The House Tells You What It Wants with Meg Braff

The Install: Life & Design with Paloma and Caroline

In this episode of The Install, Paloma Contreras and Caroline Jadier welcome Meg Braff, interior designer and author of the newly released 'Gracio

Key takeaways

• Design is deeply personal and should reflect a home's unique character and emotional essence.
• The act of creating spaces that feel joyful and exuberant can have lasting positive impacts on well-being.

Main topics

• The role of personal expression in interior design
• Creative inspiration from travel and events like Deco Off

Notable quotes

"Every house, every room is exuberant. It's joyful. It's beautiful. There's so many details to take in."

Conclusion

Meg Braff's journey as a designer and author underscores how deeply personal and joyful

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:03) Hi, and welcome to The Install. We're Paloma Contreras and Caroline Jadier, and this is where we talk about design, business, and the real life behind creative work. What's inspiring us, what's challenging us, and everything in between. Hey, Caroline. Hey, Paloma. How are you? I'm great. How are you doing? Doing well, doing well. You've had a big morning, huh? Yeah, it's been a busy morning. So we are, by the time this airs, school will have started, and Margo's class assignment went out. today. So there was, you know, some chatter with the moms and I was on a group text about it. And it's all good. But of course, there's like, there's always drama Speaker 1 (0:40) when there's class assignment. Speaker 2 (0:42) Yes. And then we have to register her for tennis because she's going to start Speaker 1 (0:47) tennis this fall, which is exciting. So yeah, Lou always loved Teddy tennis. They did it. It's so much fun. It made such a big difference with Lou. Just that muscle memory of how to hold just. how to hold the racket and how to swing. Right. You know, and then the enjoyment. People who play racket sports live longer than anybody else. Yeah, I've heard that. Well, I'm excited for Speaker 2 (1:10) her to play because I'm not a big tennis player, but I love the sport and I would love for her to take it up. So at this age, I just feel like, you know, if there's something that's of interest to her. Yeah. Speaker 3 (1:21) Me. Speaker 2 (1:22) We'll try it and we'll see if she likes it and if it sticks. And if it doesn't, that's okay. We can try it again later on in life or never again. Speaker 1 (1:30) And that's fine. For Speaker 2 (1:31) sure. For sure. Speaker 1 (1:32) Well, what's your high and low this past week? Speaker 2 (1:35) My high is that I'm going to go to Deco Off in Paris in January for the Speaker 1 (1:42) first time with my forum. Speaker 2 (1:44) Yeah. So they'd been talking about it for a while. And initially I was like, I don't think I can swing it because in my mind I was like, well, if I'm going, then I need to go the weekend before to shop the poos. And then it's like, you know, a two week thing. And I it's just hard to do when you have a five year old and you don't really have grandparents who are able to support. So. I decided against it. And then I was talking to Heidi Collier, who's a friend of the pod and has been on before, and she's going. And so she has a big debut happening with Elizabeth Eakins, and they're having a party for her. And Youngha, who's also in our forum, is having, she's launching a new collection with a different maker. So Heidi said she was just going to go for like, I think she's going Monday to Saturday. And I was like, you know what? I could probably swing that. And I looked at my calendar and I could. So I'm really glad to be there and support them as they debut these new collections and just spend time with my forum because I feel like, you know, just like when I'm with you and Brian and Mark and that group, like it's just it's so nice being around friends who are like minded and also offer a different perspective. You know, we're. sort of in the same, we are in the same business. And so we understand what one another are going through. And it's just, it's so energizing and exciting and just nice and fun to be together. So I'm really looking forward to that. Absolutely. Speaker 1 (3:04) It's such a party. Such a party. It is nonstop. Well, and that's the thing. Speaker 2 (3:08) I don't think we're going to do like all of the Deco Off stuff. Like we'll do Heidi's party and Young's party. That's Wednesday, Thursday. I think Heidi and I get in on Tuesday. So we'll have like a free day Tuesday. a free day Friday. I'll probably go to the Poos on Friday because a lot of dealers open on Friday. And I would imagine if it's Deco Off, they're definitely going to be there. For sure. And I'm not in a place right now where I'm going to bring a big container back for the shop like I once did. So I'll just go and look and get inspired and