How to Design Your Dream Home (In Your Budget) with Bobby Berk

It’s an episode about home design and we are joined by THE Bobby Berk himself – award-winning designer, formerly of Netflix's Queer Eye and currently starring in HGTV’s Junk or Jackpot. We discuss the unconventional way Bobby figures out someone’s personal design style (and how you can figure out your own) and where to start if you want to design your dream home, or even just a room. We discuss where to splurge and where to save, lighting dos and don’ts, furniture/storage hacks for small spaces, why you shouldn’t follow trends, how much color is too much, and his thoughts on renovating a rental. We also discuss moving in with a partner and how to navigate merging your things and handling design decisions. Before Bobby joins us, we are talking about friendship (including the current state of ours), Rayna’s review on Nantucket, and hotel room behavior with someone you’re dating. Enjoy! Follow Bobby on Instagram @bobby, check out Junk or Jackpot on HGTV, and shop Bobby’s product line at bobbyberk.com. Follow us on Instagram @girlsgottaeatpodcast, Ashley @ashhess, and Rayna @rayna.greenberg. Visit girlsgottaeat.com for more. Thank you to our partners this week: Hinge: Download their audiobook No Ordinary Love for free on Spotify. BetterHelp: See reviews and decide if it’s right for you at https://betterhelp.com/gge. Article: Get $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more at https//:article.com/gge. Dae: Get 20% off your first purchase at https://daehair.com with code GGE. Nutrafol: Get $10 off your first order and free shipping at https://nutrafol.com with code GGE10. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Rayna Greenberg?

  It's so sad when the furniture is too small.

• 0:02Speaker 01

  Size does matter.

• 0:03Rayna Greenberg?

  Yeah.

• 0:04Speaker 01

  And it needs to be just right.

• 0:06Rayna Greenberg?

  Exactly.

• 0:23Ashley Hesseltine?

  This podcast is a Dear Media production.

• 0:25Rayna Greenberg?

  Hi, guys.

• 0:25Ashley Hesseltine?

  Hi, guys.

• 0:26Rayna Greenberg?

  Welcome back to another episode of Girls Gotta Eat.

• 0:29Ashley Hesseltine?

  Coming to you in person here from Spotify. I love this room so much. I'm sitting here, wheels turning like, how can we let?

• 0:36Rayna Greenberg?

  How can we come back here?

• 0:36Ashley Hesseltine?

  How can we have them let us do this all the time? Is this like a one time thing? I don't know. Like, what?

• 0:42Rayna Greenberg?

  I think we look so beautiful. Okay, leave a comment in the comments.

• 0:45Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yes.

• 0:46Rayna Greenberg?

  Comment how stunning we are.

• 0:48Ashley Hesseltine?

  You know how you used to give the weather report? Now every week you're like, this is where we are. This is what cities we're in. It's every week. It's cute. Like, this is where we at, where we're at.

• 0:55Rayna Greenberg?

  Well, I just want people to know that you should.

• 0:58Ashley Hesseltine?

  We're together.

• 1:00Rayna Greenberg?

  And you.

• 1:01Ashley Hesseltine?

  That was crazy.

• 1:02Rayna Greenberg?

  Should tune in and watch full video on Spotify.

• 1:05Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah.

• 1:05Rayna Greenberg?

  Truly like having the show, the video on Spotify has just been so great for the show. And the comments, I just like, I wake up excited to like, read the comments on Spotify.

• 1:13Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah, you guys are really so kind. And last week I talked about my friend who passed away and I just got so many nice messages and people sharing their story. And it's like, I need to sit down and like, respond thoughtfully to people I have just been going through them. People have like, shared what they went through and I want to respond to everybody. So that's, it's going to be on my to do list this week. I'm doing them one by one. And people left a lot of like, really nice comments. And so just thank you guys as always for being so supportive. And I'd love to do a weather report. It's perfect in LA all the time. We have had a really good, hot, in a good way, summer hot August. It's felt like.

• 1:55Rayna Greenberg?

  Today is gonna be like 96 degrees. It's pretty brutal over here.

• 1:57Ashley Hesseltine?

  I mean, we also live on the west side where it's just cooler, but it has felt really nice where warm nights, like wear a tank top out at night, titties out at night, and you don't bring a jacket. And it's just been like, the way I remember it feeling on the summer in the east coast before the drastic climate change where it's just like, nice, hot summer. Like last summer, I don't really remember. It still gets kind of cool. And I don't know, it's just August has been really nice. We've been like, just been outside enjoying it. Like, we were in the park on Sunday and under a tree in the shade. I'm like, this is a perfect life.

• 2:29Rayna Greenberg?

  Must be nice.

• 2:30Ashley Hesseltine?

  I know.

• 2:31Rayna Greenberg?

  I'm happy every day in New York. I am happy. I like, I just, I look out the window. It's so beautiful. But yeah, weather, not so much. I also, I'm, I went to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket last week.

• 2:39Ashley Hesseltine?

  Oh, yeah.

• 2:39Rayna Greenberg?

  It rained, I mean, truly from the minute I set foot there until the minute I left. But I love Nantucket. It was my first time there. I went with my friends.

• 2:48Ashley Hesseltine?

  I love this so much. You know, you guys know I can be a little territorial, but not with like, Raina being friends with my friends. Like, these are my friends who you've become friends with for the past eight years.

• 2:58Rayna Greenberg?

  Yeah.

• 2:58Ashley Hesseltine?

  But this really.

• 3:00Rayna Greenberg?

  Yeah, I was invited.

• 3:01Ashley Hesseltine?

  This was really solidified how like, much the friend groups have become intertwined. Like, these are my longtime, like Delaware friends that I went on a trip with and I wasn't there. I just loved it. Shashank and I were talking about when your friends become friends and how nice it is to see. And it's such a testament to how you are as a friend. Okay, well, let's just thank our partners really quick and then we will get into it.

• 3:20Rayna Greenberg?

  All right. Thank you to Hinge. Download their audiobook, No Ordinary Love, Stories of Real Couples Who Took Risks for Free on Spotify and BetterHelp. See reviews and decide if it's right for you at betterhelp.com/gge and Article. Get $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more at article.com/gge.

• 3:37Ashley Hesseltine?

  And thank you to Dae. Get 20% off your first purchase at daehair.com with code GGE. And thank you to Nutriful. Get $10 off your first order and free shipping at nutrafol.com with code GGE10.

• 3:50Rayna Greenberg?

  So back to the people that have been in your life for a really long time that I wanted to trip with. So I'd never been to Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket. And our audience, first of all, I've never seen more people that were like, I love you and Ashley than on the flight to Martha's Vineyard. So if you said hi to me, thank you. I love you too. Nantucket's so interesting because like, that sign that a store posted, no influencers went so viral and people had a lot of takes about it. And having been there, I do get it. I mean, it, it is just like, wall to wall influencers, people making content. I tried to get a sandwich at this place the other day. There had to have been 120 people in line at 9:30 in the morning. It was insane. Two blocks were just lines of people and like, whatever. If that's how you want to spend your day, no shade. I don't care. It's not how I'm going to spend my day. But if that's what you find out, you're in, great.

• 4:33Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah.

• 4:33Rayna Greenberg?

  Um, it's just, it's a lot. It makes it unpleasant to like, walk around and go in stores and all the content and the lines. And so being there now, I validate it even more. This is a small town. Also, all the houses have like, a number on them. A lot of them do. That'll say like, built in 1750, 1760, 1770. Like, they're very old. All the streets are cobblestone. It's annoying that it's packed with people.

• 4:54Ashley Hesseltine?

  Totally.

• 4:54Rayna Greenberg?

  So more power to somebody that's just like, you can, like you said before, you could be an influencer and be in the store. Don't come in here and make content.

• 5:00Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah.

• 5:00Rayna Greenberg?

  Chop it out.

• 5:01Ashley Hesseltine?

  I understand that we want to support these places and have their economies thrive, but there is a point where things aren't enjoyable. And we can all validate that when it's gotten too out of control. But you said you really liked Martha's Vineyard and it wasn't like that.

• 5:15Rayna Greenberg?

  I loved both places. Martha's Vineyard felt really like casual beach town. It felt like Dewey Beach meets the Hamptons to me. I mean, they'll let you know. I mean, a plot of dirt, a shack is $2 million there. Like, because everybody's walking around, you're like, everyone's so down to earth. Everyone's just like, t-shirts, everything's like, just like a small casual cafe. And you look up what everything costs. You're like, oh, this is crazy. A salad's $50. But I loved it. It just was like, so beautiful. Martha's Vineyard's pretty big. There's like, four or five towns. You can go around.

• 5:41Ashley Hesseltine?

  I have no idea.

• 5:42Rayna Greenberg?

  Yeah, the island. And I also never knew that you could take like, a 40 minutes, wheels up to wheels down, New York to Martha's Vineyard flight.

• 5:48Ashley Hesseltine?

  So nice and easy. Going on a day trip.

• 5:51Rayna Greenberg?

  I didn't know.

• 5:52Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah, I think a lot of people don't know.

• 5:54Rayna Greenberg?

  I feel like New Yorkers don't really go there. It's more of like a Boston thing.

• 5:57Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah.

• 5:57Rayna Greenberg?

  Um, and then I took a ferry from Martha's Vineyard to Nantucket. It took an hour. I mean, you can go to, you go to Cape Cod, you can go all over. I was like, why have we never done this before? But.

• 6:05Ashley Hesseltine?

  Totally.

• 6:05Rayna Greenberg?

  I loved both. Really special. And Nantucket was fancy. The restaurants were like fancy. It felt like New York restaurants. Bougie, really bougie. Martha's Vineyard, much more stripped down. But I loved both. Everybody was just wonderful at the best time.

• 6:17Ashley Hesseltine?

  I love that.

• 6:18Rayna Greenberg?

  I actually was gonna ask you. So you and Shashank have been doing this thing, which I love, where you like, post like, what we wore, what we ate, and what we talked about on our date night. And what we talked about, you put as a bullet point, like, when our friends become friends. And I meant to ask you, was that about me?

• 6:30Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah. You were the inspiration for it. And then I asked him, not that I don't know this about him, but like, who he feels like became the most close of his friends. And like, do they hang out without him? Kind of thing. But yeah, so when we go on a date night, I'll post, I do this little series, like our date night documented and where we went, what we ordered, what we wore, and what we talked about. And we went out to dinner last week at like, a local spot. And I was like, I'm not doing the date night thing. We were like, casual. We talked to the couple next to us at dinner, the seven year old couple. I just didn't do it. But I posted like, something from the restaurant and people were in the comments like, where's the what you talked about?

• 7:06Rayna Greenberg?

  People were upset.

• 7:07Ashley Hesseltine?

  I like to know about it too. But yes, I just really love it when you bring people together and then they become friends. And also, and don't exclude you. I don't like that. If I would have been invited to Nantucket, that would have been fucking insane.

• 7:19Rayna Greenberg?

  So it is a delicate balance because like, I don't like, okay, for example, if I introduce two people and one person like, asks the other person for a favor, I'm like, you should have asked me if that was okay first.

• 7:30Ashley Hesseltine?

  I.

• 7:31Rayna Greenberg?

  Very specific. It's a very specific, but well, listen, I, I think it needs to be discussed. And I try to be like, adults are allowed to have plans with other adults without including a thousand adults. But like, I don't know, if you are really the primary relationship there, these are your very long, 20 years plus, 25 years. And like, if I made plans with them and didn't include you, that would be insane.

• 7:53Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yes, this is case by case and you know it when you see it. And of course, I have friends that I've introduced that hang out without me. They don't have to invite me every time. But you know when you're being pushed out and being excluded, and you know when shit gets weird, and you know when someone's also trying to weasel their way into something.

• 8:09Rayna Greenberg?

  Yep.

• 8:09Ashley Hesseltine?

  And it's like, there are no hard and fast rules for this because like, I joke about being territorial, but like, we all know what it feels like to introduce people and then they really do exclude you. And it's not, it shouldn't be like that. And it should be a thing where you're really happy that your friends are friends.

• 8:25Rayna Greenberg?

  I'm mostly happy. I, I really get a lot out of like, one on one interactions. Like, I, I like a group hang, but I feel like I get to know somebody obviously really well in these like, one on one interactions. So I do like to hang out with people by myself. But there are just some people, which is fucking weird if you ask them to hang out without the person introduced you.

• 8:43Ashley Hesseltine?

  So I think about your two best friends, Emily and Melanie. I always pat myself on the back when I say it correctly. It's like a tongue twister.

• 8:49Rayna Greenberg?

  Emily and Melanie?

• 8:50Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah.

• 8:50Rayna Greenberg?

  Rain and Ashley?

• 8:52Ashley Hesseltine?

  Rain and I.

• 8:53Rayna Greenberg?

  Ashley says Rain and I is one word.

• 8:56Ashley Hesseltine?

  And they do have their own friendship, but.

• 9:00Rayna Greenberg?

  I heard that.

• 9:00Ashley Hesseltine?

  I don't.

• 9:03Ashley Hesseltine?

  But I don't think they would get together without you and not include you if you were in town. Am I correct?

• 9:09Rayna Greenberg?

