?
11:39Caroline McGrady:Because that changes how everything feels is, you know, how much color there is represented.
11:45Liz Toombs:Sure. Oh, that makes so much sense. Like you're, if you've got a big sort of like bold pattern pattern and it's all up on your board and it takes up, you know, two thirds of the board, but then it's only going to be a pillow. You're sort of skewing. Yeah, that's right.
12:01Caroline McGrady:And sometimes that bold pattern, maybe you still love it, but it feels like it's too much. And so you, then you can say, you know what, we are going to make just that pillow. It's not going to be the drapery. Oh, it's not going to be the wallpaper. So it's just about being logical and methodical as you go through, but, you know, and creating that feel. You'll also see probably in some of my spaces, I love like monochromatic spaces. And so in that way, you can get away with mixing patterns kind of more liberally than when you're mixing color and pattern because it becomes about texture and scale and tones and that whole room, like, if it's all monochromatic and you've got all these parts and pieces, it still somehow feels harmonious and relaxing.
12:57Caroline McGrady:Yeah.
12:58Sara Hillery:That's actually a great way to start, you know. That's how I start an outfit sometimes, right?
13:05Caroline McGrady:I wish I applied this to my wardrobe.
13:09Sara Hillery:But I think about that when I think of, you know, friends that I've talked to who have a whole color palette that they absolutely love and they don't know how to bring the whole thing in. But starting off with one color and starting off with something monochromatic and then kind of peppering a color in every now and again. It's like glaring jewelry. It's like, yeah, adding some colorful shoes. But yeah.
13:35Liz Toombs:When you, I love that idea about the monochromatic and that makes sense what you're saying, especially when you're mixing styles, like it pulls it all together a little bit. I'm curious how you think about a monochromatic room connecting to other rooms. Are you going to do the same monochromatic color in the adjacent rooms? Do you mix it up room to room? And then how do you blend from one to the next?
13:59Caroline McGrady:No, if you have, I think the house would fall flat, quite honestly. And you don't want your dining room to feel the same as your living room to feel the same as your kitchen. I think it would be like you're sleeping through the house, at least for me. I don't know. It depends on the client. But I think it's about value and weight of color. So if, let's say we do a blue room, everybody seems to love blue and green these days. The room directly across from it does not need to be blue. It just needs to be tonally equal in weight visually. And that tone helps unite everything. And then the other thing we do is sometimes we'll say to a client, and fairly often actually, we would love for you to be able to take a chair from one room and put it in another chair and not look like it's the odd man out.
14:58Caroline McGrady:So there should be a thread that unites each space, and it doesn't need to be large. It could be something as small as like the little welt on the back of a side chair. But there should be some sort of thread that runs and connects to the neighboring spaces so that you can move things around in your house. Because, you know, well, I guess I'm a creative background, so I move things in my house all the time. I can't stand for things not to, you know, be live and in motion. but for our clients too because let's say you're doing a dining room. Well, your everyday dining room, you probably aren't gonna sit a table for 12 or 14 up every day but you wanna be able to grab chairs for when that happens and still have that room feel important and planned and not junky.
15:51Caroline McGrady:And so you have to be able to pull extra chairs from the living room and side chairs maybe from your kitchen table and have them all work together. And so we think about those things and make sure that, okay, maybe it's not the same color, but when it's in here, it all works. And it's harmonious.
16:11Liz Toombs:it's a great point you make about um the rooms not matching i love also you know what you're saying about a thread but i am curious like um you know now open floor plans are so pervasive and obviously there are a lot of reasons why right like there's some convenience and we like the connection and all that stuff but i do feel like that open floor plan has made it more common to where that's kind of, if someone's furnishing their own home, they kind of feel like they have to have the same color in all of those connecting spaces. So I'm curious, you're making a face, explain how you think about rooms, you know, like why, why you don't love that approach?
17:03Caroline McGrady:Well, again, it's like a painting. When you're doing a painting, I've got one behind me if you're watching, the color dances around the painting and that's what keeps it exciting and keeps your interest so that you keep looking for certain things within it. if it was all one color or just, let's say two colors, at some point you stop looking and it stops getting interesting and then you get bored and then it's not timeless anymore. And so you have to have variety and it doesn't have to be much. We have a living room we did for a young couple here and they wanted blue and green. And I wanted to put this lampshade in there with orange trim on it.