have fun and like find inspiration for future product. And then I fly home Saturday. So I don't know that I'll get to do a lot of the official Deco Off stuff, but I'm just really happy to be with my... my form. That's Speaker 1 (3:49) probably a good way to do it. You know, the last time I went was with Mark and Brian and Sarah and we had never been, well, that's not true. I had been the year before, two years before, because we had the one trip that got canceled. Right. Right. Yes. We are. Yes. And then you were going to go with us, but there was, Margo was still young. COVID was still a thing. And you ended up backing out on that trip. Very understandable. Well in advance. But in any event, I had only been, I guess, two years before the year that I went. And I didn't even know what I was going to when I went and was not invited to like any of the parties because you have to let people know that you're going. And then there's a limited entry because. There's 7 million designers in Paris and these venues can only hold so many people. So it's really kind of a first come, first serve kind of party situation. But I felt so left out because everybody else was going to all these parties that I wasn't going to. I was like, guys, we've got to get on everybody's list so we can go to these parties. And then, as is always the case, it was like too much. You know what I'm saying? It's overwhelming. Who wants to go to all these? Like, I cannot go to another party. Yeah. And see the same people and talk the same talk. Right. But it's really wonderful, all the new introductions, you know. It's a lot of fun. Yeah. A lot of great collections. And hopefully there'll be something. The one great thing that we did is that I think Pierre Frey does try to offer to a lot of designers is they let us go to the archives and had the archivists pull out the little scraps of fabric from over the centuries that they had collected. That was very inspiring. And then they had redone a whole castle, essentially. We want to call it a chateau, I guess, in France, Speaker 2 (5:47) and Speaker 1 (5:48) had decorated the whole thing. So it was really great to see their new collection in situ, like how they had applied it and all the like intents. And I'll tell you what was more fabulous than actually the fabric is whoever the florist was, the floral installations were the most, and the house itself were bigger stars, I think, even than the fabrics. But anyway, that's amazing. Yes, yes. So what's your low this week? Speaker 2 (6:16) You know, I was thinking about it. I haven't had a low this week, thankfully. So I'm just going to be happy about that. Yes. Be grateful that there hasn't been a low. What about you? Speaker 1 (6:25) Okay. All right. So my high is, I'm sure you're aware of this. I don't know. Not on TikTok. I don't know what your TikTok feed, what your Instagram feed looks like, whether it's design or rando stuff. It's very random these days. I have to be honest. Speaker 2 (6:40) Like there is some design, but it's not as... pronounced as it once was. It's like that. It's parenting. It's travel. It's a lot of like English countryside stuff still as a consequence of our trip. And I'm planning a trip for next summer with Fabian and Margo. So that's a big chunk of my feed. What does yours look like? Speaker 1 (7:02) I'm going to say my Instagram is more pretty and inspiring and my TikTok is more like informative. You know what I'm saying? Like where I go to learn and hear things and understand. I'm not looking for images. You know what I'm saying? And I do a lot more inspiring images on Instagram. Sure. Anyway, that is where I also get my daily dose of astrology. Speaker 2 (7:27) On TikTok Speaker 1 (7:27) or Instagram? TikTok. TikTok. Yeah, for sure. And manifestation and all that kind of stuff. Anyway, so I don't know if you know this, but Sunday. was like big, huge. Well, actually, today, like Saturday was Lionsgate 8-8. And today is, yeah, 12-8-12. It's like the big deal. So not just that, that it was Lionsgate, which was an actual 8 this year. If you add it all up, it adds up to 8. But it's even a bigger year for Scorpios like us. So that's like a huge manifestation. Things have been thinking a lot about that. And I'm all jazzed up because they're like, Scorpio, this is your year. I don't know if you've heard that. Oh, I've heard. Particularly Scorpios, Leos, and I didn't pay attention to what the other ones were. My mom was a Leo, so that caught my ear. But anyway, so I've been thinking about what I want to manifest. Okay. And let me just back up and say, I am Christian, very devoutly. Episcopalian. This does not, my astrology interest is something that are more prompts for self-reflection than any sort of religion for me. I think some people can get real witchy with it. I'm not one of those people, but I do pay attention to it for prompts and it's good to