Style Matters

On this episode of On The Little Yellow Couch I talk about the power of connections. Not the networking kind. But the power of feeling truly connected. To each other. And to the deepest reserves of strength and optimism we all have somewhere inside us. To encourage you and I to have real conversations where you get to actually speak with me instead of just listening to me talk, I hope you’ll take me up on my offer of some free consultation this summer! I’ve had the absolute pleasure of meeting some of you in person at one of our Style Retreats. And even though not everyone can make it to these special weekends, we can at least talk via email. I encourage you to subscribe to the Little Yellow Couch newsletter and send me an email about a decor or design dilemma you’re facing. I’ll get back to you ASAP (hopefully within 24 hours!) and we can work it through together to a solution. I look forward to hearing from you!   To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vis

I am having two lovely friends back on the show with me today.  I call them "the Ashleys" for short because they are Ashely Daly and Ashley Palmer, co-owners of Retro Den Tulsa.  Today we talk about finding your true style by leaning in to who you are.  Let's get started.   To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll need to make!Sign up here to receive the free guide (and lots of suppport along the way).

My guest this week is a designer who is local to where I live, which is in the Boston area.  We've now met at two design conferences and I feel so lucky to have met her in person!  She's a designer who really listens to her clients' frustrations and gives them a big bath of Calgon.  (If you don't get that reference, I want to know.  I want to know exactly how much older I am than you.  Just out of curiosity).  Anyway, Paige not only loves what she does, she truly loves her clients and her genuine desire to help them comes through loud and clear.   You'll see what I mean in a minute.  To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll need to make!Sign up here to receive the free guide (and lots of suppport along the way).

This week, pro stylist Becki Griffin talks with me about...well...style!  How she does it, what she uses, what she shops for and lessons she's learned on a photo shoot that can be used by all of us in our regular, every day homes.  She's been working in the interiors business for many years, styling covers and pages for magazines such as Country Living, as well as taking on her own clients for interior design.  Becki is super funny and easy to be with, which is a big plus for anyone who gets to hang out with her.  Which, by the way, could be you!  Becki is teaching the styling workshop during our Little Yellow Couch Style & Antiques Retreat that's happening in September at The Vintage Round Top in Round Top, TX!  As of this airing, early bird prices have just opened up so grab your spot so I can meet you in person!  But first, let's get on with my interview with Becki.   To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up f

This week I'm talking with Paige Hull of The Vintage Round Top, a beautiful retreat space in the heart of antiquer's heaven in Round Top, TX.  Pagie and her husband Smoot have put a lot of love and soul into it, starting with a gut renovation of the first house, "No. 1450," and then adding another they call "Boho," and most recently two small cottages named after their children, The Pierce and The Eisley.   This magical place is where you can join me on the next Little Yellow Couch style retreat so be sure to check that out on the website, but today, I really wanted to give Paige the floor to share why and how she designs her homes with antiques.  If you're a true vintage lover, this episode will naturally resonate with you.  But if you skew more modern, I'm particularly excited for you to hear what Paige has to say.  Because I think she and Smoot have really nailed it when it comes to incorporating a few chipped and scarred pieces in the most clean-lined, minimalist of

This week it's just you and me!  I'm going to share my process when overhauling a room design and then walk you through some ways in which I get myself unstuck if I hit a roadblock.  It's all about creativity -- where it comes from and how to cultivate it.  We're talking about problem solving in a way that feels great!   To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll need to make!Sign up here to receive the free guide (and lots of suppport along the way).

My guest this week practices holistic design.  And by the end of the episode you'll know exactly what that means to Laurence Carr.  She has taken her classical ballet training, her life lived on many continents and her passion for sustainability and translated all of that into a thriving interior design studio.  Laurence introduces us to three elements that show up in almost everything she creates: space clearing, interior realignment and sensory design.  Let's dig in.   To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll need to make!Sign up here to receive the free guide (and lots of suppport along the way).

