Favorite Home Decor Website ~ Ballard Designs

NOTE: After too many moments spent trying to re-arrange the layout of this post I am giving up. As we all know I'm no web genius so I apologize for the funky spacing and picture layout, I've gotta grab the little one so I'm out of time to play around with it.

Many of you know that my happy little family bought our first home this past spring and as luck would have it we found out that we were "expecting" baby deux (aka Baby Fig) the very same week. I absolutely love our home although had we known about baby Fig before we signed the paperwork we probably would have passed on this house to go with one a little bigger and a little further out. You can call it divine intervention, fate or just lucky timing but I'm so very glad that we ended up with this house. It's perfect for our little family... that is for the time being. With two boys running around I'm sure we'll need more space eventually but for now we are so happy with our house which is in a very family friendly neighborhood and fairly close to DH's work.

A quick side note- I have noticed that boys' toys seem to be smaller than girls toys. We have no walk in play kitchen or doll house to figure out where to hide when friends come over. We do however seem to have wiffle balls in every room and corner of our house. I'm convinced that one of these day's I'm going to slip on one and knock myself unconscious but my irrational fears are a whole other issue not to be dealt with today.

Like anyone else moving into a new home we wanted to redecorate. Aside from trying to be practical a la creating a budget and a priority list that we are slowly ticking through. I also scoured through all the decorating magazines I could get my hands on. Traditional Home has taken over as my #1 fav decor magazine, replacing Veranda in the top spot since college. I still love Veranda but now a days it's not as practical for my lifestyle.

And in today's world of course I was all over tons of different web sites --Williams Sonoma Home, Pottery Barn , Restoration Hardware, The Source Collection, Horchow, Pierre Deux to name a few. Oh and I can't help but mention my all time favorite home decor store, Random Harvest. While they do have a web presence it's rather minor. You really do need to visit one of their stores to fully appreciate it. If you are in the Washington DC area they have locations in Bethesda, Georgetown and Old Town.

However, my absolutely favorite and reason for this post is Ballard Designs from which I've ordered most of the new pieces in our home. If you aren't already familiar with this website go to it IMMEDIATELY, that is after you finish reading my post, natch.

They offer fantastic quality merchandise that is extremely comfortable and yet still has a nice clean look to it all at VERY reasonable prices. At this point in my life I am not trying to create a formal looking home, I do have a house full of boys after all. However, I do want to present a warm, inviting home that at least appears to have been designed with some amount of forethought.

I'm including a few pictures of things we've already ordered (and LOVE!) as well as things that are still on our "to purchase list". I hope that if you are in the market for some new home furnishings or new home decor you'll consider Ballards. We've never been disappointed with their merchandise and I doubt you will be either. Oh did I mention that they send free fabric samples? I've got a ton in my design folder and they have really come in handy.

This is the Tufted Camden Headboard upholstered in Apple Green Twill. We are actually going with a brown twill but it didn't show up as well on line as the apple green did.

This is the Castered Tufted Storage Ottoman upholstered in Caramel Twill. We have this exact piece and LOVE it! It works perfectly in our living room in lieu of a coffee table, foot rest, or as extra seating when we have friends over. Did I mention it opens and has a lot of room for storage? It's a fabulous piece that I highly recommend!

I know it's hard to see these all of them in this picture so I am including a close up of one I particularly like. It is a series of Heron Giclees in beautiful mirrored frames. I do hope to order a few of these to hang in my bedroom. I love the look!

And finally here is another series that I think would be darling in a child's room. It is a series of Italian Alphabet prints. They don't really match the decor in our nursery so alas I have to pass on them but I still love them never the less.


Happy Shopping!

Cheers,
Ouiser