Welcome to your Zen Friend . I'm your host , lauren Wolfe . On this podcast , I will share wisdom from working as a licensed professional counselor for more than 20 years . Using storytelling and lighthearted humor , each episode will explore themes on personal growth , including tips and strategies to boost mental wellness and overall well-being . If you're a perfectly imperfect human like me , who's always striving to do better and feel better , then this podcast is for you . Let's get started . Welcome , zen friends . I hope wherever you are , you're doing well . I am so excited to be here with you today .
Speaker 1I have a great interview with my dear friend , don Richards . You might remember him from episode number 10 , making your Home your Sanctuary . Don is an interior designer by trade and he is a great example of someone who loves what he does for a living , and I think that is really evident in the passion that he has for helping individuals to create spaces that they love , that they love to be in and that are super functional for them . Right now , don is helping me to redecorate my family room . We used to call it and we still really call it our playroom , but Don and I refer to it as my family room today , as my kids have gotten older my daughter is 20, . My son is now 18 , and a senior in high school . My daughter is off at college for much of the year . Our needs are starting to change in our home and I'm really trying to freshen up the space in a way that really works for us so that we can enjoy our time together , and also it's always important to me that things look beautiful . So Don is doing a great job of helping me to do that .
Speaker 1We're redoing my family room right now . It's not really a complete redo , but just updating the furniture . And then I have a guest room where we used to have a big queen-size bed with a nice wooden frame . It took up much of the room . Then , when COVID came around and I was working from home at one time exclusively from home I made that into an office . So it didn't really work in a feng shui kind of way , because the desk where it was placed so that people weren't looking at the bed , was kind of like at an odd angle . So if you walked into the room it didn't really look so nice . But now that my daughter has taken that queen-size bed and brought it up to her house that she's sharing with roommates in college , that bed is gone and Don's helping me to find a really nice sofa that can be a sleeper . And from what he tells me and I've heard this in other places too you can get sleeper sofas nowadays that are much more comfortable than they used to be . So we're making that more of a dedicated office so that you'll walk into it and it won't look so funky . So I'm excited for that .
Speaker 1But in particular , today we'll talk more about my family room and a bit of the challenge that the space presents in the way that we're using it . And yet still , don has some great ideas for how to make it both functional and also aesthetically pleasing . He's got some great tips for you and some great resources . He mentions some blogs and some websites and gives some really great tips for what you should look for in places like home goods and what you should not look for in places like home goods . So I think you're really going to enjoy today's episode . I love how Don really makes home decorating accessible for everyone .
Speaker 1So before we get to Don's interview , let's take a short break and then I'll be back with Don . I love to connect with listeners and I'd love to hear from you . Please reach out , let me know what you're enjoying and let me know what types of interviews and topics you'd like me to cover in the future . You can find me on Instagram , at your Zen friend pod , or email me at your Zen friend pod at gmailcom . You can also join our private Facebook group by searching for your Zen friend in groups on Facebook . Let's get back to our show . Welcome , don . So glad to have you back on the show .
Speaker 2Thanks so much , lauren , always happy to be here .
Speaker 1So we really got some great feedback
, don . Our listeners really liked your last interview , where we talked about home design and you gave some really great decorating tips . And you and I have been talking recently you have helped me with my office here in Sandy Hook , connecticut , as well , as you've been helping me now with redecorating some of my rooms at home and we've been talking a lot about affordable design . And I know that you're really passionate , don , about helping people to beautify their space and do it within their budget . And you know , maybe we can just start off talking about why both of us you as a designer and me as a mental health you know , I don't want to say expert mental health provider , right , a therapist but why we both feel that it's really important that people have space that they enjoy being in . So I'll let you take that first , don . Why do you feel that's important ?
Speaker 2Absolutely so . You know , one of the first things I think , especially how good design or feeling good in your home really kind of gives you a better sense of mental well-being . You know , I've dealt with depression over the years and one of the things I've learned is , you know , coming home and turning on all the lights , you know buying fresh flowers and this is I know these sounds simple and you know you might even overlook it , but get some grocery store flowers . I get tulips every week if I can find them , wow and I turn on all the lights when I get home , I put on music and that's a really simple , simple ways to kind of make your home feel like it's special .
