In short
How to master scale and visual balance in interior design, including sizing furniture and lighting, using CAD/taping/virtual tools, and choosing pattern scale for drapery and upholstery; also advice for rugs and for a small “Zoom gloom” guest room/office.
Guest
Sarah Vaile, principal of Sarah Vaile Design. Background: trained with design icons in New York (named Celery Kimball as a key influence), then launched a Chicago-based firm; projects across the U.S.; known for bold color and “fresh traditional” interiors that feel lively.
Key claims
Scale is “the single hardest part of design” and is essentially balance of shapes, colors, patterns, and volume. You can sense when scale feels right, but the challenge is ordering sizes correctly. Don’t rely only on drawings—physically tape out layouts and test real-world sightlines (e.g., pendant height vs. TV visibility). When mixing antiques with newer pieces, “feel” scale can differ even if measurements match.
Notable examples
taping floor plans with painter’s tape; printing light fixtures as 1D templates to tape on walls; using a person in vintage photos for size comparison; “sofa drenching” in small rooms; double rugs and rug perimeter rules; partially-on/partially-off furniture to avoid “rug island”; a Murphy bed solution for a small guest/Zoom room with navy gloom.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOSarah Vaile's Design Journey
1:06 to 4:30
Sarah shares her journey into the design world and starting her own firm.
“And I'm like, I feel like this is going to be so fun.”
Understanding Scale in Design
4:30 to 8:07
Discussion on the importance of scale and how to achieve it in design.
“And I was like, please keep me out of jail.”
Techniques for Mastering Scale
8:07 to 14:00
Exploring practical techniques and tricks to master scale in design.
“You know, why is it that scale is so important?”
Understanding Scale in Design
14:00 to 15:07
Explore how scale affects the perception of design elements in spaces.
“We have that same problem with our product, too, of, like, how do you add scale to something so people understand when, you know, it is alone.”
Innovative Design Technologies
15:07 to 17:04
Learn about the potential of virtual reality and CAD in home design.
“We'll still go on site and be like, this store frame feels way too big.”
Visualizing Space with Vignettes
17:04 to 18:06
Discover how using vignettes can help visualize furniture scale and arrangement.
“Better if you can get it before you get there.”
Practical Tips for Sizing Items
18:06 to 19:24
Get tips on using people and boxes to visualize furniture size in spaces.
“And, um, and actually funny enough, I, I did for this piece here, there was a vintage piece in my living room And it wasn't that big.”
Traffic Flow in Interior Design
19:24 to 20:45
Understand how to assess traffic flow when arranging furniture.
“So to your point, like I have a round sort of like, gosh, I don't even know, gossip sofa.”
Transitioning Between Spaces
20:45 to 22:42
Examine the emotional and practical aspects of adapting to new furniture in spaces.
“Traditional interiors don't lay out well in floor plan or render well.”
The Impact of Holiday Decorations
22:42 to 25:11
Explore how holiday decorations change the dynamics of a space.
“It's so hard when you're doing like an existing home because they will have the reference point of whatever was there before it.”
Show all 21 chapters
Repurposing Furniture Across Homes
25:11 to 27:20
Learn about the challenges and joys of relocating and repurposing furniture.
“And I was literally hanging the garland and it's all faux so I can use it all next year.”
Adjusting to Different Ceiling Heights
27:20 to 28:01
Discover the considerations for lighting and scale when moving to different ceiling heights.
“shows you've made great decisions, but let's say now you go from an eight foot ceiling to a 10 foot ceiling.”
Understanding Scale in Lighting and Decor
28:01 to 36:22
Learn how to effectively scale lighting and decor elements in your space.
“You go to flush mounts and sconces and lamps, really.”
The Importance of Fabric Patterns and Drapery
36:22 to 42:00
Discover the significance of choosing the right fabric patterns for drapes and upholstery.
“There's first the template, then the foam, then the fabric, because God forbid they put the fabric on and you're like, wait, that's not at all the race.”
Designing with Fabrics and Patterns
42:00 to 44:46
Learn how to effectively choose and balance fabrics in room design.
“So you really have to think, am I going to tuff the back?”
Rug Placement Tips and Tricks
44:46 to 47:51
Discover essential tips for selecting and positioning rugs in rooms.
“i feel like sometimes a small room you kind of think like oh maybe i just need a little love seat or an apartment sofa in here but but i've seen so many great photos of like a big sofa but in a tight little room.”
Creating a Functional Zoom Room
47:51 to 51:34
Explore solutions to design a versatile guest room that also serves as a workspace.
“And I'd say the best way to make a rug, to really elevate a rug and make it look custom is to have them bind it on site and wrap it around your heart.”
Color Choices for Home Offices
51:34 to 56:00
Understand the impact of color on mood in home office spaces.
“So yeah, she's got a queen bed kind of centered on a wall and then a desk in the corner.”
Color Trends and Predictions
56:00 to 59:26
Learn about emerging color trends and their emotional impacts on design.
“How many high-powered clients are like, I really need a sofa in here because I like to work horizontally.”
Maximizing Office Space
59:26 to 1:04:25
Discover tips for optimizing office layouts and lighting for productivity.
“Sorry for this tangent, but anyway, but yeah, they were calling it burnt orange.”
Client Dilemmas and Solutions
1:04:25 to 1:06:35
Explore creative solutions to client space dilemmas from the hosts.
“You're like, I can't have my white shelves.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.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.
0:33So today's guest is Sarah Vale, principal of Sarah Vale Design. She's known for her bold use of color, her fresh traditional style, and making classic spaces feel lively. After training with design icons in New York, she launched her own Chicago-based firm with projects coast to coast. Today we're going to tackle one of design's trickiest topics, scale. Sarah, welcome to the show. Thank you. I'm so honored to be here. This is my first ever podcast. Oh, well, yay. I listen to them all the time, but I've never done one. And I'm like, I feel like this is going to be so fun. So I'm really excited.
1:12You are welcome to it. It's not. It's not. Although, yeah. Yes. No judgment from us. We'll pretend I'm in Europe right now. How many episodes in before we drink every time? Because it was in the evening where you recorded all of our first episodes. So we drink every time. So we get it. Now we do them more during daytime. Yeah. Yes. You have the most fun job. I love listening to them, but I'm like, oh, this has got to be so fun for you all. It is. We get to ask super talented people like yourself all of our burning design questions. and help us with our own homes. So that's perfect. Just like we were talking about.
1:57Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's a great way. Like, okay, I'm just going to get all this free advice. Keep it coming. Keep it coming. Exactly. Exactly. Before we, okay, before we talk about scale, because that is our topic of the day, why don't you tell our listeners a little bit about your background, how you got into design. We know you worked with, you know, at a couple very well-known design firms before launching your own, but kind of give us a little rundown. Oh my gosh, this could take up the whole hour. It's like when someone's like, how did you meet your husband? I'm like, well, how much do you want to know?