  No, that would be weird. And also Melanie doesn't live in New York. But I, I'm like, they, they are really close. They've traveled together. Like Emily has stayed with her in Miami, like when she goes down there. And they do have a relationship outside of me. But it would really hurt my feelings if they.

• 9:24Ashley Hesseltine?

  If you were around.

• 9:25Rayna Greenberg?

  Yeah, if I was around and they were just like, hanging out without me.

• 9:27Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah, I know. It's just always, every situation is different. And there is just friends who are like, I wouldn't care, you know, but there's other situations that you're like, this is weird. And you know it's weird.

• 9:37Rayna Greenberg?

  And you know it's weird. That's why you hit it for me. 100%. If you check two people's locations and you're like, what are you guys doing together?

• 9:43Ashley Hesseltine?

  There's just times like, I feel like we've been like, huh. Huh, huh, that's interesting.

• 9:50Rayna Greenberg?

  That was an interesting choice that you made and I see what you're doing. And I don't like it, quite frankly. You should ask my permission.

• 9:57Ashley Hesseltine?

  I don't know. You and I are so ride or die for each other and we don't do this shit to each other. And if we felt like someone was acting up, we would call it out immediately. Like, I just feel like so thankful for your friendship all the time. And I really just do feel like, I think that we feel closer than ever. And I think you're just like, really happy since you moved.

• 10:16Rayna Greenberg?

  Oh, thanks.

• 10:17Ashley Hesseltine?

  Like, I have felt like that, that you just seem happier. And it makes me realize you weren't happy, not unhappy, you weren't your happiest, best self. So, we've seen each other nonstop. We haven't felt avoided at all. It'll come, maybe, we'll see. But, we've just been together a lot and traveled together a lot. But, I thought this, after you moved to New York, I just was like, you seem lighter, you seem happier, and that is going to impact all of your relationships.

• 10:41Rayna Greenberg?

  Well, thank you. I feel like I'm home. Like, I feel like I just, this is home. Like, when I land in New York, I'm like, I'm home. This has always been home, this is gonna be home. I feel really happy there. I was not unhappy in LA, I just was lonely. But, I don't know, I've had a couple of moments lately, I've been talking about this, where I'm just like, I'm very grateful for the people in my life. I have a lot of friends that I've been friends with for like, nine plus years. And, I'm so grateful for those people. And I said to you, I feel really lucky that I have those people in my life. And you were like, I don't feel lucky, I feel like I cultivated these friendships, I picked the right people. And, it's a little bit of both.

• 11:11Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah.

• 11:12Rayna Greenberg?

  But, it's just, I'm feeling really like grateful for the people in my life that have just been around for like, a super long time, that are like, solid, consistent, I know what I'm gonna get from them, they never do anything fucking shady, or just, I don't lie, like, I just, it's nice, I feel grateful.

• 11:25Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah, we have been having a lot of discussions recently, just about friendship and people's behavior and all kinds of things. And it's just like, hopefully, you have your best friend, that's your rock, that there's no secrets, nothing shady, and a few more people like that, you know, you have your really close inner circle that you know you can trust wholeheartedly. And, sometimes, other people that you're friends with, don't behave like that, and that's okay. You have to decide what you will accept, what your boundaries are. And like, every person in your life that you're friends with, isn't gonna be a perfect friend, like those inner circle friends. And that's for you to decide who you keep in and out of your life.

• 12:05Rayna Greenberg?

  Yeah, and who you have to recalibrate with.

• 12:07Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah. But I do think if you just, if you have people like that, like those few core people, you're just really lucky. And I just, you and I both feel really lucky.

• 12:15Rayna Greenberg?

  Yeah. And those people just really like ground me, they feel really good.

• 12:19Ashley Hesseltine?

  Okay, well, we have Bobby Burke today, and we did a fun episode with him about design and your home. And, you know, we're dibbling and dabbling in some more lifestyle stuff. We know you guys like it, we know you guys like the skincare and hair health episode we did with Dr. Amina a couple weeks ago. So, we had a really fun time with him. But, Raina wants to offer some of her own design tips that we maybe didn't get to discuss in the episode.

• 12:42Rayna Greenberg?

  I just, I've loved design for so long. I didn't like, study this or anything. It's just like, I love to be home. And I want it to be comfortable. And, people are like, how do you design a space? Fill your home with things you love, and you will love your home. That's it. I mean, you don't have to be a designer, you don't have to pick like, a color palette, or a theme, or anything, just, you know, if art brings you joy, if color brings you joy, if knickknacks bring you joy. I really try to like, buy something every like, special trip that I take. I bought these like, tiny little candle holders in Martha's Vineyard. But, you don't have to spend a lot. So, I've been using AI, I use AI to design my apartment, which I'm really happy with. This is not like a hot take, but if you guys have never done it, I took a picture of the room, like the living room, and I input the dimensions in the picture of the room. You can use Claude for this,

• 13:26Rayna Greenberg?

  it'll be great. And, upload that, and just say like, give me, give me eight different variations of what I could do in this room. And, it will blow your mind, like, what, hot take, what AI could do. But, like, you don't have to have like, a color scheme, or a design palette picked out, just like, show me what I can do with this room.

• 13:47Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah, like, I don't know where to start, you know?

• 13:50Rayna Greenberg?

  I like XYZ colors, and then you can say something like, okay, my price point for a couch is X, eight hundred dollars. Show me eight options for eight hundred dollar couches. It'll give you the links for all that. And, I just like, figured out where a rug went, where to hang a shelf, and all that. It was just really helpful for me, to figure that out. And then, you don't have to spend a ton of money. There are way less expensive options. There's a couple of things I spend a lot on, the couch is the thing that I spend most time on, so that's what I would spend money on, for like, a living room. Everything else, get it cheap. Get it secondhand, get it on Facebook Marketplace.

• 14:19Ashley Hesseltine?

  Facebook Marketplace, I mean, people are outfitting their whole homes. And, you guys can use dupe.com, I think you've introduced me to it. I think you got, I think they have a paid tier now.

• 14:28Rayna Greenberg?

  Probably.

• 14:29Ashley Hesseltine?

  But, whatever. Like, it's legit. I mean, you put in a link to anything, from a sweater to a couch, and they're gonna give you cheaper options. Like, if you put in something from West Elm, it might give you a Walmart, dupe, kind of, things like that. There's just those tools as well.

• 14:41Rayna Greenberg?

  Also, Google Image search, take a photo of like, a couch that you like, upload it to Google Image, and they'll give you similar options to that. The thing that I would spend the most on is absolutely a couch. Like, everything else, just like, phone it in. Also, definitely if you find stuff that you love, like, I found these wardrobes on West Elm that I loved, but they were like, twenty-five hundred dollars. So, I searched that on Facebook Marketplace, and I found somebody that was selling them cheap, and delivered it to my house.

• 15:06Ashley Hesseltine?

  I know.

• 15:07Rayna Greenberg?

  So, that is like, a great thing to do.

• 15:09Ashley Hesseltine?

  Totally.

• 15:10Rayna Greenberg?

  But, that's what I spend money on. I mean, people always, they love my dining table, like, it's so amazing. I'm like, it was like, a hundred and fifty dollars.

• 15:15Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah.

• 15:15Rayna Greenberg?

  It's cheap. I just, I'm little, and I'm one person, and so I have had Task Rabbits help me. But like, obviously, if you just need help, like, hanging stuff, you don't know what to do, we've had really good luck with having people come over and help us.

• 15:26Ashley Hesseltine?

  And then you date the Task Rabbit.

• 15:28Rayna Greenberg?

  If you're Ashley, you date the Task Rabbit.

• 15:30Ashley Hesseltine?

  Watch my special, it's on Prime, Here Comes the Bride, you can hear about it. But no, yeah, there's always like, help out there, affordable labor.

• 15:37Rayna Greenberg?

  I just, I don't spend a lot of money on design. We'll talk about it this episode, but like, I use Society Six for photos, Ikea frames, only Ikea frames. I don't have things framed. If you guys wanna have something beautifully, perfectly framed, great, we've done great work with Framebridge. And, but they're expensive.

• 15:51Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah.

• 15:52Rayna Greenberg?

  Ikea frames, I mean, you're talking twenty bucks for a really nice, high-quality frame.

• 15:56Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah. The people's homes I like the most, it really, it really is a mix of some, there's an expensive piece, again, usually a couch, and then stuff is just cheap. I mean, if you have the money, and you wanna go all out, and everything's Restoration Hardware, go off. But you just don't have to do that, to have a nice home.

• 16:11Rayna Greenberg?

  I looked up Restoration Hardware dupes, and then I drove to Anaheim, to a warehouse by myself. And I was like, if I die, this is where I'm at.

• 16:19Ashley Hesseltine?

  So, I guess there's an outlet here.

• 16:21Rayna Greenberg?

  A Restoration Outlet.

• 16:22Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah. And I think there's just a lot of, nothing's junk, but it's just, there's a lot of stuff that you just don't need, and probably a lot of like, curtains and stuff like that. And there's maybe not as much furniture, but the furniture that they have, our friend Taylor, they got their coffee table from there, and their dining table as well. But it is, I think it's like a mob scene. And like, people are like, there's a whole system.

• 16:46Rayna Greenberg?

  Yes.

• 16:46Ashley Hesseltine?

  You have to go early, and people are crowding around the items. But, still, she was at her house last week, because I've seen it in various stages since they bought this house. And like, they've gotten to this perfect place. And, the coffee table's unbelievable.

• 17:00Rayna Greenberg?

  Yes, looking up warehouse sales, I mean, you gotta get there early, but like, there, I went to a West Elm warehouse sale, and a CB2 one, and like, the outskirts of LA, and like, Manhattan Beach. But like, they have amazing stuff. Bring a truck.

• 17:10Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah.

• 17:11Rayna Greenberg?

  Okay.

• 17:12Ashley Hesseltine?

  Love those tips.

• 17:13Rayna Greenberg?

  Well, I hope you guys like the tips.

• 17:14Ashley Hesseltine?

  Okay.

• 17:14Rayna Greenberg?

  Watch this space.

• 17:16Ashley Hesseltine?

  We'll talk about some of this stuff more with Bobby today.

• 17:19Rayna Greenberg?

  Um, I just wanted to, so I'm here, I, so I'm in LA, obviously with you, and I'm staying in a hotel with this guy. And, you know what I'm like in a hotel room, Ashley?

• 17:29Ashley Hesseltine?

  What, that you just explode?

• 17:30Rayna Greenberg?

  Yeah.

• 17:31Ashley Hesseltine?

  And it's like, a crime scene?

• 17:32Rayna Greenberg?

  He's really like, neat and tidy. He's just about, he's like, he's clean and neat, he's like a skincare routine.

• 17:40Ashley Hesseltine?

  Does he really have a skincare routine?

• 17:41Rayna Greenberg?

  Yeah.

• 17:42Ashley Hesseltine?

  Can we table that for another discussion? I really wanna talk about men and skincare.

• 17:47Rayna Greenberg?

  Because I was like, he was skincare routine, and he goes, yeah, Raina, I'm forty. And I was like, okay.

• 17:51Ashley Hesseltine?

  Let's, next time we come back, we're gonna take a little bit of time off. But, I wanna talk about this. We really are kind of tight for time today.

• 17:56Rayna Greenberg?

  Men with skincare.

• 17:57Ashley Hesseltine?

  So, watch this space. Yes, I'm just, and not in like, a throwing shade way. We'll talk about it.

• 18:02Rayna Greenberg?

  Okay, I'm curious where your thoughts are.

• 18:04Ashley Hesseltine?

  Okay, I'll tell you about lunch. You could always know.

• 18:07Rayna Greenberg?

  But you don't have to wait for the podcast.

• 18:11Rayna Greenberg?

  What did you say to him? I feel like you're getting people to the audience. But, he's stayed in my home before, and he knows how like, uptight I am in my house, and how crazy I am. It looks like nobody lives there. But, the way that I am in a hotel room is crazy. And like, there was a hair extension in the bed this morning.

• 18:25Ashley Hesseltine?

  That's how it'd be. That'll probably happen to me.

• 18:28Rayna Greenberg?

  Yeah.

• 18:29Ashley Hesseltine?

  One of my 8K tips after a wild Sunday afternoon, will end up on the dog bed.

• 18:34Rayna Greenberg?

  But I was like, oh no, he's about to like really find out what I'm like.

• 18:37Ashley Hesseltine?

  He, it's not gonna bother. That's how you know.

• 18:40Rayna Greenberg?

  Nothing I do bothers him.

• 18:41Ashley Hesseltine?

  That's how it should be.

• 18:42Rayna Greenberg?

  I'm waiting to see like, what am I gonna do? Okay, well, this is our last episode um for a week, so we will not episode it on Thursday or Monday. So I just want to remind you guys, I am going back on tour, please come. Um, the Honestly It Is You Tour starts up again September 9th, 14 shows in the fall. Um, I'm touring around this country. I'm going to London. There might be a special guest in London. We talked about it lunch and um.

• 19:04Ashley Hesseltine?

  I'm going to London.

• 19:05Rayna Greenberg?

  Ah, I gotta go now. And we're doing something very exciting that we're there. We'll, we'll let you guys know, of course. And I don't want to like say it right now, but I'm really excited for this trip.

