Ep. 422: Trials and Triumphs

How to Decorate

Caroline McDonald

Arts, Business, Design

4.4 • 838 Ratings

🗓️ 15 July 2025

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Join Caroline, Liz, and Taryn as they dive into their latest decorating trials and triumphs! In this episode, they share personal stories about DIY projects, home renovations, and creative adventures that highlight the joys—and sometimes challenges—of home decorating. Taryn kicks things off with her resourceful project dyeing bed skirts to match her bedroom wallpaper, achieving the perfect subtle blue-green shade. She also updates us on finishing a mural in her dining room and the ongoing process of finding just the right art for her space—plus the emotional satisfaction of checking rooms off her list. Liz discusses her basement storage renovation, highlighting lessons learned about contractor communication and expectations management. She also shares her experience with choosing a new paint color for her dining room, exploring how natural light and outdoor elements influence colors throughout the seasons. Caroline talks about her recent needlepoint stockings for her family—offering insights into her creative process and upcoming upholstery projects, including a custom daybed for her daughter. And before wrapping up, they all share some fun travel plans, like Liz's sidecar tour of Paris and Caroline's upcoming trip to France. What You'll Hear on This Episode: 0:00 Introduction & Quick Updates 1:00 Dyeing Bed Skirts & Finishing the Dining Room Mural 6:45 Decorating Challenges & Room Checklists 11:20 Basement Storage Renovation: Lessons & Expectations 16:30 Painting Colors & Seasonal Light Effects 27:00 Creative Projects: Stockings & Upholstery Plans 37:00 Travel Tales & Paris Adventures 42:00 Wrap-up & Housekeeping Also Mentioned: Shop Ballard Designs⁠ | Website Please send in your questions so we can answer them on our next episode! And of course, subscribe to the podcast in Apple 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! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to How to Decorate from Ballard Designs, a weekly podcast all about the trials and triumphs of decorating and redecorating your home.
0:09.1	I'm Caroline. I'm on the marketing team. And I'm Taryn and I'm a product designer. I'm Liz. I head of the creative team.
0:14.7	We're your host. Join the expert team at Ballard Designs for tips, tricks, and tales from interior designers, stylists,
0:22.3	and other talents in the design world.
0:25.2	Plus, we'll answer your decorating dilemmas at the end of each episode.
0:30.2	We love answering your questions, so don't forget to email us at podcast at balderdesigns.net.
0:31.6	Now on with the show.
0:36.9	Ladies, we have not done trials and triumphs in a hot minute.
0:38.7	So that is what we are here to do.
0:43.0	And who wants to go first? Not it.
0:49.4	What a good start. Also, not it. I'll start.
0:54.5	No, I'm good. Okay. I'll start. I wrote my down in advance. You're all welcome. I'm just kidding.
0:56.0	I was prepared this time.
0:58.4	Some things I've been doing recently.
1:04.1	So I think I talked about how I redid my younger son's room and put in two twin beds.
1:05.5	Finally got his crib out.
1:07.1	He is way into four.
1:09.3	Should have happened earlier, but it didn't.
1:18.4	So I had put the trim on the bed on the actual duvets.
1:24.4	And so I had just these white, very basic bed skirts.
1:32.7	And my mom had actually purchased me two creamy bed skirts from Ollie's at some point for like $2 each. Something she just likes to shop and she was like, oh, I'm here. And I was like, sure. If I put these to
1:37.9	Goodwill, they will, it will be fine. So I was like, I don't think these match the actual duvet, but I'm just going to get them and see.
	...

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