Ep. 459: 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 podcast at Ballardesigns.net. Now, on with the show.

0:33All right, Trials and Triumphs. Guys, it's been a minute. I know we said that we would be doing these more often, but it's been like almost two months. Yeah, since we were starting to do that. We had a ton of good guests. We did. We have been like, I feel like we've had quite a few guests. Yes, some that our listeners haven't even heard from yet. So, you know. Oh, yeah, duh. Like they haven't come out yet. Right. Yeah. This will come out even before that. But yes, I think that's why you haven't heard from us. Correct. Correct. But that means that everyone has a lot to update each other. Correct?

1:05Yeah. Okay. Who's going first? As we look at you. I need to go last. You need to go last. Oh, okay. You go first. You got a cool stack of papers over there, which has me really interested. I've got a clipboard. Yeah. She has a clipboard around. Clipboards. And I was like, I don't need a clipboard. What do I do? I have reference materials. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Okay. That's why you said it. You definitely go first. All right. So huge update. I started this year off with everything breaking, right? And I think that's where I left off last time. It was everything is breaking in January. And it made me realize that this is the time to jump into the kitchen.

1:45So we are. Oh, she's lit. I know. So we're back into working with our architect to make sure the plans are going to work for us. And it's super duper exciting. Are you terrified? Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, we're looking at images all the time. And we're talking to so many talented, incredible designers and architects. And just it's such a different ballgame when you are the client. Yeah. And, you know, I started getting feeling really personal about where where's my sink going? I got I got really like emotional. You found your weird thing and it was like the location of the sink. Yeah. All of a sudden was like, no, this is so important.

2:36I was like, this is. Yeah. Yeah. I was like, this is 18 inches far too far. to the right. And they all were like, but then your range. Oh. Yeah. It was a whole like, no, that was 18 inches or for X, Y, Z. And you're like, but no. But that kills my sight line to this corner. And like, what is this? I mean, oh my gosh. Yeah. Okay. That was just conversation number one. Two. You know, I'm just like, so yeah, you guys are all along for the ride. That's the best. But yeah, so we're just figuring out where everything goes. And it ended up with with me and the architect's plans and a whole bunch of hot pink tape.

3:16And I've taped everything off in my kitchen. Like, what is the clearance I need for the doors? And what is, you know, where are the cabinets going to go? So, yes. So lots of hot pink everywhere. Everyone's just going to have to walk around it for a little while. It's bananas. But yeah, it's all going to be good. It's all going to be good. So what is your timeline? We are very loose on our timeline right now. So she initially told me that like it's going to take about six to nine months to get plans together and then work with the city and get, you know, our contractors lined up and everything like that.

3:59So we are about a month in. So I just, at that point, I don't want to wait another six to nine months to start and then wait another six to nine months. So we're just going to go in for it. It's never the right time. Yeah. That is a life lesson. It's never going to be like, oh, right now it's perfect. Yeah. I have nothing to do right now. I should build a house. I should redo my kitchen. Oh, my gosh. Come on over. Do you want to make some decisions? please. You are welcome. And a kitchen. Like, it's such a vital area of your home working. And so to rip it out. But if it's not functioning and everything's broken, it's already not functioning.

4:41So. Right. You can only from only up from there. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Because. So exciting. You've been talking about this for years. Oh, yeah. No. In my last meeting with Karen the other day, she was like, well, you just do it already. I'm tired of hearing it. So, yeah. So. So we are going for it. You know, we had some issues with the sink and we have to get rid of the tile, which is going to be a whole asbestos journey. Is the tile just the backsplash or the floor? Where's the tile? The floor. The floor. The floor. So once we take that up and we take the sink out, because there were some plumbing issues in January too.

