Curated Conversations: Hey guys, welcome back to Curated Confessions where we drink wine and talk design. Cheers. I'm Hillary Smith. And I'm Brittany Palchay-Como. And we are the owners and lead designers of Britt Hill Interiors in Prairieville, Louisiana. Welcome to the show. Do I have to say that every time? I don't know, you do so I'm just going with it. I mean I think it's a thing, right? I don't know. We're still figuring this out. I mean. We're super organized. Just wanting everyone to know who we are. Yes. Yay. we, this past weekend was Mother's Day. Yes. We hope all of the moms had a great ⁓ weekend. That's, I mean you're asking a lot. I know. I hope y'all had a good day. Maybe. Three hours? Maybe you took a bath. Yeah. Ooh. Coming from a mom. ⁓ As you can see, I do not look like I had a relaxing week and my hair is frazzled. ⁓ But that's okay. We're here. Yep. ⁓ it's Monday, by the way. We always do this. We forget what day we're supposed to be here. You'll be seeing this Wednesday? Yes. We're working on that too. So yeah. We know Mother's Day can be a bit of a sad day for some. It could be maybe that... She went dark. their moms, or that are lost. Or they're not around. Their baby, or I don't know. There's so many things about why not to celebrate Mother's Day for Mother's Day. Holidays are just scary in general. But if you are a mom and you have a wonderful child, hope you have a... Happy Mother's ⁓ Day. If you have a wonderful child, no. And if you don't, then you might not have had a great Mother's Day either, which is why. Touche. I don't have kids. You should have bought a gift. Come treat yourself. I got a lot of awkward, I don't know, Mother's Day is always awkward for me because it's like... People want to feel sorry for you? No, they want me to be a mom, I think. Well, that's why they feel sorry that you're not a mom. And so it's always that weird. You're like winning. When I'm like, happy Mother's Day and they're like, you too. And then think about it. Oh, I did that. And like, do I say thank you or do I be rude and not, like my mom taught me to say thank you and have manners, but. That's so Southern. Do I not, I'm really not a mom, so I shouldn't say thank you. You know, like it's a weird like tip toe. Thank you. I'm not a mom, but I am glad I have a mom that is awesome. wins. But then it makes them, I feel like it makes them feel bad. They go by, then you feel like you need to explain that you're not upset about it. Yeah. And then it just continues to get more awkward. So I just kind of like, ⁓ huh. Yeah, yeah, I don't know. I don't know. I feel that to my core. Every time I'm like, man, I don't, and then people just without me saying Mother's Day, walk in and say happy Mother's Day. I mean it's kind of. whenever the waitress comes to you and drops off your food and says I hope you enjoy it and you say you too and then you go home and you think about that for four hours when you lay in bed and go why did I say I hope you enjoy your food too she was working that's crazy. It's like you get on repeat or something and whatever is on your mind is I don't know. Anyways Mother's Day yeah. Did you have a great Mother's Day? I think you said you did. No I mean. We had plans to spend Mother's Day with my mom actually on Saturday, but we were at the hospital all day ⁓ My aunt did not have a great Mother's Day because her husband is in the hospital and So yeah, we'll make up for her Mother's Day One day. No, but I hate that I wasn't supposed be we started drinking. I know podcast So far I'm like we're turn this around but ⁓ for Mother's Day, we spent it with my husband's family. So that was fun. We pickleballed and got some pickleball. Yeah, we played pickleball at home. At your house? Yeah, we set up pickleball in the shop. You are crazy. It was so fun. So we ate, we napped, we watched TV, we pickleballed. Brittany's husband texted me on Mother's Day to tell me, Happy Mother's Day. And I think it was my most favorite text. Aw. I'm just saying. Well, gosh, guess mine didn't mean anything. It was sort of late, which now I understand why you're supposed to text people in the morning. I always say you have the whole day and... Yeah, I was in the morning trying was Mother's Day out by 8 o'clock. It was earlier than that. But then I think you piggybacked it with some work stuff that I had to respond to. was like, that's just tacky. Yeah, that was a little later. ⁓ well then I responded to the work text and then I remembered I needed to respond to the other one. it's... Yeah. I hate that phone, but I did respond to, I think I responded to all of the people. So that was awesome. I know, check. I had a client that has been my client for like 10 years. She texted me and she was like, today is your day. Aw, that's sweet. I know, I was like, oh my gosh, I can't believe you woke up on Mother's Day and thought of me. So that made me happy. Estelle might have taken her first steps. What a great Mother's Day gift. think she then proceeded to sit