• 19:15Ashley Hesseltine?

  Oh, I'm so excited. Okay, so we're announcing now. She's gonna be in London with me.

• 19:18Rayna Greenberg?

  And then we're gonna shut the tour down on 11 12, November 12th in Vegas. I mean, I'm inviting everybody that we're friends with, but also you guys as well.

• 19:25Ashley Hesseltine?

  I'll be there too.

• 19:27Ashley Hesseltine?

  I'm gonna run 30.

• 19:27Rayna Greenberg?

  Can I do an hour? I don't fucking care.

• 19:29Ashley Hesseltine?

  I'm gonna run my new hour.

• 19:30Rayna Greenberg?

  Do your hour. I'll just sit it out. I don't care. There's been nights with like Matt or Brittany who opened for me on the whole like last leg of the tour. And I've been like, you guys wanna just get up there? And I don't want to do, no, I'm just kidding. Um, I am so excited though. I love this material. I did it in Salt Lake, in Nashville, and it was just so fun. So um, yeah, I'll see you guys, rainagreberg.com. I'm out, starting in Columbus.

• 19:50Ashley Hesseltine?

  Uh, that'll be so fun. We love Ohio. I'm sad I won't be there, but I'll see you guys in London and in Vegas. Um, okay, let's talk about our partners and then we'll get into it with Bobby.

• 19:58Rayna Greenberg?

  Hinge, I mean, you know, this is mine and Ashley's favorite dating app. I love that it is just designed to cultivate and create conversation, make it easy. We've both been on tons of dates from Hinge and also we have friends that have gotten married off of Hinge. But what Hinge has done is actually create this audiobook and it's called No Ordinary Love. And it's real stories of couples who took risks. So it is an audiobook written and read by five incredible contemporary authors. And Hinge just wants to encourage you to like, do the thing, say the thing. I know the part of dating in the sort of gray area is really rough and scary. And it's brave when you just say like, this is what I want. Let's go out on a date. This is what my boundaries are. This is what I need. This is what I'm excited about. And I like what they're doing because it just encourages you to like, go out, have the conversations, say the thing, take the risk.

• 20:43Rayna Greenberg?

  Um, and you guys can get the audiobook for free on Spotify. We're recording right now.

• 20:48Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah, and if you like dating content, which you do, if you're listening to this podcast, you'll really like this. It's just nice. I mean, put it on in the car while you're taking a walk. It's just like a really nice listen and I love that they did this and love that you guys can listen on Spotify. Okay, so I am gonna talk about my hair journey a little bit. You know that I have been doing wavy hair and I've used a variety of products. And I want to talk about one that I have been using. So Dae is this clean, dreamy hair care brand. And they have this cactus fruit three-in-one styling cream. And it has like this viral reputation and it really makes sense once you use it. So there's so many different ways to use it. So it has gone viral for slick backs. So you can do that if you want, but you could also use it as a blow dry cream to define your waves or curls with an air dry

• 21:33Ashley Hesseltine?

  or just to add shine. So I wouldn't say it's like a curl cream, you know, but it really is so versatile. And you can do it again to have those air dried waves, to prep for your blowout, to define your waves. Or you can use it to slick back. It really just doesn't have one job.

• 21:48Rayna Greenberg?

  Okay, this slick back, I actually was like trying to do one this weekend without day and I used lotion, which I was just like, oh, I can't.

• 21:54Ashley Hesseltine?

  Times are tough.

• 21:55Rayna Greenberg?

  I love the, I didn't have, I didn't have a day with me.

• 21:57Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah.

• 21:57Rayna Greenberg?

  I love the look, but like it is, you need a specific type of product to make this work.

• 22:01Ashley Hesseltine?

  We love it so, so much. It is definitely the styling cream that is most likely to do the most. And there's even a version sold in on the go packaging. So great for travel with this built-in taming wand, which is perfect for taming flyaways, smoothing frizz and styling edges. I have these little hairs that are like some new growth, just breakage. And I'm like, I need to slick them down, but you don't want greasy looking hair around your face or anywhere. So that's what I use for that. We're just so obsessed with it. And again, that is the cactus fruit three-in-one styling cream. Or commonly known on the streets as the three-in-one styling cream or day styling cream. So we want you guys to check it out. The scent is incredible. Their signature citrus scent. Notes of citrus, dewy orange blossom and warm vanilla.

• 22:45Ashley Hesseltine?

  So just for our listeners, visit daehair.com and use code GGE at checkout for 20% off your first order. That's D A E H A I R dot com and use code G G for 20% off your first order until October 31st, 2026.

• 23:00Rayna Greenberg?

  Okay, and it's a design episode, so what a perfect time to talk about Article. If you guys are looking for a rack, it's Article. So home design obviously is super important to me. And if you're looking to curate the look of your place, Article is just the best place to do it. So they have a range of furniture styles. They have mid-century modern coastal Scandi-inspired pieces. They really shine on their own, but also they're gonna show you how to style them. So if you go to their Instagram, you go to their website, you see how other people have styled it and their designers have styled things together. You can mix and match different styles. We're going into the fall. It's a good time to get a new couch.

• 23:35Ashley Hesseltine?

  I love their couches. I love their bedroom stuff, their headboards, their outdoor furniture. Again, we're getting into fall, but like, just again, like Raina was saying, like, you can use their site also as a tool to see how they've styled all these items and accessories. I have a lot of the like home accessories too, great lamps, everything.

• 23:52Rayna Greenberg?

  Really good quality. I like this Sven collection. I like their sofas, leather. They've got nine different colors. And I've gotten quite a few things from them. The delivery is like really seamless and easy.

• 24:01Ashley Hesseltine?

  Packaging.

• 24:02Rayna Greenberg?

  Packaging is great.

• 24:03Ashley Hesseltine?

  Not wasteful, like everything really is on point.

• 24:06Rayna Greenberg?

  Just meticulous.

• 24:06Ashley Hesseltine?

  Such a go-to.

• 24:07Rayna Greenberg?

  The weight and feel of the product, the shipping and assembly is fast and affordable, which is great. The support, I mean, Ashley and I are just like, we won't buy stuff from companies that don't have good support. So it is available seven days a week and they have a 30 day satisfaction guarantee. So you can shop with confidence knowing if you're not completely in love with your furniture, you can easily return it. Right now, Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more. To claim, visit article.com slash GGE and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout. That's article.com slash GGE for $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more.

• 24:36Ashley Hesseltine?

  Okay, let's get into it.

• 24:38Rayna Greenberg?

  Okay, guys, we are very excited to welcome our guest today. He is an Emmy-winning designer, a television host, a bestselling author, and one of the original stars of Netflix's Queer Eye. Over the course of his career, he has transformed hundreds of homes and lives from launching a successful home collection to authoring right at home. He's become one of the most influential voices in interior design. Please welcome to the show Bobby Burke.

• 24:58Speaker 01

  Hi, ladies. Thanks for having me.

• 25:00Rayna Greenberg?

  Hi, oh my god, you forgot.

• 25:01Ashley Hesseltine?

  Sexy voice.

• 25:02Rayna Greenberg?

  You forgot the Applebee's credit.

• 25:03Speaker 01

  Yeah, like longest running server at Applebee's probably.

• 25:06Rayna Greenberg?

  Well, I was waiting to, cause like to have you say it, cause it's your most important credit. Where did you work at Applebee's? Here?

• 25:12Speaker 01

  Um, no, no, no, no. Springfield, Missouri, Branson, Missouri, and Denver, Colorado.

• 25:17Rayna Greenberg?

  Did you grow up in Missouri?

• 25:18Speaker 01

  I did, sadly.

• 25:19Rayna Greenberg?

  Oh my gosh, three different places.

• 25:22Speaker 01

  The one in Branson.

• 25:23Rayna Greenberg?

  You did the circuit.

• 25:24Speaker 01

  Yeah, well, Branson, I didn't even live in Branson, but I would drive from Springfield to Branson.

• 25:28Rayna Greenberg?

  Uh huh.

• 25:28Speaker 01

  Branson's like Vegas meets Nashville in the Ozark Mountains. It's weird. And I would work all day Friday and then I would sleep in my car in the parking lot Friday night. And I'd work all day Saturday and then sleep in my car in the parking lot Saturday night. And then all day Sunday and then drive back to Springfield because it was like an hour and a half in between. So I couldn't and I had a really shitty car that wouldn't make it all the time.

• 25:47Rayna Greenberg?

  My gosh.

• 25:48Ashley Hesseltine?

  I love this story.

• 25:49Speaker 01

  So that way I only had to work three full days because I would make more in Branson than I would working seven days at Springfield.

• 25:55Rayna Greenberg?

  Wow, wow. Did you work there during the Weight Watchers menu era?

• 25:59Speaker 01

  No, this would have been the late 90s.

• 26:02Rayna Greenberg?

  Oh, it's heyday.

• 26:03Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 26:03Rayna Greenberg?

  Honestly.

• 26:04Speaker 01

  Tequila lime chicken. It was so good.

• 26:06Rayna Greenberg?

  It was. We used it all the time.

• 26:08Ashley Hesseltine?

  Well, we were more of a Fridays family and like me and my friends, but I grew up where there was a NASCAR track in Dover, Delaware. And so Applebee's on a NASCAR weekend, y'all, we'd be going there. It was a two-hour wait.

• 26:20Speaker 01

  My server friends and I from Applebee's, TGI Fridays was always open like two hours later than Applebee's. So we would close and then we'd go across the street to drink at Fridays.

• 26:27Rayna Greenberg?

  Yes. You hit the rounds.

• 26:30Speaker 01

  Play trivia.

• 26:30Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yes, yes. We had a karaoke at ours. I dated a bouncer. Anyway, you know, that's a whole nother story.

• 26:35Speaker 01

  Bouncers, what was it? Bouncers, busboys and another Sex and the City reference. This.

• 26:39Rayna Greenberg?

  Bouncers, busboys.

• 26:40Speaker 01

  Bouncers, busboys.

• 26:41Rayna Greenberg?

  Like who fucks the best? Like what are they referring to?

• 26:44Ashley Hesseltine?

  What, fuck, marry, kill?

• 26:45Speaker 01

  No, no, no, no, no. Um, Samantha was like in her sea of like 20 something men. And she's like, I'm only dating bouncers, busboys and.

• 26:53Rayna Greenberg?

  Cater waiters?

• 26:54Speaker 01

  No, it was another B.

• 26:55Rayna Greenberg?

  Bouncers, bus, bartenders.

• 26:57Speaker 01

  Yeah, bouncers, busboys and bartenders.

• 26:59Rayna Greenberg?

  I'm still in that era.

• 26:59Speaker 01

  And then that's the one where Carrie, Carrie, Carrie was like, yeah, I'll do that too. And then when she woke up, like she had to use toilet paper for coffee filter, but then she didn't have any to wipe with. Yeah, she's like, I'm never doing this again.

• 27:09Ashley Hesseltine?

  Okay, so Bobby, you've come a long way since the Branson Applebee's.

• 27:12Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 27:13Ashley Hesseltine?

  And people know you from all these different things we mentioned. Can you tell us like what you're doing now, focused on now, like what's going on in your life?

• 27:20Speaker 01

  So I have a new show on HGTV and HBO called Junker Jackpot. It was created by John Cena. He had this, I know, it's random, right? Um, he had this idea while out at dinner with friends and he contacted HGTV and he was like, I want Bobby Burke from Queer Eye to host it, if you will. And so they reached out and I was like, well, sure, when daddy asks to.

• 27:38Rayna Greenberg?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 27:39Speaker 01

  You're like, yes daddy. You say yes. So yeah, we've been doing that. It's fun. It's a cute show.

• 27:46Rayna Greenberg?

  I love that.

• 27:46Ashley Hesseltine?

  And not an ensemble cast, which is interesting.

• 27:49Speaker 01

  Exactly. It's just me.

• 27:50Rayna Greenberg?

  Yeah, you're a star.

• 27:51Speaker 01

  And then I have my design firm, which is I've had for. Decades at this point. I also have a hospitality brand called Commander Collective.

• 28:01Rayna Greenberg?

  Okay.

• 28:01Speaker 01

  It's a collection of wellness estates. So it's private wellness retreat estates. I don't know if you've ever been on a wellness retreat, but here in the States.

• 28:09Rayna Greenberg?

  Thank you for thinking that we look like we go.

• 28:13Speaker 01

  You know, wellness retreats. Why ayahuasca retreat, you know, any type of retreat.

• 28:18Rayna Greenberg?

  Yeah.

• 28:19Speaker 01

  You know, here in the States, there's not really places for that.

• 28:22Rayna Greenberg?

  Yeah.

• 28:22Speaker 01

  Rent an Airbnb, which doesn't have all the amenities you need, or you rent out a block of rooms in a hotel, which then usually will have some creeper guy like all of your downward dog and it's not fun. We're in the vibes. So our properties are like private estates. That is just your group, but we've also built them out with saunas and cold plunges and pickleball courts and chef's kitchens. So you have all the amenities you would get at a hotel, but all the privacy you would get as if you were having a retreat at a friend's estate.

• 28:50Rayna Greenberg?

  And where are they?