2:31It's cool. I feel like hopefully this can resonate with a lot of listeners because I fell into design in my quarter life crisis. I was 27 and I thought I was so old and hadn't found my career path yet. And I was still single, wasn't married. And I was like, well, shoot, I could be doing this for a long time. I've got to find something that I love. And kind of just reawoke this passion for design. So applied to go to Parsons, picked up, left my advertising corporate world life after, oh my gosh, I can't even imagine like, you know, you're on your own. And then all of a sudden you're like a student in New York City.
3:14I was just like the country mouse in the big city. I just went in so excited. And I wrote down and I said, okay, I'm going to leave here and I'm going to start my own business. I'm going to do the one year. I'm going to do the accelerated program. I'm going to leave here with my own business in exactly one year. And then it was all of a sudden October 2008. So the world came crashing down. and I'm like, hmm, this is kind of, this is interesting. Now we're in a, now we find ourselves suddenly in a recession. Um, and I'm like in the middle of, you know, the heart of it in New York city. So I, I actually found that in moments like that, there's opportunity because I was cheap.
4:00I was basically free in the beginning. I was like, just let me have a chance with your project. And so I was out to dinner with friends and then their friends. And one of the gentlemen said, I need a designer tomorrow. And I was like, well, call me in a year. And he's like, no, I need one now. And so I woke up the next morning at five in the morning and Googled how to start your own business. And I was like, okay, we're off and running, I guess. And then my next email was to the family accountant. And I was like, please keep me out of jail. I think that was the subject line. And, um, and I walked into Chase Bank and I was like, okay, I need three accounts.
4:42Like, I mean, designers and math, we don't go together. I was like, I need clients money, which I cannot touch because it will make me feel very rich, but it's faux rich. And then my money, like for the business and then uncle Sam's money, which I also cannot touch because I really don't want to go to jail. And that was literally how I started my accounting was just like basic, like every check I'd get, I was like, okay, this is the profit, move it there. This is for the furniture, keep it in there. This is for the tax, move it here. And that was all I did. And needless to say, we started a new accounting software a few years later.
5:18But, and then I got my first job and it just like took off. And then one led to another, led to like a project outside of Richmond, Virginia, an old plantation had been cut up. And it was a couple that was a little older. And I'm kind of like, are you sure you really want to entrust your project to me? And they're like, we love that you're up and coming. This is so exciting. And so, yeah, that was kind of how I went pro. Sort of just happened. And then in the meantime, I like my last like stars aligned moment is when I first got to New York city, I wrote down, okay, I really want to work for either Kelly Wurstler or Celery Kimball.
6:02And then I walked past this hair salon every day on the way to the new school. And I'm like, Oh, I can't afford this. I'm just like a broke student. And one day I kind of ventured in cause they had like some amazing deal, like, you know, 50 % off. And I was like, can you highlight, can you keep me blonde, natural blonde? And, um, and it, and I started going and I said, can I ask who designed your salon? I love it. Celery Kimball. I'm like, what is the chance out of like hundreds of salons in all of New York city that sell? And I was all of a sudden like, well, can you put us in touch? And she's like, yeah, sure.
6:37I'll never say no to free help, you know? And all of a sudden I'm like in front of my idol, just sitting there, but it was such a great training ground. But all these wheels were kind of moving simultaneously where I was just sort of watching her and, you know, she's got all these kind of like celebrities and big projects. And, and like my biggest takeaway watching her is she's so nice. You can be a big deal and still be nice, which was not how it was in, in the advertising world. So I was, I kind of like modeled so much after her where the girls just loved her. And it was such a great camaraderie, almost had like a sorority vibe.
7:15She'd probably agree with that. It's been years since I've seen her, but I still keep in touch with the girls that I kind of trained with there. And it was a great, great training ground to kick it off. So there, are we done? Is that the whole podcast? No, we have so many more questions. No, that was great. I, you know, I think so many people love the work of Celery Kimball. And there's a lot, I think, that is reflected in your design too. You know, this ability to make traditional design exciting and fun and to use materials and maybe shapes that we recognize, but to do it in a way that feels different somehow and fresh.
8:03I love that about your work in particular. well thank you yeah well let's talk about scale because this is you know we kind of wanted to focus on this for the episode and it's a topic that we get a lot of questions about and i think um not only do our design guests bring it up as something that's so important but our listeners bring it up as something that they struggle with and maybe haven't quite cracked the code on how to master it. So let's start there. You know, why is it that scale is so important? And what does that, what does that really mean when someone says, you know, you have to get the scale right?
8:49That's kind of the, you know, the touch to whatever uses. Well, I was laughing. I saw somewhere that like a designer said, all you have to get is the scale right and everything else falls into place. And I was like, well, I mean, that's like telling a scientist, all you got to do is figure out electricity and the rest is easy. Like scale is the single hardest part of design, in my opinion. Like we're still, we still, I still go into installs and I'm like, I wonder if it will all turn out as we envision or if there will be a piece that suddenly is in our tag sale, is in our spring tag sale, which we do account for actually, funny enough.
9:27I finally, I don't know if any of you saw Breaking Bad, but there's this one scene where they get robbed and, you know, of course, it's a very different industry, drug dealing. And he's like, it's breakage. You have to account for breakage. And I finally like, I was like, you know what? Let's just assume something might be off with all the work we put into it. And then usually whenever you go into it, assuming it, it turns out perfectly, you know, it's like the rule of whatever, but, um, but it's hard. It's there, there are a lot of techniques to get it right, but, um, I don't know if I would say there's it, you definitely become more comfortable with, with how to spot it.
10:17And I think most people with a design eye can spot if scale feels right because it's basically the balance of shapes in a room. So if you have like the balance of colors, you have the balance of pattern, and then you have the balance of shapes. And you obviously can't have one giant one that dwarfs one small one. So I think most of us can sense when it's right. I think the hardest part is knowing how to order it so it's right. which is probably what you guys are hoping to get for your listeners today. I also just think size, you know, like those sizing questions of like, you know, sometimes something needs to be overscaled to really carry the, you know, the focal point or the seating arrangement or whatever.
11:12But then sometimes things need to be not underscaled, but like right size. So it's kind of like when do we employ those, I guess, tactics? And when can we feel confident that the size is right? And then, you know, I don't know. Is that wrong? I always think of scale as kind of being more equated to like almost size and like volume. Right. Yeah. like the volume it's like the balance of volume that's probably a better word um see we're better at science than me probably but it's yeah it's it's interesting I think we have a lot of tricks that we've learned over the years and I we rely a lot on CAD a lot we elevate elevate elevate floor plans elevate.
12:08But I realized that that's like, you know, the more technical side of design to have that ability in-house. And there were many years we did not have CAD in-house. So we figured out kind of all the other ways. And they honestly worked really well. We used to go in and we used to literally tape out the floor plan in the room with blue painter's tape. And that will get you so far. Okay. You're like, okay, this is the sort of layout of the room and, you know, things generally feel like a good walking distance and whatnot. But then there's, to your point, the volume of, well, is this going to feel sparse compared to this?