down and ask us to carry her around the rest of the weekend. She was like, I'm tired. And she might have been running to some Chick-fil-A. I don't know what that says about us, but I do love Chick-fil-A. And I might bring over Chick-fil-A later and see her. Right. Watch her run. She does love some chicken minis, I'm just saying. ⁓ She does not get to eat them often. I'm acting like she gets to eat fast food often. eats like all organic and all... I know, while I closet eat some Oreos. Do as I say, not as I do. Though I do hide, if that's fair. Yeah, I mean, at least you don't, you know, wave it in front of her face. Yeah, I don't like to do that. But, you know, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. ⁓ Right now, we, you know, our schedules always tend to overlap. We film this podcast and while we're doing, not doing a delivery, but while we're having furniture picked up for delivery tomorrow. Shout out to our team that supports us. We're going to Sharif Port tomorrow. think we talked about it before as a phase one install that has been in the making for like two years. It doesn't normally take that long. Just FYI, if you want to buy furniture from us, you don't have to wait two years. me explain that better. Their remodel just took a little bit longer. So, they waited a while. paused. Yeah, put a pause on it. that was really the hold up. And then ⁓ they were still a little unsure about something. Like we're doing the remodeling phases now because they were going to do the whole main area, like ripping out flooring in the whole house. So it's a major, they had to move out of the house. So they've been. living somewhere else and ready to get back in their house. So we're like making it happen. And even though the whole remodel is not complete yet, we are going to install. So yes, we have a good bit of it. So yeah, a long, long, long day. Hey, and we install and it's like a side table, but no lamp or a sofa with no side tables or the furniture with no rug. That's the worst. But, cause then you have to like, Move it all in. But everything is really the whole room almost. We do have a side table with no other furniture in the room but that is just laying out a little extra. Oh for the keeping? Yeah but we're good with that because they just purchase, they just finalized that so they knew that that wasn't happening anytime soon. They'll be pleasantly surprised to they have an end table. They can put a little phone chair next to it. But everything else, I think all of the rooms are pretty much complete. So... Yeah. So I'm excited to see their new floors. Yes. They had pretty floors before, but they had been... I mean, they were nice. Travertine? I want to say they're silver, because they were... Which is an odd name for silver travertine, because it's cream and black. Yeah. Graze and... Taupe and black. It's not even cream. It depends on the... I mean, it can look totally different in different angles. it was polished, and it was no longer polished. No, they had some, I think they had some installation issues with it too, so they wanted to... They also have very large dogs. ⁓ The dog's name was Bronco, and we thought that was so funny, and why would you name your dog Bronco? And they said, watch. That thing was like a stallion. It was opening doors for itself. the doors, yes. It went outside and I was like, where did this dog come from? It came back in around the corner. Now, anytime we have a client with dogs and we're talking about door hardware, I'm like, do you want a lever or a knob? Because dogs can open doors with levers. note to I've never seen such a thing until... Small children and dogs. Are you sure you want a lever? Because doorknobs are... We got them very durable furniture and flooring. Hopefully it will... Hopefully. We're going to micro-seal some stuff. Performance fabrics. But it's going to be beautiful. Yes. And we're going to hopefully the dogs love all of it because I do think that was a priority. I mean us and our dog lovers, we love some dogs. Yep, one from cat install to a dog install. ⁓ with a bookshelf, yeah. That was a fun cat. It's pretty practical. People have pets and they have kids these days. I know. I still want that hairless cat. I know. You just living your best life and no one asking you for... No, you have plenty of people asking you for them. I'm good. I'm great. ⁓ I was kind of relieved that my husband had a dog when we first met. You ate a I know. think you said it was a deal breaker. Yeah, I'm not an animal person. I was like, I don't know about this. And I mean, it wasn't like a normal dog. It was like a big pit bull. So I was like, oh no. Biggest teddy bear. And y'all, after like... I think you paid for surgery. I know. Me and that dog became besties. He would like... get ready with me in the morning. It was just my sidekick. Grew to love the dog. But anyways, I thought my husband would want another dog. And I was kind of like, don't, cause it was so sad. So sad. I was like, I didn't think I