As most of you know, we’ve been working hard on the redesign of two spaces in our home – the living and dining room (see the final results here and here)! I’m beyond delighted to share more about our brand partner for both spaces – Ballard Designs. I’ve been familiar with the brand for more than 15 years, and I can’t image a better company to bring our home decor to life!
Our living and dining rooms are important as we plan to spend a lot of time in both spaces. Plus, when the pandemic calms down, we will be doing a lot of entertaining with friends and family. They also happen to be the first rooms that guests see when they enter the home, so we wanted to give a great first impression. A “WOW” factor, if you will. I think we’ve achieved that, and I’m excited to share the room reveal soon!
Before diving into the unveiling, I wanted to walk through the home decor and design process of how we got to the final result.
Living and Dining Room “Before” Photos
When we purchased our home, the rooms was VERY neutral. It was like a builder’s dream of beiges, tans, whites, and grays everywhere. Not very “me!” At the same time, it gave us a wonderful blank canvas to work with.
The previous owners had installed wainscoting, and I am SO thankful they did! I’m a sucker for trim details in a home, especially when it comes to complimenting it with wallpaper. We also went in and added crown molding after we moved in, and it turned out so well!
Why We Picked Ballard Designs
As I mentioned above, I’ve been familiar with Ballard for more than a decade. In fact, one of my former bosses had one of their custom chairs in her office. Overall, I love how the brand offers a wide array of personalization options from fabrics to wood colors and more.
Over the years, I received their catalogs and I immediately fell in love with the home decor products and customization options. When it came time to pick a partner for the living and dining rooms, the answer was simple – Ballard!
Ballard Designs Solutions
Prior to the pandemic, Bob, our interior designer Amelia and I visited Ballard’s showroom in nearby Oakbrook. This trip was extremely helpful, as we got to touch, feel, and see the products (and meet their team!). Best of all, we scheduled an appointment to meet with Jean from the Ballard Design Solutions team.
Frontgate Garnet Hill
Also, in case you didn’t know, Ballard Designs is also part of a larger home decor family. In fact, their other brands include Frontgate and Garnet Hill. It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Frontgate! After all, we used them for our patio redesign and other home projects. Garnet Hill, on the other hand, has a range of clothing, accessories, and home decor products. Be sure to check out Frontgate Garnet Hill if you have the chance!
The Designs Services option is completely free for customers, and I highly recommend trying it. In fact, I’d even tap them just to help with accessorizing other spaces in our home now that I’m familiar with the service. When possible, Ballard’s Design Services team meets with you in the store to show you around, discuss what you’re looking for, and starts space planning. Jean even offered to come to our home to see the space in-person. Love that!
Plus, Ballard Designs also offers free virtual appointments, in case your nearest store is further than you’d like to drive. I love how flexible they are as a company!
During our consultation, Jean explained that many members of the Design Services team are former/current interior designers and decorators. I was really impressed with her passion for great design and finding solutions for decorating dilemmas! I love they have interior designer options for customers.
They work with customers from start to finish, and they’re completely open to collaborating with your interior designer! At first, I was a bit nervous about bringing Amelia to our first Design Services meeting. Thankfully, they welcomed her with open arms. In fact, Jean said they enjoy working with interior designers all the time! All in all, it means there are even more great design minds in the room!
Our Design Consultation
During our design consultation, we went through the space planning that Amelia pulled together for our living room and dining room. We also brought along several fabrics and samples that we loved in case we wanted to personalize some pieces.
Jean walked us around the store, showed us some of the pieces we had selected from the website that we loved, and highlighted a few additional items that we hadn’t thought about before.
From there, we went through fabric, trim, and finish selections for various pieces. These included our sofa, chairs, and ottoman. Overall, the items are key for our living room and dining rooms. Both Amelia and Jean really kept me on track in terms of making thoughtful design decisions! I tend to struggle with being overwhelmed when I see TOO many options. Therefore, I was thankful they helped narrow things down (especially the wood finishes we selected).
About Ballard Designers
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the company, Ballard Designs was founded in 1982. They’re headquartered in Atlanta. From my research, Ballard Designs home decor is formally part of Cornerstone Brands, and now the company is part of the Qurate Retail portfolio brands.
Plus, they originally started as a catalog company. Since then, they’ve grown to have brick and mortar stores and a gorgeous website. Plus, they have a fabulous online catalog featuring contemporary rugs, lighting, furniture, and other home decor items.
Again, be sure to checkout their sister companies – Frontgate and Garnet Hill as well! They have great options for home decor and beyond.
Ballard Designs Store Locations
They currently have 14 store locations, with several more on the way, including Nashville and Houston. I especially love their tagline, “Unleash your inner designer.” Ballard truly gives the control of the design to the customer. It’s almost as if you became an interior designer!
In fact, Ballard Designs have more than 550+ frames that can be personalized out of more than 400 different fabrics. Additionally, they allow customers to provide their own fabrics and materials. We chose to go this route for a few items. Additionally, they have a phenomenal team of home decor experts. Yes, even interior designers! They can dream up your home design, including the living room, dining room, bedroom, kitchen, and home office.
The process is so seamless! You pick the frame you want, then the fabric, finish details and trims, and voila – your piece is set!
Behind-the-Scenes of Ballard
With the pandemic, several shoppers aren’t able to visit Ballard Designs just yet. Therefore, I recommend checking out this video below. After all, it takes you into the Ballard showroom. Plus, you get to preview tables, rugs, home decor accessories and other products.
Learn More About Ballard Designs
Ready to schedule your Design Solutions appointment? Click here to set-up a time that works best for you. First thing to remember, these initial meetings are completely free. Furthermore, it’s a great way to receive fantastic design advice for any space in your home. I am confident that you’ll have a fantastic experience given what we created for our living and dining rooms.
Be sure to checkout Ballard Designs’ blog, How to Decorate, for more design inspiration and ideas. They also have a fantastic podcast that discusses all things decorating. Last but not least, be sure to visit their Instagram page for beautiful rooms and designs.
Lastly, be sure to checkout the final reveal our living room and dining room. I love the way the living room came together! Furthermore, I share advice on how-to decorate a small living room for Christmas. We worked with Ballard’s sister company, Frontgate, to pull everything together. It’s fun to see how the Ballard Designs process ended up giving us a fantastic foundation for seasonal holidays.
Request a Ballard Designs Catalog
Want to receive a Ballard Designs catalog? If so, simply fill out this form with the detailed information to receive your free catalog. The form will request your first and last name, the full mailing address, and your email address. Plus, you can add your preferred phone number, but keep in mind that information is optional.
Furthermore, the bottom of of the catalog request form has a box that’s automatically checked. This box subscribes you to email and newsletter correspondence from Ballard Designs. Don’t want to be on the list for promo codes, new product and sale alerts, in-store events and promotions? Uncheck that box.
After you’re finished entering all of your information in the form, simply click the submit button to request your catalog. Moreover, their home decor catalogs take approximately 2-3 weeks to arrive to your doorstep.
As an alternate to the website, you can also call Ballard Designs directly to request a free catalog. Their phone number is (800) 536-7551. Generally, a customer service representative will be enter in your information to their system. Keep in mind, the phone number is optional. Be sure to clarify whether or not you’d like to receive email correspondence from the brand.
Do you hate mail and catalogs? If so, you can always peruse their online catalog for the new merchandise, product releases, and seasonal collections at BallardDesigns.com.
This post was created in collaboration with Ballard Designs. Partnerships like these make Style Charade possible.