12:56And so then we kind of stepped it up a notch where we're like, well, let's fill the volume with like boxes or existing furniture where you literally have like chairs in a line that represent the new sofa coming in. And then you can kind of be like, it just kind of dwarfs the room. Or it leaves you wanting another piece of furniture or piece of the sofa. And so I think like, there are lots of sort of tricks. I actually, one that I thought was so smart is we heard of a designer who prints out all their light fixtures, just one dimensional, nothing crazy. And they print it out and then they literally tape it like a sconce up on the wall to be like, is this the right scale for this room?
13:44Because light fixtures can be so, so tricky. and they can be, you know, the, like, I remember when Visual Comfort now circulating, well, no, actually, Circulating Now Visual Comfort first opened a showroom. Oh, yeah. That's the size of that piece. Oh, yeah. We have that same problem with our product, too, of, like, how do you add scale to something so people understand when, you know, it is alone. You know, it's very obvious around other items that have a relative scale that people know. But to your point, if anything's up like big scale or small scale, you are like, how do I make sure people know?
14:24Well, I almost think like there needs to be like a like a flag on the item. It's not a bad idea. I know this is larger than average scale. Yeah. Because we all. Right. Because it's kind of like when you're buying clothes and they'll say like fits true to size. Yeah. Like it's so, and for our job, it's so hard because we mix a lot of antiques with newer pieces. And we all know like the current fashion, like the pieces currently being manufactured are at a much bigger scale, kind of like restoration hardware started this like California scale almost. So then you've got these pieces that can be like almost like diminutive when they're, even though the seat height and the dimensions can line up.
15:07it's just like the feel of it is diminutive next to this almost like plush you know mass next to it and it's just um yeah it's it's very tricky okay I have an idea I feel like you guys have what it takes that you could actually make this happen I'm like why don't they have a hologram imagine if you could put your floor plan in a like Icovia's like the CAD that that um kind of anybody can access and if you put a floor plan in and then you could go in the room like I'm going back to like Star Wars right and you just have like a hologram and all your furniture is shown to real yeah amazing wouldn't that be amazing because it's the hardest part to envision and yeah i was like somebody's got to do this in the ai world it can be done okay ladies we had an architect on the podcast and now i can't remember who it was it was someone on the podcast and they were talking about um basically casting their cad drawings into like a virtual reality headset and then they take their clients into like this big warehouse and they're able to basically walk their project and walk the floor plan so they'll tape the floor plan out yeah in the warehouse so nobody bumps into anything right and like you could kind of see like oh this is how big the kitchen island is like this feels too because architecturally that's like one of the hardest to get right i mean we as much as like Like the drawings are produced and we have a great architectural team.
16:55We'll still go on site and be like, this store frame feels way too big. Let's bring it down. You know, but better if you can get it before you get to that part. Yeah. When you're still just in pencil. Yeah. That dirty word. Change order. So yeah. Better if you can get it before you get there. That's a cool technology. That would be. Bape, though, is such a good little like tip or trick, though, for like people listening to this. because that is something you can easily, you know, you can look it up, hopefully even, and, you know, if you are purchasing the antique online, hopefully they have the rough dimensions on there as well.
17:31So you can kind of, again, do you put a box in that space? Do you, like, what do you do to kind of give yourself, again, that error is a great little tip, I think, for scale. It helped. It got us pretty far for a long time. And then, oh, and I was just like, I feel like I have another trick I was thinking of. This is so funny. But when we buy vintage, we ask for a person to get in the photo because you can never, it's just so much easier to see. I'd say like for you guys, it's like when you set up like a vignette, like showing rooms, showing furniture pieces in a room with other furniture pieces is so massively helpful for us because you're like, okay, so this chair generally is like the larger piece in the room or, you know, seeing it among other things to kind of, for the sake of comparison is, is huge.
18:31And, um, and actually funny enough, I, I did for this piece here, there was a vintage piece in my living room And it wasn't that big. And I was kind of like, but I love it so much, the pediments and all the details. And I literally had a person come. I finally said, can you just have a person come stand next to it? And then I was like, okay, it's going to be a smaller piece. And then I ended up putting art over it and was like, okay, this is literally like perfect. It was made for this gallery wall. but um but it's it helps the seasoning like in the space because you're like okay that's not that's not a giant or more by any stretch so totally you know what you're getting yeah just make sure your person is a normal scale yeah true they told us his height yeah yeah which i thought was so funny they were like he's not the tallest he's about five seven and slight okay this has reached 100 level no i agree that putting like putting a box or for like moving a chair or something to where you can sort of you know even just like traffic flow i feel like is a good one you know if you're like could i fit a chair is it going to cut it off like just move a chair there see if it feels weird to walk around it for two weeks and then well and even when you have the magical cad, it still doesn't always help with real day-to-day traffic flow.
20:02So to your point, like I have a round sort of like, gosh, I don't even know, gossip sofa. What do they call it? Like the tete-a-tete, like the round piece in our kitchen. And it's sort of, there's like a bar when you enter. And I was thinking, okay, technically speaking, I know that you're supposed to have more than 20 inches from here to the cabinet. But this is, you can also go the other way, you know, 90 % of the time. And really it doesn't take that much. So I literally shaped out, I think probably with boxes, I shaped out the edge because I was like taped it out and then kind of built up the height and the volume so that I could sense, okay, this is fine.
20:45Traditional interiors don't lay out well in floor plan or render well. So sometimes the floor plan just looks kind of crazy, like slightly insane because it's got just, you know, you'll have like a sofa chair and then you get some random chair over here and then an accent chair on this wall. but it just works in the space. But, um, but hence why to the point of like, you can't just rely on, on computerized drawings always. Sometimes you just need to get physical in the space. Yeah. I love the idea of printing it out. And then also, you know, there are, um, not CAD, but sort of similar programs.
21:27We have one that we call room planner, but there are lots out there on the market. And that is just to like get your dimensions in there and like kind of get a rough layout. It's really helpful. Yeah. And it's so fun. Like I genuinely love getting in and kind of shuffling around the pieces. It's laying on a room is truly where you kind of can differentiate yourself from every other living room as you know, to think of kind of like a slightly different plan. I feel like people need to know that part of this really is, you know, doing your home in any capacity with a designer as well. There is going to be air, and there's something beautiful about that too, because sometimes something that you didn't expect to come in so big does come slightly, and all of a sudden it kind of like makes the space.
22:23Sometimes the opposite happens, where you're like, I'm going to return it. But just like an outfit, I feel like sometimes you try on something and you're like, in my head, it was perfect. I measure, you know, and then you put it on and you're like, the way this hits is just, it's not, I know I can do better. It's so true, especially because it's tricky for those clients who live in a space. It's so hard when you're doing like an existing home because they will have the reference point of whatever was there before it. And then all of a sudden you put something there when like a chair or a table and there was nothing there before.