Brooke Milne is the travel blogger behind "Look It's Brooke!"  I met her at a conference in California and in getting to know her, and learn about her business, I realized she would be full of advice for us about traveling and how to incorporate your travels into your style at home.   To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll need to make!Sign up here to receive the free guide (and lots of suppport along the way).

My guest this week is Melissa Coleman, otherwise known as The Faux Martha. I'm sure you know which Martha that refers to and we'll get to why Melissa chose that name.  But first, I'll tell you a little bit about her, in case you don't know.  Melissa is a cook, a baker and a writer.  I brought her on the show so we could talk about kitchens, one of the most used rooms in our homes, and one that can fill us with dread.  It's often cluttered with too much on the counters and piles of dirty dishes and it's where we constantly go when we want to stare at shelving filled with a bunch of stuff that we don't know what to do with when its time to get dinner on the table.   Melissa also has a great eye for design, which is really helpful when getting our kitchens to work for us.  Oh, and full disclosure here, my kitchen is far from perfect so I'm using her book, The Minimalist Kitchen, to get it on track.   I'll be sharing how it's going over the next few weeks and if y

My guest this week is the sought after interior designer, Nicole Gibbons.  You might recognize her from the Oprah Winfrey TV show "Home Made Simple."  Or maybe you've seen her as a guest on The Rachel Ray show, or in the pages of any number of design magazines.  She's done it all!  But her newest venture, which has basically taken over her life, is a paint company she calls "Clare."   I wanted to know what made Nicole drop everything else and pursue a product based company when she's always been in the service sector.  And, to tell us the story behind the brand.  To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll need to make!Sign up here to receive the free guide (and lots of suppport along the way).

My guest today is Anita Joyce of Cedar Hill Farmhouse, located in Round Top Texas, which you may recognize from the hugely famous antiques show that happens there twice a year.  Anita and I met several years ago at a conference where we talked about podcasting because we were both about a year or so into it and it was especially nice because there aren't a whole lot of us our there who have interior design focused shows.  Anyway, we're finally getting around to recording a conversation!  We start off with Anita sharing very honestly a really dark time in her life and how the creative act of decorating and homemaking helped her dig her way out.   Since then she's gone on to produce her blog, Cedar Hill Farmhouse, co-host the podcast, "Decorating Tips and Tricks," and write a beautiful book called "French Accents."  To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll need to ma

Kicking off Season 12 of the Style Matters podcast is the full-of-life plant lover, Hilton Carter!  He's totally someone you want to hang out with as soon as you start talking with him.  And talk we do!  He's just come out with his first book called Wild At Home and it's all about how to bring plants into your home and work with your style.  We happened to both be at the Alt Summit conference in Palm Springs last month so we got to meet in person.  That doesn't always happen with my guests, so I was really happy it worked out for us.  Let's get started.   To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll need to make!Sign up here to receive the free guide (and lots of suppport along the way).

Great story.  Great designer.  One of  those who can really express how and why he does what he does.  This episode originally aired in January of 2017 and I continue to go to his portfolio over and over for my own inspiration and when I'm looking to learn something specific about design.   I think you're gonna love him as much as I do!   To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll need to make!Sign up here to receive the free guide (and lots of suppport along the way).

Jennifer Harrison lights up a room.  Or, in this case, she's lighting up our earbuds.  When we first met Jennifer, we were pulled into her undertow of happy energy and ended the interview on such a pure high that I knew I wanted to share it again for those of you who missed it the first time.  In this episode, Jennifer talks so beautifully about the design value of incorporating vintage, antique and flea market finds into your home.  She's the founder of the online shop Flea Market Fab, which you'll be jumping out of your skin to go check out as soon as this is over.  But best of all is probably toward the very end where, completely off the cuff, Jennifer paints a picture of how she pulls a room together, starting with a single piece and imagining all of the different furniture and accessories she'd use.  So good.  Here she is. To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll need to mak

One of my favorite books on design, and one that's had a lot of influence on how I think about helping clients with figuring out their aesthetic, is by Anne Sage and it's called Sage Living.  In this episode, which originally aired in 2016, we talk with Anne about her realization that her home could be a source of support as she was making a major life transition.  She talks candidly about her personal life and how her professional life has taken many different turns, with the ups and downs all of us can relate to.  I think you're going to get a lot out of this episode when it comes to connecting the dots between how you want to feel and how your home can foster your goals.   To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll need to make!Sign up here to receive the free guide (and lots of suppport along the way).

