How to Decorate

Seriously charming Keith Arnold, Vice President of Suzanne Kasler Interiors, joins the podcast this week to talk about his path to design, the pyramid rule, flower arranging, and his new shop KeithEtc.

What You’ll Hear on This Episode:

How Keith started working with Suzanne over 15 years ago, the many jobs before that helped him in his wide array of roles now.

Keith’s background of attending Auburn University with a degree of Architecture, working in visual merchandising for Neiman Marcus and Martyn Lawrence Bullard.

How Keith and Suzanne collaborate and how he styles the photoshoots and projects.

Keith’s new collaborative venture, Keith Etc. To curate the best in both the old and the new.

The ways Keith and Suzanne use colors in big swathes and practice restraint yet an open mind when it comes to breaking the rules.

His love of the saffron color!

Why France is Keith’s favorite place to shop, and his favorite places in Atlanta.

The Pyramid Rule as a structure to start from in design for shelving.

The flowers Keith likes to use in a home, how he became an instant celebrity by using lemons in a flower arrangement.

Tulip styling tips, where Keith buys his flowers and plants, and why a flower should still look like a flower.

Mentioned In This Episode

Suzanne Kasler

Martyn Lawrence Bullard

Scott’s Antique Market

 Kenneth  Turner’s  Flower  Style

Alexa Hampton

@keithharrisarnold

@keith.etc

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are thrilled to talk to authors and design duo Brooke and Steve Giannetti of Giannetti home. Steve is an architect, and Brooke is an interior designer, and together they are the talent behind Patina Style, Patina Living, and Brooke’s cult favorite blog, Velvet & Linen. We caught up with them to talk about the importance of emotional connection, how their work as a duo came to be, their interests as a husband and wife duo, and to bust the myth that goats will eat absolutely anything.

What You’ll Hear on This Episode:Why Brooke thinks people have really caught on to her blog, Velvet & Linen.How Patina Style articulates the process of how to dream your design property, and Patina Farm demonstrates how they manifested the style and design philosophy at their beautiful farm in Ojai, CAHow they took the history and unique elements of Ojai to make sure their design reflected the story.The way they molded the different textures and materials together, and the inspiration Belgium gave them for putting a variety of pieces togetherHow long the Patina Farm took, the description of the inside and outside, and the challenges that arose along the way.Why in design it’s important to start at the emotional connection to the space.How they chose the plants and planning the outdoor spaces, and why we want to always think big and simple.How Brooke developed her passion for interiors and made a full time career of working with Steve in addition to their marital blissWhat they wish they would have done differently at Patina Farm.That no, goats won’t eat everything you give them, except for a yummy rose bush. Thorns and all.What they have up their sleeve next now that Patina Farm is pretty much a done deal.Why we need a focal point, and how we can create them.The most prized possessions (besides their animals and other living entities!) inside their home.What suggestions they would give to someone looking to bring their significant other into their design dreams.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Traci Zeller joins us in Charlotte to share her unique background and super interesting story of being a former lawyer turned interior designer. She talks with us about switching careers, her commitment to creating a rendering for each project, the inspiration behind her polished and put together style, and how it all practically plays out in her house with twin boys and a puppy.

What You’ll Hear on This Episode:

Trials of dogs breaking into cabinets, expensive inspection results, a rushed backyard construction project, and rocky 50th birthday.

Triumphs of animal print fashion (sorry you are left out camouflage!), good luck in the form of a baby robin’s nest, déja vu, and a beautiful vase.

Tips and tricks to clean the outdoor pillows that won’t leave you spending your whole time scrubbing.

Traci’s path into interior design, and how she knew it was time to leave her career as a lawyer to shift more into her career into interior design.

Dressing for our audience, and why Traci loves it much more now.

Why Taryn believes so much in renderings, and won’t do a project without them.

Organizational practices and systems that help Traci’s home remain polished yet practical with two twin boys and a puppy.

How her lines, although very different, carry a through line of Traci’s voice and style to sit well together.

Creating cohesion with different pieces and why we don’t need to matchy match everything.

How Traci mixed a traditional pattern with lavender trim to take a well received and beautiful bold room.

How Traci describes Southern style and how she applies it to practical living family homes.

The showroom inspired by French Couture and the Christian Dior exhibit.

Traci’s process when taking on a new client, and how she digs in to get a feel for how they live and what they love.

Materials that are best for families and hold up through a lot of wear and tear, and the two products she swears by for ink and stain disasters.

More about her adorable puppy Chloe and the plans for making her crate beautiful, fancy, and stylish using Ballard products.