23:04And it's like, well, hold on a second. I might want that space back. You almost have to kind of mourn the space that was. That's a, no, I think that's great. As ridiculous as that sounds, like when you go from a, like, you know, another sofa and you downsize or upsize. It's just, I always tell our clients, just like sit with it to your point for a minute, a day, a week, and then come back. And if it's still bugging you, then we'll talk about it. But I think half the time it's the transition to the new piece there. Yeah. You're used to something. That makes total sense. Yeah. It just doesn't. Or like the opposite.
23:44You're not used to anything being there. And then all of a sudden, It's kind of like when you're walking a space and it's being framed and then all of a sudden the drywall goes up and you're like, well, this changes everything. It's, you know, and then you and then you put the furniture and then the paint and it changes it again. So it's like just getting used to the different sort of iterations. Do y 'all do that at Christmas time, too? I mean, that's the holiday for me that changes so much because you're scooting things for the Christmas tree and like bigger objects of decoration. And then you take it all down and you're like, what was in that space?
24:17Or like, you're like, you're just like so empty. It's like empty. It's literally my friend and I call it the post holiday emptiness. It's literally. And then all of a sudden it like sets off the need to fill it with other things. So then and what else are you doing in January? You're like, well, I guess I'll just have to start thinking about the next item for the room. Oh, my gosh. Speaking of Christmas, quick aside, but I ended up seeing this amazing sale you all had starting, I don't even know, let's say like a couple days before Christmas. And I went crazy on Ballard Christmas this year and overnighted it.
25:00I overnighted it and it still came out way ahead because of the sale. I was like, you know, girl math. I'm like, oh, my God, I saved$2 ,000. and I might as well get it for Christmas Eve because I'm hosting. And I was literally hanging the garland and it's all faux so I can use it all next year. And like, oh my gosh, you have the best Christmas stuff. Like the Reese with the lemons, the boxwood, all the faux boxwood, preserved boxwood. Anyway, that was awesome. My house was very full for a couple of days and then I kind of was like, well, maybe we'll just ride it like a few weeks after. to get it, like get our time in with it.
25:41Gotta enjoy it. But I think Christmas is that perfect example where I've felt what you're talking about, where it's like the transitioning your space and you're like, hold on a minute. Like, yeah, it's a chance and opportunity to kind of be like what goes here. So I imagine again, yeah, clients who are in the same space, it's so hard, especially to kind of transition to a new space. Like have you had a lot of places where you found yourself going from like a living room to it becoming an office or something where you're trained. Oh my gosh. Yes, absolutely. And I always say too, like I'm a big collector.
26:17So we've at this stage of our career, we have a lot of return clients and I'm like, no, as long as, you know, they were sometimes your taste changes and your sophistication elevates and all those things. But we definitely still take pieces that we bought for one house, for one room. I mean, we did it when we moved here and this was so fun. We had this red velvet Chesterfield sofa and moved it to, it was in the living room at home and moved it up here. And it was literally the same red as the red library. And I was like, well, this was meant to be. But it's kind of fun to like repurpose and just shift all the different things.
26:58And usually the scale of all the things works together, you know, as long as you have like a tiny chair or a stool for giants, both of which we have had in the past and ended up purchasing ourselves. Can we talk about if the scale, like when you do this or, and or if you're moving downsizing or upsizing families and you're using some of the same material, which obviously shows you've made great decisions, but let's say now you go from an eight foot ceiling to a 10 foot ceiling. What in the scale is going to change? Like what are some normal things that are like that you're going to have to go ahead and be like, all right, we're going to need a new X.
27:37We're going to need a new. Light fixtures. Oh my gosh. That was actually funny because when we came from the city, we had these beautiful nine, 10 foot molded ceilings. And then we came to this older home with eight foot ceilings and I'm like, none of our lights work. It's, you go from like the pendant game to the flush mount game. It's a totally different game, right? You go to flush mounts and sconces and lamps, really. Like you can't do pendants at eight feet, at least not the big glamorous chandelier, unless it drops over a table so that no one's walking under it. lights are one of the hardest things I think to get right with scale because you can go lower, but then you need to make sure there's a coffee table under it.
28:28So no one's walking under it, right? And then there's of course a question like, can you view the TV if you're standing at the back of the room and you're looking? Like we do that test all the time. Can we see the TV under the light? And we hold the tape measure up, hold it at the bottom of the pendant. and and we always we try so hard again we have like in the drawings okay this is what we think will be the right height but there's always the install day when you're like can you just hold it up and you know the electricians love that they're like this thing's so heavy can you hurry and make a decision because it's like no i need to see the actual scale in the actual sky to determine how this works and i feel like light pictures always come in ginormous boxes so you're like oh god i've made a horrible mistake totally you're like what have i done no it's so true and and i think like we have some with balor too that are huge like 30 inches like this one we have selling right now it's called the net of chandeliers got these beautiful like dripping beads it is huge huge and it's what i could use the asterisk bigger than average i I really feel like I need to.
29:43But it looks so good. Oh, it looks so good. As long as you know what you're signing up for. Yeah, because if you have eight foot ceilings and you have a very small dining room and you're putting this over a more petite dining table, like it would be comical. Like people, you know, so I think to your point, the like scaling of even what it's what's under it is really important, too. And then another thing someone talked about is like in terms of like visual like shapes and volume like scale balance is I always found this so interesting. Like what is the purpose of a lamp in the room? It fills that mid-level scale, right?
30:26So you've got the like baseline of all the furniture and then you've got the high line of any ceiling fixtures. but then the midline is kind of lamps a lot of the time, which serves, you know, I always call it the jewel of the room because usually because clients are like, you want me to spend what on this lamp? And I'm like, well, it's your jewelry. But also it really does kind of balance the high, low height wise. But I'm trying to think like, what else would you do in a time? I mean, of course, curtains, you go, I always say go as high as possible on the curtains. If it's eight foot, it'll make your ceilings look taller.
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31:05We'd actually do a lot of ceiling mount hardware for lower spaces. If you have a soffit, just get maximize that drape height. And then obviously in like a 10 foot, you know, you get really dramatic, dramatic height in the drapes. and we have a lot of soffits too and and which is always adds like another level of working around those that's kind of I guess more decorative than scale but also another thing no those are all really good scale items and of course art art's a big one right there's nothing like I love floor-to-ceiling art there will never be anything more dramatic you can lacquer a room You can do all the things.
31:53But if you do Florida ceiling art on your walls, which I can see you have. So go big with the art. Yeah. It's like that's just such a great way to fill a wall, anchor a wall. Love it. I always feel like most of the time going bigger than you think is fine. Smaller looks weird. Would you agree with that? or what would you kind of say if you had to err on one side, which would you do? Just in terms of like the overall furnishing? Well, just like, yeah. It could be like art, for example, or a light fixture. Or a mirror. Yeah, a mirror. I always feel like, okay, something like a real big mirror, big piece of art, big chandelier.