like make me think like what I want to accomplish. And I do believe in manifestation to the extent that if you don't see it and believe that it's going to happen. it will never happen. Like you have to just know, like, yes, this is what's meant Speaker 2 (9:03) for me. Like, right. For Speaker 1 (9:05) sure. And if you don't, you're probably never going to get there. And maybe that's just common sense. Maybe that's the way the brain works. Anyway, so here are my manifest. I got two things that are manifesting as far as work is. One, this will be the number one interior design podcast. Okay. We just both know it, right? Speaker 2 (9:22) There's no reason Speaker 1 (9:23) why it shouldn't be. We can get there. We just have to know that that's where we're headed and believe that it's our destiny to make the pot. And it's going to take everybody who's listening. It's going to take everybody's help. Can't do it on our own. But we, you and I, just have to believe it and keep pushing it. Okay. So we need people to post, hey, I just listened to this episode. It was so great. And do all that kind of stuff for us. But we haven't had that many lately. We need some good. five-star reviews in here. We just need all of these things because the better it gets, the more we can support it and the more we can grow it and make it better, which we really want to do. I won't spoil it with all the things that we want to do to make it better, but we're working on it. So anyway, that's it. Maybe this time next year, we'll have a check-in at Lionsgate and see where we are. Yeah, I love that. See how close. We're not far. I mean, Speaker 2 (10:18) pulling up. No, I mean, it's growing so much. We haven't even been doing it for six months. And it's doing great. I was looking Speaker 1 (10:24) at the stats yesterday. I just rando picked out some and it was really blown away. Everybody that's ahead of us in interior design has been doing this for a really long time, really Speaker 3 (10:34) long Speaker 1 (10:34) time. And they have an entrenched following. So, I mean, we can, but I mean, what is that? Well, we can overcome that for sure. Okay. Then the other thing is I'm ready for a real, I've got some great projects. that I'm working on. I love them. And it's just inspired me. Like I'm really on a roll. I want to really keep that going. And I need one more like really big, fabulous, juicy nugget of a project. That is on my manifestation board. I don't know what it is, but like these ones that I'm working on, I'm really jazzed up and I'm ready and I'm open. Keep waiting for the call. I keep looking for the email. I know it's coming soon. So that's my thing. Speaker 2 (11:17) I love it. And my bad Speaker 1 (11:18) week is, as I said in our sub stack today, Betty Davis once famously said, growing old ain't for sissies. And Lou has been out of town. And because of that, the dogs sleep with us. From the time she was a little, you know, I guess nine years ago, she started sleeping with the dogs. Speaker 1 (11:40) And that works great. But when she's out of town, my husband hates the dogs in the bed and he gets so angry whenever they have to get in. They don't bother me, but his rule is they have to be at the foot of the bed. Okay. And then he's always pushing them over on my side of the bed, you know. And the other night, they both slept on my feet and I sleep flat on my back. I don't know if you are a side sleeper or front sleeper, but I sleep flat on my back. And so I had my legs out straight and then the dogs on top of my feet. It's been three weeks now, Paloma, and my back, my lower back is still bothering me. It still starts to catch when I like bend over or do something. It's just that little place above like your bottom. You Speaker 2 (12:30) know what I'm talking Speaker 1 (12:30) about? Like the really lower back right in the middle. Speaker 2 (12:33) Can you put Speaker 1 (12:34) a pillow Speaker 2 (12:35) like under your knees or anything? What did that help? Speaker 1 (12:38) But it, I mean, it doesn't last very long because I kick it out of Speaker 2 (12:41) the Speaker 1 (12:41) way because it then gets on my nerves. Like maybe if I had something narrow that would do it, but like a whole pillow is like too long of an arc for my legs to be like that. So I've had a real. tough go of it. And it's like, this should not be lasting this long. I should be better by now. Anyway, so Speaker 2 (12:59) it's very, very frustrating. I'm working on it, but goodness. Well, I feel for you. I'm such a light sleeper. I can't have any additional distractions. So our dog will not be sleeping with us. How Speaker 1 (13:10) are you, Meg? Great to see you. So great to see you too. How beautiful your room is. I Speaker 3 (13:16) know, Speaker 1 (13:16) such Speaker 3 (13:16) a pretty room. This is my mother-in-law's house in Newport. So yeah, I was trying to... Some of the rooms