Ep. 481: Meg Braff, Gracious Interiors

0:01Low energy, unfocused, foggy, you might be dehydrated. Whether it's hot yoga, over 100 degree weather, or too much sun. Gatorlite, with a specialized blend of five electrolytes, was scientifically designed to help move fluids into the body faster for rapid rehydration. Shop now at retailers nationwide. Gatorlite hydrates faster than water. Is it in you? Symptoms noted are signs of mild to moderate dehydration. Consult a healthcare professional if symptoms persist. Welcome to How to Decorate from Ballard Designs, a weekly podcast all about the trials and triumphs of decorating and redecorating your home.

0:38I'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. Our guest today grew up in Mississippi, watching her mother and grandmother entertain with natural grace and charm, and she's been recreating that for clients ever since.

1:11She was actually one of our very first guests back in 2017 when she joined us to talk about her first book, The Decorated Home, and now she's back with her second, Gracious Interiors, out now from Rizzoli. It's an in-depth look at nine family homes, including her own, a 1950s Locust Valley New York ranch. She completely transformed. Meg Braff, welcome back to the show. Thank you. So nice to be here. We're so happy to have you back. Of course, last time we were at Karen's house, we were drinking wine, but congratulations on the new book. Thank you. Oh, we're so excited. It's coming out September 8th, and I'm really just thrilled about it.

1:52Turned out great. Yes. Well, I loved the, you know, I think in the introduction you talk about learning so much from your mom and grandmother growing up. And I thought maybe we could start there. You know, you've lived in New York most of your adult life. But how do you think growing up in that environment informed your decorating and how you've worked with clients? Well, I would say starting with both my mom and my grandmother, my father's mother, did a lot of entertaining growing up and often including me and to be part of that. So I feel like I learned from a lot of their traditions that they, you know, every year my grandmother would have a Christmas luncheon for myself.

2:41And I was allowed to invite, you know, maybe six or seven friends to come. And we would drive to her house an hour away. And she would have this very proper Christmas lunch that she sort of went all out on. And it was just all my friends look forward to going every year. It was like a really big deal to get to go. and and my mom also just she would do everything like I look back you know she would you know have a dinner she would cook the entire meal herself she would have everything so beautifully organized and you know set a beautiful table and I would sometimes help her you know you know in my nightgown kind of coming around and helping with passing something or and that was really a lot of fun.

3:25But I think in terms of decorating, I feel like we, at the beginning of a project, we spend so much time thinking about how the client really lives and how to really maximize their house. So, you know, we might look at a number of ways that they could entertain in the house. They could have dinner for six over here. We could do a long table for 30 outside. You know, we'll sort of think of different ways to use the rooms and try to make sure that we're giving them the most amount of options as possible. So I think that we're really good at putting a lot of thought on the front end and also just making sure that the floor plans are optimized, you know, making sure that the house itself, whether it be doing some architectural tweaks or, you know, enlarging a doorway to sort of create more of a balance between two rooms.

4:14I think those are things that we really value. And at the very beginning of a project, we look at all of that. So yeah, I love that idea of, having different spaces for different size groups. You know, most people, of course, are going to have a dining room and perhaps they're limited by the size of the dining room, but you could always add a breakfast room or you talk about outdoors. I mean, outdoor spaces are just an extension of the inside. We try to, you know, we add awnings or pergolas or covered porches. We try to make the outside as, you know, easy to use as possible. Like sometimes we'll add an outdoor fireplace so that it can prolong the season, you know, that you can have dinners in October outside or, but we do, we do really enjoy going through that process.

5:06And it's also a great way to learn about the client and how they live. And it also, you know, it informs other decisions with regards to decorating. So. Yeah. Well, the book starts with your own home in Locust Valley, which you mentioned that you've relocated, but so you're not necessarily there all the time. But we live in Florida now, but we love Locust Valley. This is really home. This is where we raised our children. So it was really exciting to find. We looked for years at lots of, I saw every house in Locust Valley that's been on the market in the last 30 years. We landed on a property that had a ranch style house.