32:45I think so too. Because if anything, it'll probably have just, it just becomes more dramatic. And I noticed kind of you guys said somewhere like it has the Alice in Wonderland effect. I'm always like, what's the hotel in Vegas that has had the like paper, big balloons? Oh my gosh. The W? No, not the W. It'll come to me. But I'm always like, yeah, it's kind of do you want, it almost then starts to feel a little like commercial space, right? They go so dramatic in the size of the light fixtures, in like a restaurant or a hotel lobby. So it's kind of like, how much drama do you want? And bigger is always going to give you more drama.
33:31So I would have to agree with that. If anything smaller might just feel a little more dated, like it came from your grandparents' house. Since somehow we just seem to be like getting bigger and bigger as a human species. Oh my gosh, I saw Napoleon's bed in Paris and I was like, I don't think my 10-year-old would fit in that. I mean, now I understand the Napoleon complex. We really are growing so much. I wouldn't even put that in my son's room. That's true. That's true. So it's hard. That's the hardest part, I think, is pairing the old and the new. So hence the people in the photos of the vintage with the caption, with the disclaimer, how tall are you?
34:19I know. Having an illustration of someone sitting in the chair is such a great call. That's how it is for our vendors. When we manufacture, a lot of times they'll have someone sitting in it, standing next to it. It's the funniest little photos. And you appreciate it so much, though, because you can tell they're like, Joe scoot into the photo like and you can tell he's like oh gosh Joe's not happy about it Joe's like I didn't want to sit in this or you know it no the person in the photo never wants to be in the photo which actually is half the fun there's a mirror girl in all of our mirrors that's always hilarious to me because she's clearly holding her phone up like in front of her face so you can't see her face but because she's taking a picture of a mirror it's reflecting her and guys we just got the best ones recently we're developing a mirror and the person really didn't want to be in it and so they took a piece of cardboard they cut out a hole so it's just but it's a it's a photo of a mirror so all you see is like this floating hand and and like phone and then it's And we're like, what is going?
35:30Is this a box? And then we figured it out. And so now you can tell there's another hand at some point holding the cardboard for this person to put their hand through the cardboard. And then we were laughing at the images. They were so funny. I'll have to include them. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Instead of focusing on what we were supposed to focus on, we were all just like laughing at how they literally like, okay, I don't want to be in the picture of the mirror. How am I going to do this? There's Photoshop, right? I don't know. Well, you guys, you have it the hardest, really. You are always thinking about scale.
36:05Because we always say when we make a custom piece, we used to say, gosh, okay, do we really want it this badly? Does it have to be custom? Because talk about a game of you can get it right, you can get it wrong. I mean, we've now learned there's three steps to a custom furniture piece. There's first the template, then the foam, then the fabric, because God forbid they put the fabric on and you're like, wait, that's not at all the race. So now we're like, we'll go for all the stops just to make sure, especially when you're doing something crazy, which usually we are, where it's like, what if we just have like a corner serpentine bench on one side, you know, and you're kind of winging it.
36:51And let's do some crazy. Yeah. Let's make sure it's expensive and crazy. And you're winging it all. You're like, I just, what's the back height? I don't know. You like, draw it all out. And then you're like, I think this is it in a 2D pattern. But now we've got to bring it to life and make sure. But I can't imagine with all the furniture you all make. Oh, my gosh. It's a lot of. A lot of sampling. That must be fun. Yeah. For sure. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And then when we're thinking about fabrics on sofas or on chairs, we're getting a big piece of the fabric where we're getting like a one yard by one yard swatch and kind of laying that out and kind of trying to figure out what that scale is too.
37:38Yes, that's so true. The scale of the fabric. That's a tricky one too. Yeah, talk to us about that. Yeah. And I think, um, I mean, it's, again, I think it's all about balance, right? So you've got like a, um, you got a small print, you got a large print, you've got like a stripe, then balance maybe with like a more organic floral. Um, it's, it's like everything in life balance, right? It's my mom's words of wisdom. But it is true, especially that's where really you have to think about the placement of the pieces, right? Because I think like when most people are starting out doing it on their own, they're kind of like, oh, I'll just kind of like wing it and go as I can.
38:25And it's like, well, yeah, but you got to just think about you can have two florals the same scale as long as they're on opposite ends of the room, right? And if you're going to do a mural and you have something right in front of it, you might want a stripe or a small check or a gingham to balance. Right? It's like all, that's where I think the floor plan is so big is kind of deciding how you lay it out in the room. And one other thing I was thinking of too, I was like, I think a big thing, and I don't know if you call this scale or what, but is legs versus not legs. Yeah. Right. Cause I think most of us, when you're first doing it, you'll realize looking back at your, when you, some of your first rooms, Oh, everything had legs.
39:14I had no skirt. And this was especially like skirts and fringe are all making a comeback. But when we started, there was not a lot of that, at least for me. So that's kind of now like the, the massive design population has accepted that more. But you look at some of those rooms and you're like, oh my gosh, not a single thing reached the floor. This is giving me anxiety now in hindsight, but now we're like very thoughtful of which table goes all the way down and is like a pedestal versus a four-legged versus a skirt versus fringe. We have so many fun options to work with right now. It's a fun time to design it.
40:24something that goes all the way to the floor. Yeah, that's a good one. Like that will not have all the legs everywhere else. Okay, I want to talk about scale of fabric patterns on drapery panels. Because I feel like some patterns might be too big and they might go into the folds. Like some are really small and dainty, but is that enough of a oomph in the room if that's what you're going for? How do you choose a pattern for drapery panels? Oh, gosh, we just went through this for a little girl's room. It was this big debate because I had this big scale, awesome pattern. And the question was, will it show up on drapes or will it do we want to showcase it on a cornice where you can really see the whole pattern?
41:20which is especially important to think of when you're kind of pattern drenching, when it's the same paper, which we were in this case. And we scoured the internet to find a photo of it on a drape. Because, of course, you know, the samples were given. It's like, you can't really get a feel from this teeny sample. I mean, literally the only way we look at samples is with the, why am I spacing on this word? With the pleat. Oh, you have to pleat it. Yeah. You have to pleat it because it takes on a completely different form and is such an important thing. Also, tufting. Tufting can completely transform a fabric on a piece of furniture.
42:02So you really have to think, am I going to tuff the back? Am I going to tuff the seat? Maybe if it's like a big pattern, we would only tuff the seat so the back can showcase the awesome pattern. um but again like something that you don't really think about so you've gotten it wrong usually and then you're like oh yeah i probably should have considered that yeah we have some fabrics that we won't we won't allow to be put on something that's tufted which makes sense and that's the worst feeling when you when you're putting the fabric to the furniture and you're like, oh, shoot, this is such a good pattern, but you can't put it on this chair.
42:45It's just not going to work. So it's, yeah, piecing all the things together is definitely half the battle. Well, I will say, I feel like that's why it's so important to have a plan, you know, for anyone who's doing it themselves. Have a plan because if you do find a fabric and you want to use it and it's great big scale, then if you've already bought your drapes and you've already bought your sofa and you've kind of already like done the big pieces, then you sort of run out of place to put it where it would really be worthwhile, you know? It's such good advice. Like I always say, you know, think through the overall home.
