Tag: ballard designs

Of Course I Included a Pink Sofa
I enjoy working with clients so much, but am having a hard time figuring out how to meld my work with individuals and my desire to share design details here with all of you. I know I’d be upset if I were hiring someone to create something one-of-a-kind for me who then turned around and gave it all away for free to the world. It’s something I’ve seen others struggle with too, and I’m not sure there’s any single right answer.

This design came about as I was thinking about a family room that I’m working on for someone, but in a different style and color palette and without some of the real-life limitations we’re working with. (It’s a tricky space, hence my being brought in to help.) Another difference is that I always specify retail for the blog rather than including custom or trade-only sources that not everyone has access to. So maybe this kind of approach is a possibility moving forward? A fictional design loosely inspired by something I’m actually working on? Either way, it was a lot of fun to pull together.

I also want so much of this for my own home. Imagine this in our snug!
1. Brera Floor Lamp (Tortona Bronze), Troy Lighting; Bellacor
  I appreciate that this lamp has ‘sculpture by Delia Deetz’ vibes.
2. Wirth Chair, Jayson Home
  It can go inside! It can go outside (in a sheltered spot)! Nice curves!
3. Cotton Knit Throw (Pink Stone), West Elm
  I’m not presenting pink for my client, but for myself it would be the way to go. I can be predictable like that sometimes.
4. Echo Wallpaper (Ash), Kelly Ventura
  I realized after looking at the pattern for some time that it reminded me of mascara swipes, and I’m into it.
5. Coffered Inlay Trays, Jayson Home
  Fancy-ish decor things like this are a luxe touch. I have a similarly made box on my bedside table (in lieu of a drawer).
6. Full Moon Clay Vase and Merriman Black Vase, Leanne Ford Design for Crate & Barrel
  How many vases can one have in a home? Might we need another one or two?
7. Southern June Framed Print, McGee & Co.
  Traditional and lovely.
8. Glasgow Metal Media Stand, Project 62; Target
  I’m picturing two or three of these lined up along a wall with a TV above.
9. Embroidered Floral Pillow, Opalhouse; Target
  A cute pillow, nicely priced.
10. Mohair Pillow (Camel), Room & Board
  I have one of these mohair pillows in a different color and it holds up beautifully. Like velvet, but better.
11. Edwin Hand Sconce, Ballard Designs
  Hand sconces! I do wish these came in a left and right hand, but hey. Still wonderful.
12. Masson Stone Accent Stool, Frontgate
  The coordinating Wyatt Stone Accent Stool is fantastic too, just a smidge taller.
13. Oakmont Hand-Knotted Rug, Serena & Lily
  This beautiful hand-knotted wool rug will last and last.
14. Celsa Sofa (Blossom Pink and Oak), Article
  Pink sofa! Pink sofa! Boy, do I want a pink sofa.
15. Montana Live Edge Coffee Table, Crate & Barrel
  The little preview image here isn’t doing it justice. A simple form made more interesting with the live edge.
February 26, 2020
Our Dining Room, Set for Christmas
Our old metal dining chairs were great for kids. Indestructible and easy to clean! So what did I replace them with? Wooden chairs with easily stained beige upholstery seats. Brilliant!

(I don’t intend to keep the stock fabric on them forever. Keep reading.)

Someone spotted the new chairs in a recent post, but here they are in full.

I had been saving up for a long time for new dining chairs and I’d had my eye on either Noir’s Abacus or Redford House’s Abigail. Noir discontinued the Abacus dining chairs earlier this year though, and before I could get them quickly enough at the clearance price, they were gone. But then I found these on Overstock.

And then I realized that the manufacturer, Baxton Studio, has two outlets — both in Chicago. I was able to get the chairs for just a little over $100 each while they were having a big sale.

Until I can get some more kid-friendly fabric on there, I bought a couple of these waterproof dining chair covers to protect the kids’ seats. They blend well and aren’t terribly noticeable (and they really work). The seats are not the easy to recover kind that are just screwed on, and I’d like to replace the nailhead detail with piping. They’ll need a trip to the reupholsterer when I’m ready for a change.

The table is set with with Ballard Designs’ Jacqueline dinnerware. I photographed the dining room for a holiday campaign they’re running, and I was able to chose a bunch of my favorite pieces to shoot and keep. We always host Christmas dinner, so this is what our table will look like this year! The cups and saucers will be especially cute when we have coffee with dessert.