Speaker 1Yeah , oh , I think those are great tips , don , and you know I thank you for your honesty in sharing that you've dealt with some depression . I think that when and you know I too have had some depression in my life too , I think that you know in the clients that I'm working with as well as for myself , I think we have to do things proactively to really help keep our mental health good , like just like we exercise our bodies , and what you shared sound like some really easy tips that help you to feel . I don't know how do you feel when you turn on the music and the lights and have fresh flowers ?
Speaker 2It just , even if it's just for me , it's something I know that I'm doing . That makes me happy , and you know , coming home and seeing flowers having all the lights on I joke about this . My house has a ton of windows , but I'm in a forest , oh gosh , it can be very dark and it was . You know , something I never thought about when I was buying a house . Guys , find a house with light , you're going to feel better . But , that being said , put on all the lights , make yourself happy . You know , light of fire if you have a fireplace , or even if you have an electric fireplace , which I have it's something that provides a little bit of warmth and character and it makes me happy . So I want to talk about you know , being not a design snob or a store snob , because I'm going to give you a silly example .
Speaker 2How many people have you shopped with the Dollar Tree ? Well , not maybe all of us . But let me tell you something . I was looking for just a simple upgrade to my dining table for the summer season , and I get kind of quirky , weird stuff sometimes from the dollar store . I found these faux-gla charge , which is French for fake wood , and they look . Are they ceramic ? No , they are melanin , but they look the same .
Speaker 1Now , when you say charger , the first thing that came to mind was like Apple iPhone charger . But no , you mean it's like a . Tell us what you mean , dan .
Speaker 2I think I know what you mean A charger is a larger plate that sits underneath your regular dinnerware and it just provides a little another layer of something on the table . Makes things look pretty . Do I ? Did I need these , no .
Speaker 1Yes , yes , you did .
Speaker 2They were a dozen for $10 .
Speaker 1Oh my gosh , you needed them , you absolutely needed them . And that makes me think , Dan , as you say , were they wood or faux wood , right ?
Speaker 2They're faux wood . They look like wood grain Wood grain on the plastic . But you know what they are . They're a heavy weight . They look , they look kind of expensive . You've got to shop everywhere and look around , especially if you don't . I mean , this is for everyone , no matter what your budget is . I think it's important to recognize that every mass retailer knocks things off at different price points . You I , could have gone to William Sonoma and spent probably $50 , $60 on each one but I got a different yeah , so simple things like that .
Speaker 2And I was out with a designer friend yesterday who had just moved to the area and we were . I was kind of showing her some of my little local haunts and I think it's important . If you don't think about going to a thrift store , I mean , this is a great place to start , guys .
Speaker 1it really is Okay .
Speaker 2I , you know , especially , and I and I want people to understand as a designer , I may not have the budget that you have , because you know I'm a creative type and I'm not gonna , I don't make a ton of money , but you've got to get creative and I think it's just important to look at local thrift stores . I have found some amazing things over the years in my home that I treasure , that are unique . You know individual pieces that nobody else has and you know , when somebody walks to my house and says , oh , I really like X and like , oh , I got that for $5 at the clothes tree in Bantam and if you're local to the area , it's one of my favorite resources I find they have clothing which I have found high end European designer stuff for you know that are when I go home . I've looked stuff up that's been , you know , many hundreds of dollars and I may have gotten for $5 or a painting , and I , you know , start Googling . And this is where we talked a little bit about Google Lens Lauren .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah , you and I Don . We're having a conversation . Last night in preparing for the podcast , you mentioned Google Lens and I don't know what that is and I basically said don't tell me , we can talk about it on the podcast , so it's our time . What is Google Lens and how can people use it ?
Speaker 2So Google Lens is an app that Google has . Everybody has it on your phone . You may not even realize it , but when you pull up Google , there is a little camera icon . Now , I can't remember if it's to the left or the right of the search bar , but it's right there .
Speaker 1I've never noticed that so funny .