would make it through. But I was like, I don't, I don't want to go through that again. And I really thought he would want another dog. like recently, ⁓ he had to take care of. someone's dog for Mine, I think. She's talking about me. No, Because I a lot on babysit. I let them babysit you like how I do that. It wasn't. Dog sit. But he was like, you know what? don't think I would want another another. But not, and he loves their dog. just was like, it's a lot. And you cannot just leave. And he was only at our house for like one night, but he was going back and forth, you know, like. ⁓ At their house, so was just I was surprised to hear him say that though and relieved. Well note to self I won't let him dog-sit anymore apparently. Yeah he does love to. It's exhausting. ⁓ Yours are a little different. ⁓ Mine also. Yeah, they big personalities. this one didn't Brie doesn't let people or things touch her bed or her sheets or anything because she's... You're not OCD, but your bed is a... the safe space for you apparently. have to take a bath like every night before I get in the bed. I don't take baths like I take baths not even gonna lie, used to drink in Vegas and go and hop in her bed from the bar and she would get livid but I wouldn't your one more seat out of my bed. Oh my gosh. And I would definitely walk down Vegas Boulevard barefooted. I would not take off my shoe until I like, I don't know. No. Not in the house. Britney was broken back and she still was walking in her high heels. She definitely got an adjustment at the nightclub one night and I would go and stay with her and I would get right in that bed and she would I barely walk with her in my house. It's a thing. I don't know why. I don't know what happened as a child. I don't know but yeah. She would send me ⁓ videos and photos of my fur babies. On the bed, on the sofa, on the... And I'm like, ⁓ they don't do that in my house. What are you doing? They were clean. I wiped their feet. ⁓ I'm sure you did. I'm sure they had a spa day before they got in the bed. I can see them with their little towel wrapped around their head after with their little cucumbers. That didn't happen, but that's what I envisioned happened prior to. I know. I could talk a lot about my dogs. They're adorable. sweet. Anyways, sorry, I digress. Until you take them walking and they have other dogs that they see. Last time I'll do that. Yeah, I told you, that was brave. I'd take them for a ride. Yeah, he just likes to greet other dogs and people aggressively, but not just to lick them. Through a ditch and all. I still wish I had video of that. That would be hilarious. That would be on the podcast. Immediately. I thought I was gonna die. It'd be okay. Yeah. I have not asked her to watch them since then because I thought she might have PTSD, but... No, I just wouldn't take them for a walk. You can go outside and use the bathroom and come back inside. Mm-hmm. I know I am. Someone asked me the other day if I take Estelle and the dogs for a walk and I was like, like simultaneously. No, that's a lot. And I have my angry voice that I use that makes him stop, but he's still running around the stroller. I'm not about to be laid out while they're running down the street. No. So back to design. Install. So yes, tomorrow will be a full. full day. A full day. We're leaving at like 730 which means we have to wake up at like... I feel like we need to leave earlier than that but... The crack of dawn. ⁓ We're gonna be installing a... We don't start work till 10. I just need to maybe turn that up. On a day to day. I mean we work till like 2 in the morning but that's because that's why we don't start till 10. Yes. ⁓ But we'll be installing a bedroom. bedroom sitting area, a formal living room, a breakfast room, and then next phase will be a keeping Some light fixtures and some hardware and lots of brugs for rooms that we don't, yeah, we have. It's a lot. A lot. So we always drive back, I don't know, I feel like after tomorrow, I might need a little nap. Yes. But we don't have time for that. No. So we'll be coming we're right on into, we have a presentation on This is probably the biggest break on our schedule for the last two months, which is hilarious, but we have two days where we have nothing scheduled. Because I removed things. I was like, I need a We still have full days, but this will be probably the longest we've gone in the last two to three months without an appointment or something happening. around, So we're not going to know what to do with ourselves. I will know because we have a lot to do before Friday. Or I do at least. I'm just over here twiddling my thumbs. ⁓ No, you are working on another project. Open my big mouth. So we had our presentation since we spoke with y'all last for the The fun project that we I know, we gotta have a name for it. don't know what we're gonna call that thing. that name is yet. Eclectic exuberance. I don't know. We'll circle back. Yeah, we're gonna come up with some names, but they loved everything