Home Updates, Accessories & Tours

Small Lux in my Powder Room

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It is so cold! It has been so frigid this week! BRRRR! I have been trying to stay warm and stay at home. Goodness! This week will be hard because I have some meetings and we are moving buildings here shortly. I do look forward to decorating my new space. 

In my free moments I have been doing things that relax me. I have been able to pick back up in reading some of the books that I ordered and purchased recently. One of them is called A Life in Good Taste by Caroline Gidiere. This book is so good! I have a lot of pages “bunny eared”. I wanted to share her ideas about the powder room since it inspired me around the holidays. 

Most of you know that in 2021 I did a little powder room update and I still love it! 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

 

I still demand that the door stay open and I still love being in here. Around the holidays I always try to make sure that necessities are placed in here for convenience. Caroline says, “entering a powder room should feel like opening a little jewelry box and finding a hidden gem. I love to cover the space in pattern, even on the ceiling, for a luxurious and enveloping sensation.”  

I believe that my stencil chinoiserie painting created that enveloping sensation in our powder room.

She goes to say, “to me it is the height of comfort to have a fragrant bar of soap and pristine hand towels close to the faucet.”

 

 

 

I found this vintage peacock napkin holder from an antique store and added to my powder room during the holidays. I loved it so much that it will now stay. Now I do have hand towels. They are not monogramed but I like to make sure that they are clean. I purchased this basket and placed it on the floor. Inside are fresh towels that I can just grabbed whenever we have guests at our house. 

Caroline said, ” my favorites are floral hand towels from D. Porthault, whose offerings are so special that I often don’t pay attention to whether or not they match the surrounding elements.” I love the idea of having quality hand towels but sometimes you just can’t afford them. You can find great ones at affordable prices at HomeGoods or these that I found on Amazon. 

 

 

 

Another thing that I love seeing in other powder room are the soaps that some families use. I have been able to try out or test other products because of what a powder room may have. I love the soaps at Bath and Body Works. This one is my absolute favorite! I also love the Nest brand. They have beautifully scented soaps. I purchased these soap dispensers from Amazon and have gotten compliments from all of our guests and added this jasmine scented lotion to the powder room. Everyone enjoyed using both products. We cannot forget about scents. I love a Bath and Body Works wallflower to add to the senses and to help alleviate any other smells.  Again, it’s the small luxurious items that you can offer your guests for a wonderful experience. I know using the bathroom is not a fun thing sometimes but why not offer some elegance while using yours. 

I hope you all found these tips helpful and will take a second look at your powder room. Turn it into your jewel box if you can! Be bold and enjoy. 

 

 

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A Christmas Tea at Irwin Mansion

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Good Morning Friends,

It’s the week before Christmas, can you believe it? These last few months have just flown by! I went to the L.S. Ayres Team Room yesterday with my team. It was a wonderful lunch. I don’t think we are going to see the Nutcracker this year. I honestly want to take a break. The last few years have been a lot. The venue has been so crowded and dealing with people has just been a lot for me. They did change venues this year so maybe…..

This past weekend I did something fun with my girlfriends. We went and had Christmas tea at the Inn at Irwin Gardens! We were not sure if we were going to go because the temperatures dropped so low. It was -2 that day and then we had tons of snow the night before. Also, the mansion is about an hour away from everyone, but we decided to go out, and we had a great time!

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

This was inside the mansion as we entered it. The ceiling had lots of details, and I loved all of the wood in the entryway. The original mansion was built in 1864 and was remodeled again in 1890. 

 

 

These were some of the beautiful rooms that you could choose to have tea in. I actually loved the green room. It was so warm and inviting and the color in person was perfection. The other room was very grand and had a fireplace. I also loved the fabrics in that room.

 

 

Here is an up-close photo of one of the chairs. I LOVED the fabric so much. I believe these chairs were vintage as well. The room on the right is the room that me and my girlfriends had tea in. 

 

 

We started off with a cup of roast pears and plums. It had a little bit of Greek yogurt and nuts. It was quite delicious. Of course, there were tea sandwiches, a hearty vegetable soup and dessert. 

