I had so much fun attending the Ballard Designs Fort Worth store preview last evening.    Located in the Shops at Clearfork, this new store is a stunning.  Beautiful lighting, creative displays and very attentive staff will make this newest jewel to Clearfork sparkle.

I have been a longtime customer of their catalog, but have never had the chance to actually shop in a store.  It was a treat to meet the management team, including Ryan McKelvey, President of Ballard Designs.  We chatted about his excitement over this new store to the company’s over 30-year history.  I also got to meet the darling Lindsey Pfeiffer from Ohio, who has the fun job of traveling to open new stores.  I smell a new job for me someday!

I wandered the store and snapped inspiration ideas.  One of my favorite things to do is nest at home on the weekends moving furniture and accessories around the house.  So, to be able to spend time studying how their design team styled the accessories was a real treat.   The store features a huge design center central in the store layout, so you can sit and study features and fabrics to customize your choices.

I loved this pillow.  I think it would be a perfect house warming or wedding gift.

And this bag, well it just says, “welcome to summer, darling.”  It’s lined with the cutest black and white striped ticking.  It’s quite roomy so it will fit your beach reads, laptop, towel and flipflops.

I tried to find ideas to share with you on how to style what you already have.  Good style doesn’t have to be expensive.  Focus on being creative and thinking outside the box on how you display your treasures.  Case in point, look at this wooden bowl filled with spools of twine!

Or these glass jars in your laundry room filled with soap, clothespins, and twine.

Blue and white.  I chatted with the store manager Joyce Tarter and asked her what her favorite color was and she said, “blue, because everyone looks good in blue!”  Mother always told me that blue is nature’s color and it will go with everything, and she was right.  I loved their vast selection of blue and white ginger jars.

Look how they used one of the ginger jars to hold paint brushes!  I love this inspiration.

Pops of color were everywhere — hot pink and orange.  But, there were also subtle touches of blush pink and coral.

Coffee table books were everywhere!  Stacks of books are the perfect accessory on a table.  Add a candle and some fresh flowers and call it day.

This book from Eddie Ross in on my wish list…

One last thing, one of my newest favorite podcasts is How to Decorate:  Ideas and Inspiration from Ballard Designs.  Every week they dish on all sorts of fun things.  Be sure to subscribe!