5:46It was a one-story house with, it had pretty nicely scaled rooms, actually. It was on a great piece of property backing up to a golf club. And we set about, you know, drawing up plans for this house that was kind of, it was kind of a hideous looking house, actually. I do have some before pictures somewhere. But we added a second floor. We wanted it to feel like it had always been here. So, So the direction that we went was sort of a Regency-style house because I do like a little symmetry, and I like the ceiling heights of a Regency-style house. And we picked a very nice brick. Even though we knew we were going to whitewash the house, we wanted it to feel, again, like it had some texture and some depth to it.

6:33And we went about building this house, and it was such a great experience for me as a designer to go through that process. in the end I sort of became the general contractor and it was a great course of learning for me like I wouldn't it was it was painful at times but I wouldn't trade it for anything because I feel like it's made me a better designer and it helps me anticipate problems in my clients construction projects and it was really exciting to get to have the opportunity to do that What were some of the most impactful changes you made in the renovation? Were there certain things that just really paid off?

7:12We only kept one room in this project, which was a library, which was, I really kept it, not that it was the most beautiful library I had ever seen. Actually, the wood was sort of not a great color and not really fixable. So we ended up lacquering that room of really pretty short, true screen. But other than that room, we kept the footprint of the house exactly where it was. We kept the basement. We just completely gutted the basement and added nano doors that led you to the pool from the basement. So it felt less like a basement. We added a second floor with four bedrooms upstairs and a family room, which was great improvement.

7:53And the doors and windows in the library, which is the room that we kept, had this very large pane of glass. And I just, I loved how, I love the scale of it and how it let so much light into the house. And we basically duplicated that throughout the ground floor, those doors. So almost every room, including my bathroom and my husband's bathroom, basically almost every room has a door to a garden to go out on the main floor, which is really nice. I mean, I open them a lot, actually. I mean, it's nice just to be able to open a door and walk outside. Yeah, yeah. There were a couple of things that, you know, you did in your home, but that you also sort of do as, I guess, repeating gestures or maybe just things that always work.

8:43And one of them is the sort of a bedroom with a great, fabulous wallpaper. And then you keep a lot of the furnishings a little bit more quiet, maybe, you know, a solid board or a solid bed. And it just kept coming up like it worked in a vacation home and a, you know, a home in Locust Valley, New York or in a variety of personal style. So I was curious, like, what is it about that that works so well? And is that something you think a person could do on their own if they're not working with a designer? Absolutely. I think it's the easiest thing to do because you can also just lean into that wallpaper or paperback fabric or whatever it is on the walls and you can repeat that on the shades and repeat it on the furniture or just kind of lean into like a solid and a very tonal type of way.

9:35We like to add pattern on pattern just because it's fun. And I think people love to feel enveloped in a bedroom. And I feel like wallpaper or a paperback, sometimes we put wallpaper on the back of fabric and hang it like wallpaper. But I think it adds warmth. It adds interest at eye level. Sometimes if you have, you know, not great architecture, it's a great way to make a room just feel more special. And especially in a guest room, I think we almost always wallpaper the guest rooms just because it just feels like you're expected. It feels special and And you want it to be memorable when a guest is staying with you.

10:22You almost can make the one dramatic statement and then you almost don't. You do a lot of other things. But you can imagine how you wouldn't have to do a lot of other things. But it still feels finished. You could just do that and it will just feel like you've made an enormous effort for whoever's staying there. Yeah. Well, you mentioned in one of the chapters about guest rooms. Yes. Wanting, you know, part of being a great hostess is having your guests not think that you, or that they inconvenienced you. Right. And I loved that thought. And I was curious, you know, maybe you could walk our listeners through what that means in a practical act.

11:05Yeah. Well, I think it's whether, if you're hosting a dinner party or a cocktail party or a lunch, I think it's just really important to be present. Like you don't want to be constantly running around looking for a serving piece or something like that. I mean, whether you have people helping you or not, I think there's a lot of thoughtfulness that can go into preparing to entertain. So I think that's the key thing is, you know, have your music set, have all those things that you can do in advance, you know, buy the wine the day before, you know, the week before, get all your napkins pressed, you know, not the day of the party.