43:29Like, okay, is this room going to be wood paneled? Is this room going to be wallpapered, painted? Like balance that. Think through maybe just like the walls and the colors. and then once you've got that, then really map out the whole room, the room that you're going to do right then and there, map it out all the way. And I always tell my clients, I'm like, well, I should say, I always tell my not clients, my friends, look, I can't roll out at the level of my clients too. Like I roll, I have developed very champagne taste and I do not have the budget of my clients. So therefore I roll out, I roll out one room at a time.
44:07But you've got to think through every single detail of that room and kind of how it's going to relate to the next room. I'd say like this room is very feminine, but next year it's going to be an oak wood paneled room. And so it's just balancing. Like I, we obviously, you can tell we love bright colors, bold. And so it's like, okay, you got to balance the feminine and the masculine. um so at least for me i don't want to go all the way one way without kind of having it swing in the next adjacent room so i want to know why a smaller room can handle a larger sofa like i feel like sometimes a small room you kind of think like oh maybe i just need a little love seat or an apartment sofa in here but but i've seen so many great photos of like a big sofa but in a tight little room.
45:00What is the magic that's happening there? Because I don't understand it. I think a small room, I mean, small rooms for one are my absolute favorite spaces. Like I started designing in New York City, so I love small spaces. You can have so much, you can just go all the way in a small room, right? You can do, you can pattern drench, you can stripe drench, you can sofa drench, you can just go all the way. Where in a larger room, You have to balance it more. But I love just like a nook and a cranny and wrapping the sofa all the way around. It's so inviting and enveloping. They're really my favorite spaces.
45:38Is there a reason why a big sofa looks so good in there? Is it just like having fewer bigger items or? I think because it truly, the room becomes about the sofa, right? Like you don't have to balance it. It's kind of just, the sofa. That's the room. I love calling it sofa drenching. You're sofa drenching the room. I know. You guys, I think we just started something. But really it is because in a larger room, you've got like a game table and a different seating area and all the things, but in like a library or a nook, you can just go all the way with the sofa. What about rugs? I do think rugs are something that trip people up.
46:24What's your sort of thought on rugs? Rugs are hard too. I mean, I'd say generally speaking, a couple tricks we embody are because a lot of retail rugs max out at 10 by 14 and rooms, you know, a living room is usually larger than that. We'll do the double rug, which actually lends itself really well to a bigger room because then it kind of creates like a natural zone of two different seating spaces or two different zones. And that, and I think generally you just want like, you know, just a foot perimeter is ideal in a room. Of course you can have more. We actually funny enough love wall to wall and bedrooms.
47:12So you have no perimeter. It's just maximizes the cozy factor of a bedroom, which was funny. I recently had a builder who was like, wall to wall, really? And I'm like, well, yeah, I mean, think of like a Four Seasons. Like they've got wall to wall plush carpet. I mean, it's not, you know, it's not crazy if you think like it can be very luxe. It's just at some point in time, we started to associate it with not nice in the residential world. But I had a client who kind of brought me back around on it in bedrooms. But yeah, that's kind of our general gist on rugs. It seems like rugs are a really easy place to tape, you know, tape that off.
47:55Oh my gosh, hands down. Hands down. And I'd say the best way to make a rug, to really elevate a rug and make it look custom is to have them bind it on site and wrap it around your heart. If you can go, if you're going for like a Stanton or, you know, instead of an area rug, it's immediately kind of just takes it to another level to do that touch. And you can kind of go bigger, right? Because you're, if you were doing just a square, you would have to go smaller because of the hearth or a weird corner or something. but if you can have it custom then you can kind of get closer to the edge make the room feel bigger yeah exactly I think the first time I did that for a client I was like I feel kind of fancy that I'm doing a rug that chases around the the air returns there's something just looks very custom when you chase around the details of the room but a small rug like I feel like it kills the whole vibe yeah yeah unless it's awesome right i did get i want to say i have a four by six that was gifted to me a tibetan tiger and it's pretty awesome and it makes my foyer and any other if it didn't have that presence it would have to be bigger but because it's such a cool pattern statement yeah exactly like it works that's a good call out though i do agree there's something about there's the rug you purchased that doesn't fit the space it needs to change and then there's the cool very like statement rug thing i have one of those two that's just like a shaped zebra i've had it for 20 years at this point but like it's just a loop structure and it's still my favorite because he flops on top of like any other rug and he looks so fun like he's just funny and I love him so yes oh yeah oh and then one of the best tips somebody told me years ago I have no idea who told me this but it stayed with me is just to have there's always this question of well the furniture either has to be all the way on the rug or all the way off the rug right that's a huge one that stumps a lot of people.
50:14Stumped me for years. And then someone finally said, no, you have to have a piece or two that's half and half. If the rug is not going to encompass the whole room, you've got to have a piece of furniture that's partially on it, partially off it. Otherwise, it just looks like this rug island in the middle of your room. So now, and it's funny, I always find myself kind of pulling like wing chairs a little bit off and the clients or the cleaning ladies will want to put it back on and i'm like no no it's it's gonna straddle the two worlds rug world and it likes to not rug world yeah it likes to dip its feet on the floor just let it exactly exactly and it's like the perfect thing that works again that would does not work in floor plan and floor plan it looks crazy i totally would have never thought about that but that's a great tip and it does kind of make sense it's like it's like it needs something to like keep the rug down or something yeah just to kind of like it's truly to like bridge both worlds together of like the wood floor and the rug and then and now now i bet you'll notice that now that i pointed it out all right don't get cast away on rug island
51:33hi ladies i'd love your help making your guest room work better for occasional at-home work and zoom calls the room is small 11 and a half by 12 and dark blue which we are finding too gloomy for a work-at-home space and right now our zoom background includes a vanity piled with papers and the bathroom door what would you do in the space if you could do anything we like having a queen-size bed for guests but are open to any creative solutions. Please help us de-gloom our Zoom room. Christy from Virginia. Oh my gosh, you're so cute. I love her, her rhyming. Right. So yeah, she's got a queen bed kind of centered on a wall and then a desk in the corner.
52:14And then behind that desk is the bathroom door and sort of a vanity in between some windows. Okay, I'm dying to know if any of you all were thinking the same thing, but I read this and immediately thought Murphy bed. It's like the perfect room for a Murphy bed. We do so many work guest spaces because, you know, so many of us are like work from home now. and they're always like, well, I want a really nice day-to-day office, but I really want to be able to have a guest room or two guest rooms or whatever. And we did a Murphy bed at a client's and this was actually so fun where you have bookshelves on the side and then it pops up.
52:56And in this case, we actually secured art to it, like real art. And so they'll have to send you guys the photo of this room after the call. But literally when you pull it down, the art is like anchored into the Murphy bed. Fabulous. So you would never guess it is a Murphy bed, but the room had to double both ways. And then you can put your desk right in front, and then that can be your beautiful backdrop. You can do a really fun color on the bed. I mean, I love all the colors. I'm sure this will come to no surprise. But I do agree we went through a phase where we all wanted to do navy blue offices, but I don't find them very invigorating.