If you click on it and you do , if you're in a thrift shop or if you're anywhere , it doesn't matter . You could be in a high end store and take a picture of something and put it into Google Lens and Google will pull up what is the closest match on the internet and basically you can start to see well , is this , what is this ? And sometimes you'll get a direct hit and it'll tell you exactly the maker , whatever it is , and maybe a value . Even so , if you're thrifting , you see a lamp , put it into Google and see if you can find out what it is , what the maker is , and , especially if you see whatever it is , if you can find an identifying maker's mark type that in and you may have stumbled upon a treasure that nobody knows about or they didn't price right .
Speaker 1So so cool . That's such a great tip , don . I can't wait to try this . This sounds like fun . I'm even thinking of some things I have . I've been decluttering lately and my mom had passed some things on to me that I don't really want . But I'm like do I sell them ? Do I just pass them on ? So that sounds like a good way to determine if it's worth selling or not too . So let's imagine somebody goes to this adorable sounding thrift store in Bantam or any thrift store . What would you tell them to look for ?
Speaker 2So I think the first thing is to sort of familiarize yourself with maybe higher-end brand names , so especially for furniture , which you can usually get for pennies on the dollar as opposed to purchasing new , and you usually can find better quality Wow . So names like Thomasville , henrygon , pennsylvania House were all companies that produced high-quality furniture for many years but are no longer functioning as a company . But you can , you know , with a little bit of reimagination . I personally subscribe to a lot of , you know , content creators who are doing refinishing stuff or , you know , transformational on Instagram , and it's a good way to get some inspiration . But oftentimes I think people may shy away from purchasing something because it looks the way it does initially .
Speaker 2And you know you can change something with a coat of paint or stripping it down and changing the color and truly , guys , it's not . If you've got , you know , a little bit of workspace , you don't even need . You know you don't need much . But a little bit of a furniture stripper or paint goes a long way and change out the hardware or . But look at it critically first . If it's a good piece and if it's a really old piece , you may not want to mess too much with it , but you may devalue the worth , but oftentimes you can really just reimagine a piece for yourself that would be . You know , look like something that's more high-end .
Speaker 1Yeah , you're making me remember , don , that some years ago , when we were redoing my son's room and he was probably about seven years old at the time my husband and I found a bunk bed set on Facebook . We paid $100 for it . It was really good quality and wood and then we sanded it and painted it like this beautiful royal blue color and when we were done it literally looked . I ended up finding a picture of a similar bunk bed set on Pottery Barn . That was a lot more money and it looked equivalent to it . It came out so nice . He used it for years . Okay , yeah , it was pretty simple . I hate I really didn't enjoy it , but it was simple to do .
Speaker 2Probably did it over the weekend and it was done in what a few hours , right .
Speaker 1Here's , here's , no , here's what happened . Don . I get these ideas and I start out and I'm just very sad doing it . It takes way longer than I expect and then Mars feels bad , my husband and Mars takes over and finishes it for me . That is how it's done in my house .
Speaker 2Yeah , that's you know that's fine , that works . You can always pass it off to the , to the NB , who can finish the job . There you go . I want to bring that up again , though , too , because Facebook Marketplace . I can't tell you the things that I have found on Facebook Marketplace and you know , oftentimes I think maybe people don't go on and look . But if you do and I will tell you , I do this religiously I have a saved list a mile long on Facebook Marketplace . Just save it , because you know what , if it's too much money that we're more than what you want to spend at the moment , maybe it's just going to sit and the seller may drop the price . Go back to your saves and look what's still there . There are a pair of wane chairs right now that are super high end . They are backed in leather . They're a beautiful cool print . They're a little far away from me , but I know what their value is . The woman has listed them for $295 for a pair . Wow , and I have come to terms with the fact I am a chair order .
Speaker 1Yes , I mean we've talked about this , done . You've got a real problem here . No , I'm teasing , I'm just kidding .
Speaker 2I just know . I mean because the woman actually had given the history of the chairs . They're a well-known national brand . They're probably 25 years old . They're in perfect condition , they look , they're just amazing and I'm just waiting . You know , if they come down in price , I will drive , you know , an hour and a half upstate New York and go grab them .
Speaker 1That's awesome , all right . Well , fingers crossed everyone . Please put out good energy from . Don to get these wane chairs .
Speaker 2Or just say Don , you don't need those chairs , we're not making them Right One or the other . I usually get .