• 28:51Speaker 01

  So we have one in Palm Desert already.

• 28:53Rayna Greenberg?

  Okay, perfect. Okay.

• 28:55Speaker 01

  And then we have a second one that's opening up down the street in the next couple of months. And then we'll be opening up more in other type of climate locations.

• 29:02Rayna Greenberg?

  Congrats.

• 29:03Ashley Hesseltine?

  That's also just, there's a obviously trend, especially with the younger generation of even like bachelorettes. People want to do that type of thing.

• 29:11Speaker 01

  We also have tons of weddings there, bachelorettes, corporate retreats. And, and honestly, just like people who want a property with, for a large group of friends. Cause I set up the property, like I like to travel with people, but I don't love people. You know, so I don't want to be in one big house under one roof. So all of our properties have multiple homes on the property. So you can go with your friends, but you have your own spaces. All of them are on three to nine acres. So there's all these little moments where you can have great interactions with the whole group or small groups, or literally just time by yourself.

• 29:44Rayna Greenberg?

  Okay.

• 29:45Speaker 01

  So yeah, they're really, they're really cool.

• 29:46Rayna Greenberg?

  Well, congrats on all the stuff you've gone on.

• 29:49Ashley Hesseltine?

  To travel with people, but I don't really like people.

• 29:50Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, yeah, you know what I mean? Yeah. You're like, I want to be able to hang, but I also want to not be able to hang.

• 29:57Rayna Greenberg?

  Ashley wants to be with people all the time. She just wants to like do everything, be in a group, be around people. And I am like, I'm going to take a walk alone.

• 30:04Speaker 01

  What's your sign?

• 30:04Rayna Greenberg?

  I'm a Gemini. She's a Cancer.

• 30:06Speaker 01

  All my best girlfriends are all Geminis.

• 30:08Rayna Greenberg?

  Really? We have a lot of Gemini friends.

• 30:09Ashley Hesseltine?

  We have so many.

• 30:10Speaker 01

  And my sister, like everybody, like really in my close orbit, even my husband, I thought he was, but then in the end.

• 30:16Rayna Greenberg?

  What is he?

• 30:17Speaker 01

  He's a Libra.

• 30:18Rayna Greenberg?

  A Libra.

• 30:18Ashley Hesseltine?

  So is mine.

• 30:19Speaker 01

  Yeah. We, his mom lied about his birthday his whole life and we only found out recently.

• 30:23Ashley Hesseltine?

  Wait, that is kind of crazy. Was he born in a different country?

• 30:26Speaker 01

  Vietnam. Yeah.

• 30:27Ashley Hesseltine?

  So my husband, we can't find his, we know his birthday, but not his like full horoscope, like sun, moon and rising. But when I first met him, I thought he was a Scorpio. I was like, oh, so sexy. But actually Libra is where it's at, super balanced, really unproblematic.

• 30:39Speaker 01

  He would always be like, I'm not a Gemini. I don't feel like Gemini. And finally we're like, you were right.

• 30:45Rayna Greenberg?

  All along, you've been right.

• 30:46Ashley Hesseltine?

  Libra man, really?

• 30:47Speaker 01

  We were at Miraval Resort and we were going to get our charts read. And so we're like, hey ma, what time was he born? And she was like, oh, um, 7:30 September 23rd.

• 30:58Ashley Hesseltine?

  Whatever. Yeah.

• 30:59Speaker 01

  Yeah. And we were like, no, no, no. His birthday is June 7th, 19. And she's like, no.

• 31:04Rayna Greenberg?

  That's how you found out?

• 31:04Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 31:05Rayna Greenberg?

  His whole life?

• 31:06Speaker 01

  Yeah. She didn't want him to get a bad reading. So she was like, I better fess up.

• 31:10Ashley Hesseltine?

  All this time.

• 31:11Rayna Greenberg?

  She's like, now's a weird time to let you know.

• 31:12Speaker 01

  Yeah. In Vietnam, so births aren't registered at the hospital.

• 31:16Rayna Greenberg?

  Okay.

• 31:16Speaker 01

  Back then anyways, you had to go to a registry office, a government registry office to register your baby. And military service was mandatory. And she wanted him to be older. He had to go into the military. So she waited till the very last minute till they came knocking and they're like, hey, you got to register your baby.

• 31:35Rayna Greenberg?

  She has Staten.

• 31:36Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 31:38Ashley Hesseltine?

  That was such a fun accent choice.

• 31:41Speaker 01

  You've got to see the baby from Seinfeld.

• 31:46Rayna Greenberg?

  I was like, no one laughs at that.

• 31:49Ashley Hesseltine?

  She's from Staten Island.

• 31:52Speaker 01

  The Vietnamese, the guy in Vietnam is from Staten Island.

• 31:55Rayna Greenberg?

  He's like, ma, ma, we gotta get the birthday.

• 31:58Speaker 01

  You got to see the baby. And so June 6th happened to be the day they came knocking and they're like, this is the last day you can do it until you're going to get fined. And so, yeah.

• 32:06Ashley Hesseltine?

  That's crazy. This is really so crazy though, that you called her. She was like, now's the time. I'm going to tell the truth.

• 32:10Speaker 01

  And she was just like so nonchalant about it. It wasn't like, oh, I have, I need to tell you something.

• 32:15Ashley Hesseltine?

  She's like, what? I lied.

• 32:16Speaker 01

  Here's the date. And we're like, that's not the date. She's like, yeah, it is.

• 32:19Rayna Greenberg?

  I feel like my mom would do that. She'd be like, what? I know your brother's birthday. Who cares about yours?

• 32:23Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah.

• 32:24Rayna Greenberg?

  You could be a Libra too, right?

• 32:25Ashley Hesseltine?

  Who knows?

• 32:27Speaker 01

  A lot to unpack there.

• 32:28Rayna Greenberg?

  Yeah.

• 32:30Rayna Greenberg?

  Yeah, that's a whole, so, okay.

• 32:32Ashley Hesseltine?

  Wait, what's yours?

• 32:33Speaker 01

  I'm a Virgo.

• 32:33Rayna Greenberg?

  Okay. Okay. Do you feel like a Virgo?

• 32:36Ashley Hesseltine?

  I can see it.

• 32:37Rayna Greenberg?

  Are you like a Virgo, Virgo?

• 32:37Ashley Hesseltine?

  Isn't that very like.

• 32:38Speaker 01

  Looking off camera to everyone shaking their head.

• 32:39Ashley Hesseltine?

  That feels design, organization, all that.

• 32:42Speaker 01

  I'm very like.

• 32:43Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yes.

• 32:43Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 32:44Rayna Greenberg?

  Okay. So we want to talk to you about design.

• 32:48Rayna Greenberg?

  You're the first designer to ever be on the show.

• 32:50Speaker 01

  Really?

• 32:50Rayna Greenberg?

  This is the first episode. We, we do dating and relationships, which we will touch on a little bit, like living with a significant other. But we poll our audience about like, what are they looking for in terms of like design advice? And I was looking at your website and the first thing I was really drawn to is that, and we were talking about this earlier, is you do suggest some like budget friendly options. And I think when people hear interior designer, they're like, what is this going to cost me? And you're so great at being like, pick an aesthetic, a theme, a color. I'll, I'll drive you towards what to spend and how to spend it. So maybe a good place to start, and our audience was like, I want to design a place, my apartment. Where do I even begin to figure out my style, my theme, my vibe?

• 33:27Ashley Hesseltine?

  How do I know what I like?

• 33:28Speaker 01

  I mean, my brand has always been about democratizing design. Like I feel like design is for everybody. Design shouldn't just be for the rich. I've always wanted to be accessible. So for me, like, you know, I kind of learned different tactics of figuring out people's aesthetic.

• 33:47Speaker 01

  From the very beginning, the first episode of Queer Eye, actually, I asked Tom, I'm like, what's your, what's your aesthetic? And he's like, oh, French industrial. And I was like.

• 33:56Rayna Greenberg?

  That's specific.

• 33:57Speaker 01

  Do you know what that is? And he was like, no, I just heard it once.

• 34:00Ashley Hesseltine?

  And I was like, okay. Literally what even?

• 34:02Speaker 01

  And so often you'll ask a client, what's your design aesthetic? And they'll, they'll just say something they think, and you know, this isn't their thing. So I mean, that's why they're hiring a designer. So often they'll just throw something out there so they don't sound stupid or, you know, but it's not right. And so you'll design around that. So I've learned to ask people, you know, what's your dream vacation? Show me your favorite piece of clothing. You know, what's your favorite TV show? You know, there was a client once, he was a young bachelor and he had no idea, no fashion sense, no nothing. And so I was like, what's your dream vacation? And he was like, oh, like I want to go to Havana. I want to go to Cuba. I'm like, all right. And he's like, what's your favorite show? And he's like, Mad Men. I'm like, okay, you love the 50s.

• 34:39Rayna Greenberg?

  And hyper masculine.

• 34:40Speaker 01

  You love mid-century. So I did the whole house in mid-century. And like, I did this cool like banana leaf wallpaper in the bathroom and like a mural of Havana in the living room. And he was like, how did you, this is so me. How did you get that? I gave you nothing. And I was like, no, you gave me everything. You gave me the things that you're passionate about and you're, and you love. And he's like, I didn't tell you anything about design. I'm like, you didn't need to. Fill your home full of the things that you're passionate about and you love. And that's what your design aesthetic is, not look at a magazine and be like, oh, yeah, this is trendy right now. So this is what I should do. No, no, no. Figure out what you love outside of design. I mean, if you already know what you love in design, great, but a lot of people don't. They haven't really thought of it.

• 35:20Ashley Hesseltine?

  And then they just go all white or something, or they just pick a thing.

• 35:23Speaker 01

  Yeah. If you are passionate about Paris, girl, go that direction.

• 35:28Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah, I love that question.

• 35:29Speaker 01

  Yeah. But I'm like, yeah, if you want to do something themey or, you know, some Eiffel Tower pictures, you know, I'm just saying this because I recently saw an apartment that was real Paris. And I was like, okay. But she loved it. She came home every day and her home recharges her because it was filled with things that make her happy and Paris is one of those. So fill your home full of things that make you happy. And just like your phone needs a full charge every night, you'll be getting that full charge every night.

• 35:56Rayna Greenberg?

  Hmm. I love that. I love that. I like to think about where you want to be on vacation.

• 36:00Ashley Hesseltine?

  And what do you think? Like, I'm so drawn to beautiful places and I just immediately think Greece. That's the, I like why I like that clean, I don't know, you know me.

• 36:09Speaker 01

  Santorini.

• 36:10Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah, that's what I picture. If you're like, pick a place that you want to translate into your home, I think that's what I'd go with.

• 36:16Speaker 01

  Then do it.

• 36:16Rayna Greenberg?

  Uh huh.

• 36:17Speaker 01

  Lots of whites, some blue pops, some natural stones.

• 36:20Rayna Greenberg?

  Yes, stone.

• 36:21Ashley Hesseltine?

  Totally.

• 36:22Rayna Greenberg?

  I just, I like the lobby of the one hotel and a girlfriend of mine ours was.

• 36:25Speaker 01

  Funny, I did all the upholstery for the one hotel in Central Park.

• 36:28Rayna Greenberg?

  Really? Crushed it. We have a girlfriend that designed her apartment in Florida also, and she gave her inspo, the lobby of the one hotel in Miami was her inspo. And I like a lot of, it's probably not that in styling. I like a lot of white and a lot of wood. I live at the beach, my house is in Venice. So that's how I designed it. But like, I just moved to New York. It doesn't really translate there, like this beachy aesthetic. So I had to learn how to like update that for the city.

• 36:50Speaker 01

  If that's what makes you happy, like, I mean, New York's a lot, so why not come home to a beachy vibe?

• 36:55Rayna Greenberg?

  I like that you said that too, because I think that there's like a lot of trends. I'd love to hear your thoughts on trends that are just like, this isn't in anymore. Millennial gray is not in, all white's not in.

• 37:04Speaker 01

  I mean, I'm kind of glad gray is not in anymore. I'm just kind of, it was a little much, like.

• 37:09Ashley Hesseltine?

  The gray wall, this is awkward.

• 37:10Speaker 01

  The gray walls, the gray, as I'm pointing down, I'm like, the gray carpet. But no, the, the gray like wood, the gray wood, the gray wood floors, the gray wood cabinets. That's where I was like, this is.

• 37:23Rayna Greenberg?

  That's where you draw the line.

• 37:24Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah.

• 37:24Speaker 01

  This is too much.

• 37:25Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah, that's true. That's a good call. So where do you feel like people should splurge and save? Or is this really case by case? Like?

• 37:31Speaker 01

  It's kind of case by case, but you're always going to get your investment back on your kitchen and bathrooms.

• 37:35Ashley Hesseltine?

  Okay.

• 37:36Speaker 01

  Other rooms, not necessarily.

• 37:38Ashley Hesseltine?

  Okay.

• 37:38Speaker 01

  You know, but kitchen and bathroom upgrades, it's always going to increase the value of your home.

• 37:42Rayna Greenberg?

  Okay. And if somebody says, let's say, living room, if somebody's like, okay, in my living room, where should I put a lot of money and where should I save? Cause interior design is so like important to me. I spend so much time on it. And like for me, I'm like, I want to spend on the couch. That's the thing I sit on.