17:54Caroline McGrady:And they said, absolutely not. Well, guess what? We ended up putting the lampshade with the orange trim on it in the end because it needed it. You just have to add that little disruption that makes it interesting. Like, huh, I wouldn't have thought about that, but it really works and it's really fun in here. And that it doesn't have to be trim. It could be art. It could be a pillow. It could be, you know, it doesn't have to be big. It could be a fun little China dish or accessory, but the color needs to vary. And I think in these open floor plans, it doesn't, you know, if you're scared to have the upholstery be different, Start putting color on the ceiling and defining space that way or paint the cabinetry a different color or make the light.
18:47Caroline McGrady:You know, lights don't have to be brass, silver and gold. You know, there's different colors out there and you can I paint them all the time when they're not the color I want them to be. So, you know, start thinking of other places to put the color that make it exciting if you're not willing to put it in, you know, in bold ways.
19:06Liz Toombs:there was a fabulous room in your portfolio that i wanted to ask about you have this gorgeous dining room very traditional dining table and you painted the chairs hot pink yes and and and i think this is also a great example of what you're talking about where you've kind of you do kind of have two colors there's sort of a teal and a pink but that you've sort of applied them in different ways so in the dining room it's on the ceiling and like you know in some little accents. And in the living room, it's more bold. There's like more bold pink with like a lighter blue. And in the breakfast room, you've got these like turquoise drapes.
19:47Liz Toombs:So they're sort of like similar colors, complementary colors, but they're in different amounts and different, I guess, tones in different rooms. So maybe just tell our listeners about that project a little and where the pink chairs came from. Sure. Hi, listeners. If this episode has inspired you to tackle a project in your own home, we want to help with a special offer just for podcast fans. We know how exciting it is to bring your vision to life, whether you're updating a room or starting a refresh. You'll find everything you need to create a space that feels uniquely yours. As a thank you for listening, enjoy 20 % off plus free shipping on your next order with the code PODCAST20.
20:26Liz Toombs:Visit BallardDesigns.com to get started. Your dream home is just a click away. Use Podcast 20 for 20 % off plus free shipping. Code's not combinable with other offers. See terms and conditions for details. All right, happy decorating. Let's get back to the show.
20:44Caroline McGrady:This client came to me. They had seen a show house I'd done with a pink kitchen. And they came to me and they said, man, we really like that color. And they lived on the river here in Virginia. and their house was boxy and you couldn't see the river until you got to the very back. So speaking of open concepts, we literally took down every wall on the first floor and it is all open so that when you came in, the whole back of the house was glass, but you had no idea. So we decided to try to pull off the water theme and the flow idea because at the beginning of every project, we, you know, not only every storytelling, but we're also like, how is this going to feel?
Read the full transcript
21:32Caroline McGrady:What is it reminiscing? And so we played with the idea of the water. So in that space, because it's open concept and we did take down all the walls so you could look outside, we tried to define the space through rugs and lighting. And in that dining room, those chairs were a family piece. And they would love to have held on to them, but they said they didn't care. And for someone who loves history, I was like, why don't we just paint them? And quite honestly, I have done three projects for this client since I guess we're on our fourth. And those pink shares are still so popular. Everybody loves them.
22:20Caroline McGrady:and you know it's simple right it's it's taking something that's old it was going to get passed down to you know I don't even think her children wanted them at the time so you know it was going to be goodwilled and um it felt like very stylized and and ornate yeah I felt like
22:37Sara Hillery:it's like a queen anne chair and they are barbie pink now they are amazing yeah they're awesome
22:45Caroline McGrady:And then the ceiling, so we define that ceiling by lacquering it. And, you know, the idea there was the lacquer was playing off the sparkle in the water and the reflectivity. And then I don't know if you can see in the image, but there's also a mirrored wall, the one wall that backs up to the staircase, you know, so that everything is trying to highlight the water.