Speaker 1I love it . I love it . So , Don , how about we start talking about the really challenging room that I asked for your help with ?
Speaker 2Yes , okay , this is where I feel bad as a professional designer , that especially helping a friend who has a very challenging room . So let me describe the layout of Lauren's room . She's got a 22 foot long by about 14 foot wide room . It's a big room . However , the fireplace and the built-ins are on opposite walls . There is a large opening into a kitchen to facilitate , you know , heating with your pellet stove .
Speaker 1Yes , we had opened that wall up , yep .
Speaker 2Yep , made total sense . But and then there's a door to the garage , there's a door to a door to a sunroom or suncourt , yep , and it's just a very oddly cut up space .
Speaker 1It is yeah and it struggles and windows on either side .
Speaker 2Yeah , it's a tough space and I really I walked in and thought , oh , I'm going to be able to do wonders for Lauren . Well , sadly , folks no .
Speaker 1You are so hard on yourself , don . And here's the thing I've been living in this house for 12 years and when we first moved in the kids were quite young Lena was like seven , aiman was like four or five and this room , being right off the kitchen , is just such a fantastic room for a family , because the house we moved from it was a raised ranch , so the downstairs family room was the quote unquote playroom , but the kids didn't want to be there without me , so that was really challenging to like get anything done . All their you know , all their toys would migrate upstairs because they wanted to be near where I was cooking or cleaning or whatever . So in this house , such great space , because we've got all of these built in cabinets and bookshelves and that lent itself to the toys and storage and they loved being right near where I often was making meals , cleaning up , right , and it was great in that sense . And then , probably five years ago , we put a television in that room . My husband put a television in that room . We have another television . I did not think we needed it , he wanted it , okay .
Speaker 1And so now what you're talking about is it changes the focal point , because the way we're using this room currently . My husband and son love to watch football and they , you know , all day Sunday they've got different fantasy football teams . They're on and they're in there and they're watching what what is called red zone , where it just shows like whatever the most interesting game is at the time it switches around . So I wanted that room to be just extra comfortable . But also we've got dogs that , as Don saw , you know they literally let it all hang out when you were over . They're like sitting on the back of the couch , right , Like they are just all over it , and we allow it . So I think , for us , we really , in that room in particular , are valuing functionality over aesthetics . So what you came up with , the plan , is great , don . It's going to be great .
Speaker 2It's going to work a little bit better , yes , but it's not revolutionary , and I was hoping for more . But you know , you , I think . But people also really do need to understand this You've got a room , isn't going to . You're not going to use a room if it's just pretty right . If it doesn't , there's no point . And I really was hoping to , you know , maybe make things work a little bit better , but you have to deal with the reality of the space . So what ? And one of the things I have learned after I don't know 25 years of doing this , I and , I think , a lot of newer designers this is something that we all are probably were guilty of when you first started oh no , this room isn't gonna need a TV . Well , I will tell you this any room that has a TV will be used , and I did the same thing .
Speaker 2I'm guilty of this myself . I have a very odd space , but my living room is kind of similar in the sense it's long and narrow . It's a much smaller space , but at its narrowest it's only nine feet wide , and I finally said I never use this room . It's a really small house . Why don't I put a TV downstairs ? And there was one space to put it and it's on a . It's basically on a closed staircase going up and I have a small TV that my partner laughs at because he keeps saying we need a bigger TV . I said there's no way to put a bigger TV , just no way . But by having this small TV in the space we use it . So it's just , it's part of how people live and you can't deny that if a room has a TV , you'll use it . That makes a ton of sense .
Speaker 1Don , and I think , as you and I talked about because you were so good at asking me these questions when you came over like how are you using the room ? What are your plans for the next few years ? Where do you see yourself in the next few years ? When the children were little , I had a very strict media policy in our house where they weren't allowed to watch more than an hour of TV a day , and because of that it was great to have work and it was great to have one TV on the other side of the house where we would have to really seek out that room in order to watch TV , and otherwise they were in that room and they we used to have a train table for my son's little wooden trains and we had like a kitchen place at and lots of art supplies , and so they did use that room in a way without a television . Where now our needs as a family have changed and I love that you asked those questions , don , because that's what I value the most in my home is functionality , and I do wanna make it as aesthetically pleasing as possible , but functionality makes the most sense to me .
