Today’s bonus episode marks four years since we started the How to Decorate podcast! We talk about our favorite takeaways, tips and tools learned over the years. We are so grateful for all of our wonderful listeners and the amazing guests we’ve had and look forward to way more fun ahead. Listen in for some of our takeaways about treating your room as a vignette, why we aren’t mad at brown furniture, and a little more of the personal ways we’ve grown and changed throughout the past four years.
What You’ll Hear on This Episode:

Your house should be the most glamorous version of yourself.

One of the biggest takeaways we’ve learned is there is no “right” or “wrong” when it comes to design.

Brown furniture was an unexpected key player to emerge.

Tone value is such an important learning tool to apply across the board.

Treating the rooms as vignettes is a simple and manageable way to break up a project.

One of the easiest and most instant ways to change it up? Paint!

The personal changes we’ve all been through since we started the podcast.

Having a plan before you begin helps you reach your full vision and less like you’re never finished.

How much energy is saved using LED lights vs. traditional lightbulbs and all the other things we’ve learned about lighting.

“The Cantaloupe Rule”—no accessories smaller than a cantaloupe!


Performance fabrics will save you many headaches in the long run.

The important relationship between designer and architect.

You should respect and decorate specific to house style while finding ways to infuse other elements.

The relationship between a designer and a client is so personal.

We’ve learned how important measuring is. Or have we? Use our room planner tool!

Contrast brings a space to life; textures, finishes, colors, styles, shapes, etc.

How your wardrobe and personal style can be a reflection of your design style.

We can admire a someone else’s style or approach while not adopting it for ourselves; but there are ways to take elements and apply them towards our own design.

Really study how you live to see if your home is (still) working for you.

You don’t have to buy everything for your room all at once; especially expensive items.


Mentioned In This Episode:
Ballard Designs

Find all of the show notes at Ballarddesigns.com/podcast.