 

 

The dessert was the banana pudding with a ginger snap cookie. I enjoyed a cup of peppermint tea and a lovely conversation with the girls. They also gave us a tour of the bedrooms. This mansion was quite big for being 135 years old. I think it would be lovely to stay in a mansion like this. My husband hates bed and breakfasts so this would have to be enjoyed without him but that is okay. 

 

 

Aren’t these Dress Christmas trees beautiful? A few on the rooms had them. I would love one for my office one day. I may have to search Amazon. It was a wonderful, lovely day with the girls and so needed before the holidays. I will be taking time off from the blog next week. Let me know in the comments below what you plan to do this holiday season! Merry Christmas!

 

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Christmas at My Home ~ 2025

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Hello Friends,

I hope you all had wonderful Thanksgiving. Doesn’t it feel like everything is a rush right now? I think it could be because Thanksgiving was so late this year. Now I feel as though Christmas is right on my heels! This week I reviewed all of my gifts. We just have a few more gift cards to get then we are finished. I am on the hunt for another turkey. Geez, I hope I can find one. I am also helping with our first grandchild’s baby shower! We are having that in January and that is coming together nicely. My Christmas decor in my home is ever evolving. This year the family tree looks a little different and I am exploring with ways on how to insert ribbon inside of my trees. Let me know what you think!

 

photos via: Mrs. Shockley 

 

This year I decided to add some red and burgundy to our family tree and I do love it. I purchased the ribbon and ornaments years ago. I knew that I would have a moment when I wanted red and this year was the year. I filled the bottom of the tree with white poinsettias. I loved the way it looked. I also added some green velvet as well. I am trying to learn how to tuck in ribbon in my tree. It’s an art form for sure. 

 

 

I love my blue and white tree this year. I need to take another photo of it in the front. I used ribbon in this as well. I also got a new star topper. One cannot forget the ginger jar ornaments from The Enchanted Home. They are just so pretty and always look so elegant. In the second photo is my new tortoise shell hurricane vase from the At Home store. I added faux peonies to it. I think it’s a perfect fit. 

 

 

Decorating the entryway is always a challenge for me. We have very limited space, so I try to work with what I have. Of course, my dream is to have a large entryway but maybe later. For now, I decorated the stair rails with this beautiful blue ribbon and some garland. I added these small wreaths on the secretary with blue ribbon. I think it ties in my ginger jar perfectly. Maybe I should have added a bow to that!  

Now I love my Barbie tree. You all have seen this multiple times. I added the nutcrackers to the bottom of the tree, and I think they are better suited for this. I love the way everything looks. I have been buying vintage Barbie ornaments from Poshmark. I love the vintage ornaments from the 90s and early 2000s. 

 

photos via Mrs. Shockley 

 

OMG! Yes, you are seeing the green version of my pink Mrs. Alice chinoiserie urn! I could not resist. I got an email during the cyber-Monday sales and I was able to buy this $150 less! This was on my radar to purchase next year because I think it may be going into my new office downtown. We will see. But I have it placed here on my new black chinoiserie secretary next to my 2024 Christian Dior Advent calendar and my new ginger jar vase. 

I have also shared how much I love the giant poinsettias at Costco. This year they had the white ones and so I purchased a red and white. I kept thinking if I had a planter to place my poinsettia in, so I pulled my Asian planter from the guest bedroom, and it was a PERFECT fit! I adore it. I think poinsettias will be going in this planter yearly now! 

 

 

I added a little bit of Christmas decor in our bedroom. Here is our vintage chest in front of our T.V. I picked up some small red poinsettias from the grocery store and placed them in some of my ginger jar vases. It looks lovely in our bedroom. And lastly, I had a stupendous shopping haul from HomeGoods that I will share in an upcoming reel soon. In that haul was this gorgeous pine scented candle. Just look at this sophisticated emerald green and gold candle holder. The scent is wonderful, and I will definitely be keeping this container and tassel. I need to go back and get a few more! 