Speaker 2Well , there's no design is good if it doesn't function . It just , it boils down to that , it just . You have to be , you have to learn , and I think one of the bigger things too for people to realize , especially if you've maybe even just moved into a new space wait don't do anything .
Speaker 2Make that . Yeah , see how you live , because you may decide the function of a room . I have a client right now who they moved into a new home about a year and a half ago and after a few months the room that was labeled the office they realized they didn't wanna use as an office and they're big plant people and they wanted a conservatory and the room gets good light and we just totally swapped the . We literally took apart a desk , moved it upstairs and it's quieter , it's easier . And now this first floor room off a foyer which , again , the builder labeled as such . It just doesn't function for them that way .
Speaker 1Yeah , that makes total sense and , for listeners , I'm happy to post pictures of the before and after of my family room . So stay tuned , because my husband and I are gonna come see you this weekend on to hopefully go ahead and order some of that furniture . Once we have it complete , I'll put it in our Facebook group . So join our Facebook group if you haven't . Directions on how to do so will be in the show description , but you just go over to Facebook and in group search for your Zen friend and I'll have those pictures there . I'm excited .
Speaker 2Good , so I'd like to talk
. We had mentioned a couple of websites . Yeah , you know there are some tricks and tips I'd like to share that I think it's important if you're interested in design to you know , probably follow design accounts and design bloggers . Blogging is , you know , kind of . I'd probably say that a lot of bloggers have kind of stopped blogging , but there are still many out there and I'd like to reference Emily Henderson , who had a show on . She won the first season of HGTV's Design Star , oh cool , and he had her own show for a few years called Secrets of a Stylist . She's been blogging now probably for close to 15 years and she's so honest and she's so relatable , so I would . The website is styledbyemilyhendersoncom .
Speaker 1Awesome . I'll make sure we have all of these links in the show description show notes as well .
Speaker 2I'd like to kind of give a shout out to her book that I think was published maybe . One of her newest book was published a year ago called the New Design Rules , and she has agonizedly been renovating her own . She has a house in California and they've just recently moved to Oregon , so they have taken on some massive renovations and by kind of reading along and she's compiled a lot of the details from her books really good , solid , practical tips , so that might be a good resource for people . Awesome , there's a website called copycatchiquecom and the writer of the website she has a staff of people that write posts that are always looking for designer dupes , meaning they'll find the look of a high-end piece and find another source for it , and sometimes the less expensive piece is still maybe pricey . But there are other ways when it'll give you and an eye to what is out there in the marketplace and what's current , and you may become inspired by that and just see what's out there . I'm telling you a target right now is nailing it with Home for Business I mean .
Speaker 1Tell us more .
Speaker 2I did visual merchandising for Target for you and a lot of fun doing it , but it also it really opened my eyes to the quality and the high design that they're doing They've partnered with . Well , I think everybody probably knows at this point that they had partnered with Joanna Gaines and a line of Magnolia furnishings and housewares . But Shane McKee , who I have really I've been shocked by , she has her own line and you can buy studio McGee products and they are expensive . If they just are , it's a different level of quality . But you can find the accessories and the furniture that she's partnered with designing for Target .
Speaker 2I just I'm blown away . I have I'm a bit of an art snub and I usually don't like to buy reproductions but there was a painting , a little gold framed painting , maybe all of eight by 10 , it was $14 . And I remember looking at it and thinking I don't need that and we got it in and I looked at it and we got , I think , maybe two or three pieces . By the next morning they were gone and I really now want that painting side , a spot for it , and I had to like travel to targets all over the state to finally get one , but I did .
Speaker 1Good for you , don . I like the quest .
Speaker 2Yeah . So there's a lot of stuff to be had . And I say this it doesn't matter what your budget is . You buy some good quality pieces and whether those are thrifted , whether that you're found they're found on Facebook marketplace whether you buy them new . If I custom design it for you because I can do anything , you can really make whatever you want . But you mix in the high end with the low end , go to home Not always a fan of home goods because there's so much to wade through , because there's a lot of , there's a lot of not great quality stuff , but you did .
