Ep. 433: Elements of Timeless Style with Erin Gates

How to Decorate

Caroline McDonald

Arts, Business, Design

4.4 • 838 Ratings

🗓️ 30 September 2025

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Join Caroline and Taryn as they welcome designer and bestselling author Erin Gates to the show to discuss her latest book, "Elements of Timeless Style." Erin traces the book’s origins, the story of finding and renovating her “forever” 1895 home, and candid lessons from renovating while raising a family. Erin also shares practical decorating advice from the book: why to live in a house before a full gut renovation, how to balance splurge vs. save choices, hiring trustworthy trades, paint and palette tips, and designing durable, layered, family-friendly rooms that can evolve over time. "Elements of Timeless Style" is available to order as of this episode's release date, 9/30/2025. Order your copy here: https://bit.ly/4mKHcSB What You'll Hear in This Episode: 00:00 Welcome to How to Decorate from Ballard Designs 00:34 Introducing Erin Gates and Her New Book 01:16 Why a Third Book — Elements of Timeless Style 03:58 Finding the Forever Home 09:26 Phased Renovations: What Worked and What Changed 13:37 Lessons from Renovations (budgets, timelines, contractors) 21:06 Designing Flexible, Family-Friendly Spaces 23:10 Planning for Longevity vs. Temporary Touches 24:00 The Barn, Patio, and Outdoor Plans (and sticker shock) 25:20 Favorite repeat pieces and why classics work everywhere 28:45 Paint, palettes, and testing color in your home 31:51 Hiring the right people — references and contracts 33:09 The library ladder/step stool debate (function vs. style) 36:17 Kids’ rooms, playrooms, and spaces that evolve 37:02 When to splurge on natural stone and other materials 43:00 Final thoughts, upcoming projects, and book release info Also Mentioned: ⁠⁠⁠"Elements of Timeless Style" | Order your physical copy today! eringatesdesign.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | Erin Gates Design Website ⁠⁠⁠⁠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

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

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.
0:09.2	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.
0:14.8	We're your hosts. Join the expert team at Ballard Designs for tips, tricks, and tales from interior designers, stylists,
0:20.9	and other talents in the design world.
0:22.5	Plus, we'll answer your decorating dilemmas at the end of each episode.
0:25.4	We love answering your questions, so don't forget to email us at podcast at balderdesigns.net.
0:30.5	Now on with the show.
0:33.6	Say hello to the next generation of Zendesk AI agents, built to deliver resolutions for everyone.
0:39.1	Loved by over 10,000 companies, Zendesk AI agents easily deploy in minutes to resolve 30% of interactions instantly.
0:45.7	That's the Zendesk AI effect. Find out more at Zendesk.com.
0:48.8	All right, we have got a treat for y'all today. New York Times bestseller and Boston-based interior designer,
0:55.5	Erin Gates, is back on the show to talk about her new book, her Forever Home, and how to create
1:00.5	timeless and enduring spaces. It's a short intro because we got a lot to get to. Erin, welcome back
1:06.2	to the show. Thank you for having me. Okay. Your first book, Elements of Style, same name as your blog, was published in 2014.
1:14.0	It was a runaway success, as we were talking about.
1:17.7	Lots of reprints, hundreds of thousands of copies sold.
1:22.1	And you wrote your, that was 2014.
1:24.3	You wrote your second book in 2019.
1:26.0	And here you are, six years later, your third book, elements of timeless style. Yes. You mentioned in the introduction that you
1:33.2	never planned to write a third book. So where did this come from? What was it that you needed to say
1:38.5	in this third book? It wasn't that I needed to say anything specifically. It was that I really like things in threes.
1:46.1	I was like, too felt wrong.
	...

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.