11:42I think you can do a lot in advance so that because you want to just make your guests feel like it was very effortless and that you are completely present and you just want to have fun and see your friends. So, and I think if it's someone staying with you, I think, again, just make sure that their medicine cabinet is, you know, either empty or maybe filled with some of your favorite shampoos and vaso oils and things like that. Again, just so they feel like they were expected having a little carafe of water next to the bed. Or I usually put a little plate with some fruit and a knife. And I think those little touches are actually quite nice.

12:21There might be a little note there saying what the Wi-Fi password is or, you know, those kinds of things. Well, right. And if you've thought about their needs, I guess, or things that might come up, then they don't have to ask you. That's right. You know, where's your Advil or what's the Wi-Fi password? And then they feel more comfortable because they're not having to ask you for extras. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, I wanted to know, you say you entertain a lot, and what does the hour before guests show up for a dinner party or a cocktail party look like for you? What are you doing the hour before? I'll be honest, I'm just getting dressed.

12:59I feel like I really go out of my way. Sometimes we'll even, if it's a very kind of specific dinner where we've had tablecloths made and we want to be sure we have the right count and everything. I mean, I will even the day before set the table and then unset it just to make sure there's not going to be a big surprise, you know, because, you know, I might think, oh, I have all my bamboo flatware here in Locust Valley, but actually I might have taken it to Newport or something like that. So we really do look at the count, make sure the vases are the right size, make sure we have the right. I mean, I usually do the flowers.

13:34Jason Schwartz, who works with me, is like an incredible flower. I mean, he just, he's so good with flowers. So we have a lot of fun with that and try to do it together. That gets done the day of the party, but not the hour before, thankfully. But it's nice. I try to get the music going at least an hour before the party and make it feel like, you know, just getting ready time. So you're just taking care of yourself at that point. That's right. You're not working on the table or anything. That's right. I love that idea. And then are you dressed and like drinking a cocktail five minutes before? In a perfect world, yes.

14:12Yes. You mentioned the flowers and the flatware. I love the idea of doing a dress rehearsal. It really takes all that anxiety out of entertaining. When you know the music works, because I've had parties where the music didn't work, so I've learned my lesson there. But it's really, it's so enjoyable to do it when you know everything is going to work. Yeah. And then the only things that are not in your control are things like the weather. But I have a covered terrace in Florida and also here in Locust Valley. And I can seat a lot of people. I basically usually don't invite more people than I can seat under my covered terrace because I'm too nervous about the rain.

14:53We talked about wallpaper, and I have not mentioned that you have a wallpaper and fabric line. Yes, I do. Yeah. So is that, tell us about how that came about and. Oh, it's really, I'm so fortunate that this happened because it's really, it's also sort of just been such a game changer with my design business, having that as a resource. But years ago, I was looking at buying a fabric and wallpaper company that was based down south. And I was going through that whole due diligence. And there was another person who was also interested in buying it. We both ended up taking a pass. But then he called me months later and said, oh, I have this other thing if you're interested.

15:38He was interested in one piece. And there were five other lines that were available to be purchased. So we sort of split it. I bought the five. he bought the one. And that was about 18 years ago. And it started just very slow and kind of sleepy where we were just trying new colorways and trying new crowns and just taking our time with it. And it's really evolved. I think we have like 450 SKUs now. I mean, it's really a pretty expansive collection. And we print on grass cloth and raffia and mylar. We have a lot of different grounds that we use. And we're also printing outdoor fabrics and obviously indoor fabrics that match our wallpapers.

16:24So, but it was kind of an exciting thing. And every time we start a new project, you know, we don't, I mean, I don't use my wallpapers and fabrics on every project, but there's usually at least one room where we create something new. We start from scratch and we take one of our patterns, maybe the client's favorite color is lavender or blue, and we'll pick something and we'll maybe recolor it in three shades of, you know, their favorite blues. And it's sort of a fun way to have something very unique in their house. And we can also, it's great. It's nice that we can do that. It's probably at a more palatable price point because we have such low minimums.

17:03And then we're also able to do it very quickly just because we have our own print shop. So what do you think are some misconceptions people might have about using wallpaper or things that maybe they should know that might make the process a little bit less scary? Yeah. I mean, the only place that we don't use wallpaper is maybe if we're doing work in the islands. Like that, I wouldn't recommend it necessarily for like, you know, Jamaica, Antigua, something like that. But I think everywhere else, like in Florida, where there's a lot of humidity, wallpaper does just fine. We use wallpaper on pretty much every project in Florida and places that are pretty tropical.