Speaker 1Can you tell us on what are some things to maybe look out for in a store like home goods to say don't do this . These are probably things you actually don't want to get from home goods .
Speaker 2I have . Well , you're gonna laugh at me because I know that's exactly where you went to for the lamps that I'm looking at right now , and those look great .
Speaker 1Thank you , wait , I'm like , did I ? Yes , I did the lamps behind me in our Zoom call . I'll put a picture on Facebook , yeah .
Speaker 2But the problem with a lot of the home goods lamps , I think , what good lighting is expensive and this is why I I did not know that . Yeah , I mean , it's not unreasonable . For a good quality piece of lighting , a table lamp for instance , it can cost 800,000 off . Wow , yeah , but but , and I think that's the problem- there's so many these were each , I think , 59.99 .
Speaker 1Yeah , a piece , yeah .
Speaker 2And it's . I think people have gotten into the habit of thinking well , that's really a crazy number for a light and you have to think about the quality of the materials and the shade . If a new fabric shade , if you're actually purchasing a shade , just by itself they can cost hundreds of dollars . And again , what I've done , I actually am doing with one client right now . We found a really beautiful handmade E-COT design which is sort of a tribal ethnic design . It really is going to transform an antique piece that she has . That's an old alabaster light . That's good quality but it didn't have a great shape . But we're making it work in the space and kind of reviving it . Wow .
Speaker 1So I'll look around your house to see what you have that you can possibly reinvent and that leads me to a question too , Don , because sometimes I do see the potential in something to have it painted , to have it refinished in some way . Maybe it's a chair that could be re-upholstered or have slip covers made . There are certain things I'm capable of . Really I'm not interested in doing any of it , but if I'm keeping it real , but let's imagine I have a vision for it , when do I find individuals ? Because I know they exist . But where would I find an individual to refinish a chair or refinish a wood dining room table ?
Speaker 2I think if you just do a little bit of cutting , a little bit of Googling , look for an upholsterer in your area , look for a refinisher . They're out there and I can do it for you . I can do it for you . You can always come to me , but I have to charge you .
Speaker 2And I'm gonna have to raise the price of their labor too . But I will tell you , I want people especially like a dining chair . The technical term for the seat on a dining chair is called a slip seat and usually it's four screws . It's four screws , guys , unscrew that . Go buy some fabric and I'm gonna , I'll give it . I know again , everybody's not local . I'm gonna give a good shout out . I probably shouldn't be doing this , but this is where I took my designer friend yesterday right Newtown , chinse and Prince .
Speaker 1Oh my gosh . Yes , Tell us about Chinse and Prince , where it is and what it is , Don . I love Chinse and Prince .
Speaker 2Chinse and Prince is a fabric store that's been in Newtown , Connecticut , for probably since the four weeks .
Speaker 1And they probably have their original sign on the building .
Speaker 2They do Is my guess .
Speaker 1Yes , it looks at .
Speaker 2I'm in love with Chinse and Prince because what they have done they sell current fabric . There's kind of a main showroom at the front . Don't shop there , Walk all the way to the back .
Speaker 1Oh , these are good tips everyone . I love it .
Speaker 2What they have an amazing I have rarely . I mean you can find places in bigger cities . Obviously there's a lot of great fabric
stores . If anyone is interested in design , you're probably also kind of a fabric worker .
Speaker 2Or maybe that's supposed to be ? I don't know . However , what is so much fun is , you know , walking into this place , that's been there for 60 years or more and they have what's known in the industry as Deadstock , so it's fabric that was created however many years ago and I you know you're never gonna get it again because it's not in production , but it's been sitting on a boat there for 23 , 40 years , and if it's two-year aesthetic , I managed to find I have an antique setee for that I'm going to buy . This goes back to not finishing projects , lauren .
Speaker 1I love it . Oh , I'm right there with you , dan . Let me talk about that another time , yeah .
Speaker 2Yep , but I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do with it . I had it was a cream fabric on the setee that I've been using in my house for years and finally I said I don't I mean , I have access to anything because I'm a designer but I couldn't figure out what I wanted for this stupid setee . And so I headed to Chinson Prince and I'm going through everything and I didn't really know what I wanted . But I found this emerald green fabric that's from the Aerobics II collection from 1984 .