This is a re-release of our episode with designer Liz Kamarul, originally recorded in the summer of 2017.  We talk about her stunning home in Portland OR that she was leaving behind to spend several months traveling around the country in an RV that she and her husband had just started to renovate.  Since then Liz has settled in New Orleans, working her style magic from there.  I wanted to re-release this episode because I think Liz's "just do it" and "why not" approach to decorating is a good reminder to all of us to lighten up and let our homes be incubators for our creativity.  Here we go.   To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll need to make!Sign up here to receive the free guide (and lots of suppport along the way).

This week starts a 5 episode series of re-released interviews from the archives.  First up is our interview with organizational guru, Peter Walsh, which we aired almost exactly three years ago in April, 2016.   I first saw Peter on Oprah's show and I still cut out the articles he writes for O Magazine.   What I loved about him then is that he helped people get organized from the inside-out and in a soulful way.  I mean, that's totally Oprah, right?   Now, I love him even more because he's so kind and approachable in real life.  Or, at least, on the phone.  One of these days, I'll meet him in person and have him autograph a to-do list or a storage bin or something.  Anyway, maybe you know him from the two TV shows where he's been front and center:  Extreme Clutter and Clean Sweep.  Or maybe you've read one of his many books, my favorite being "Does this Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat?"  Peter is very entertaining and highly quotable, dropping wisdom bombs all over the pla

I have a repeat guest on the show this week!  Once again, I'm interviewing author Joanna Thornhill because she's just come out with a new book and I'm giving it my full and sincere endorsement!  It's called "My Bedroom Is An Office, and Other Interior Design Dilemmas).  I'm gonna tell you all about what makes this book so useful once I've got Joanna on the line.  But for now, I'll just say that during our conversation, we cover things like choosing the right white (cuz you know there are about 50 million paint choices out there), when creating a feature wall is actually ok, how to mix up different styles, the first thing you should do when you walk into your new home And the answer to the question, "how will I know when I'm done?"  Let's jump in To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll need to make!Sign up here to receive the free guide (an

My guest this week is author Ingrid Fetell Lee.  She's just written a book called "Joyful:  The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness."  And let me tell, you, I read it a few months ago and I can't stop thinking about it!  It's not an interior design book and yet it has given me so many ideas and so much inspiration for continuing to create a home I love.  Ingrid followed her curiosity for 10 years before putting pen to paper.  She wanted to figure out why certain objects or environments illicit a spontaneous, immediate feeling of joy and why.  And I think you can relate to this because I assume that one of the main reasons you listen to this podcast is because, just like me, you do a crazy happy dance when you find the perfect score at an antiques show, or a new artist whose work you can afford, or some new fabric or color you can bring home with you... I think you'll find Ingrid's line of questioning really interesting.  Why do these things

So this week's episode is not as much directly related to interior design as they usually are.  But, it's still ultimately about how our environments and the atmosphere we create is connected to a life well lived.  My guest is Kate Richards of the blog, Drinking With Chickens.  Now, if you already follow Kate, you know she's a ton of fun and that her home and, more importantly, her backyard are well worth taking a look at for their design appeal.  She hosts some amazing outdoor parties, complete with pet chickens for entertainment, and her photos are both funny and beautiful.  So you'll get plenty of visual inspiration if you take a look at the show notes page this week.  But for this interview, we mostly talk about the lifestyle Kate has created for herself, her husband and their friends who come over, which probably happens all the time.  She is a great reminder that the reason why style matters is ultimately for the pure joy it gives us and those we love.  So... here we go.   To use the