17:42So I think it's such a great way to just add some depth and impact to a room. If you have amazing architecture and amazing, you know, room proportions and all of that, I think paint, you know, is also a great option. But if you are lacking at any of those things, I think wallpaper is a really great way of balancing that out and helping to camouflage architectural flaws and things like that. What about someone who maybe is scared? Because I think the rooms where you have used a really bold print, which is so many spaces, you can really see the gorgeous pattern and the gorgeous colors. But it's scary because it's a big investment and it's a lot of bold pattern.

18:34It is a lot of pattern. But also, we sometimes just do a simple grass cloth or something. I think for somebody who's less interested in having bold pattern and bold color, I think a grass cloth is such a great way to do it because it has depth to it. You know, it adds more warmth than just a painted wall. I mean sometimes even a paperback felt or like a billiards cloth or something like that is kind of a nice way to go as well. It just adds a lot. It really does. Like in photos, for example, it's almost hard to tell sometimes that there's a sisal or a grass cloth on the wall. But when you're in the room, there's a real feeling to it.

19:21Can you describe that for our listeners? Sure. I think it just feels very finished. It feels, it adds texture, warmth. It just feels, you know, it feels much more finished than just a sheetrocked wall. I mean, you know, unless you're doing a really great locker or some kind of decorative treatment in the walls, I feel like it really adds so much. And one of the things that you're not afraid of, especially, you know, kind of going back to a bold pattern, is putting art on top of the wallpaper. and obviously, you know, you do mirrors and art and all sorts of things. And I was just curious if there, if you typically have the art picked out before you're sourcing the wallpaper or if you're, where in the process you're adding those pieces.

20:13Right. So I would say if we're going into a project where the client has a lot of art, we do, at the beginning of the project, try, we attempt to place the art so that we know where it might be going. Like if there's like a particular painting that's something meaningful to them, but maybe we feel like it's not going to set the right tone downstairs like that. And maybe we don't want to build a room around it. It might wind up in the upstairs landing or something like that where it has its own moment, but it doesn't dictate the decoration for the house, sort of. low energy unfocused foggy you might be dehydrated gatorade zero powders have been scientifically designed to help improve hydration balance in the body with a clinically proven electrolyte blend and no artificial colors or flavors great tasting hydration no matter where you're going shop now online or at retailers nationwide gatorade hydrates better than water is it in you symptoms noted are signs of mild to moderate dehydration.

21:18Consult a healthcare professional if symptoms persist. But we also buy, we try to buy a lot of original art. I mean, it's not an easy thing to source, but we go to a lot of shows and a lot of, you know, there's a lot available online as well that you can sort of do a lot of research and try to narrow things down. We try to have things that feel like they belong in the room. I don't love it when there's something that's completely out of left field. I wouldn't say we'd match it to the room, but I feel like we do make a, we focus on the scale. We want to make sure that the scale is appropriate if it's going over a certain piece of furniture or a sofa or a chest.

21:58And the same thing with mirrors. I mean, we pretty much have a mirror in every room because it makes the room feel bigger. It adds depth and reflection and helps the light, especially if it's a room with no window, If it's like a hallway or, you know, it's just a great way of capturing light from other rooms and getting the light dispersed into that room that might be locking a window. So no concern about putting art on top of wallpaper. That's not something that our listeners should be worried about. No, I think you can put it right on wallpaper. I mean, again, it's important to consider it and make sure that, you know, you feel that they somehow speak to each other just a little bit, quietly even.

22:43But I think it's great. One of the houses that I really loved to see was the main project. Such a dreamy house. Yes. Tell our listeners about the house. They bought it fully furnished. So I've had lots of questions about that. Okay, they bought the house furnished, which is what you do in Maine. You buy the house furnished, it comes with the sheets, all the dishes, everything. So the funny thing about this house is my client said, we would like to spend the summer in this house. And I think maybe when she bought it, it was maybe April, mid-April or something like that. so I quickly had my curtain person go and another person was also there someone from my office and they went they took pictures they we measured for curtains and I the one thing I said was I won't order carpets until I can physically get to the house myself I want to go in and really see everything I didn't want to somehow make a mistake on the carpets.