Speaker 1Wait , hold the phone . There was a collection of fabric called Aerobics .
Speaker 2II , Aerobics II back in the 80s .
Speaker 1I love this . That's amazing .
Speaker 2Those jazzy sort of jazzer-sized designs , but you know I know that's . But it's just a beautiful emerald green cotton with these diagonal sort of broken camel stripes and I want to put it on an antique piece because I think it's going to really refresh and make it look wonderful .
Speaker 1So that's awesome . Can you post pictures of that in the Facebook group ? That would be so fun .
Speaker 2I will when it actually gets taken to the upholsterer , because , right , I've had three again my chair hoarding addiction . My upholsterer and I have become rather codependent .
Speaker 1Ooh , I love it .
Speaker 2She has . She's working on three chairs for me at the moment .
Speaker 1Oh my gosh , and it sounds like she may have two more comments . So this is a good relationship to foster Don . I love it . That's so fun . All right , so now that you've told us , maybe what not to buy at HomeGoods , what is something that maybe anytime you go into HomeGoods , this is one thing that you'll keep an eye out for .
Speaker 2So always head to the pillow aisle , always head to the pillow aisle , because what you don't want are fiber film inserts , because they don't sit well on a couch or on anything really what you want to look for , because especially and it doesn't really even matter look at their clearance section If they've got down pillows , or at least it doesn't . Don't even look at the cover . If it's an ugly cover , buy it anyway if it's marked down .
Speaker 1Ooh , I love it .
Speaker 2Because these inserts are expensive . But at HomeGoods you can usually get something for I don't know $10 , $20 . And if you can get something with a down insert , you can get covers for pillows . Oh , here's a good tip . This is what people don't maybe realize . If you're buying a pillow cover , what you want is for the insert to be at least an inch or two bigger . That's gonna create that really puffy , luxurious . Otherwise you're gonna have this deflated looking pillow .
Speaker 1That makes sense , don . I've made this mistake . And then I got that stuffing that you can get at fabric stores that you put in a stuffed animal or whatever to try to fill the corners , and it's not good .
Speaker 2It doesn't work , doesn't work . But what you need is an insert of one to two inches bigger than the casing .
Speaker 1Oh my gosh , I love that . Okay , and is there any place in particular that you like to find your pillow covers ?
Speaker 2I've gotten them all over . There's a great internet company that I have found some wonderful things called Society Six .
Speaker 1Oh yes , I think I've gotten a catalog from them before Yep .
Speaker 2Excellent . They do a little bit of everything , but they're a good resource . There's just so much out there . I mean even pottery barns .
Speaker 1That's funny . I was just gonna say that .
Speaker 2You can find good covers at pottery barns from time to time . And listen , you don't have to pay . I would never . I mean , this is because I work as a designer . I don't wanna ever pay retail . I'm like the cheapest person .
Speaker 1Good , you're making me feel better , me too .
Speaker 2Yeah , I'm not gonna spend the money , because I know what things should cost and I know more . It's just not worth it to look for sales .
Speaker 1I really like pottery barn pillow covers . I have a number of them , especially seasonal , and here's my design tip done . I've got one . I like to wait to the end of a season because their pillow covers are quite expensive . They will go on sale Absolutely and you can get a really pretty pillow cover for $40 , and they do last a good time I've had . They've been good quality . I do the same thing . I like table runners for my kitchen table and my dining room table and I've done the same thing where now I have different seasons from pottery barn . I have a beautiful , a tumble table runner that I got last year that I just I saw it , I loved it , I waited until it went on sale and I grabbed it .
Speaker 2Yeah and wait . If it's out of season , they need to move these products because it's not gonna . Usually , you know is not going to be making the same thing next season , so wait and look at the end of any season and just grab it then .
Speaker 1Love it . All . Right , don , I thought we would have a little fun . I haven't told you this . So one of my favorite blogs like back in the day when blogs were the thing I think I have told you this is Younghouse Love , and this was a couple . They're both designers . For a couple of years at least , had a podcast was my favorite podcast . Now they very infrequently drop episodes , but often the husband John would have quizzes for the wife Sherry . So one of the quizzes they would often have was on paint colors Is this a real or a made-up paint color ? So I have some paint colors for you , john . Yes , Four of these are real and one of these is made up . Are you ready ?