23:09Sara Hillery:Yeah. I love that because you talk about these different things and they're all a little bit taboo, right? Like a mirrored wall and hot pink chairs. And, you know, it's really amazing how you pull them all off and they still feel very sophisticated and traditional at the same time, which is really, really amazing.
23:34Caroline McGrady:Thank you.
23:35Liz Toombs:Recording this a little bit early, but we're getting into the holiday season. And Liz and I both noticed that you have some beautiful holiday decor on your Instagram. So we wanted to talk a little bit about holiday decorating because I am always curious about how people approach decorating. There's so many ways you can decorate for Christmas. I mean, I think the red and green is traditional, you know, what people think of, but there are lots of different ways to add festive elements into your home. So I'm curious what you do and, you know, kind of how you think or whether you think about holiday decorating when you're working with your clients or and, you know, how you might suggest they add festive elements in while working with the scheme you've come up with.
24:21Caroline McGrady:so admittedly I don't holiday decorate for clients but I do do it for myself it takes a lot of work because I probably should have told you all this but um I do a different theme every year so one day my attic really is going to fall in onto the bedrooms below um so I reinvent the wheel every year so to speak on what the theme is and so um I share that usually in blogs and things like that. And hopefully clients can pick up on it and readers can then take those elements and spread it to their house. And I don't mind giving suggestions. And when we're designing a house, we make sure that we ask, are you going to decorate?
25:04Caroline McGrady:Do you like reeds? Do you like garland? Where do you like to put your tree? So that we have electrical where it needs to be and space for those elements during the holiday season. But in terms of the themes, you know, I think, yeah, red and green, I've done that. I've also done pink. I've done blue. This year it's pineapples. So it's just, it's a great fun way to be creative. And it's just for a very short amount of time. And you can have so much fun doing it. Um, you know, Ballard themselves has a great plethora of like, um, accessories and tableware that you can mix and match this to create different feels.
25:51Caroline McGrady:I have a lot of China more than I ever should. Luckily my mother does too. And so we, um, I'll borrow things for, um, whatever the theme is that year or take it upon myself for why I need a whole nother set. But, um, you know, tableware is an easy place to do it. the banister, you know, you can vary that to some degree by what accessories you hang on it. I love real greenery. And so, um, I just don't think there's anything better than that pine smell. Um, so mixing it with pink ribbon last year, we did the nutcracker. So I had, um, hot pink velvet ribbon and fuchsia running through my house. Um, unfortunately I don't think I photographed it, But it was for my family and friends and it was great.
26:40Caroline McGrady:It was fun. We had little nutcrackers on the table and, you know, everybody came as a theme. It's just there's so many ways to do it. Okay. Okay. Pause.
26:51Liz Toombs:We need to unpack here. Yeah, we've got a lot to discuss. So first off, when do you come up with a theme? Second of all, are there things in your house that you're reusing every year, but just sort of reusing differently? Or are you getting like all new gear every year? Like, I want to know all of the details and how you pulled this off. Well, I've been in this house for over 10 years.
27:20Caroline McGrady:So I do try to maintain some things. Like, traditionally, our stockings don't really change.
27:27Liz Toombs:the greenery is all traditionally that means sometimes they do change yes i do have a couple you have multiple sets of stocking that's fabulous right well yeah i mean it depends who you ask
27:38Caroline McGrady:right i always love you know i love clients that have the needlepoint stockings that you know the grandmother or the mother made i think that's amazing i never had the time for that and i didn't have a mom who did that so you know i don't have that to display every year so i have the decorating theme. And I hope my kids will bring that forward. But I do certain things. There is a historic home in Richmond. It's the Maimon house here. And they do a Victorian Christmas. It was my favorite activity as a kid to go drink wassail and tour the house decorated for Christmas. And I remember they had Christmas cards strung on ribbon across the server in the hallway.
28:22Caroline McGrady:And that was apparently a very common theme in the Victorian ages. So I do the same thing across my fireplace. So I take ribbon and I string it across the mantel and I save them all. So I'm not cutting new ribbon every year. I've got a box and every piece is rolled up in that Tupperware container so I can pull it out and say, which color works with my theme this year? And then we hang all of our cards that we get from our friends and family. And it's in a space we see every day. And it just brings us such joy. And that's something that kind of happens no matter what the theme is. The fresh greenery on the banister that you mentioned, that we do.