• 37:58Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 37:58Rayna Greenberg?

  But everything else I can actually find a little bit cheaper, but how do you advise somebody?

• 38:02Speaker 01

  I would say, you know, don't go crazy on a sofa, but yeah, make sure you're getting a quality sofa. Cause if you're not getting a quality sofa, it's not going to last very long. You're going to have to replace it again. So when it comes to furniture like that, that you use, get more better quality. Like the other things that you're not sitting on, you know, that you're not like physically using, can, you can go a little bit cheaper on. But yeah, a sofa, I always say spend good money on a mattress. That will, it's worth the investment, you know, and aches and pains, it's worth the investment.

• 38:30Ashley Hesseltine?

  Okay. Also, I mean, people, it might be what rooms you care about. I really care about a bathroom. Some people don't. You know, if I'm talking about even renting and can I do certain things here and there to make my apartment home more enjoyable that I don't own? Cause we're gonna talk about like that today, too. It might be like, spend a little money doing the bathroom. You spent money to do your kitchen in New York?

• 38:51Rayna Greenberg?

  My bathroom and I rented, I rented and I knew that I'd lived there for at least four years.

• 38:55Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah, sometimes it's worth it.

• 38:56Rayna Greenberg?

  So I replaced the sink, the mirror and the lights. And I told the owner I was gonna do it and I think I spent under a thousand dollars and I was like, okay, this is $250 a year for me for four years to have a better bathroom.

• 39:08Speaker 01

  I've changed almost every rental I've ever run on.

• 39:11Rayna Greenberg?

  Right. Okay. Yeah. So a lot of our listeners rent. I mean, are there certain things you would say?

• 39:16Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah, we wanna hear your thoughts on that. Cause people will come for you. Why would you do that? You're renting, you know?

• 39:20Speaker 01

  Well, I mean, just like with you, you went to the landlord and got permission. Sometimes that's the route. Sometimes it's not the route, you know?

• 39:28Speaker 01

  You know, cause if you are just, yeah, yeah. If you're changing the lighting in a room, keep the original, you know, and switch it back.

• 39:35Ashley Hesseltine?

  Mm hmm. They're shitty garbage. Yeah.

• 39:37Speaker 01

  Yeah. If you, it's better to ask for forgiveness and permission.

• 39:39Rayna Greenberg?

  That's how I lived most of my life.

• 39:41Speaker 01

  Same. Like I remember years ago, I was living in this awful apartment in Denver and I put in new flooring. I put in new bathroom stuff. I put in new lighting. I painted the kitchen cabinets. I painted the walls and the manager of the building, she hated me and she came in once and saw it and she was like, oh, this is, I've got you. Look at what you did. And she brought the owner and she's like, look at what he did. And the owner looks at me and he goes, how much for you to do the other apartment?

• 40:05Ashley Hesseltine?

  I knew that was gonna happen. Obviously.

• 40:07Speaker 01

  Yeah. He's like, can we do a trade out where I give you free rent for you to do this to the other apartments? And I was like, wow.

• 40:16Ashley Hesseltine?

  Wow. I love that story. Like we have our bedroom, the lighting, I, it was like the grossest lighting fixture and we put in like a fandelier. Like, I don't know, we found, like it has this very like beachy vibe to it. And I'm like, well, when we move out, she can keep the fandelier, like whatever, but we'll keep this original thing if she wants that disgusting lighting fixture back. But, you know, so.

• 40:40Rayna Greenberg?

  How do you feel about peel and stick wallpaper?

• 40:42Speaker 01

  Uh, I mean, I have my own collection, so I love it.

• 40:43Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah, we love it. Yeah.

• 40:45Speaker 01

  Peel and stick wallpaper is great. And it's perfect for a bathroom as well, because peel and stick wallpaper is usually a vinyl. And also your bathroom walls are usually painted in a gloss and it's comes off easiest from that. Don't ever put peel and stick wallpaper on flat paint.

• 41:00Ashley Hesseltine?

  Okay. We've done that, but that's okay.

• 41:01Speaker 01

  Well, it doesn't come off anyways. Yeah. I learned that the hard way years ago.

• 41:07Rayna Greenberg?

  But you think for a rental, light fixtures, peel and stick wallpaper?

• 41:10Speaker 01

  Paint. You know, I know leases usually always say you can't paint. Do it anyways.

• 41:15Rayna Greenberg?

  As long as you're security.

• 41:16Speaker 01

  A, if you don't care about your security hazard. B, if you do care about your security hazard, paint it back when you're done.

• 41:21Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah.

• 41:22Speaker 01

  Like, you know, if you're only gonna live there six months to a year, eh, whatever. But if you're gonna be there for a few years, make it your own, you know, make it a place that you feel happy in.

• 41:30Ashley Hesseltine?

  Mm hmm. Are you a real slut for lighting?

• 41:33Speaker 01

  I do. Yeah. I'm a slut for lighting.

• 41:35Ashley Hesseltine?

  Let's talk about it.

• 41:36Speaker 01

  I want it up top. I want it on the bottom. I want it in the middle, you know?

• 41:40Ashley Hesseltine?

  It just matters so much.

• 41:41Speaker 01

  Three.

• 41:42Rayna Greenberg?

  Am I horny?

• 41:44Ashley Hesseltine?

  Do you ever go into someone's house? They have like fluorescent bulbs. You're like, how are you living like this? Like I've gone to my brother's house. I'm like, Matt, I'm, I need to bring you light bulbs.

• 41:52Speaker 01

  My husband's aunt, years ago, I like did a little like judge to their house and I painted and I like got new furniture for them and I made it really cute and like good lighting. And then I came over a week later and she had mounted like a fluorescent light like this to the wall of the living room and the dining room. And I was like, Kathy, what the fuck? And she's like, it's too dark in here. And I was like, but, but this?

• 42:15Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yes.

• 42:15Speaker 01

  Yes. And I'm like, well, why this?

• 42:17Ashley Hesseltine?

  We're in a psych ward?

• 42:18Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 42:20Ashley Hesseltine?

  Or not even, not fluorescent. I get, it's just whatever that bulb is, that bright, not the soft light.

• 42:25Speaker 01

  Yeah, there's different levels of, it's called Kelvin levels and like this is like a 5,000. It's like operating room.

• 42:32Rayna Greenberg?

  Here at work.

• 42:32Speaker 01

  And then a lower, like a 2,700 Kelvin is perfect. So it's a nice, soft more of a yellowish light.

• 42:39Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yes.

• 42:39Speaker 01

  That feels nice. It feels more like an old school incandescent bulb and it feels more like the golden hour.

• 42:46Ashley Hesseltine?

  Right.

• 42:46Speaker 01

  And so when you're picking a bulb, look for 2,700 Kelvin.

• 42:49Ashley Hesseltine?

  Okay.

• 42:50Speaker 01

  Higher than that, it's gonna be too cool. Lower than that, it's gonna be too like antique bulb.

• 42:55Ashley Hesseltine?

  Mm hmm.

• 42:55Speaker 01

  2,700 is like the goldie box of light bulbs.

• 42:58Ashley Hesseltine?

  Okay. Just, it's weird how some people don't pick up on it. And I'm, I'm like, don't you hate this? They're like, I don't know what you're talking about.

• 43:04Speaker 01

  And like overhead lighting, you know, has its moment, but I think they're very few and far between when you're cleaning. Maybe when you're getting ready, you know?

• 43:11Rayna Greenberg?

  If you need surgery in the apartment.

• 43:13Speaker 01

  Yeah. If you're folding clothes and like putting stuff away, like I wish our bedroom actually had overhead lighting. It doesn't, cause sometimes I'm like, I wish I had more lighting.

• 43:20Ashley Hesseltine?

  Right. Yeah.

• 43:20Speaker 01

  But you then need to have, you know, lamps and I like uplighting as well, you know, like the bottom of plants. Um, I usually like to put a light bulb in my potted plants and then it like shines up.

• 43:32Ashley Hesseltine?

  Hmm. I was gonna ask you, we thought about that. It's luxurious.

• 43:35Speaker 01

  Yeah. You should also have everything on dimmers because people are like, oh, I have such a hard time sleeping. I lay in bed for an hour before I can fall asleep. I'm like, well, do you dim your lights a couple of hours before? They're like, no. I'm like, well, you're sitting under bright lights. Our bodies don't start producing melatonin until it gets dark. Like that's how we evolved. We evolved under the stars. When it gets dark, our body's like, oh, let me start producing melatonin. We're gonna be going to sleep soon. So if you don't dim your lights, if you're just sitting under bright lights, your body doesn't know. And then you're like, oh, I'm going to bed now. And your body's like, oh shit, okay. Like let me start producing this.

• 44:06Ashley Hesseltine?

  That's such a good just sleep hack. And like you need to wind down.

• 44:09Rayna Greenberg?

  Uh huh.

• 44:09Ashley Hesseltine?

  And get your phone away.

• 44:11Speaker 01

  Yes. And blue lights. So the sun has different ranges of light as well. So early morning light is white. It's like this. And that's what your body needs to wake up.

• 44:22Ashley Hesseltine?

  Wake up. Yeah.

• 44:22Speaker 01

  But amber light, again, you're just telling your body, it's time to go to sleep. So you, there's a setting on your phone that you can change the, take the blue out of your phone.

• 44:32Ashley Hesseltine?

  The like light mode.

• 44:32Speaker 01

  Yeah. I have that come on at like 9pm.

• 44:35Rayna Greenberg?

  Do you have, um, Bluetooth enabled bulbs? I just put those in in my apartment. Cause I don't, my apartment has no light fixtures. And I was like, I don't know what to do here. And the internet suggested I get these bulbs.

• 44:46Speaker 01

  I've been using Philips Hue for years and started in, started in New York city apartments that had no lighting.

• 44:51Rayna Greenberg?

  Yes. And there's an app, I can dim them. But I love the idea of uplighting and I think it is really luxurious. And a lot of our listeners were like, what are little touches I can do to make something feel more luxurious for less money?

• 45:00Speaker 01

  The right lighting can make a shithole look amazing.

• 45:02Ashley Hesseltine?

  Mm hmm. All right. Well, let's talk about furniture then. Like, are there other ways to make a room look better? Whether it's artwork or furniture, is your furniture too big? It makes the room look cheap, things like that?

• 45:11Speaker 01

  Always think about function and flow. Um, you might love a sofa, but if it's too big, you're gonna end up hating it. Or if it's too small, you're gonna end up hating it.

• 45:18Ashley Hesseltine?

  Too small sofa, there's nothing more embarrassing.

• 45:22Ashley Hesseltine?

  Then you walk into a room, you're like, this is the couch.

• 45:24Speaker 01

  You go over to your hookup and you walk in and the sofa is so small.

• 45:27Ashley Hesseltine?

  No, is this like Britney Spears?

• 45:29Speaker 01

  I am not, I am not sitting on that.

• 45:30Rayna Greenberg?

  I'm not fucking on that. If you want me to suck your dick, you will get a bigger sofa.

• 45:33Ashley Hesseltine?

  I'm sorry, we both can't fit on that. What is this? What are we doing?

• 45:36Rayna Greenberg?

  Then you get on your knees.

• 45:38Ashley Hesseltine?

  I just, something, it's so sad.

• 45:40Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 45:40Ashley Hesseltine?

  It's so, when the furniture is too small.

• 45:42Speaker 01

  Size does matter.

• 45:43Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah.

• 45:44Rayna Greenberg?

  Yeah.

• 45:45Speaker 01

  And it needs to be just right.

• 45:46Ashley Hesseltine?

  Exactly.

• 45:47Speaker 01

  Cause if it's too small, there's nowhere to sit. And if it's too big, there's nowhere to walk. You know? So yeah, make sure like function and, and scale is a big deal for furniture.

• 45:55Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah.

• 45:56Speaker 01

  And also if you're living in like New York, your furniture needs to do double time. Like every piece at least that needs to have two different uses. So often I say, hey, if you live in a small space for a coffee table, get like a, a storage coffee table or get like storage cubes that you put together as your coffee table. They have storage in them. If you need more seating when guests come over, they can be seating.

• 46:17Ashley Hesseltine?

  Oh, okay.

• 46:18Speaker 01

  So, you know, a bed, if you have a small apartment with a small bedroom, make sure it's a bed that either A, has drawers underneath or B, is high enough that you can put other things underneath.

• 46:27Ashley Hesseltine?

  Like the clearance. I remember that when I was in New York. I was like, I'm gonna have to put storage bins under this. I remember doing the measurements with the box, like to make sure I had the clearance on the bed frame.

• 46:35Speaker 01

  Bed, bathroom, you wanna get those little stilt things to put your bed frame on them. So it could be higher. You can get more stuff under there.

• 46:40Rayna Greenberg?

  Yeah. But I think the number one question we got was, how do I get storage in my apartment?

• 46:43Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 46:44Rayna Greenberg?

  So this is perfect. Everything should have space in it to store stuff.

• 46:48Speaker 01

  Yeah. If you have, again, going back to the cubes, like even if you have space for a small dining table, don't do chairs, do storage cubes.

• 46:56Ashley Hesseltine?