5:19So that was kind of the kick in the pants to kind of realize you do those two type of things and to a house that's nearly 100 years old, we just don't know how much damage there is underneath. Yeah. Those great asbestos tiles that are, you know. And seriously, we know that they're asbestos because there was a box in the basement that proudly said asbestos in like the biggest typeface imaginable. They were so proud. They were so proud. Yeah, so I mean, once we take that up, there's kind of no going back. So we're on the journey. You got to do the whole, you can't like, you may as well just do the whole thing.

6:00And with this custom student, don't you have to like seal off your house house while they pull all that up or? We'll have that conversation with the contractor soon. Got it. I'm sure. You know what? Yeah, we're not going to worry about that one yet. Right now we're in dreamland. Oh, I love dreamland. Yeah, we're in dreamland and measuring tapes. Show us your references. You guys, you also have to know, like since we're in it, But the initial plan is to also do our main bathroom, which is kind of in the hallway. And then because that's adjoining to the bathroom that's in Finn's room, because we only have two bathrooms in the house, I decided to give the bathroom to the teenager.

6:41I was like, I don't need an ensuite. Like, I need my guests to come into a decent bathroom. Like, I don't need them to see a teenager's bathroom. so so wait you're not gonna have your own ensuite no and we don't have it now okay um but finn has one so but because the bathrooms are butted up against each other too there are some things going on with both bathrooms that i would love to change so we might just gut both bathrooms too at the same time oh my gosh so okay yeah kitchen and bath we're so it's gonna be here yeah let's let's Have fun. It's going to be a year. Let's go on the journey. But, yeah, so here's some of the— Scope creep to an extreme.

7:23Oh, it is scope creep to an extreme. It really is. Well, I mean, wait until she adds on the porch and she redoes the floor. And you know what? I need water in the backyard. Can we just—while I've got the trade here, can I just, you know, Mr. Plummer, go and do some more stuff? There's going to be scope creep all over the place. But, you know, it's all about awareness. Yeah. I'm aware. You are. can tell me no. That's fine. I mean, the beautiful thing about this podcast, and I hope others have found this, is like we've talked a lot about house and renovations. And you know what you're up against, I guess, is my like.

8:00Yeah. I mean, there will be things that are going to make us all go no or oh, my gosh. But like, you know what you can see it ahead and you're like, all right, buckle up. Right. And there's the whole psychology behind it, too. It's like, well, why did I get so emotional about the placement of the sink in like conversation number one. Wait, did you cry? Sit down. No, I didn't cry, but I was like, but I felt very attached to it. It was a very kind of funny thing. And I think that that's going to continue to happen too. Like there are going to be things that I'm going to be oddly attached to that the rest of my family or my architect is going to tell me to sit down and I'm open to that.

8:41Yeah. That's fine. Yeah. But there's also probably some opportunities for you to be like, no, this is what I want. Yes. Yeah. And I think that that's where I'm definitely in alignment with my architect on the aesthetics of the room, the aesthetics of the space. And yeah. Okay. So what are the aesthetics? What are you going for? Okay. So here are some images. So this first one, I really, really love the colors, the colors of the cabinets. It's a Duval kitchen, everybody. You know what that means. It is totally a Duval kitchen. Like, please, I've watched all the episodes of Duval kitchen on HBO.

9:19It's amazing. But the mushroom color of the cabinets on that one, the checkerboard floor, the vibe of it being a 1920s and 1930s kitchen, but with modern sight lines and modern functionality. Something about this feels like I could see the cast of Downton Abbey. Like, minus the marble, maybe, and the pop filler. Are we going to put bells ringing on the side? Totally. That would actually be super cute. That would be kind of fun. I love the crown that they've run around the air. It's a little bit fancier. Like, it looks like furniture. Yeah. Which has cabinetry. Built-in furniture, which is what Duval does so, so well.