29:07Caroline McGrady:I have faux eucalyptus that I save like sprigs. And I do mix that in with the fresh greenery because I like to put it up as early as humanly possible to enjoy because it's just a decent amount of work. And that keeps it looking fresh until the, you know, wee ages. And then I have multiple trees. My kids each get a tree in their room for the holidays. We started with little baby ones. They've migrated to bigger ones. And they're all themed from candy to sports to, you know, whatever it is they want. I like them to have that creativity themselves. So those things I'll recycle, you know, the faux elements.
29:52Caroline McGrady:And I try to save the ribbons, but the decor itself, that changes. I have some swans from the Nutcracker theme that I'm like, I wonder how that's going to come back into play, you know, but I save them.
30:06Liz Toombs:So you might like take something that you used in a previous year and then work it
30:11Caroline McGrady:into the theme years later. Yes. I don't know how until like I'm in it, but that's just part of it.
30:18Sara Hillery:So how early are you planning?
30:20Caroline McGrady:Oh, I start in the summer, definitely. Because if you wait till last minute and you have to pull off a new theme, it gets hairy. It's just too much going on.
30:29Sara Hillery:You just start gathering items for that? I don't know if I like, I don't necessarily gather the
30:35Caroline McGrady:items. I just create the plan so that I know I already have a good idea what my centerpieces are going to look like right now. Got some ideas for what the tree is going to look like. And, you know, it's just knowing what you're doing is half the battle. You can find things as long as you have the plan in place. It's like design, right? When you work a plan, And it's the chances of it succeeding are 10 times more likely than just winging it. And so there's an element of surprise, you know, in the last minute hustle and bustle and just the fun of it. But it's pretty well planned.
31:15Sara Hillery:So what is your vision right now for pineapples? And how is that coming into your centerpiece?
31:21Caroline McGrady:Oh, Lordy. Okay. So I was on a recent trip to Bermuda. And I was reading all about the connection between Bermuda and Virginia over the years. And I was fascinated by this because I didn't know. I'm a history buff and I was clueless. So anyway, I was like, how do we do something that's like tropical? And we've already done vacation as a theme. So I was trying to think of something that would be a little different. We kicked around the idea of Malikilikimaka and doing Hawaiian shirts, which I think we're still going to incorporate that. So I'm still sort of fine tuning the exact tie. But we have found through, you know, the wild web of Pinterest, et cetera, ideas for incorporating pineapples and fresh fruits that would have been representative of some of the colonial story that tie Bermuda and Virginia together during that exploratory period.
32:28Caroline McGrady:and then I mean some of it's probably cheesy I don't know what to say it's just going to be fun we're home this year we try to travel every other year and I just wanted it to be exciting and something the kids would really enjoy but there will not be blow ups and probably no flamingos I draw a line somewhere
32:52Liz Toombs:so okay I love the theme idea for someone that maybe isn't prepared for that level. What would you suggest as sort of like, in the same way that your own home, client homes are a mix of traditional and transitional, more contemporary, how do you feel like that can work in like the same style can work in holiday decorating? Like, you know, whether that's unusual color palettes, I love how you said you pink or, you know, sort of unexpected touches?
33:27Caroline McGrady:So I have a collection of silver bud vases and those are very traditional and I'll pull those out and I'll put, you know, maybe glass mercury ball ornaments on them that are colorful or different, you know, florals that are not expected red and green, but maybe, you know, maybe it's just going to Trader Joe's and seeing what kind of crazy color you can find at that time of year. There's easy ways to do it that don't involve a whole lot. And I think, yeah, you know, mixing up the ribbons, if you're doing a banister, you can tie traditional bells on it, or you can tie, you know, the nutcracker ornaments that I did last year.
34:16Caroline McGrady:You know, it doesn't have to be overdone. And sometimes a little goes a long way. And as I was describing the pineapples, no fear. When you walk in my house this year for the holidays, you're not going to see pineapples everywhere. It's just going to be hints of it throughout because it has to be manageable. I still have a business to run, three children and dogs. You know, it's just we can't make it Disney World. That would be above my abilities. insanity.
