Saturday, September 22, 2018

BALLARD DESIGNS......UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL.

How many of you ladies get this catalog in the mail on a regular basis....???
I always assumed they were based here in Atlanta but I was wrong....They are from West Chester Ohio...
Only familiar with their two outlet stores here in town I have never
been a fan.
I used to look through every catalog that came but was never thrilled with the.....(I'm going to say it)....cheapness....of it's
appearance....bad photographs....too much print....thin paper.
always reminds me of those cheap clothing catalogs that show up just as often....
Even at their outlets the prices are high but at least in person the stores are nicely laid out.
I have noticed that the furniture.... that is usually in the back in the clearance area.... more then likely is returned merchandise...
looks like it is cheaply made....so now those catalogs just get thrown in the trash.
Until the other day on Facebook when I saw an ad for their new....as of July.....retail store in the warehouse district of Atlanta....
Planning a day with crazy friend Joyce and not wanting to go to
IKEA.... where we cause chaos....
I suggested we check out the new Ballard Designs Retail Store..
One Word.....Fabulous.....
being a lover of blue that was the first thing we saw when we walked into this huge beautiful retail establishment...
I fell in love with with wrought iron chandelier
right in the front window....
A salesperson seeing me oohing and aahing....
quickly came over and offered to check stock....
Not ready to buy...but a great price at $499.
thinking of our friend Rose....she will probably be hand painting
her own pumpkins this year as she is also the
Queen of all thing Blue...
And she can paint!!
Our only complaint was most of the merchandise had price tags
if you could find them but they were very hard to read...
Joyce spent the whole time taking cell phone pics of the
bottom of the items to then check the price...
I was very impressed with this particular sofa...
Beautiful heavy duty tweed fabric...
I think it was around $2400. with 25% off...
And it was super comfy...

If it's red I love it!!
How cute are these dishes...
something even for the Flamingo Lovers....

little salt and pepper thingies....
I don't know what the one hanging from his mouth is for
But very cute...
pig salt and pepper shakers...
many many beautiful chandeliers.....
bringing back "spool" furniture....
a nice large cow print....
we both loved these hanging baskets.....
there were many baskets of various sizes and styles...

this was very cool for $100.00
a very long memory foam floor mat for your kitchen....
I have one I bought at Williams Sonoma but it's small
so I'm constantly tripping over it when I'm moving
about cooking...
I loved that this was so large....
they also had them with a laundry room theme.

Red Desk! Love Red! 
eye candy for women who love decorating....
How cute is this for the working women....
I could use one that says....
"Out of the Kitchen"....

Two Words....How adorable.
Ditto....

wood bowl of twine!
pretty bed but look closer.....
A Wooden Bird perched on the headboard...
a "spool" bed in black...
a very large copper tray with Napoleon's Bee...
Now your talking my language....
Animal prints....
I knew I was ahead of the trend....
And people made fun and thought I was crazy when
for my birthday this year....
the Boss bought me.....
The real thing.....
I love taxidermy.....
I did not kill anything.....I adore animals of all kinds...
Have taxidermy all over the house....
including 2 Deer.....a Buffalo....and an Antelope....
the Zebra and Antelope came from the collection of an
elderly man who was a big game hunter in Africa....
purchased from a very legitimate business in town...
They are fabulous....
Back to Ballard....they sell all sorts of things that can be
Monogrammed....
loved this mirror....it was on a big stand....
Almost through walking around the store....
I noticed this beautiful tablescape.
I also saw this beautiful leather recliner....I could use two of those!
It was priced at $1399.00....the leather looked like a nice
quality....

A nice touch as we wandered around....
We were offered a cold drink by one of the employees...
This is the South and everybody believes in
Hospitality.....
Plus it was like 100 degrees outside ....
 
Before leaving Joyce took my picture in the Zebra chair.....
I texted it to the Boss who promptly said....
"If you want it go ahead and get it"....
He does that....which is how I ended up with the
Antelope and the Zebra in the first place.....
By now we were ready for lunch and since it
was Joyce's treat and my choice I opted for the best
Pizza in Atlanta....
ANTICO!

So the moral of the day at
Ballard Designs is......
"Don't judge a catalog by its cover"
Or it's pictures...
or it's print...
or the quality of the paper
it's printed on...
I came I saw I loved....
I recommend...
The pizza on the other hand
is highly recommended
But unless you live in the ATL
your out of luck....
HAPPY
CATALOG
SHOPPING.

5 comments:

Linda @ A La Carte said...

What a great store and I know you and Joyce had fun! Love some of the furniture and of course the Flamingo candle holders. Miss you guys!

Chatty Crone said...

You wasted all those years of throwing the catalog away and it was wonderful furniture. lol I thought every picture of every item was gorgeous. Like the teal bed ans spread with the bird. I love it. Nice to know Joyce is back in town. Did you know I started blogging the last six months or so? Check me out! Love, sandie

Unknown said...

I also saw this on FB and have never been, I guess I need to request the catalog. Love all the pictures you gals took, so did you get the chair?

Jaybird said...

I don't have much hope of getting to their store, but I have had my eye on one of their rugs for a couple of years. I think I will trust your judgement and order it.....from the (gasp)....catalog!!
Thank you so much for checking it all out for me :^).
I would have loved the pizza as well, but I'm tooooooooo far away!
Blessings,
J

Ellen said...

I'va always felt the same when I look at their catalog. Glad you set the record straight.