except for one thing. Oh, my wallpaper? No. Oh, our one... Yes, which we know, like I knew they wouldn't, I don't know. You based the whole design on that art, that's kind of crazy if you questioned, I thought. did, I was just like, well I thought if they didn't like the art they weren't gonna like the drapes, so we would use the backup drape, but he liked the drapes, that went with the art, so I'm like, okay, well, we pivot. You always say that, but then they always come back the next time and they're like, how much do y'all love it? Cause we will think about it. And I'm like, I never want to push anyone to do some, something in their home that they don't love. It be such a statement. Sometimes I do tell people to sleep on it because it's just because I have a client that he fought me on a floor lamp and it was like, it reminded me of the Titanic, like one of those big like sites. I guess it's on any boat. I don't know why it's a Titanic, but I just remember seeing it. like, you know, the like binocular things that you look out at Disney World or whatever, it looked like that. It was on a big post and it was this big huge clock. Or no, it was a lamp. And it was gold and gaudy and it was over the top and kind of very expensive. He like, that's crazy. know, I don't know why you would want to put that in our house. And I was like, I mean, I'm just saying it's like a focal point and people will talk about it. he fought me on it the entire design. And then finally at the end, he was like, fine, just do it. And he put it in and he called me like two or three months later and he was like. Every time I have people come over, they talk about this lamp. And it ends up being their favorite piece. much they love it. And now I can't imagine a space without it. And so I'm so glad you pushed me. I mean, but definitely we hear clients talk about they worked with a designer and they forced them to put in a plaid sofa and they've hated it since the day it was installed. And I'm like, ⁓ don't ever want anyone to say that about me, but I will. Are you sure you don't want it? Are you sure you don't want to see it in person? Because you always got to have that one just like fun piece. mean we've said that about 87 pieces in this project but... there's a lot of fun pieces. But I do think that... ⁓ Usually when they scratch something off the list they circle back and they ask our opinion They want to see other options and then maybe sometimes they come back and then sometimes they don't it's okay Yeah, love that because we also found something equally amazing. Yeah There are every once in a while. like, I can't stop thinking about that one. I know Not that one in particular but ⁓ But sometimes I'm like, kind of hurts my heart that you didn't do the piece that I want really bad for your own home. I don't know if it was the... I don't feel like it was the art itself. I feel like it was the colors. ⁓ Because I'm like, they have something similar. He said punchy red. I don't know. I think he didn't expect to see a woman in his dining room. Who wouldn't want one? I want a woman in every room is what I... But yeah, it was... I think it was unexpected. Yeah. I think he had something in his mind already and he caught him off guard. So I saw you. Oh. Like I said, we started before. But yeah. Refill time. Sometimes you just got to marinate in something. Yeah. I mean, I do. Yeah, you are. I'm wearing it way too long. Actually, the words. I hate to tell her. ⁓ From my own I would hate to present to Brittany. She would literally never make a decision for herself. I would if I love it. Yes. But if I'm unsure, then it ain't happening. This woman has made me sit at a counter in Louis Vuitton for four hours. What about this one? What do you think about this one? Well, this one... the zipper didn't zip, didn't make a sound that she liked when she zipped it or something. No, it got caught. And I was like, I ain't dealing with that every day. Let's be practical. If I'm spending this much money on a purse, then nope. I will buy a purse on the internet. Side unseen. We're done here. No, I need to see what kind of wallet fits and I need to see if I got room for that. Yeah, we're different people. Do not go shopping with Brittany is all I have to say. You love to shop with me because I pull all the options for you. I was at the bar. was like, bring cocktails. No, I'm the one going. Ask them about that one. Go check that one out too, because I don't have to ask questions. I just look at her like she's really high maintenance. I'm sorry. You did make us late to our concert. Just saying. But we were early actually. ⁓ and then she showed up late. It's fine. It was fine. It was all fine. It always works out. I hate that saying. Okay, design. What else do we have? ⁓ we have big presentation this week. Yes. You have a big presentation this week. I don't know why you look to me like that. Because I keep stressing out about it. ⁓ we're not talking about it? I'm not stressing out about it. I'm