34:47Sara Hillery:I'm sure just based off of what I've seen you do for previous holidays and your current work, I'm sure it's going to be the most tasteful.
34:57Caroline McGrady:Thank you. Most people are like, you're going to what? We did a Christmas carol theme one year. And so we pared everything down and I didn't bring out all the ornaments and we put candles on the tree and did green velvet ribbons. And And we do a friend dinner that's themed. And so everybody had to come in their best Dickens costume and attire. And we served Turducken. And, you know, it's just... Fabulous. I love that. There's so many ways to have fun. Who was Scrooge? My husband was Scrooge in the nightgown. It was great. That's so cute. I say that to say, you know, that the theme doesn't have to be all in your house.
35:47Caroline McGrady:It can be in the, you know, in the crowd that's there, too.
35:53Liz Toombs:Yeah. Well, I love that you took that, like, Dickens sort of vibe, but you could have done, you know, Christmas Carol-themed ornaments, but instead you did just candles. That's what Liz is talking about, where it's the most elegant version of the theme.
36:12Caroline McGrady:Thank you.
36:12Liz Toombs:Because that is a totally different vibe than like, you know, Christmas carol ornaments, which also could be super fun. Yes, yes. Yeah. I love what you were saying about the Christmas cards on the mantle. Such a cute idea. And I always love, I don't know, I feel like there are Christmas card people and then there are not Christmas card people. No judgment to the not Christmas card people, but I am a Christmas card person. I love them love looking at them love looking at the previous years it's the only time of year I get mail that I actually want yeah and so I love the idea about stringing them from the mantle that's super cute and there's a um a I think from a southern living where um we it's your house right this is your yeah yeah yeah you're and you can kind of see so we'll share it we'll share that in the episode, but it's really pretty.
37:11Liz Toombs:Well, what other like fun, what about Thanksgiving? You said you mentioned, or you mentioned that you love to decorate a table. So what are some hosting sort of, you know, tips or things you do when you're having a big crowd that make it easy to pull off hosting during a busy season?
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37:55Caroline McGrady:Well, Thanksgiving is about friends and family, so it should not be as stressful. I think it is for some families, and I totally respect that. But I think everything about it should be about connecting and enjoying each other and not all this stuff. So at Thanksgiving, it's usually pared down. I still have, I don't host too many Thanksgivings because we're so blessed to have family that is alive. And so we travel a lot. But when I have, I mix the China. And so it's not so formal. It's much more relaxed. And I mix the patterns that I think mixing the patterns keeps it from being overly formal and too precious to enjoy.
38:43Caroline McGrady:But kind of approaching it the same way as I do Christmas parties, I pre-plan questions and I make everybody answer a question ahead of time so that there's easy, safe conversations that happen and you maybe learn something about someone next to you. trying to make those, you know, forge that conversation and just make those memories, you know, the laughs that happen from the stories that are told, all of that happens in a relaxed environment. And so I think Thanksgiving should be simple. I have pumpkins, some that are glass, some that are made by my children in art class. And we group them together and create a collection, just like I do for clients, you know, collections.
39:34Caroline McGrady:We sort of, if you pull it all together, it looks really fun. So I don't go quite as crazy at Thanksgiving, to be honest. It's supposed to be simple. It's like the calm before the storm.
39:47Liz Toombs:Okay, explain the question. You say you pre-plan questions. Does that mean that the guests know the questions in advance? Yes.
39:57Caroline McGrady:I love this. This is like my favorite thing when I'm hosting any kind of dinner party, whether it's friends, family, etc. So do you text the question? Is it written on a hand card? Like how does one convey the question? And I have them send it in. And I'm the only one who knows.
40:13Liz Toombs:Wait, they have to send it in? What do you mean?
40:15Caroline McGrady:They email me back. Oh, okay. Okay. So send it in to me. they email me back and I'll do different things I'll make name cards that um are one of their answers because it's usually not one question it's usually 10 um and then I pick and choose so if the answers for one of the questions are just like not very exciting I don't think it's going to be very thought-provoking I'll ignore it um and go to the ones that are um I'll do quizzes and you have to guess who said what so that if you get all the points, you win a prize or you get the like honor of winning and knowing the people at the table the most.