  Mm hmm.

• 46:56Speaker 01

  Cause A, it's seating that can move into the living room. B, it's more storage.

• 47:00Ashley Hesseltine?

  So I love this. It doubles as chairs.

• 47:02Speaker 01

  You don't sit there and have like hours long dinner sometime. It's, you don't necessarily need it back. If it's more important to have storage. And also the cubes slide completely under the table. So visually, it makes the space feel bigger. I love a storage cube.

• 47:14Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah. And I don't know how you feel about this. Like just for an example, like my husband and I are thinking of moving back to New York. We looked at this place, we actually really loved it. It was a ton of space, great outdoor space. But there oddly wasn't space for a dining table. We have a great dining table here in LA. We have a nice big house. And I was like, but how often do we use our dining table? And I don't know. I, we could put one outside. So we could have people over when the weather is nice. And most nights we eat outside on our patio or we eat at our bar and our kitchen. And I'm like, literally, we never sit at that table. So I wonder if people just think they're like, I could never not have a dining table, but it's like how often?

• 47:49Speaker 01

  Never use our dining table.

• 47:49Rayna Greenberg?

  I mean, did you ever have one in New York though? I just, this is my first apartment at this big age of older than 40, that I've first time I've ever had a dining table in my apartment. I just didn't need it. I said it's the couch.

• 48:00Ashley Hesseltine?

  The thing, I kinda wanna give people the freedom to be like, fuck it. If you don't use it and you have a limited space, fuck the dining table.

• 48:07Speaker 01

  I think most people in New York realize that already.

• 48:08Rayna Greenberg?

  Yes. Okay. Even when I was like in my late 30s, I lived in New York to eat dinner. I sat on my floor and I ate off of my coffee table.

• 48:15Speaker 01

  I mean, we have a house up in the hills and I still don't use a dining room. I still eat at the coffee table.

• 48:19Ashley Hesseltine?

  I like to eat the island.

• 48:20Speaker 01

  Yeah. We eat, yeah, we eat at the kitchen and the island.

• 48:22Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yes.

• 48:22Speaker 01

  Or we eat at the, you know, the coffee table and watch TV.

• 48:25Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah. So it's just like, fuck your dining table.

• 48:28Speaker 01

  And when we have people over, we usually eat outside.

• 48:30Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah. See, that's what I'm saying.

• 48:32Rayna Greenberg?

  I put this very thin, remember our last apartment, this kinda, is it a credenza? I pushed it up against the window and it's sort of like my desk. And if I needed somewhere to eat, I would put it there. But it's thin and long. So it, instead of circular and taking up all that space.

• 48:43Speaker 01

  For a table is great for, you know, other things.

• 48:47Rayna Greenberg?

  What else are you doing on it? You fucking on the dining room table?

• 48:49Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah, of course. Obviously.

• 48:53Speaker 01

  It's thin and long and you know, it's great, but.

• 48:56Rayna Greenberg?

  I mean, you give me a service and I'll fuck on anything, honestly. I'm so horny lately. It's crazy.

• 49:01Ashley Hesseltine?

  Who wants thin and long?

• 49:01Speaker 01

  A girl's gotta eat, right?

• 49:04Rayna Greenberg?

  I wanna circle back, not that I'm so horny, um, to artwork and Bobby, I love you so much. Um, I think it's also a good way to like.

• 49:13Speaker 01

  I'm surprised.

• 49:14Rayna Greenberg?

  I know weirdly, sometimes I get like embarrassed, which is weird, cause.

• 49:17Speaker 01

  I'm like, you said it.

• 49:20Rayna Greenberg?

  You started this.

• 49:23Rayna Greenberg?

  A person on the

• 49:25Ashley Hesseltine?

  Is this laugh not Jeremy?

• 49:27Rayna Greenberg?

  Oh, my God, this might like my best friend.

• 49:29Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah, Jeremy Jacobowitz, we love him. He you might know his content. He does amazing food content in New York. You should do a show. He sits and asks, what's your bagel order in the park? Have you ever seen these clips? He's done like, did he do John Cena?

• 49:39Rayna Greenberg?

  Ashley and I were both on it. Oh, he used to work for the WWE. Yeah. He's had politicians and it's fun. And he asks celebrities, what's your bagel order? It's just fun.

• 49:48Ashley Hesseltine?

  I want to see them laugh together.

• 49:49Rayna Greenberg?

  I know me too.

• 49:50Ashley Hesseltine?

  Surround sound. You guys have the same exact laugh.

• 49:53Rayna Greenberg?

  I love the laugh.

• 49:54Ashley Hesseltine?

  He has like an amazing laugh. I've always said that. Yeah. So we get like a little taste here today.

• 49:59Rayna Greenberg?

  Yeah. Um, okay. I want to talk about art because I also think that's a good way to like, make your space look ridiculous or expensive or nice. But like, there's such a range. So like, if someone is looking to like, put some artwork up, how big, how much space, where do we start?

• 50:12Speaker 01

  I mean, that's

• 50:13Ashley Hesseltine?

  Loaded question.

• 50:14Speaker 01

  Yeah, that's depends on the space, depends on where it's going, you know? Don't put a tiny piece above your sofa. Like, if you have a tiny piece, add some other tiny pieces to it. You know, don't just do one tiny piece.

• 50:26Ashley Hesseltine?

  A gallery of tiny pieces.

• 50:27Speaker 01

  But I say with art, mix your art up. You know, I hate it when I walk into somewhere and everything is just paintings. Like, mix your mediums up. Do some photography, do some paintings, do some objects. You know, don't make it look like, oh, I just went to Home Goods and I got all the painting things.

• 50:43Rayna Greenberg?

  Yeah.

• 50:44Speaker 01

  Mix your artwork up because it looks then more collected instead of designed.

• 50:49Rayna Greenberg?

  Okay. Are there certain websites that you like? Like, I, I mean, this is lower end cheaper, but like, I've always liked Society 6. They have so many prints and photography.

• 50:58Speaker 01

  I find a lot of great objects on Etsy, obviously.

• 51:00Rayna Greenberg?

  Yes.

• 51:01Speaker 01

  From, from individual makers. Society 6 is great. You can also on Etsy, find great artists that you can just download the art. You don't actually have to get a physical one. And then you can email that to companies like Framology and they can frame it and then send it to you. And it's great.

• 51:15Rayna Greenberg?

  Love that. Um, any other like affordable framing options?

• 51:20Speaker 01

  Uh, I mean Ikea, honestly, the best frames. I've used them so, so, so many times.

• 51:26Rayna Greenberg?

  Yes, me too. And you don't have to send it away and spend a fortune. And I know like, when I sometimes look up the price of framing, it's shocking.

• 51:33Ashley Hesseltine?

  It's one of those weird things. Like, what are we doing here? Like, what's going on in the framing industry?

• 51:37Speaker 01

  Yeah, I don't know.

• 51:39Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah.

• 51:39Speaker 01

  But yeah, like Framology is, I mean, it's not inexpensive, but compared to other framing sites, it's, it's great value.

• 51:46Rayna Greenberg?

  Okay.

• 51:46Speaker 01

  But yeah, if you're like on a super budget, just do Ikea ones.

• 51:49Rayna Greenberg?

  I totally agree.

• 51:50Speaker 01

  Print out art yourself.

• 51:51Rayna Greenberg?

  So I do that. I print stuff out at CVS. I'll download files and stuff like that. I'll print it out at CVS and I frame it with Ikea and it looks beautiful.

• 51:59Ashley Hesseltine?

  How do you feel about an accent wall?

• 52:01Speaker 01

  It depends. Again, if I'm all about whatever makes you happy. So if you love a big purple accent wall, go for it. I prefer to do an accent wall, kind of like what's happened here, like a texture.

• 52:12Rayna Greenberg?

  Okay, that's, that's cool.

• 52:13Speaker 01

  As opposed to just one color.

• 52:15Ashley Hesseltine?

  Color is gonna feel a little weird.

• 52:17Rayna Greenberg?

  If you guys aren't watching, it's sort of like, what would you call this?

• 52:20Speaker 01

  Uh, fluted.

• 52:21Rayna Greenberg?

  A fluted wall.

• 52:22Speaker 01

  It's fluted. I can't tell what material.

• 52:24Ashley Hesseltine?

  Even the wall behind you is a textured look.

• 52:26Speaker 01

  It's like a color wash, like a plaster.

• 52:28Rayna Greenberg?

  Yeah.

• 52:28Speaker 01

  But yeah, so I, I prefer a room to be one color.

• 52:31Rayna Greenberg?

  You do.

• 52:32Speaker 01

  Because it just, it feels bigger.

• 52:33Rayna Greenberg?

  Right.

• 52:34Speaker 01

  Okay. But I do love to add a texture to one of the walls because that adds some depth and some interest.

• 52:40Rayna Greenberg?

  Okay.

• 52:40Ashley Hesseltine?

  Someone's like, I'm gonna just not do any art, but I'm gonna paint this wall red. It's like, yikes, Mr. Big. Remember the red wall?

• 52:45Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 52:46Ashley Hesseltine?

  So if you're in a, a small space or you're trying to create another room, a workspace, how do you recommend doing it?

• 52:54Speaker 01

  The last apartment I'm talking about, we were down in Fulton Street in, in South Street, Seaport, and it was a studio with a nook. Um, and so I'm like, well, I want a full bedroom. I'm like, I'm gonna put a wall up. So I put a wall up.

• 53:08Ashley Hesseltine?

  Like, put a wall up, yeah.

• 53:09Speaker 01

  Yeah. Um, I definitely had to pay the billing manager to take it down when we left, but yeah.

• 53:14Rayna Greenberg?

  There's a lot of that in New York, those fake walls. I mean, it's just, I don't know who'd call for it.

• 53:17Speaker 01

  Well, because to put up a fake wall in New York, you can't put it all the way to the ceiling.

• 53:22Rayna Greenberg?

  Oh.

• 53:23Speaker 01

  The code.

• 53:23Rayna Greenberg?

  Okay.

• 53:24Speaker 01

  Because then it's a real wall and like fire sprinklers and all kinds of stuff. So you can put it like, I think, within 12 inches of the ceiling. I put it all the way up, you know, which is why it had to be removed.

• 53:34Ashley Hesseltine?

  I saw one place in New York that I really liked that was like bookcases where it was enough to separate a space.

• 53:39Speaker 01

  Yeah. I mean, a Billy bookcase from Ikea is a really great inexpensive way to, yeah.

• 53:44Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah, like, and it was, wasn't a bedroom. It was like a workspace, but it was like the way that they had some separation and like a big open space. I always find it fascinating what people are able to do in just big studio loft spaces that makes it feel like there's separate areas and rooms.

• 53:58Rayna Greenberg?

  Is there a way to make a room feel bigger?

• 54:00Speaker 01

  I mean, even drapes, you know, Ikea has these really great ceiling mount drapery tracks. And you can mount it on the ceiling and you can create private space that can then be pushed back if you need it to be more open.

• 54:12Ashley Hesseltine?

  That's a good call. Yeah. Like, one of those places we looked at also, we'd have to do something like that. And so you hang it from the ceiling, like the

• 54:18Speaker 01

  Yeah, from the ceiling. Like in a hospital, like the curtains in between the beds.

• 54:21Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah.

• 54:22Speaker 01

  You can get those type of tracks that look not like a hospital. And it's, yeah, a really great way to divide a space inexpensively and something that can easily come down.

• 54:29Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah. Okay, nice.

• 54:30Rayna Greenberg?

  Do you like for storage, like if there's no closets?

• 54:34Ashley Hesseltine?

  Oh.

• 54:34Rayna Greenberg?

  Do you have a suggestion?

• 54:36Speaker 01

  Arm walls.

• 54:37Rayna Greenberg?

  Like arm, yeah.

• 54:37Ashley Hesseltine?

  Okay.

• 54:38Speaker 01

  Again, I keep mentioning Ikea, but Ikea has great closet systems. I mean, the amount of Ikea closet systems I bought when I lived in New York, you know, a ton.

• 54:45Ashley Hesseltine?

  I mean, if you have tons of money, you have the custom closet companies, I guess they come out.

• 54:49Speaker 01

  Yeah, California closets is amazing.

• 54:51Rayna Greenberg?

  Yeah. Ikea, you can really customize also an extreme amount of customization, but a lot of places just don't have closets. I mean, I've lived in apartments in New York that have like one closet for a two bedroom apartment.

• 55:01Speaker 01

  Well, I mean, it was, was it an older building?

• 55:04Rayna Greenberg?

  Yeah, it was an older building.

• 55:05Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah. They were built when people had three outfits.

• 55:07Rayna Greenberg?

  Yeah. You couldn't have shopping addiction.

• 55:10Speaker 01

  You had your work outfit, you had your evening outfit, and you had your Sunday outfit and that's it.

• 55:13Rayna Greenberg?

  Right.

• 55:14Ashley Hesseltine?

  Day to night.

• 55:15Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 55:16Ashley Hesseltine?