53:36So I get it. Zoom gloom. I'm with you. I think that like go bright, go red, go light. Like I love this is my living room doubles as my office. I love this pistachio. Before the pistachio, it was a bright yellow. I think it's, you just want fun and big rating colors because that's what you're doing in there usually. And your guests, they're only there for a couple nights. You don't want to make get too inviting um so it's kind of fun to be like an experience for the guests yeah so i think she should pick the color that she looks best in and paint that on the walls it's like wearing a shirt that's like your your most flattering color and in your color season and that should be the wall color because then it's gonna like which recently i heard is peach probably yeah we all look really good which is a hard sell like an apricot um but did y 'all see this um okay this is off topic but did y 'all see this whole uproar around the vanity fair oscar party where all the celebrities were upset because they changed like they picked a gray like a flat gray background color and the lighting was really bad and so they had all these like side-by-side photos of the celebrities at like the actual red carpet for the oscars where the background is peach and then the next photo you know four hours later on the gray background and they look absolutely horrible so you're right it's like they put the peach background as the color on the oscars you know um what do they call it a uh the step and return yeah like a yeah the step and return And that's because that was the color that was most flattering.
55:25So, yeah. But I bet that's probably contributing to the Zoom gloom in this room. If the Navy blue is throwing like a cast of blue on your face, that never feels great. Yeah. It was such a phase, right? We all lean really hard into the Navy offices. And then I finally remember being in a client's and I was like, It just kind of makes me want to take a nap in here. And I love, if you have a Navy office, I love your office. I thought you were going to say, I love a nap. And I was like, me too. Can I laugh too? How many high-powered clients are like, I really need a sofa in here because I like to work horizontally.
56:09I'm like, post-COVID world. That's hilarious. It doesn't matter what you're building hourly. Man. No, my husband has a darker colored office and there is enough light. But on a darker day that is not a sunny, happy day, he feels it too. He talks about it. But then we have like a mauve bedroom. And it is. It's just like it is a beautiful color and it makes you feel pretty in it. So I do love that. And then I was going to say, with your work and looking at your portfolio, you absolutely could do a sherbert peach wall all day. Like your clients would gobble it up. This is true. Yes. And it was predicted, we were just watching, that 2028 is all about orange.
56:58So from like sherberts and corals. I know. Think shrimp. What's the nail polish color? Cajun shrimp. Cajun shrimp. I just got that on my toes. yeah great as a toenail polish color but not as a wall color oh well it was just about it was it was in general for fashion so we'll say it will trickle okay okay that's acceptable i'll allow it it's a fun it that's a hard one to get right but that's it's a fun color when you do get it right it's like it's a classic sarah i too have cajun shrimp on my toes right now it's the best see wow but it's a toenail polish color not as a i don't know great great we'll check back and like i think it said 2028 was the prediction so we'll check we'll circle back on this guys and see how we feel two years from now that'll be so interesting because i feel like colors do kind of come in waves like that and the color that i'm always like i am never going to do anything with purple.
57:59Hi, my family owns purple. I mean, mauve. You know? Mauve sounds so hideous. Yes, right? Can't get enough of it now. I realize it's all about what color you give it, what you call it, right? Now they're like, reticchio. It's not purple. Because I remember I said seafoam to like an older client that was like, seafoam and, I don't know, desert rose. But they were like, I'm sorry, I'm just going to the 80s. I can only see the 80s right now. You were too young to really know it. And I'm like, no, I kind of know. I know exactly when the, like, Southwest vibe was so big. But now I'm like, we need a new name for that.
58:41Pistachio. Celadon. Pistachio. Yes. We're like, yes, we're going to sages and soft, yes, minerals. Yeah, exactly. I know, but that's the same thing with coral. It's the same, like, it gives me a little bit of an ugh, because, like, I've been through the coral phase. But just telling you what I'm trying to do. I didn't predict this. Somebody else. What were they calling? What was the shade that they were calling orange? They called it a burnt orange. But it was like when I looked at the pictures, it was like terracotta all the way to like Cajun shrimp. Like some of it was more vivid in their imagery.
59:21And then some were like, you just mean terracotta, which I thought we've been in. Yeah. We've been in this muddy for a while. Sorry for this tangent, but anyway, but yeah, they were calling it burnt orange. Yeah. Okay, sorry. Back to Christy's office. Yes, her office. Sorry. I'm sitting here looking at this layout. Okay, and I do love the idea of a Murphy bed. I will say if she can face her, like if she is looking at the windows, she's going to have the most flattering light on her face. So if she puts the windows behind her like I'm doing right now, then it backlights you. You really want the light coming at your face.
1:00:07Which actually, not plugging my Murphy bed, but it does sort of lend itself. Totally. Put the Murphy bed up and then float your desk. We do a lot of day beds, too, because the Murphy bed obviously requires a built-in, which is a bigger investment to do millwork. But we love a day bed. I just did one actually in my husband's office. It's like a day bed that pops out and up, like an old-school trundle but way smoother. And that's a great sort of – we do that a lot. But where it's just nice, you know, when you spend every day in your office, it's nice to float your desk. And the daybed up against the wall allows you to do that.
1:00:49Because, I don't know, then you might as well feel like a big boss lady in your office. Yeah. Y 'all, there is the cutest Amazon daybed that I've been seeing all over my algorithms. It's like a gingham with a scallop top. Oh, yeah. Cute. There's a mine, too. Yeah. Yeah, it's I feel like that would be something like that would be a great choice because like it's fun. It's not expensive. Get a really good mattress. And it does depend how often I think somebody's sleeping in here. Like when you say like guest, are you doing once or twice a year or is this something someone comes monthly? Because I do.
1:01:29I think we even offer or did offer a sofa that popped up in the bed. No. Anyway. But even if it's not a pop-up, even if it's like a full bed or day bed or sofa, kind of, I don't know, I love that sort of can go either way, furniture piece. I know. A day bed, too, is so great for lounging. Not said personally. Taking a nap. Not that I would ever do that. Mm-mm. It really, it's so good. I'm like, I won't tell your clients. I know. Just don't be mad at me if I'm billing you horizontally. I bet. I bet. That'd be a fun question for designers. How many of us work from bed? Yeah. You're overworked. We're creatives, right?
1:02:21We're either on or we're not on. Yeah. So what do you do in a not on day? Where do you work from? This is. That'd be a fun. I feel like the answer to those questions should be like, you know, under the cone of silence. Like it's. Yeah. You're not forced to disclose. Hard one. Yeah. So she did note in here this from our guest or whatever. She said that the house next door is 15 feet away. So it is a limited amount of light in there. And I think because the layout of the closet, you really are in like a pickle of like attached to the private. Like her real background, she says, is a vanity with stuff piled on it.