40:55Caroline McGrady:So is it a card on the place, place card? Sometimes I do. Yeah, so if you do place cards, so one of my questions one year, and this was not for Thanksgiving, this was for Christmas, was if you could be any... any, any name or what's a name you wish you had been, uh, wait, I'm trying to remember. Hold on. I've done several. I've done, what is, um, what's, what do you wish your name was? If you, um, could name a boat, what would it be? And those become the place card holders. You know, it's just, you just have fun with it. And then you have to find, A, you have to remember what you wrote down. That's sometimes half the battle for our ages for running so fast.
41:41Caroline McGrady:Like, what did I write down? I don't know. I answered that at like midnight because I had to do it. Okay. So if I answered like Duck, Duck, Goose, I don't know where that name came from.
41:49Liz Toombs:Then it would say Duck, Duck, Goose. Then my name card would say Duck, Duck, Goose. And so I'd have to be like, okay, that was the, yeah. Okay. Got it. Okay. That is a good boat name. It's cute.
42:01Liz Toombs:That's cute. I've never heard that before, but that's fun. Well, so your place cards always have answers to questions on them.
42:11Caroline McGrady:Not always. We mix it up because if I did the same thing every year, it just wouldn't be that exciting. But there's always questions. And whether if it's a cocktail party, we might make it a quiz and you have to go around and meet people that you've never met before. If it's an intimate dinner, then the chances of you knowing the people are higher. So the questions are different and it's more of a written conversation or we'll ask a question and we'll go around and talk about it and tell the stories behind it and why. Oh, my gosh, Sarah, this is so smart.
42:44Liz Toombs:You need to write a whole blog post about this. I could ask you follow up questions for the next 20 minutes.
42:50Caroline McGrady:Oh, well, it's fun. And it's, you know, it takes a little bit of time. And I think I've gotten a lot of feedback that is one of my friends and family's more memorable times.
43:03Liz Toombs:Oh, I'm sure. Anytime they get a dinner invite from you, it's a guaranteed yes. We try. We really try. Yeah. That's a great idea. I love that. And then what about, do you get the kids involved in the quizzing, I guess, as well? For family events, yes.
43:21Caroline McGrady:Yes, admittedly, when it's my friends and then we will tell the kids that they have to go to my parents' house. It's a grown-up only dinner party. Yeah, so, you know, they do get involved on some level, but that's usually for just the more casual, not for the formal dinners that we do.
43:44Liz Toombs:Okay, so like Christmas Eve dinner. Yeah. There's no quiz. This is more for like a holiday dinner party. That's correct, yes. Got it.
43:51Caroline McGrady:Not every event can be planned that well. If I had more time, maybe, but I don't. Let's be realistic. I feel like I'm doing well to pull off one.
44:04Liz Toombs:Does your family help you do the decorating, the thematic decorating?
44:10Caroline McGrady:My kids, absolutely. They've been begging to set up for Christmas since a month ago. And I was like, guys, let's do Halloween first. You know, we've got a few things before then. They get really into it. And they love to help me. I think, I don't know, hopefully that's a sign that what I'm doing will be carried forward and they'll enjoy that spirit when they leave me, sadly. But they do. They get involved. They are awesome helpers. All I have to do is talk about let's decorate for something. And they're usually like, I'll drop everything I've got going on. I can't wait. Let me go in that attic and dig it all out for you.
44:51Liz Toombs:incredible wait paint a picture for us is it a multi-day experience oh yeah are okay do you have any traditions while you're decorating like hot cocoa or carols or anything um to make it fun obviously they think it's fun so i'm curious what it is about the decorating that they enjoy
45:06Caroline McGrady:it is fine i've done different things i don't have like one set in stone thing a lot of times we'll do hot chocolate because it's usually pretty chilly here in virginia by that time um my kids will do like we did a grinch theme um i guess was it two years ago i can't remember anyway they all got grinch costumes to wear so we were all you know all dressed in green um so that's an aggressive green too oh it is it is and we have a real green a lot of green
45:38Caroline McGrady:um but we put we put on music or we'll put on like a christmas movie in the background ground. I wish I could say I light the fire every time because I love that part, but we have real wood burning fireplaces and sometimes it's just not quite the right time. It's a bit of a headache. But it does take a while. I usually am doing the greenery myself. Because I love live greens, that's the moldy day. You got to soak it. Then I spray it with the Endura spray from the hardware store. And then we water the tree with all the Miracle-Gro. One year we had pine cones growing on the tree by the end. I was like, man, this thing's never dying.