Show Notes:

@tarynschwartz

Kayla Rose Instagram

Traci Zeller

@tracizeller

Of Rare Origin

Unique

 Amodex

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Designer Lisa Mende returns to the show to talk with us about designing our rooms to the fullest of their potential, and truly creating the home of your dreams. She also shares more about the ins and outs of renovation, her blog The Design Connector, and why design dilemmas are really just opportunities for us to be creative.

What You’ll Hear on This Episode:

An update on her famous pink sofa, and who else in her household may love it even more than her.

Why functionality is just as important as design, and how Lisa helps her clients use every room to the fullest of their function.

The crazy story of her studio roof leaking, and how it ended up being a blessing in renovation.

Yes, you can both make your home feel like a hotel and have a billiard table in the middle of your living room.

More about her blog, The Design Connector, and how it connects us with the people, products, and places we need to know about in the home design world.

What she loves about her work with Ballard, and how it inspires us to have a reimagined and fresh new look.

The brilliant solution to outdoor couch cushions, and a few of Lisa’s favorites in the outdoor Ballard products including Miles Redd’s collection.

Lisa’s answer to Caroline’s painting question for the ceiling in her soon to be new home.

How to still use neutral colors in a rich way when you may be not ready to commit to a color.

Why design dilemmas are not anything to freak out over but instead are actually great ways for us to be creative problem solvers.

Where one can buy leather or fake leather by the yard.

Lisa’s rules for using either satin or eggshell finish.

Mentioned In This Episode:

Lisa Mende Design

@lisamendedesign

The Design Connector

 Miles  Redd’s  Outdoor  Collection

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Holly Hollingsworth Phillips is a designer and owner of The English Room in Charlotte, North Carolina. We love her bold, colorful, and elegant style and how she mixes tradition of the past with the modern style of today. She talks with us today about how The English Room began, the different projects she has done ranging from super modern to traditional, her love of color, patterns, and layering, and why it’s more than okay to break the rules.

What You’ll Hear on This Episode:

Her work in the world of design from an early age, and how her mother inspired her to develop a passion for all things antique.Ways we can be confident about mixing it up with colors and patterns in our homes.Using art as an accent, and why what’s popular and trendy in the moment isn’t always right for us.How she loves to take antiques and make them modern with a playful twist.How Holly renovated her own home and even got to keep what’s known as “the naughty chair.”Advice on when to shop for antiques, and where to begin bringing them in the home.How she came to be the brand ambassador for Florence Broadhurst.Her opportunity in the fall to do a room in a showhouse as Florence Broadhurst using her new rug collection, furniture, fabric and wallpaper.Her personal use of “crazy” pattern and color.The importance of looking at measurements before you buy anything.How to balance finding great antiques with longevity, even though you know it may not be your forever home.Why a great sofa could (and should) last you several decades. It’s okay to change up your color, and realize it’s the layers and the mix that makes it interesting, rather than matching everything and achieving perfection.How Holly decides what spaces call for drapery vs. Roman shades, and her love of a blackout curtains.Why you may want to rethink painting your nursery yellow.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amy Vermillion joins the show to talk about her style that has been described as “comfortably elegant.” We talk about how good design can make your life easier, paint colors, an 80's house she brought into the 21st century, and her love of chandeliers.

What You’ll Hear on This Episode:

The renovation Amy has done again (and again!) from everything including the porch, office and master bedroom.The rule Amy uses when picking pieces that will be permanent and timeless. Her biggest design pet peeves, and why we should all just do what we love.The polarizing topics of gray, brown furniture, and a glimpse into the custom details she does for her clients.Amy’s love of a chandelier as decorative jewelry for the ceiling.Her description of a true 80’s house (but don’t knock a great wet bar in the den!)What is a scullery, and why would someone who entertains love one?How Amy gets to know her clients so she can design a space that functions for their lifestyleWe talk about the rising popularity of librariesWhat people are doing with their TV’s now that they are getting larger than ever.We talk paint colors and why it's so tricky to give someone a paint recommendationHow to address family photos to make them sleek and beautiful

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Designer Cheryl Luckett joins the show today to talk about form, function, and why we should love a good antique. She shares her background story as a professional dietician turned blogger and talks about pairing multiple fabrics together, where to invest and where to save, and the details people most often overlook.