  Okay, just gonna take a quick break and then we will get back into it. I'm telling you guys about Nutriful. So as you know, I'm always on a hair journey. I feel like it's never looked better. And Nutriful is the cornerstone of what I do. I take my four capsules of the women's formula daily. And I've been taking it for years. I can't imagine my life without it. I bring it when I travel, like I never really want to be without it. And Nutriful is the number one dermatologist recommended hair growth supplement brand, and it's the number one hair growth supplement brand personally used by dermatologists. And now the Nutriful Women's Formula has been upgraded to its most advanced version yet. It's 100% vegan, biotin free, and comes in a small capsule size to make your daily routine easier. So we knew this was happening. We like had, they told us about this before it actually happened. It was gonna be vegan and these new improvements.

• 56:00Ashley Hesseltine?

  And I like the smaller capsules. They were a little big. I mean, it was fine. I was taking them, but it's really, really nice. And so those are the upgrades and this is gonna help again with any hair thinning, shedding, hair issues. They take a proactive approach to target the root causes and people who have used it have seen improved hair growth, decreased shedding, visible thickness while taking Nutriful. And I can vouch for it. I really rely on it and I can't recommend it enough. So whether you're just starting your hair health journey or you've been taking Nutriful for years, this update means you can now get their most advanced support yet. See thicker, stronger, faster growing hair with less shedding in just three to six months. Right now, Nutriful is offering our listeners $10 off your first month subscription and free shipping when you visit nutrafol.com and enter promo code GGE10.

• 56:45Ashley Hesseltine?

  That's nutrafol.com, spelled N-U-T-R-A-F-O-L dot com, promo code GGE10.

• 56:51Rayna Greenberg?

  Okay. And this episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. So you've heard us talk about BetterHelp for a long time. And obviously, Asha and I are huge proponents of therapy, whatever you want to address in your life, whether it is changes at work, friends, romance. You are suffering from anxiety. There's obviously a range of things you go to therapy for and we highly believe in it. But you know, don't take our word for it. Take the reviews word for it. So you can check it out yourself at betterhelp.com/reviews. Just see the amazing customer reviews in real time and they're updated every day. With hundreds of people saying how much they love the service and how helpful it's been for them. You can go to betterhelp.com/reviews just to see it for yourself. So don't take our word for it. Just read what other people say. They have an average live therapy session rating of 4.9 out of 5, which is fantastic. And they have over 1.7 million client session reviews.

• 57:35Rayna Greenberg?

  More than 6 million people have used BetterHelp globally. So the consistent feedback is great. Check it out again for yourself. BetterHelp therapists have at least three years and 1,000 hours of hands-on experience. So they have all the required education and training and they're gonna make it easy for you to get started. So they'll take a questionnaire, they'll match you with somebody that fits your needs and you can switch anytime if you need it. You can see the reviews, see what stands out and see if BetterHelp is right for you. Visit betterhelp.com/GGE. That's better H E L P dot com slash GGE.

• 58:02Ashley Hesseltine?

  Okay, let's talk about some color and design stuff. What's your stance on color? Is there too much color? Like if you

• 58:09Speaker 01

  My stance is no!

• 58:10Ashley Hesseltine?

  Okay, no color.

• 58:11Speaker 01

  No, no.

• 58:12Ashley Hesseltine?

  Like, if someone comes to you and they're like, I love a bunch of color, like, do you have to take them down a notch or is, can we just go crazy?

• 58:18Speaker 01

  No, I mean, because that's what you love. Great. If you love maximalist color. And I used to be very, I mean, I don't have a lot of color in my own home, but I've recently started thinking about embracing it.

• 58:28Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah.

• 58:28Speaker 01

  Um, I've always liked neutrals. I like adding a lot of texture in my houses and very tactile. But I'm starting to really love color, like just saturating everywhere.

• 58:37Rayna Greenberg?

  I love that you said, I'm thinking about color. I'm like that too. I like putting some brown.

• 58:41Speaker 01

  Taking on some color.

• 58:41Ashley Hesseltine?

  Well, how are you introducing it? I want to hear. Like, tell us how you're bringing some color into your life.

• 58:46Speaker 01

  I'm not yet.

• 58:47Rayna Greenberg?

  No, I'm just thinking about it.

• 58:49Speaker 01

  I'm thinking about it. I, I don't ever want to do anything to my own house.

• 58:54Rayna Greenberg?

  Really?

• 58:54Speaker 01

  No. Like, we've been planning on remodeling our house. We had the plans done and everything since we bought it in 2020. And we still haven't because we keep doing other projects. Like, we've done two houses in the desert. We had our house in Portugal and that's what I do for a living. So I don't want to do it when I get home.

• 59:09Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah.

• 59:10Speaker 01

  I decorated the house when we moved in with what we had from the other places and it's great. It's fine. It's mid-century. And I don't want to change anything because I'm like, I'm gonna wait till we remodel and then I'll change everything.

• 59:19Rayna Greenberg?

  Right. Um, it's so, I'm the same way. I'm like, I'm terrified of color. I have rese, I do have a couple rust colored throw pillows. And I've touched on some darker wood shades for like, maybe like a candle or

• 59:33Ashley Hesseltine?

  I this is not a hot take, but I I just am not a design person like at all. I do my best, but I just don't have that talent. I have lots of other skills and talents. But I remember asking a friend, like, my couch is dark, and it just felt really masculine to me. And I wanted to be dark. We have a dog. He's black. Like, I just and she was like, actually, do like, white throw pillows and like, a white blanket. And it changed.

• 59:54Speaker 01

  Balance.

• 59:55Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah.

• 59:55Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 59:55Ashley Hesseltine?

  Like little things.

• 59:56Speaker 01

  Like, you can't do too much dark, because it feels too heavy. You can't do too much light, because it, yeah, it's not great. So it's all about balance. If you're gonna do black cabinets in your kitchen, do a lot of other things light color, you know, do light floors. You can't do dark floors and dark cabinets.

• 1:00:09Ashley Hesseltine?

  Totally.

• 1:00:10Speaker 01

  It's too much. You can't do light floors and light cabinets, because, you know, you could, but balance. So when it comes to light and darkness space, I always try to balance it as much as possible.

• 1:00:20Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah, like, a bunch of white throw pillows changed the look of the whole couch. And with the white Lola, too. Lola blanket, yeah. I mean, I'm sure that, you know, people want to pay you, and they have an idea. You're happy to facilitate it. But like, are there some design trends where you're like, don't do this? This will not age well?

• 1:00:35Speaker 01

  Hmm. I mean, we always try to steer people away from trends.

• 1:00:39Ashley Hesseltine?

  Trends in general?

• 1:00:40Speaker 01

  Yeah, because you're right. They don't age well. You can walk in, and you're like, oh, Kelly Green, 1998, you know, like.

• 1:00:46Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah, it's like a wedding, almost. Like, I see a lot of the TikToks. I'm like, you can tell what year this wedding took place, because of like, the trend. Okay, well, what we want to talk about is moving in with a partner.

• 1:00:55Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:00:56Ashley Hesseltine?

  And I bought and renovated a house. I had the pleasure of not having to talk to somebody else. I got to do every single thing that I wanted. And then I got to furnish it exactly how I wanted. But like, I also think I have incredible taste, and we should defer to what I want. But I was lucky enough to not have to do that this time with a partner. But I have moved in with partners before, and they're like, I want to put my football helmets up. I want to put my jerseys up. And this is, I mean, this is when I was younger.

• 1:01:21Rayna Greenberg?

  But you wouldn't.

• 1:01:22Ashley Hesseltine?

  I've heard people like that now. But yes, I hear.

• 1:01:24Rayna Greenberg?

  I mean, I was like, did you pay for this football team?

• 1:01:26Ashley Hesseltine?

  No.

• 1:01:27Rayna Greenberg?

  No. So you can't have your helmet up in our house.

• 1:01:29Ashley Hesseltine?

  Are you on this team?

• 1:01:30Rayna Greenberg?

  No.

• 1:01:32Speaker 01

  I mean, I have done sports memorabilia rooms.

• 1:01:36Ashley Hesseltine?

  I'm, yeah.

• 1:01:37Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:01:37Ashley Hesseltine?

  Sure.

• 1:01:38Speaker 01

  Yeah, but not.

• 1:01:39Ashley Hesseltine?

  In the main room?

• 1:01:41Rayna Greenberg?

  Like, we put a helmet on our Billy bookcase from Ikea in Brooklyn. I was 23.

• 1:01:46Ashley Hesseltine?

  Right, yeah.

• 1:01:47Speaker 01

  Years ago, I was speaking, and this woman in the end had a question. And she was like, hey, so I've been dating this guy for years, and we're madly in love. And I think we're gonna get married. But he doesn't care about design, like, not his house is just sparse. He doesn't care anything about design. He has no opinions on it. And like, I'm obsessed with design. I love design. It's everything. She's like, I feel like I can't marry him because he doesn't care.

• 1:02:10Ashley Hesseltine?

  That sounds great.

• 1:02:11Speaker 01

  I'm like, are you crazy? That's perfect. If you have such strong opinions about designs, and he has none, I'm like, that is an ideal situation. And she goes, I've never thought of it that way. And I was like, are you? What's wrong?

• 1:02:24Ashley Hesseltine?

  As long as he's not being like, we have to hang up my car poster.

• 1:02:27Speaker 01

  Yeah, no, he just.

• 1:02:28Ashley Hesseltine?

  He would defer to her.

• 1:02:30Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:02:30Ashley Hesseltine?

  A dream, dream. You're gonna have a great life.

• 1:02:33Speaker 01

  Yeah. What is, go marry him right now. Go tomorrow.

• 1:02:37Ashley Hesseltine?

  That's really so crazy. And that really is probably a lot of couples. Like, you care about this. You are better at this. You do it.

• 1:02:44Speaker 01

  Yeah, my husband has opinions now, and it drives me crazy.

• 1:02:46Ashley Hesseltine?

  Oh, how dare you?

• 1:02:48Speaker 01

  I mean, I moved in with him in 2004. And he lived on the Upper East Side, and Mount Sinai student housing, like, literally, like, a folding table for the dining room, like, like, a commercial one, a mattress on the floor, you know. And so I came in, and I read everything. He didn't care. But now.

• 1:03:04Ashley Hesseltine?

  He has opinions all of a sudden.

• 1:03:05Rayna Greenberg?

  Is he an interior designer?

• 1:03:07Speaker 01

  No, he's a surgeon.

• 1:03:07Ashley Hesseltine?

  22 years later.

• 1:03:08Rayna Greenberg?

  He's a surgeon?

• 1:03:09Speaker 01

  Yeah, but the great thing is.

• 1:03:09Rayna Greenberg?

  Do you give him advice on surgery?

• 1:03:11Speaker 01

  Exactly, exactly. Yes.

• 1:03:15Speaker 01

  I am a Virgo.

• 1:03:17Ashley Hesseltine?

  I could do this.

• 1:03:18Speaker 01

  But I mean, luckily, I mean, we've been together for 24 years. Luckily, his opinions have been molded by me.

• 1:03:23Ashley Hesseltine?

  From you, right.

• 1:03:24Speaker 01

  So.

• 1:03:24Ashley Hesseltine?

  You are a surgeon now, too, though.

• 1:03:25Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:03:26Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah. Are you that kind of guy that's like, I could fly the plane?

• 1:03:29Speaker 01

  Yeah, I'm gay.

• 1:03:29Ashley Hesseltine?

  I'm a Virgo.

• 1:03:30Speaker 01

  Yeah, I can do that. Okay.

• 1:03:31Rayna Greenberg?

  I'll read one book.

• 1:03:33Speaker 01

  There's this audio that was going around. It's like, you know what, the gays have the ability to just do things, blah, blah, blah, you know, rocket science, yeah, I'm gay, I can do that, blah, blah, blah, I'm gay, I can do that. It's a very funny audio. Yeah, we've had to always just figure out how to make it work.

• 1:03:45Ashley Hesseltine?

  Right. The plane's going down. I can't have some straight man run up here and try to.

• 1:03:50Rayna Greenberg?

  It goes gay men, straight women, way at the bottom. Straight men. Okay, you might not have an answer to this. This might just be like, go to therapy. But like, if you have designed, you've decorated your space, and you have a partner moving in, and they want to like, bring their shit into the space. And this is like, the top tier, what stresses me out. It's like, you are gonna come in here, and I've already made the design choices. Do you have advice?

• 1:04:13Ashley Hesseltine?

  Are you asking me or?

• 1:04:14Speaker 01

  Whoever has the best taste wins.

• 1:04:16Rayna Greenberg?

  Whoever thinks that they're a therapist.

• 1:04:17Ashley Hesseltine?

  Whoever's the best taste wins. Yeah, let's put this on Instagram. You have to vote.

• 1:04:20Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah. You know, put stuff blindly on Instagram for people to vote on. Don't say whose it is, and just let people vote. And whoever gets the least votes concedes.

• 1:04:30Ashley Hesseltine?

  I think it's tough. I mean, like, Shashank has.

• 1:04:35Speaker 01

  What's his name?

• 1:04:36Ashley Hesseltine?

  My husband's name is Shashank.

• 1:04:37Speaker 01

  That's so cool.

• 1:04:38Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah, that's a good name. He has opinions. He has stuff he liked. Luckily, it wasn't football helmets.

• 1:04:45Rayna Greenberg?

  Yeah.