46:15Caroline McGrady:So we do a lot.
46:16Liz Toombs:How long do you soak your greenery for? So you buy the greenery, you soak it overnight.
46:20Caroline McGrady:Yeah. I try and, I mean, it's, if I'm really busy, sometimes I'll forget, but usually it's just overnight. And then I lay it out in the garland out in the driveway and spray it and leave that for a few hours. I mean, and it dries.
46:33Liz Toombs:Like, so I don't want anything tacky. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I need to try that. I've never soak. I've seen people do that on Instagram, of course, but I've never done it. I feel like that is something you need to do. You know, I'll be honest.
46:46Caroline McGrady:I don't know if it actually is doing anything, but I'm so scared to like skip it and have it all die on me one year that I guess I'm superstitious in that way. I'm superstitious about my decorations, but not about sports. Fair. It's priorities. Yeah. Priorities.
47:04Sara Hillery:And then you're adding...
47:05Caroline McGrady:miracle grow to the water that you put the tree in oh yes i've never heard that oh brilliant if you have a live tree you've got there's there's different um versions of it out there but miracle grow is the one that's i guess probably most notable um but you just add a little bit every and you know every time you water it and man it keeps it alive smelling good you don't deal with all the needles dropping genius i've never done i mean i can't claim it's out there yeah
47:34Liz Toombs:found it. I mean, duh. It seems like a no-brainer, but I've never thought to do that.
47:41Caroline McGrady:Yeah. It's like taking care of your upholstery and things in your house. If you're smart about it, it'll endure. Now, your tree, is that same ornaments every year, or are they only
47:54Liz Toombs:to the theme that you've established?
47:57Caroline McGrady:No. I pull from the same collection. I don't buy special ornaments, but I might pick and choose from the collection I have. Okay. So actually, my daughter gets a silver bell for every year, so I think I put her bells on the Scrooge tree that year. I have a huge collection of glass balls that were my mom's, and they had the mercury lining, and so they're aged. Those usually come out every year in some fashion. so the decorative elements i also have my husband's from new orleans so we have probably more saints ornaments than you could um i guess stick at but uh those come out some years not all years um so it just depends on what the theme is um yeah
48:50Liz Toombs:i love that okay wait final question for me liz might have some extras but um where do you get your ribbon. You mentioned having a big tub of ribbon and I find it so hard to find ribbon that is good. That is why you start early.
49:04Caroline McGrady:Yeah.
49:05Liz Toombs:Okay. So where are you shopping at? You go to Michael's or are you shopping online?
49:09Caroline McGrady:You know, Etsy has really been probably my favorite provider of ribbon. You all actually have had some really nice thick wired ribbons in the past too, but you have to, I have to order a decent amount of it when you're changing your theme up. so it just depends and like I've done plaid kind of traditional themes some years and so finding that right like tartan plaid that you want you've got to buy in bulk and so it takes a little bit of digging I've also done Amazon where you can like buy and return if it's not quite right we have a Hobby Lobby and a Michaels here that I've been to I haven't bought most of them from there though Etsy provides like Like I've got hand-dipped silk ribbons and velvet with frayed edges.
50:00Caroline McGrady:Just depending on what the theme is and how relaxed it is, how formal it is. You know, I've got silk ribbon, I've got cotton ribbon, I've got grosgrain in every size.
50:13Sara Hillery:So how many yards are you buying at one time?
50:16Caroline McGrady:Well, enough that if the theme, you've got enough to do the banister. Well, I've got two sterile. So it's two banisters, the tree, the wreaths, the front of the house, you know, takes several yards.