10:07So, I love the floor. I love the cabinets. I love the hardware. I love the functionality. I love, yeah, that kind of like tall crown that goes around the hood and around the, we're going to emulate that. There's a great point in our dining room where you can see our living room that has a fireplace that doesn't work. But it's a very simple craftsman, like five-inch, almost six-inch molding that goes all around the height of the room. And it also goes around the fireplace. So we're going to mimic the fireplace in the kitchen on the range hood. So those kind of things that you would see from different from same angles at different points in the rooms.

10:54So love, love that. In the second image, I absolutely love the vibe of this. Like it's a little bit more. They're so different. They are. But I feel. They're so different. They are. But I feel like with. She's got to marry them. Yeah. I mean, both pretty. With images number two and three, those are so much more about adding a little bit more mood and dark wood. So there is a built-in hutch in our kitchen that we're going to be keeping that is dark. It's stained dark wood. And that's just all your molding? Mm-hmm. Okay. Yes. Because you have all the dark molding. Right. You are keeping some wood element in that space.

11:40Right. So we're going to keep the original hutch. Cool. And that's kind of where that comes in. There's also going to be a four-inch ledge that goes 18 inches above the cabinet. Oh, I love that. Or above the shelves. And right now we're talking about running stone all the way on the backsplash, 18 inches up all the way around. Oh, with that stone shelf. I love that. I love that. But I'm kind of debating whether we do a stone shelf or we mix in some wood in that too. Stone. Stone. Just stone all the way. I think so. Without seeing the space. I don't know. I can see if you have an old wooden cabinet trying to get a little more wood in there.

12:20Yeah. Like to carry it somewhere. I just think it's wipeable. Right. You know, you're going to stick like olive dispensers. Like wipeable. Olive oil dispensers. Like. Yeah. Dishes that might. You might have hand dried that are slightly wet and you put them up. Yeah. I don't know. So my cabinet guy, he like. My walnut slabs are like. They're really. Yeah. Whatever shellac that is on there. because it doesn't look like shellac, but like whatever grade he has on there, he was like, you can put anything on here. And it has come true because I've so many times we've left wet things and me being like, oh, no.

12:53Right. So I. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Just saying. I agree, though. Don't go and cut a piece of wood, put one layer of varnish and stick it up there because I do think that happens. But both would be pretty, honestly. And that probably happens. So you are going to do the open shelves. So that was what I was going to like. Some open shelves versus cabinets up top. So we're not doing uppers or shelves on the wall that has the stove. Okay. That's just going to be open. And that's where this four-inch lip is just kind of going to be a pretty. Yeah. And then the wall opposite is going to be all cabinetry.

13:34And it's going to enclose the refrigerator and up above. Doing a hidden fridge? I don't know if I'll do a hidden fridge. That's up for grabs right now, but it'll be a counter-deck fridge. Amazing. Yeah, all the rest of these are really just kind of getting vibe, doing a little bit of dark and moody. What's your big, like, function have to have? Because, I mean, you've seen them all where, like, now people have, like, a slot that comes out, and it's a ladder, and they have, like, the dog food, cat food. Obsessed. I love this color combo. I am super obsessed with that. So I think last time we talked, I...

14:13You got to describe it. Okay. So in this kitchen, there is kind of like pink cabinets, pink lowers, and then... Mauve-y pink? Chunky. Yeah. Is it nude? Is it pink? Is it... It's actually not so different than the paint chip that I currently have up in my kitchen anyway. It's called Malted Milk by Sherwin-Williams. I think I talked about it last time. So the lower cabinets are kind of that malted milk and then like a bigger subway tile, like a chunky subway tile above it. Are you trying to stay authentic with the timing of like... I am. Yeah. This subway tile probably is more. Well, that's what made me think of it actually is when she was talking about the subway tiles.