A few things are no longer available, but here are the direct links to everything I used from Ballard Designs (and a near match for the vintage silver candle holders on the table, too).
- Marseille Red Linen Napkins
- Bunny Williams Paris Flea Market Flatware (Antique Silver)
- Thai Ikat Tablecloth (no longer available)
- Bunny Williams Spiral Glassware Goblet and Tumbler
- Jacqueline Dinnerware Collection
- Vintage Sterling Silver Candle Holders
- 12″ Taper Candles
- Florence Charger/Buffet Plates (no longer available)
I have so many ideas in mind for where this room could go! I’m loving the mix of traditional/Victorian with more modern and unexpected touches throughout the rest of the house, but I’ve yet to really bring that in here. The new chairs are a great start.
December 19, 2017
Modular Home Office Furniture
I want to line an 8′ long wall with office storage, but there are a few limitations. Our third floor has a ceiling height of 8′ in the center of rooms, but there are lot of funny angles because of the roof line and I’ll only have 54″ of clearance. There is already a desk and a table in the room, so I’m looking for something higher than 30″ to break up that horizontal plane. I also can’t bring anything up in one piece that’s too long, because it won’t fit up the stairs! So here’s what I’m looking for.
- 36-54″ tall, and up to 86″ long.
- Modular, or something that can be assembled in the room.
- A mix of drawers, filing cabinets, and open storage.
- $2000 budget (of course less would be nice)
Modular home office furniture can check all those boxes. I’ve looked at options from IKEA, Crate & Barrel, Restoration Hardware, Arhaus, Pottery Barn, Wayfair, Ballard Designs, Home Decorator’s Collection, and probably a few more that I’m forgetting right now.

I’m going to choose something with a base height of 30-36″ and then add more storage on top with a hutch. The extra storage on top doesn’t necessarily have to be from the same collection, though a lot of them do have options that all work together (a bonus so that the finishes match exactly). I’ve narrowed down my options to Pottery Barn’s Printer’s Office, the Original Home Office line from Ballard Designs, and the Martha Stewart Living Craft Space collection.

These are in scale with one another, and those sconces are placed at 46″ high. The full retail price is listed above, but all three are currently on sale (and go on sale pretty regularly). But wait, there’s more! Here are a couple of mix and match possibilities.

The base from Ballard Designs in their Tuscan Brown finish can be paired up with the Benchwright Desk Hutch from Pottery Barn. The finishes are a bit different, but I’m liking it. Or the Ballard base in white with a Martha Stewart Hutch?

Which would you choose?
March 16, 2017
The Closet is Finished!

Maybe I should start calling it a dressing room? Sounds way fancier.

I reached out to Ballard Designs and they provided several pieces from their Sarah storage collection. The 14″ depth works well for our closet, I love the details along the top and bottom, and the three units I chose fit perfectly along the wall. Tops go on the top, bottoms go along the bottom. Pretty straight-forward, though I did have to get new hangers so that my skirts wouldn’t hang too low.

We started here, remember. Wall-to-wall carpet concealing some major floor damage and subfloor structural issues.

This is a long post. Brace yourselves, let’s keep going!
(more…)

February 17, 2016
Getting the Closet Back in Order
Here’s the work that has been done in the closet since I last shared my ‘to do’ list.
- ~~Rewire (sconce, ceiling fixture, two switches, two outlets)~~
- ~~Patch holes and damage from rewiring~~
- ~~Paint prep (mostly cleaning all of the plaster dust everywhere)~~
- ~~Prime (walls and ceiling)~~
- ~~Paint (walls and ceiling)~~
- ~~Rewire antique lights or choose replacements~~
- ~~Rehang lights~~
- ~~New mirror above the sink~~
- ~~Install new closet fittings~~
And what’s left?
- Add storage near the sink
- Put everything away (paring down in the process)
- Zhush it all up a little
I also need to hang shelves; I forgot to include that in my original list. I’ve ordered a cabinet organizer that will hopefully work for the “storage near the sink” and I’ve started putting things away and zhushing, though I still have more to do.

I replaced the sconce above the sink with a similar fixture. I wanted something that felt appropriate for the house — nothing to modern, though I do love a lot of modern sconces. It’s polished, unlacquered brass with a milk glass half-dome shade and all of the wires in the fixture and the wall are from this century. Exciting!

I also hung one of the lights from downstairs. The scale of it is all wrong and it makes the closet glow pink, but it will buy me some time until I find the perfect replacement. I hadn’t planned on ordering a new light, but when I had to go with a medallion to cover an access plate from the electricians’ rewiring, the antique flushmount I had planned on reusing no longer fit. (You can see the new and old sconces below too. Very similar.)

Once I have a new light, I’ll secure the ceiling medallion a little better. The fixture now is hanging from an antique cross bar that I repurposed from elsewhere in the house, and it’s slightly off center. I didn’t want to sink the screws, caulk, and paint the medallion now, only to have a replacement fixture end up looking askew after hanging it with different hardware. Everything I like though seems to have long lead times (6 weeks, on average), so this will do for a while.

I ordered hooks two weeks ago, but they haven’t shipped yet. My shelf brackets haven’t come yet either. I did install the closet system though (c/o Ballard Designs), anchoring it to the wall and getting the front nice and even. It involved removing the closet’s base shoe molding with a pry bar, a lot of pushing and pulling to align the units, finding studs and drilling and what-not, and the artful use of shims. Lots and lots of shims.