• 1:04:46Ashley Hesseltine?

  But he has those cause sculptures. He gave you one. They're this artist he likes, like, street art. They're, they're all black, thank God. So they just really, like, can blend in, and.

• 1:04:56Speaker 01

  Like, they blend into the background, thank God.

• 1:04:58Ashley Hesseltine?

  They're not, and they can look chic.

• 1:04:59Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:04:59Ashley Hesseltine?

  It's not my dream that they're at our house. But like, we have found places for them, and I have to, no, they're, you could, they're out there. They're kind of cool. I will say that. Like, they are, again, they're not football jerseys.

• 1:05:12Rayna Greenberg?

  I have one on my shelf.

• 1:05:13Speaker 01

  But over the years, I just would slowly throw things away.

• 1:05:18Ashley Hesseltine?

  But like, this is.

• 1:05:19Speaker 01

  Clothing.

• 1:05:19Ashley Hesseltine?

  It's hard to say to somebody.

• 1:05:21Rayna Greenberg?

  His dreams, yeah.

• 1:05:22Speaker 01

  Yeah, I don't know where that sculpture went.

• 1:05:24Ashley Hesseltine?

  So weird, yeah. To your point, if you have the space, and they, there can be sort of like, a place for it.

• 1:05:31Speaker 01

  Yeah, you're like, this is gonna be amazing in guest room.

• 1:05:34Ashley Hesseltine?

  In your room, yeah.

• 1:05:35Speaker 01

  Yeah, in the back wing.

• 1:05:37Ashley Hesseltine?

  In the storage space. But I don't, I want to validate this. I don't really know that I have the answer.

• 1:05:43Rayna Greenberg?

  Uh huh.

• 1:05:43Ashley Hesseltine?

  Like, we're talking about a woman, if we're talking about.

• 1:05:45Speaker 01

  It's an impossible question with no answer.

• 1:05:47Ashley Hesseltine?

  Right.

• 1:05:47Speaker 01

  It's because, I mean, every situation's different.

• 1:05:49Ashley Hesseltine?

  I guess you just have to compromise on it. But I'm, I'm literally picturing a signed jersey, and it's in a frame. That's what I'm picturing. This is this man's, like, pride and joy.

• 1:06:02Speaker 01

  If it's the night, hey.

• 1:06:03Rayna Greenberg?

  Make more money and get a bigger house.

• 1:06:04Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah.

• 1:06:04Rayna Greenberg?

  A hallway, hallway.

• 1:06:06Speaker 01

  Compromise. So have it framed to match the room that it's in.

• 1:06:11Ashley Hesseltine?

  Okay.

• 1:06:12Speaker 01

  You know, I don't love the idea of it either. But compromise, if it's like, an ugly jersey in a crap frame, and it doesn't look good, you're like, all right, if we want this in there, it's got to be elevated. We need, you need to pay to have it framed nicely. It needs to be matted, like, to where it looks like a piece of art.

• 1:06:28Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah.

• 1:06:28Speaker 01

  Instead of a jersey in a plastic frame.

• 1:06:31Rayna Greenberg?

  Yeah, okay.

• 1:06:32Ashley Hesseltine?

  And wait them out.

• 1:06:33Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:06:33Rayna Greenberg?

  They won't do it.

• 1:06:34Speaker 01

  Yeah, they won't do it.

• 1:06:35Ashley Hesseltine?

  But I just.

• 1:06:37Ashley Hesseltine?

  Or pay the movers to lose their boxes.

• 1:06:40Speaker 01

  They're like, I don't know what happened.

• 1:06:42Ashley Hesseltine?

  Can you imagine? You're like, okay, there's a few boxes marked with a big two on them.

• 1:06:48Speaker 01

  You put a 110 on it. 110.

• 1:06:50Ashley Hesseltine?

  86.

• 1:06:51Speaker 01

  No, 110. And then when you draw a line in between, it means, it says no.

• 1:06:55Ashley Hesseltine?

  No, okay. Yeah. We solved it.

• 1:06:57Speaker 01

  Am I gonna get Applebee's sued here? We used to do that at Applebee's, when people would drop off their applications. And we would be like, no, we didn't get the vibe. We'd put 110 at the top, so that way the manager knew not to call them.

• 1:07:08Ashley Hesseltine?

  Oh, my gosh.

• 1:07:11Ashley Hesseltine?

  That's so funny.

• 1:07:15Ashley Hesseltine?

  Please sue Bobby individually, as a former employee.

• 1:07:17Speaker 01

  He seems like a lot. We don't want to work with that.

• 1:07:19Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah. So, but let's talk about a couple that's moving in, and they're, they're gonna tackle this together. And have you ever met with couples like this? Like, have you ever kind of been in the middle of how are we gonna merge your styles?

• 1:07:34Speaker 01

  Years ago, we had a client, and it was his house. But he had a girlfriend who he would say to us, you know, she probably isn't gonna be around that long, so don't listen to her. But she, yeah, which I could understand why, she's kind of crazy. But she would cause so many issues, because he would make a decision, and she wouldn't like that. So then they'd get in a fight about it. And then it would cause us to not be able to pull the trigger on anything. So yeah, honestly, we don't take a lot of private clients.

• 1:08:01Ashley Hesseltine?

  Okay.

• 1:08:01Speaker 01

  Because of that. We work predominantly with commercial spaces and builders. So we design homes all over the US, but we work with the builder. So we design the homes that they're gonna use as the model for the communities. And it's just, we get to do whatever we want, as long as it looks great. There's no emotion, there's no personal opinions. It's just, we want it to look great.

• 1:08:22Rayna Greenberg?

  I mean, I know that you're not a therapist. I imagine designing a home together, and everybody we know that's done it with their partners, like, one of the biggest tests of your relationship, like, can you compromise on this?

• 1:08:30Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah.

• 1:08:31Rayna Greenberg?

  Can I say no to you, and you don't feel that I've emasculated you, or said something terrible about you? Just do what we want. But I think these are the things, the conversations, you shouldn't be surprised with. I don't know, if you really think you're gonna live with somebody long term, shouldn't you kind of know what they like, like, before you pull the trigger? So it's not such a surprise?

• 1:08:49Speaker 01

  I don't think a design aesthetic should be like a.

• 1:08:51Rayna Greenberg?

  Break a couple up?

• 1:08:52Speaker 01

  Yeah, break a couple up. But you know, it shouldn't be a deal breaker. 30 Rock.

• 1:08:56Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah.

• 1:08:57Speaker 01

  I don't think design aesthetic should be a deal breaker. But I mean, unless it's really bad.

• 1:09:01Ashley Hesseltine?

  Unless it's more representative of what's happening in every other area of the relationship. Like, it's the same as like, a couple breaking up while they plan their wedding. Like, they can't agree, and they can't navigate.

• 1:09:10Speaker 01

  I think at the end of the day, the person that it's means the most to the other person should concede.

• 1:09:17Ashley Hesseltine?

  Right.

• 1:09:17Speaker 01

  Like, if you're really a design person, and your space really affects your mental health and your well-being, and the other one's like.

• 1:09:23Ashley Hesseltine?

  Bring mental health into it.

• 1:09:24Speaker 01

  Yeah, it doesn't, it's not, bring mental health into it. That's always.

• 1:09:27Ashley Hesseltine?

  My mental health.

• 1:09:28Speaker 01

  It's always the key. It's America.

• 1:09:30Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah. That jersey is just really affecting my mental health.

• 1:09:35Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:09:36Ashley Hesseltine?

  Honestly, it would for me.

• 1:09:37Speaker 01

  And I, I almost have, yeah, it gives me, it gives me anxiety.

• 1:09:40Ashley Hesseltine?

  Anxiety.

• 1:09:41Speaker 01

  Like, I think about the NFL and their capitalism and it makes me angry.

• 1:09:47Ashley Hesseltine?

  Bring your anxiety up with his sports memory.

• 1:09:50Speaker 01

  The NFL and their capitalism.

• 1:09:51Rayna Greenberg?

  Okay, millennials, we didn't know about this in our early twenties, but now we can really capitalize on this. I mean, I just, it could have been like my mental health.

• 1:09:58Speaker 01

  The Gen Z really opened the floodgates for the mental health. I've got to go home from work, mental health break.

• 1:10:02Ashley Hesseltine?

  Your design choices just really give me anxiety and I've just, I've been going to therapy about it.

• 1:10:06Speaker 01

  You're at the beach now. I'm like, yeah, I needed that for my mental health.

• 1:10:09Ashley Hesseltine?

  I really love that.

• 1:10:11Rayna Greenberg?

  Is there anything else that like you would suggest or anything we missed that you're like, these are my biggest pieces of advice? When you're just like, I want to make my, my space better.

• 1:10:18Speaker 01

  No, I mean, I think it just goes back to do what you love, you know? Put the things in it that make you happy, not what makes your friends happy. Your friends don't live there, you do. Doesn't matter what your friends' opinions are.

• 1:10:29Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah. And like we said with the lifestyle, if there's furniture you're never going to use, you don't need it. We, we touched on trends a little bit. I'm just curious and if you don't have an answer, that's fine. But are you seeing any trends right now that are like really standing out to you that you like or don't like? Or do you just kind of ignore trends and?

• 1:10:46Speaker 01

  I do love the, that pattern is really back and like lots of different pattern and layering patterns. Like maximalism is really, and I used to like, I used to hate maximalism, but I'm starting to love it.

• 1:10:57Ashley Hesseltine?

  Okay, okay.

• 1:10:58Speaker 01

  I don't know if I could do it in my own home.

• 1:11:01Rayna Greenberg?

  Same. I'm not brave enough, but I can look at it and enjoy it.

• 1:11:03Speaker 01

  It's not me. I'm, I need, I need minimalism. It's like, my brain is always on. It's always crazy. Like I need minimalism surrounding me.

• 1:11:11Ashley Hesseltine?

  And you, your home is more mid-century modern, you said? Cause we, we talked about this a lot, this style of really white, neutral, feels kind of millennial, female. And I still like it, you know? I'm curious if, you know, if someone wants to do that, I guess it's like, if you like it.

• 1:11:29Speaker 01

  If you like it, do it.

• 1:11:30Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah.

• 1:11:30Rayna Greenberg?

  That's what I do. I love it.

• 1:11:31Ashley Hesseltine?

  But again, you guys, you, you two and everyone listening can slowly start to think about color.

• 1:11:37Rayna Greenberg?

  Yes. Put a dark wood vase. Think about it. Just think about it a little, just, you know? Okay. Another like entree into color is just a little marble, like a marble candle holder or a marble vase. And it feels fun.

• 1:11:51Speaker 01

  Again, like burgundy esch, Merlot esch marble is very in right now.

• 1:11:54Ashley Hesseltine?

  Ooh, okay. I love that. Anything else that you, that you feel like is very in?

• 1:11:58Speaker 01

  I honestly, I never like look at design magazines.

• 1:12:00Ashley Hesseltine?

  That's what I figured. I feel like that's probably the best way to be. I don't, like, if you have someone listening that wants to design their space, probably the worst place to start is what's in right now. As opposed to what do I like? Where, like you said, what shows do I like? What do I like to vacation? Like what trends are in? I would never start there.

• 1:12:16Speaker 01

  Some people do.

• 1:12:17Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah.

• 1:12:18Speaker 01

  You know, we have a design quiz on our website that helps you try to figure out what your aesthetic is. And it's not like trends, it's what's my design style.

• 1:12:25Rayna Greenberg?

  Oh, I love that. That's great.

• 1:12:26Ashley Hesseltine?

  Yeah, that's great. Okay.

• 1:12:28Rayna Greenberg?

  Bobby, this has been like such a pleasure. It's like our first interior design episode. And it's just like, we just wanted you for it and we're so happy you could do this.

• 1:12:34Speaker 01

  Thanks for having me.

• 1:12:36Rayna Greenberg?

  Can you tell everybody like your website, where to take the quiz?

• 1:12:39Speaker 01

  My website's bobbyberk.com and that's B E R K. My Instagram's Bobby. My threads is Bobby. My TikTok is Bobby.

• 1:12:46Rayna Greenberg?

  Okay. So that's where everybody can find you.

• 1:12:49Ashley Hesseltine?

  And you guys know where to find us, girlsgottaeat.com, girlsgotta eat podcast, Instagram and TikTok. I am Ash Hess on Instagram and TikTok. Raina is Raina dot Greenberg and RainaGreenberg.com for her tour tickets this fall. You can watch full video on Spotify and YouTube. Subscribe, share this episode with a friend, leave a comment. And we will actually not have an episode on Thursday, but we will see you guys next Monday.

• 1:13:09Rayna Greenberg?

  Have a good weekend, guys.

• 1:13:10Ashley Hesseltine?

  Bye.

• 1:13:36Speaker 03

  Whenever fall comes back around, it always feels like a fresh start. This year I've been layering in some styles from the new Lululemon fall drop because the weather is shifting and I find I have to be ready for the entire day and not just one part of it. Lululemon's fall line has some really versatile transitional pieces. So I can just wake up, throw on a matching set, add a jacket or a fleece and head out, knowing that I'll feel comfortable enough to go wherever the day takes me. Check out the new fall arrivals in store and online now at lululemon.com.