15:00Like, I feel like that fits with... Because your house was... 1930. Yeah, so sticking in that 1930s kind of... Yeah. So, you know, we're kind of bouncing between all of those things. Amazing. But I love this inspiration image. So pretty. It also has... Well, it looks great with the brown hutch. It's got a brown hutch on top of like a marble slab countertop. It has that same hood, too, design. It's got... Where it's like straight, but they put a piece of crown molding to like blend in. It's very similar. I... love but also kind of hate those um those old school like handles yeah i love them oh the swing poles do y 'all ever like i have such a specific there were several dressers in our house growing up that had those every dress they are they are clanging they are clanging and driving me crazy right now i i know but they look so but they look so pretty but they but yeah so I'm like, I think I would hate having that in my kitchen, trying to like pull it like with the clanking all the time.

16:05But it looks so good. I have a cup. I have cup pulls, which I do love, except every now and then those little kids get me because my hand had been there and they're like, you know, you're like, well, someone didn't wipe their hand and touch this. You know where you're like, man. And so then I'm like wiping it out, like hoping no one else touched whatever that was. It's funny. But a cup coal is great, I think, when you have a little bit of molding on your cabinet doors, where, again, those swing ones look great because it's a flat panel door. Fair, yeah. As somebody who draws a lot of hardware and doors for a living, I can tell you, but yeah.

16:46Yeah. Like, there's not enough ornamentation, so you need the more elaborate swing and the pole, yeah. And especially in your style house, it is going to be keeping those kind of like clean, but not so clean that it looks modern. But you are like, yeah. Right. But it needs to be it needs to be freshened up. Yeah. How fun. Yeah. So what are you thinking for floor? Black and white tile? I'm thinking black and white. I think that's very like. Yeah. You can also do one of those like white and like beige or something where it's like not as. it's not as high contrast yeah like if you went with the more pinky right to do one that's kind of like a or like a white and a gray yeah yeah that's so fun i'll be playing with those and like getting those kind of materials i'll lock down um this looks very you it's very i mean this looks more really than the mushroom one i love the mushroom really first yes you wear red lipstick every day i do but so i mean well this is one of it's one of those things that is gorgeous it's one of those liz to me oh well thank you that's really hold on i want to hold both and get the vibes i'm i'm trying to so i guess i'm trying to like i've got time on this right but do i go with something that works with the kitchen and like or do i or do i go with like kitchen cabinets that are that are pinky mauvey like i or is that too is that too girly do pinky mom yeah because pink is really you could you're doing a very traditional yeah style of cabinetry right right anyone could come in paint it any color and it's going to be classic.

18:39Right. So like you're you're taking a little bit of a risk on paint but that's the would truly be the only risky thing you're doing. Don't you think? All right. And yeah we're always talking about taking a risk on a paint. That's fine. How cute would it be? She's in. To do this. I know. And then do like like this even has like a little red box in it. You could do little accents in red like I do little red pieces of art. You could do like a sconce with like a red pleated shade or something or even like a red sconce that would be super cute red stools that would be super red metal stools well i'm also always thinking about like what is what does that be fabulous that would be fabulous anyway sorry not to take over your i i think both are beautiful i mean both are beautiful because all you're molding is is dark brown right so like Like, in my mind, all of these are going to have that heavy visual up above.

19:35So I think any of these will be. I mean, I love mushroom. So I do. That would look so pretty. It would look so just polished. You just have like a whimsical. You have a more whimsical style and like an artistic. Yeah. You know, frame of reference that. Like, how is that going to get worked in? Yeah. I'm kind of back to I'm kind of still on the wood shelf because she's going to have brown up above too she's going to have brown in the corner brown above so she might need it'd be pretty I mean I think that this is no I do love pretty with the dark up top I do think then she especially if you do the I know you're like I love this I love this you guys come on over anytime I know we're going to need all that we'll have to have people you're going to have to upload them so people can see and like give their feedback but if you're going to do the subway tile so doing stone on you know like then you're going to want to do the wood with the subway right Especially if you can find that good old vintage Subway.