In related news, I need perhaps something besides a giant contractor grade drill? Why did I choose this thing? It’s powerful, but overkill for most projects.

I also anchored my garment rack to the wall. This is the one I already had — the one that broke. I was able to fix it but the pipe is bent and wobbly, so what I lose in mobility by anchoring it, I gain in safety. I can’t chance it falling over on one of the kids.

I used parts from a mirror hanging kit and screwed one of its D-rings to a wall stud. I started out by going perpendicular from the rack, but it was visible and kind of ugly, so I redid it, going at an angle that would be hidden by the hangers. I trimmed the wire, of course.

I’m waiting on the hooks and brackets to arrive, and a few other finishing pieces. Almost there! Eleanor was watching me load the closet up. She asked what I was doing, and I told her I was getting the closet back in order so I can get the bedroom back together too. “I like making it look nice,” I told her. Her response: “You mean you like making it LOVELY.”
January 19, 2016
15 Stylish Garment and Coat Racks
Garment racks. Coat racks. Oh, the multitude of racks I have looked at! Here’s what happened.

The bedroom closet had an Intermetro rolling garment rack setup for double hanging when we moved in. It was nice and sturdy with a shelf right in the middle, but when I took it out so that I’d have the height to hang dresses, the whole thing got a little wobbly. I put its shelf back and relocated it to the laundry room once I found one of those ubiquitous reclaimed wood garment racks at Yearbook a while back. It was a little wobbly too, but it was better than the other rack and it had the bonus of looking good.

Well, I guess the carpeting in the closet must have kept it stable, because the day after I wheeled the thing back in, the whole thing fell over with the weight of all my dresses on it. The floor and trim escaped damage, but the Elfa system on the opposite wall was pretty badly dented, the wall was gouged, and the rack was bent out of shape. I righted the garment rack and am using it for now, but it’s precarious and I’m on the lookout for a replacement. Hence this roundup.
1. Allison Coat Rack, Pottery Barn
  I can’t decide if the hooks are good or not. Helpful for scarves, I suppose? Otherwise, superfluous.
2. Ceiling Clothing Rack, Urban Outfitters
  Copper and clean geometry, and takes up no floor space. If I were more confident about the plaster ceilings and stud spacing, this would be pretty appealing.
3. Vintage Tailor’s Clothing Rack, Restoration Hardware
  Vintage design, modern sturdiness. Has an additional bar to make this into a double-hanging rack.
4. Mulig Clothes Rack, IKEA
  $10! Comes in black or white. On the flimsy side though. For a (presumably) sturdier but still minimalist option, there’s Pottery Barn’s Blacksmith Clothes Rack.
5. Garment Rack, West Elm
  Asymmetrical base, plus a cute color. Comes in black too, but that blue is so much happier.
6. Calvin Clothing Rack, Urban Outfitters
  OK, when I started pulling these together, it was available in gold (for an extra $100). Now it’s just black and white. Cute design though, yes?
7. 4040 Locust Industrial Storage Rack, Urban Outfitters
  Pipes and wood, plus copper. Trendy hipster loft style.
8. Mercantile Coat Rack, Restoration Hardware
  Small footprint, but still plenty of hanging space. Sturdy, too! I went and checked it out in person. Definitely my favorite design of the bunch — also among the most expensive.
9. 19th Century Couturier’s Rack, Restoration Hardware
  Doesn’t hold all that much and it’s pricey. Awesome if you don’t need much hanging space though and are looking for something beautiful.
10. Emily and Meritt Wardrobe Rack, Pottery Barn Teen
  Pipe meets faux-Victorian details.
11. Toj Clothes Rack, Normann Copenhagen
  A little too Danish mod for my house, but the design is fantastic.
12. Monroe Trades Coat Rack, West Elm
  More pipe. Lots of coat racks made out of pipe. Interesting take on the base here though.
13. Bellman Cart, Forbes Industries (Hotel Supply)
  The pretty brass birdcage ones are thousands of dollars. (“But Nicole,” you say. “Think of the Instagram opportunities.” To which I whisper “I knoooowww…”) There really isn’t enough room anyway though and they don’t hold much, so moving on.
14. Butler Stand, CB2
  Small footprint, similar to the design of #11 but a smidge more industrial. Doesn’t hold enough for my needs though and the hanging space is too short.
15. Niles Coat Rack, Ballard Designs
  Plenty of hanging space and a handy shelf beneath. Nice detail along the sides too, but I think it’s about a foot too long for my needs.
I find it helpful to go through these roundups when narrowing down my choices, but I’m not sure yet which one I’ll go for. Number 8 is my favorite for sure, but it’s hard to justify when most of the others cost so much less. Which one would be your pick?
December 14, 2015