50:31Liz Toombs:Oh, probably 20 to 30, I would think, at least.
50:33Caroline McGrady:Yeah, there used to be like wholesale, you know, floral distributors that I could get it from, but it just seems to have like gone by the wayside. So I look for the big spools that have like, you know, 30 yards on them, but they're harder and harder to find.
50:50Liz Toombs:Well, I love hearing about all of your themes because that is so fun and unusual, but so exciting. And I can't wait to check them out on Instagram later, later this season. So we'll have our eyes out for the pineapple theme.
51:05Caroline McGrady:I know I've got to find palm plants and trees. So wish me luck. And it gets colder. I don't know how that's going to be pulled off yet.
51:16Liz Toombs:Well, we'll be we'll have an eye out.
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51:48Liz Toombs:Sarah, thank you so much for joining us. Can you tell everyone where they can find you, follow you and see your work?
51:53Caroline McGrady:Yes, absolutely. So our business website is sarahillary.com and it's S-A-R-A-H-I-L-L-E-R-Y.com. And then Instagram is Sarah Hillary Interior Design. It's a mouthful, but it's straightforward. So thank you so much for having me.
52:12Liz Toombs:This was really fun and happy holidays.
52:14Caroline McGrady:Thank you. Same to you.
52:18Liz Toombs:And that's our show. You can find all of the show notes on our blog, howtodecorate.com slash podcast. To send in a decorating dilemma, email your questions to podcast at BallardDesigns.net so we can help you with your space. And of course, be sure to follow us on social media at Ballard Designs.
52:32Sara Hillery: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.
52:39Liz Toombs:Until next time, happy decorating!
From the publisher
We're excited to welcome interior designer Sara Hillery to the show! Based in Richmond, Virginia, Sara’s firm blends function with one-of-a-kind decorative pieces to create story-driven rooms. Named a "Next Wave Designer" by House Beautiful and featured in Veranda and The Wall Street Journal, Sara joins Caroline and Liz to demystify "transitional" design and share her spirited approach to holiday decorating.
Sara explains how she balances antiques with clean lines to create timeless spaces, her method for editing a room like an onion, and how she reinvents her holiday decorating theme every single year. She also shares her secret for keeping Christmas trees alive and her favorite way to spark conversation at dinner parties.
Quick Decorating Takeaways:
Peel the Onion: When defining your style, pin up everything you love on a board, then "peel back the layers of the onion" by removing items until you reach a harmonious balance of favorite pieces.
Create a "Thread" Between Rooms: You don't need to paint every room the same color, but rooms should have equal "tonal weight" and a unifying thread (like a specific welt or texture) so you can move a chair from one room to another without it looking out of place.
Hydrate Your Holiday: To keep fresh greenery and trees from drying out, soak garlands in water overnight before hanging them, and add a little Miracle-Gro to your Christmas tree water to keep it fresh and prevent needle drop.
What You’ll Hear on This Episode:
00:00 Introduction to the How to Decorate Podcast
01:00 Sara’s background and defining "Transitional Design"
04:00 The art of mixing clean upholstery lines with antiques
07:00 The "Onion" method: How to edit a room and find your style
11:00 Using monochromatic palettes to play with texture and scale
14:00 Connecting open floor plans without matching every room
19:00 The story behind the "Hot Pink Chairs" and lacquered ceiling
22:00 Holiday Decorating: Why Sara changes her theme every year
27:00 Using ribbon and Christmas cards on the mantle
30:00 This year's theme: Pineapples and a nod to Bermuda
36:00 Hosting tips: Pre-planned questions and dinner party quizzes
44:00 Tips for fresh greenery and using Miracle-Gro on the tree
49:00 Closing notes & where to find Sara
Also Mentioned:
Sara Hillery Interior Design | Website
Follow Sara on Instagram: @sarahilleryinteriordesign
Maymont House (Victorian Christmas Inspiration)
Shop Ballard Designs
Please send in your questions so we can answer them on our next episode! And of course, subscribe to the podcast in Apple Podcasts so you never miss an episode. You can always check back here to see new episodes, but if you subscribe, it’ll automatically download to your phone.
Happy Decorating!
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