20:30I think it's going to fit the timing of your house so well. Or I think this will be a little more like to date. Right. Yeah. So I could see. Yeah, this one feels more your vibe for sure. I also kind of love how this Subway tile is like an almond color with a white top. I would not have thought I would like that. No, I would not pick. I wouldn't pick it and I absolutely love it. It feels insta-aged, right? Like, that feels really good to me. And there's something about the craftsman house, too, that needs to have a little bit of humility to it. And I feel like that's kind of something. Too fancy.

21:14Yeah. Too fancy would feel really wrong for that space. So that's kind of where like a taller, fatter subway tile feels like it would have been like of the period. Right. Love that. And there's a little bit of humility and a little bit of kind of just honesty of materials. And I think the play on the floor, too. like when you do a flooring that you know because like we we ran wood in both of them we when we renovated our ranch we just ran wood in the kitchen yeah and then this time we just ran wood so again we didn't play on the floor if that makes sense right i do think you're playing up the floor will also change the whole look yeah you know it doesn't become just another surface yeah um ah so fun so yeah so we're we're beginning the journey and you know really hot pink tape everywhere, like everywhere, everywhere.

22:10It's really kind of comical. I can't wait. I mean, because of somebody who's done, I've only done two kitchens, but it's been fun. Two kitchens is a lot. Two kitchens is a lot. I did an all-white kitchen with black top, but that was 2012. So it was very timely, I feel like. And then I have green with white. So I'm loving all of this. That is awesome. So, yeah. So I will keep you all posted. I will be pulling you all in for feedback. I know, because you don't even have lighting in here. Well, I guess you have some sconces in here. I kind of, I, yeah. I mean, you guys, there's architectural plans, too.

22:53We haven't even. Yeah. Oh, my God. Forget our trials and trials. Get over here. Oh, my gosh. Okay. So your kitchen is a big square. It's a big square. It's about 14 by 14 feet. And so really kind of thinking about where we really the one really great way that we talked about the space was what is our high traffic like move around area? And then where is kind of the hangout areas? So we there are there are two entrances into the kitchen. There's an entrance from the dining room, and that's a swing, like a classic, like old swing door with a three over three panel of windows. And then there's another door that goes into the hallway.

23:45And the hallway is kind of a funny nine by seven room that has six doors in it. Like it's really just a room of doors that connects all the other rooms. It's a really kooky thing. I love it. But what we did is we took that square of a, that rectangle of a room that is the kitchen, and we divided it on the diagonal. So from the hallway door to the northeast corner, where we're going to have a coffee bar in that area. that whole area from the coffee bar to the corner where the sink and the stove is that's kind of our our hot zone like that's going to be a high traffic high energy zone and then the other half of the of the room is really kind of like i'm going to hang out at the coffee bar i'm going to grab something from the pantry i'm going to just kind of chill at the at the countertop because we're going to put in a kitchen island.

24:53Right now she's got it planned for the Ballard-Wallace kitchen island. With the little scallopy edge. It's got, yeah, it's got some curves on it. It's so cute. It's got a marble top. It's dark wood. It's got the scallops. I drew it, so I love it. Did you draw it? A little bit of Taryn in your kitchen. Oh, my gosh. Well, Taryn, you already drew my dining room table. Did I? Yeah, you're all over my house. I'm so honored. Wait, which dining room table? I don't know. We don't sell it anymore. But it's a really gorgeous 60-inch round dining room table that has brass inlays at the top. And then it's kind of got this like— It was very modern.

25:39It's got this modern brass arch, like double arches. So arches that go up this way and then arches go down that way. And then, yeah. it's pretty stunning it's stunning it's my favorite um that's a great kitchen island um it is a great kitchen island it's a really great kitchen island well i feel like again aesthetically it fits so nice with your eight like the age of your home too it's a smaller kitchen island too which if you're in the market for a pre-made kitchen island they're really big they're like the ones that i found in the marketplace are either really big um or they're really dinky and cheaply made so that's what i like about the wallace kitchen island because it's it's got a solid marble top yeah it's got drawers it's got seating for seating for two it's got open shelving so it's very exciting it is a very exciting time i love it caroline is going through all sorry like i'm listening going through all of it i know you're hearing the flipping of things so again we're still in the very beginning stages um and it's just it's just super exciting that is okay so you have a little broom vacuum cabinet yeah so that's so that's a little cleaning storage area there's not a lot of storage in the whole house so we need to kind of just maximize everything so cleaning storage cabinet to the right of the built-in