very excited about it. I just have a lot to do this week, so. That's what you've been saying every I know, and it's been... So what'd you say every week, period? Because there is. Mm-hmm. Just move past it. also promised to have big numbers for the big job. So we're going to wrap this podcast up shortly because I have long to do. And I should not do numbers after Rosé, but here we are. ⁓ But we do have some exciting new things in store that we'll be putting out soon that came in. ⁓ yes. ⁓ She's always trying to make me do inventory. Some things for summer. I'm like, I've been itching to put this stuff on the floor and it's just, Hillary has to tag them and enter them in so you can shop online for them. ⁓ They are online. They're just not in the store. Cause I've already put them in inventory. I just haven't hit print on the ⁓ tag. We have these really cute, we got in a bunch of different books. We ordered from a company that It's pretty cool. They recycle, repurpose old books and wrap them in different fabrics, covers. we just got in a volume that makes this beautiful blue butterfly. It's a stack. don't know, four or five stacked on the spine. it's three. I don't know. It's gonna appear right here. I don't know. I keep saying that. don't know. I don't ever watch these bags. I don't know if they do appear when I say that. Sometimes. ⁓ And we got in some other fun colorful like some greens and so yeah some new book collections and some new florals. Artificial florals. Also we have some bedding. It is lost in transit right now. I'm actively... trying to find those. somewhere around here. They made it to Baton Rouge, but they keep telling me they'll find me a new date, but those are coming. Yeah. Hopefully. I'm excited about that. love, I love, love betting. don't know why. Especially with the sheets. Dog on it. Isn't it weird, like some people, me and Lane met, he, I was like, ah, we not, we don't have not coming over with these sheets. And now that he's had my sheets, he's a snob. I know you can relate. other levels. Spent four hours in Paris making a designer cologne. I don't know where that came from. You know. Once you experience things, I guess. Sometimes you just can't go back. This is true. Betting some accessories. We're about to order lots of accessories just because we have a lot of jobs that need fun, interesting accessories. And you always need more than what you think when you're accessorizing. Like when we take for a bookshelf or whatever. ⁓ I keep wanting to say the C word and I'm not. That would be crazy, not the other word. What are we talking about here? But I like to draw out my accessories in CAD, so I know... Brittany thinks that's ludicrous. nobody got a time for that. Instead, she'll just pack the entire store. Yeah. That also gives me anxiety, so, you know. teach their own, but ⁓ we do have to come up with numbers for the project and so she has to accessorize it without installing it. So I'm looking here's looking at you. So we're about to start some big orders for that. Yeah, exciting stuff. ⁓ we got an art that I also haven't tagged. ⁓ I'm getting judged. art. ⁓ I saw that side eye. I still haven't hung it. But it's here and it's out there if you need art. Come take a look. And it's very conveniently located because it's still on the floor. Yep. Wrapped. Partially wrapped. You can easily just put it in your car. Pretty colors, abstracts. Yeah, so if you don't see it on the floor in the showroom, talk to us and there's probably some sitting around somewhere. And we have people come in all the time like, oh, I don't see quite what I'm looking for. And I'm like, well, what are you looking for? And then I bring something out the back and they were like, oh my gosh, this is exactly what I needed. So our showroom is, what is it, 4,000? Is that how that works? Or is it 2,000? Our building is 8,000 square feet total. The warehouse is two. I used to know this without having to work backwards, but. I feel like it's over two. No, the showroom is four. Yeah. Office is to warehouses too, but we have a lot of walls in our warehouse and in office space so of course we hung art there that we don't take down and move to the front which is We should But so there's a lot of stuff that people don't see when they do come in so so yeah always tell us if you're looking for something special because It might be around the give you a personal tour or we can special order it for you. Absolutely. There's always that. We always have what you're looking for. Yes. You just need to give us three Information. Of that. All three weeks. And time. Well, we hope you all have a great week. We're going to wrap this up so we can get back to work. I know. Yeah, I think we just stressed ourselves out. Yeah. And before I keep drinking. Yeah. Hey. So follow, like, rate, all the things. Bells. media. it? ⁓ Doing these things. I don't know. ⁓ YouTube, Instagram, Spotify. You can find us. Follow us on social. Yeah. ⁓ that. And we'll see you next time. Cheers. Cheers.