1:03:04But then like behind that's a door to the private bathroom. So like none of these backgrounds are like. Great. I was only my only other thought was could she move the queen bed to where the desk is and like kind of give up a nightstand and sort of a way if she can get it by the swing door and then she could put her desk on the bedroom wall and then she could put a part over the vanity. like if if she wants to keep the big bed i still think the murphy bed does make it so she could reinvent the space to be her own so like if that is something that works for her i think that's a great one because then she can put in a bigger desk she can make this her own room um but if she can't do that i'm wondering if she could swing that if it's big enough to get that bed on the other wall i love that like that's such a great way and then that really makes the the zone around the queen bed kind of your office zone right with the desk over there so taran you're saying put the queen bed between the windows or you're saying put it where the desk is i mean whichever way she could so she could get a better background is my like because if this is your work office and like i get that part of like constantly cleaning up your bedroom we have somebody we work with who has it but um who's always on zoom and she actually has a screen she's put up because she has one of those massive master bedrooms though so like the desk easily fits but you don't want your co-workers looking at your bed so it becomes this like what i should be utilizing this space it works fine so she put up this like screen to make a faux wall and has hung art on it to make it a little more but again that doesn't work in this space either i'm also a big fan of a two-sided desk where you've got i actually have that in here because this is the you know but like that's a very sexy wall right so i'm like no i'd rather sit and face like put the colors behind oh i think your buildings are very cute too well maybe just because they're they're so white for a color girl I'm like you.
1:05:18You're like, I can't have my white shelves. Absolutely not. You're so white. I'm like, maybe if I paint them some, if I color drench in here. Yeah, exactly. But it's kind of perfect for like, pick your Zoom boys in, which way you're going to face today. Or you could just swing your chair to either side, right? So Taryn, you're saying put the bed on the wall between the windows and then put the desk as the nightstand. like potentially like i would play i love that idea because also that puts the light in her facing her face you know and it might not work again she might not work she's gonna have to play but she's obviously playing in a room planner so i'm sure she can kind of scoot everything around and see if like smaller nightstands maybe she doesn't need the vanity in there that would give work up some more space that she could do a more linear desk in there um or the vanity could become the nightstand that's true because yeah because we just have a floor plan so we don't actually know um right yeah so i'm dying to know do we get follow-up on this i want to know where yeah christy where is she let us know what happens christy yeah and if you don't like this plan send more images of the room send images of the room and what your backdrop is currently and let us like help you a little bit more because I feel like yeah I feel invested like do these does this furniture exist is this because I always say I'm always willing to work around like your heirloom pieces you know sometimes you're like I've had this bed forever came from blah blah blah you know it was my first big purchase or it came from my parents childhood bedroom you know and I'm like well that's cool that's that's got provenance let's make that work in the space.
1:07:08Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I'm dying to hear now. Christy, you have to tell us where you land. Yes, for sure. Okay. Sarah, tell everyone where they can find you, follow you and see your work. Instagram seems to be the jam. Oh my gosh. Look at that. Didn't mean to rhyme that. Or just our website, saraville.com. But we're always trying to keep fun, fresh content on Instagram. Our latest is a walkthrough of a home we did in Lincoln Park that was just like a very quick preview to the house. And it's been fun. It's been generating a lot of buzz. People have been excited about it. Yeah. Your website is beautiful.
1:07:53So I think people really get an idea of like the depth of your color loving from there too. So I hope everyone goes and visits your website because it's gorgeous. Yeah. Well, thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. This has been so my very first podcast. You'll always remember your first podcast. Thank you, ladies. No, thank you. I made it so easy. This is fun. 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.
1:08:31And of course, be sure to follow us on social media at Ballard Designs. 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. Until next time, happy decorating!
From the publisher
We are thrilled to welcome Chicago-based interior designer Sarah Vaile to the podcast! Known for her bold use of color, fresh traditional style, and making classic spaces feel lively, Sarah has built an incredible coast-to-coast design firm. After pivoting from a corporate advertising career in her late 20s, she trained under industry icon Celerie Kemble before striking out on her own.
Sarah sits down with Caroline, Taryn, and Liz to tackle one of interior design's absolute trickiest topics: scale. She shares her brilliant real-world hacks for testing furniture volume before you buy, why she loves wall-to-wall "sofa drenching" in tight spaces, and how to layout a dual-purpose office and guest room to conquer the dreaded "zoom gloom."
Quick Decorating Takeaways:
Scale is All About Visual Volume: Scale isn't just about simple dimensions; it's the balance of shapes, pattern, and mass in a room. When mixing antique and modern pieces, keep an eye on mass—newer furniture skews much larger ("California scale"), which can easily swallow up older heirloom items.
Get Physical in Your Space: Don't rely solely on 2D digital layouts. To build confidence before hitting buy, physically map out a room using blue painter's tape on the floor, arrange empty cardboard boxes to test physical height, or tape a 1-to-1 paper cutout of a light fixture straight to the wall.
Try "Sofa Drenching" in Small Rooms: Don't automatically buy a tiny love seat just because a room is tight. Small spaces can actually handle a giant sofa wrapped wall-to-wall. By making the entire room about the seating, you create an incredibly cozy, enveloping, and high-drama jewel box.
Don't Get Stranded on "Rug Island": A common design trap is placing a floating area rug in the dead center of a room with all your furniture pushed completely off it. To bridge your hard floors with your texturing, ensure your seating "straddles" both worlds by keeping their front feet on the rug and their back feet off.
Banish the Zoom Gloom: Dark colors like navy blue can throw an unflattering, shadowed cast on your face during computer calls. When designing a home office space, look for bright, invigorating colors that act like a flattering backdrop—think pistachios, corals, or soft apricots.
What You’ll Hear on This Episode:
00:34 Welcome to Sarah Vaile & an introduction to her style
02:22 Sarah's career pivot at 27, training at Parsons, and launching a firm during a recession
04:36 Business bank accounting tricks and going pro with a Virginia plantation project
06:00 Meeting an idol: How a hair salon appointment led to training under Celerie Kemble
08:53 Why scale is the single hardest part of design and accounting for project "breakage"
12:08 Moving past CAD: Using blue tape and physical mock-ups to save a layout
18:03 The vintage buying hack: Asking a person to stand in photos for sizing comparison
21:40 Dealing with post-holiday emptiness and shopping Ballard Designs' garland sales
27:13 Transitioning scales: Moving light fixtures from 10-foot ceilings down to 8 feet
30:21 Table lamps as the "mid-level jewels" that balance a room's high-low heights
31:04 Curtain guidelines: Maximizing drama with ceiling-mount hardware and massive art
37:18 How fabric patterns scale on furniture and what to avoid on tufted pieces
44:38 The magic of small rooms and why they are perfect for packing in big sofas
46:29 Rug guidelines: Double-rug zoning and custom on-site binding around a hearth
51:34 Decorating Dilemma: Solving a small, dark guest room/Zoom room from Virginia
56:40 Color trends and color seasons: The shift toward burnt oranges and terracotta
Also Mentioned:
Sarah Vaile Design | Website
Follow Sarah on Instagram: @SarahVaileDesign
Shop Ballard Designs
Please send in your questions so we can answer them on our next episode! And of course, subscribe to the podcast wherever you get your 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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