27:27refrigerator cabinets all up above that that go to the ceiling and then on the other side of the refrigerator is going to be the coffee station. I love it for you. I love it. It's going to be super exciting. A coffee station is so fun. So that's a must. Oh, yeah. No, there's actually three doors in the kitchen because there's a door that goes out to currently that goes out to the driveway. So we're going to take that door out. Oh, nice. And put a window in its place. Oh, that's awesome yeah i see you gotta spice it you have a pull out spice thing we're we're talking about how we love it how we move through the space and that's fantastic that's the fun part about it it looks like you guys really kind of a lot of where we will stand sit hang out this is awesome right this is great we're gonna keep our dishes where we're gonna keep aren't architectural and hands.

28:27So fun. Oh my gosh, they're so fun. They're so fun. But making it real with the hot pink tape on the floor, on the walls, on the sink to try to figure out where it goes, like, has really been something that's totally new for me to kind of really understand the logistics of the space and the parameters of the space too. Like, having that 36-inch clearance at a door to make sure that, you know, you know, our friends that are in wheelchairs can get through the space. Yeah. You know, that is so important. So, yeah, it's really. Very cool. It's really cool. I'm excited for you. I see the show from here.

29:09You made a lot of progress so far. Oh, my gosh. You made so much. Well, I mean, it also helps that she had the drawings from 2022 when we first were like, we're like, let's dip our toe in the water. And we did. And we. Take it. And a lot of it. No. And she knew we were just dipping our toes into the water at that point, too. And so the structure of the drawings was already there. So this is just kind of fine. And you measured. That was probably. That was a lot in and of itself. So now we're just making sure that this is what we want. And the way that we've been living in this space all this time, too, still functions the way that we want to.

29:49Because the flow of the space is great. But when I do post pictures of all of the craziness of the current state of the kitchen, you're going to see things like the previous owner painted the asbestos tiles over the years. I'm impressed with how long you have, how patient you've been. And that's because I walk into the room with rose colored glasses. Like every time I see the architectural plans, I don't actually see the craziness. Yeah. So but it also means that I don't see the craziness, which is not great either. But I mean, there's a spot like where we're talking about this 36 inch clearance that you need to get in and out of the room.

30:37the previous owner um had the refrigerator right in front of that door yeah so to get into the room you kind of had to shimmy shimmy shimmy shake on into the room from the hallway um and that was that was one of the first things we did is we moved we moved the refrigerator to the opposite end of the room. And that's also when we found out that she had painted the kitchen floors gray and didn't treat it very well. So when we did move the refrigerator, it scraped up that paint. But the paint that they did do really, really well, and it was super sealed onto those asbestos tiles it is wow it is a bright cyan blue so how wild is that so there's just some yeah you know choices i bet you're gonna find some gems when y 'all start demoing oh there's like you know colors or oh yeah yeah yeah so yeah we'll we'll find everybody's choices along the way And I'm sure, you know, it's going to be a journey.

31:58Yeah. What is Steve's thought on the whole thing? Like, is he on board with all your ideas? Does he have strong asks that he's... No real strong asks, but it is interesting because when I started moving the sink over, he was like, no, put it back over there. So there is some push-pull on that. So we're figuring it out. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, but he hasn't said a whole lot in terms of what his needs are. I'm sure that will come out. Yeah. I'm sure that will come out. He's an artist, so I would imagine he would have some thoughts on color and texture and stuff. Yeah. Yeah? Yeah, it'll be interesting.