Speaker 2Okay , this is gonna be fun , it's gonna be amazing .
Speaker 1All right , so I'm just gonna read them all and then you can tell me which one . All right , number one arsenic .
Speaker 2Number two that's a real paint color . That's Faro and Ball .
Speaker 1Oh my God , you know yourself . All right , maybe . Maybe I'm not gonna say anything . Number two Careless Whispers Sounds very 80s , doesn't it ? Yeah ?
Speaker 2that would well . It's George Michael , but also possibly a paint color .
Speaker 1It's George Michael's line of paint . Number three here comes the sun . Number four Spill the Wine . And number five snuggle puss . If you want me to repeat them , don , I'm happy to .
Speaker 2If I had to eliminate any one because paint color names are ridiculous , I would go with snuggle puss .
Speaker 1Okay , you would be incorrect . Snuggle puss is in fact a real paint color . Oh , and I just had it up on my phone and now I've clicked off of it because I'm like grandma using my phone . So here I'll Google it .
Speaker 2I want to give you one more tip when it comes to paint .
Speaker 1That would be great .
Speaker 2So people ask all the time oh , what color is this , what color is that ? I a design blogger that I still read , who I think is so instructive and I'm going to her name is Laurel Burn . I think it's Laurel Burn interiorscom Very instructive . She doesn't do residential design anymore , she just blogs . She's actually blogging about her own renovation right now . Cool Her tips and tricks and really master classes of the functioning of design , because I you know , for me , I think you get out of art school . There's so much you still don't know .
Speaker 1It's just Sure . I mean same with being a therapist . Probably anyone , yeah , Any field .
Speaker 2I would imagine . So she is such a proponent of this . She's like don't ask me what color the walls are , this is what it looks like and she'll give you recommendations that based on that , there's a company . I'm going to just keep shooting out things . There's a company called Samplies . It's S-A-B-L-I-Z-Ecom . You can order removable paint swatches and put them around your room .
Speaker 1I've gotten these . Yes , I heard about them on YounghouseLove . Yes , yep , so awesome . Yeah , there's also now you can get the like their big rectangles where you can put the paint on it and the same thing , put them on the wall . It peels right off , all right . So Snuggle Puss is a Benjamin Moore paint color . It's actually quite pretty done . I'm going to . I'll put it in . I'll put it on our Facebook group . I don't know if you can see it , probably not . It's like a grayish lavender , maybe for , maybe for a future office . I'm not sure , but the one that I made up was , in fact , here comes the sun . Oh , not even careless whisper .
Speaker 2I think you might have a career as a , as a pink .
Speaker 1I know I think you're right . Done Careless . Careless whispers is like a , almost like a skin tone color . It's like a kind of a what do you call it ? A mauve ish , beige ish .
Speaker 2Oh you're , you're really selling that one .
Speaker 1Yeah , it's not . It's not doing anything for me . It literally looks like my makeup foundation . It looks like the color of my pale skin is what it looks like . There you go . Oh my gosh , john , it's so fun . You've given so many great tips and resources today and I know our listeners are going to get so much out of all of the great tips that you've shared . So thank you so much .
Speaker 2Thank you , we'll do it again .
Speaker 1I look forward to it .
I so appreciate Don being here today and sharing so much of his knowledge with us . If you live in Connecticut , you can have a great opportunity to work with Don and find him over at Middlebury Furniture . I'm going to have all the places where you can connect with him in our show description , but I'll read it for you quickly here as well . Find him on Instagram at DWR Home Design , or you can also look for him at Middlebury Furniture by going to wwwmiddleburyfurniturecom , and you can also send him an email . Don at theshopsnet . So Don D-O-N at the-S-H-O-P-P-E-Snet . So those are some of the ways that you can connect with him . He's also one of our Zen friends on our Facebook group , so go ahead and join that group and we can keep the conversation going over there . Just search for your Zen friend in groups on Facebook . I am so glad you joined me here today . Until next time , friends , I hope you'll take some time today and every day to do something kind for yourself .