Ep. 308: Mixing Patterns in a Neutral Room w/ Design Alchemy

How to Decorate

Caroline McDonald

Arts, Business, Design

4.4 • 838 Ratings

🗓️ 10 May 2023

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Our guests this week are Deborah Costa and Kristine Renee, the mother-daughter design duo behind interior design studio Design Alchemy, based out of Sacramento, California. They join us to talk about creating patterns in neutral rooms that are timeless and fit your style. Deborah and Kristine give some great ideas for warming up a room, why Kristine loves a good bathroom project, and the importance of the architectural elements of a space that are primarily important to her. What You’ll Hear On This Episode: How did Deborah and Kristine form Design Alchemy? Why did Christine and Deborah decide to partner up and become a design duo, and what is it like working as a mother-and-daughter team? How are each of their styles different? What is the appeal of a neutral space? How to use patterns in a neutral space to make it feel tranquil yet also welcoming. Deborah and Kristine talk about knowing what pattern to pick and the different feel behind stripes, florals, etc. How can you see what may work and what won’t? What patterns are Deborah and Kristine loving right now? How about color patterns that pair well together? Mentioned in This Episode: Design Alchemy Instagram Decorating Dilemma: First off, we just want to start by saying great work for going with a pattern on your accent chair, an interesting arm on your sofa, and picking out a rug in your dining room. We could totally tell that you love design and have great taste. Here are some suggestions: putting the blue piece behind the sofa and finding some great sconces behind the sofa would anchor that area. Maybe brass or a polished nickel, or something with a metallic element to bring in some reflection and some interest. The upholstery on the sofa is fine, and maybe a colorful nubby throw on the Ottoman could create multiple spaces in the environment. We recommend you try to section off the living room from the dining room and create an interesting story in each that are complementary, but not necessarily the same. Maybe like a bold window treatment in velvet. We think you are being too hard on your sofa, and do you really want to be cleaning a white sofa with kids? For more white, maybe adding some white pillows could go a long way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to How to Decorate from Ballard Designs, a podcast all about the trials and triumphs of decorating and redecorating your home.
0:08.7	Each week will help you unleash your inner decorator.
0:11.6	I'm Caroline, and I'm on the marketing team.
0:13.7	And I'm Taryn, and I'm a product designer.
0:15.8	And I'm Liz.
0:16.5	I head up the Ballard creative team.
0:18.2	We're your host. Join the expert team at Ballard Designs
0:21.6	for tips, tricks, and tales from interior designers, stylists, and other talents in the design world.
0:25.9	Plus, we'll answer our listener question at the end of each show. So don't forget to send them
0:29.7	to podcast of Ballarddesigns.net. Yes, we love answering them. Now on with the show.
0:35.8	All right, our guest today are Deborah Costa and Christine Renee, the mother-daughter design duo
0:40.5	behind interior design studio, design alchemy, based out of Sacramento, California.
0:46.2	Design Alchemy is a nationwide design firm specializing in architectural estates, large-scale
0:50.8	renovations, and new build residences, which is something Christine and
0:54.3	Deborah's individual design careers and specialties blend together to accomplish. So,
0:59.2	Deborah and Christine, welcome to the show. Thank you so much. We're happy to be here.
1:03.1	So today, we're mostly going to talk. We're trying to focus around using pattern in a neutral
1:08.6	space, because if anyone goes and checks out your website or your social
1:13.6	media, which I encourage everybody to do because it's so beautiful, they'll notice that you use a lot
1:18.0	of neutrals, but your spaces are not, like they're not boring, they still have tons of
1:23.2	interest and texture and in some cases a lot of pattern. And I think that that's something that often when we talk about pattern, it's in the context of color.
1:32.3	So how can you use pattern in a neutral palette, you know, and still kind of achieve that
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Caroline McDonald, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Caroline McDonald and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.