23:52So we got the curtains done. We had a lot of things done. We got a lot of slipcovers made and things like that. And then when I finally arrived to see the house, there was a grand piano in the living room that no one had mentioned or took a picture of. So it's a very big living room. So you could, it could easily just have been, you know, stuffed into the corner, I guess. But that was sort of funny that seeing that piano when I walked in the room, I was a little surprised that no one mentioned it. What a big omission. But it was a great project. I mean, we did it during COVID and photographed it during COVID, which was another great, fun experience with Flower Magazine.

24:36But it was a charming house. I mean, that house just has so much charm architecturally. It's just so special. And they're just a great family. good friends. I'd love to know more about, you know, working with the existing pieces. Did you move things around? We did. We moved them all over the house. And we bought a lot of new things for that house. But we did try to take what was the best of what was there and just make it work. And, you know, her mother-in-law had given a few pieces and we bought the things we didn't have. We just, we purchased and we, you know, most of them were antiques or vintage because we wanted everything in the house to feel, you wanted it to feel kind of like it was always there, but just a little bit better than what was there.

25:17So it was great. When you're working with existing pieces, where in the process are you working them in? Are you planning rooms around them? Are you building the layout and then slotting them in where things feel right? Well, we always start with a floor plan and we try to, except for this house, actually, So this was a little bit different just because they did buy it furnished. So we did move things around. We knew certain pieces. There was like a lot of chairs. So we just knew that the chairs were going to wind up in a lot of different bedrooms in the corner. And, you know, this was a little bit of a different project.

25:59But typically, we let the floor plans be the guy to tell us what to do. and then we shop and source and move things around according to the floor plan because we know that works on paper and it's going to work, you know, in real life. So that is the most important thing that we do at the beginning of every project is a really thorough plan. Well, you know, we just often get questions from people that maybe they have something that is from a partner's family or their family. Right, right. We do prioritize those things. But I also say to everyone, you know, keep the things that are sentimental to you.

26:38I'm sure we can find a home for them. But if it's something aesthetically that is really detracting from the house, I would prefer to put it somewhere that can minimize its impact, if that makes sense. So, you know, a piano, this was actually a good looking piano, so that was fine. And we had, again, some sentimental pieces that belonged to their families. And those were all very attractive looking and, you know, it was all things we were happy to be working with. But every so often you get a few things that are, you know, less desirable, but they still need to be incorporated. So, you know, again, upstairs landing.

27:20Low energy, unfocused, foggy, you might be dehydrated. Gatorade Zero powders have been scientifically designed to help improve hydration balance in the body. with a clinically proven electrolyte blend and no artificial colors or flavors. Great tasting hydration no matter where you're going. Shop now online or at retailers nationwide. Gatorade hydrates better than water. Is it in you? Symptoms noted are signs of mild to moderate dehydration. Consult a healthcare professional if symptoms persist. Well, how do you do it? Do you find things that will complement it? Do you build a vignette around it?

27:57Yeah, I think it depends on what it is. I feel like, again, I would probably put it in a space that might not, I probably wouldn't put it in the living room. You know, whatever it is. Like, let's just say it was a painting or let's say it's a sideboard or a console or something like that that maybe came from someone's family house. I mean, it might wind up like in the hallway or in an upstairs landing or in a place where there are just fewer things to work around it, if that makes sense. That's what I would strive to do that. You mentioned slip covering and reupholstering things. What are some things that you can give our listeners if they're maybe a little bit nervous about reupholstering things?

28:44I feel like it takes a lot of vision to imagine what the finished piece is going to look like. And that can be a little bit scary. Yes. So I would say with reupholstery, just in general, pay a lot of attention to the details. Because you might be working with an upholsterer that you haven't worked with before, who might just assume that you want the fabric going a certain direction. And maybe it needs to be railroaded because maybe you don't want seams. And so there are lots of things like that to consider or, you know, how the welt is going to be done or the base of the chair. You know, there are just a lot of things to consider.