What You’ll Hear on This Episode:Cheryl’s story of working in corporate America for 15 years as a dietician and what led her to a path of design.How to take an antique and make it work to add depth, history, and warmth to a home.More about Cheryl’s experience as a blogger and ways she loves communicating with her clients and followers.What are good pieces to invest in, and where you can save.How we pair two fabrics together, and examples of recent clients where she put it to the test.The details people often overlook, which can help you save time by knowing where your TV remote iThe importance of form and function when creating a cozy yet sleek aesthetic.When you should spend a whole night in your own guest quarters.The essentials of what to put in a guest bathroom and bedroom. Get that plunger ready!Why the smallest knick-knack can have a huge impression on creating a “lived in” feeling in a home.Our love of white towels and pillows with just the right amount of fluff.White towels.Why we should live with something a few days before we make a final verdict on whether we like it or not, or if it works for our home.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Award-winning decorator Susan Ferrier joins the show today. Known for creating sensuous, atmospheric interiors, Susan created Susan Ferrier Interiors and co-authored the book Art of the House. She talks about how she lights a room while creating drama, creating an architectural rhythm and symmetry in a room, breaking rules, and being bold.

What You’ll Hear on This Episode:Why Susan believes the people in the room need to be the pattern.Her creative and explorative use of texture, and strategy of creating shadow with light and darker tones.Her rule of thumb for having a way to read and drink wherever you sit in a room.The two reasons she loves banquettes.How she got into the business, and why she decided to start her own firm, Susan Ferrier Interiors.How she gets inspired by her projects and the ways she digs in to develop a relationship with the people behind every project.How she balances her clients’ with her own personal sense of style and expert quality of being what she refers to as a “visual mathematician”.Which design rules we should be following, and which ones are meant to be broken.The analogy of decorating our homes compared to dressing appropriately for our body type.How we can afford to raise the dynamic design in our kitchens.How Susan challenges the visual aspect of design by combining age with the sleek, modern, and shiny.Susan’s rule for using metals, and if she thinks it will go out of style anytime soon.What we can do to show those 1980’s homes some love and highlight the positive attributHow she lays out a room, and ways we can work with the view to best socialize the spaceHow to not have the price tag displayed on the back of a mirror or painting, and instead have a clean and consistent view.The foundation of creating a good interior for both very large spaces and smaller scale projects.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Decorator Fran Keenan joins the show this week to discuss her transition from magazine editor at Cottage Living to working with clients, and where she fell in love with the idea of functional and beautiful living. She also talks about how her family influences her work and vice versa, her love of transformation, what colors she currently loves working with most, and the importance of staying true to the personal narrative of the client.

Fran’s background as an editor at Cottage Living, and how that influences her to this very day when working on a design project.What steps Fran took to launch her career as an interior designer, and how it went along with the time in her life where she wanted flexibility to spend time with her family.What Fran loves most about working with homeowners.More about the “alphabet” room, and ways Fran has succeeded from thinking outside of the box.How to not have a boring laundry room — drinks anyone?!Fran’s love of mixing functionality with style and warmth.Her use of earthy colors in a way that still feels fresh and energetic.Creative ways Fran pulls color throughout the house and creates a seamless transition throughout rooms.The rule of thumb when it comes to painting moving objects inside the house.A glimpse into the transformation of her own house, and the hilarious take her kids have on what type of houses she buys.How the design process works when Fran moves into a new house, and the lessons of reprocessing within each change.Mixing high and low. Where Fran splurges, and where she uses Ikea.The use of book shelf displays in a way that coincides with the best use of space.How to safeguard against common issues of creating a “Pretty House Prison”.Starting points for using textiles and patterns to bring both a modern sleekness and primitive warmth to the house.Storage solutions of hooks, baskets and hanging things!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stylist, writer, editor and producer Stacy Kunstel swings by to talk about the fun of adding colors, how she works with interior designers, where she finds inspiration as a stylist and why it call comes down to being different in design. She also discusses what’s new in style and what we can expect in a few years, along with her personal favorite trends.

What You’ll Hear on This Episode:

Stacy’s attraction to big colors and patterns, and how she mixes it with the traditional.

Why tradition doesn’t have to be boring - it can be big, bright and graphic.

Color makes people happy!

How Stacy picked the colors in her product line that were both on trend and ones she loved that has stood the test of time.

Stacy’s encouragement to mix lacquer with natural wood.

More about her furniture line, and how it came to be.

Why it’s your personality and point of view that makes the space so special and a feature so interesting.

Why taking some time to sit and organize ideas and visions is a game changer.

What a “drink drop” table is, and why they are so important.

A glimpse into Stacy’s job, and the many skills she needs to have to do her job as a stylist.

Tips for folks on what to leave on their dining room table.

Stacy’s advice to stick to the wedding theme when decorating. Go for something old, new, borrowed and blue.

Stacy’s favorite publications to get style inspiration and ideas.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices