Ep. 481: Meg Braff, Gracious Interiors

Welcome back interior designer Meg Braff to the podcast! Meg first joined the show in 2017 to discuss her first book, The Decorated Home, and now she returns to celebrate her second book, Gracious Interiors, published by Rizzoli.

Growing up in Mississippi, Meg watched her mother and grandmother host beautiful, thoughtful parties, and she has carried that effortless Southern hospitality into her design firm. She sits down with Caroline, Taryn, and Liz to discuss how she optimizes floor plans for hosting, why every guest room needs wallpaper, and her favorite tricks for making formal antiques feel approachable.

• Design for Entertaining: Meg begins every project by analyzing the floor plan to maximize how a family lives and hosts. She looks for ways to provide multiple dining options, like a small setup for six indoors or a long table for thirty outdoors, and uses elements like pergolas and outdoor fireplaces to extend the entertaining season.

  
  

• The "Dress Rehearsal" Trick: A great host makes entertaining look effortless so guests never feel like an inconvenience. Meg recommends setting your table the day before to ensure you have the right counts for flatware and vases, and turning on your playlist an hour early. This allows you to be fully dressed and enjoying a cocktail right before the doorbell rings.

  
  

• Thoughtful Guest Rooms: Wallpapering a guest room is an easy way to make visitors feel expected and special. Elevate the stay by clearing out the medicine cabinet, stocking it with nice toiletries, and leaving out a water carafe, a small plate of fruit, and a note with the Wi-Fi password.

  
  

• Demystifying Wallpaper: Meg—who launched her own expansive fabric and wallpaper line 18 years ago—loves bold patterns, but notes that even a simple grasscloth adds necessary warmth, depth, and texture to a room lacking architectural details. She also encourages hanging artwork directly over wallpaper, provided the pieces relate to each other in scale.

  
  

• Mixing Antiques & Textures: To keep formal antiques from feeling stodgy or unapproachable, Meg mixes in mid-century pieces, like brass and glass coffee tables. She also uses woven materials, like French rattan chairs, bamboo altar tables, or jute rugs, to visually lighten a room and make it feel younger.

  
  

• Go-To Accessories: Meg frequently layers her rooms with vintage brass, nautilus shells, colored or clear glass hurricanes for romantic lighting, and robust collections of books to make spaces feel truly lived-in.

  
  

  Also Mentioned:

  • Follow Meg on Instagram: @megbraffdesigns

  • Visit her shop in West Palm Beach on Georgia Avenue

  • Books by Meg Braff: Gracious Interiors and The Decorated Home

    
    

  Please send in your decorating dilemmas to [email protected] so we can help you with your space! Don't forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss an episode.

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