Well friends this is the decor in my home this year. There are a few more items around but most of it you have seen before. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and let’s try to remind ourselves to be grateful. I am saying that to myself and much as to you. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Inspiring Design Panel

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Hello Friends,

What a busy few days I have ahead of me. I am now trying to get caught up with “life” since they have re-opened the government. I am now working on my Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas list. For the past few days, I have really been into home design, comfort and beauty. My home is completely decorated for the holidays, and I will be sure to share that later but for now I did want to share a recent video that posted to YouTube.

The video is called Conversations on Design. 

 

Photo via Charlotte Moss.com 

 

 

This video was an absolute joy to watch, and I so enjoyed the conversations. I wish I could have attended this in person! This was a special event spearheaded by Charlotte Moss celebrating creativity, community, and the future of interior design. This inspiring program benefits the Interior Design Scholarship at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCUarts), supporting the next generation of designers, creators, and innovators. The program features leading voices in the world of design:

If you love design, then you will LOVE this video! I will be taking next week off from the blog to spend Thanksgiving with my family but will return the following week with my November favorites. Happy Thanksgiving!

 

  • Some text via YouTube. This post is not sponsored.  
  • Shop my favorites page for any gift or ornament ideas! Or go to my ShopMy page for more higher end purchases. 

Flower Magazine Show House~ 2025

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Hello Everyone,

I have started my Christmas decorating in my home. I took some days this week to get my trees up and get everything decorated. It feels good to have that long list behind me. I am also in this small task/details/ tedious work in my home mood. What I mean by that is I am going into various rooms in my home and re-organizing, and cleaning small areas. Recently, I went into my kitchen cabinet under my sink and re-organized it. I am picking apart my closet again. I will be going thru my home office and moving it around. I need to clean out my phone gallery and get my digital photos organized. There are just a lot of small projects around the house that I want to do. 

I also need to go through everything in my downtown office before we move. I can’t wait to take everything out, throw stuff out, and move my new furniture and items into my new space. Like I said I want to be a better curator. 

I just want beautiful spaces wherever I live. Speaking of new spaces, we now have our new show house for the upcoming year. I also just found out about the Flower Magazine Show House! Oh, my goodness, if I would have known about it earlier, I may have planned a trip to go and see it. There are so many show houses going on in the country. I really need to get a list going and get dates on my calendar but for now here is the Flower Magazine Show House. It is gorgeous! 

 

watercolor illustration of the Flower magazine 2025 showhouse front facade in Nashville Tennessee

Illustration by Adrienne Retief

 

 

Look at this spectacular home! This is a 6-bedroom, 11 bath home was built in 1999. It is a total of 20,000 square feet and was built by architectural firm Pfeffer Torode. This show house was open from October 9 to October 26. There were 23 designers and 9 floral designers. Some of the big names that I recognized was Mark D. Sikes, Corey Damen Jenkins, and Meg Braff. 

 

photo by Leslee Mitchell/ Illustration by Diane Carnevale 

 

First up for me was this beautiful bedroom decorated by Alexandra Norwood Interiors. This is absolute heaven. I love the fabrics, and simple elegance of the room. I would have loved to have seen the green light fixture. You should visit her website. She has lovely taste. 

 

photo by Leslee Mitchell/ Illustration by Diane Carnevale 

 

Next up is the fantastic Corey Damon Jenkins. I recently fell in love with Corey’s work while watching the Kips Bay Show House in New York. He decorated the dining room and oh my goodness! It was spectacular and wonderfully layered. Corey decorated the study in this show house. I am loving the blues, greens and creams. 

 

photo by Leslee Mitchell/ Illustration by A. Moreno 

 

When I saw the wallpaper in this room, I immediately took a screenshot. I am toying around with ideas for my walk-in closet and adding wallpaper is one of them. This room was designed by Duval Design. Again, another design firm that has the gift of layering. I loved this little corner of the bedroom with the vanity/desk, chair and dreamy wallpaper. 

 

photo by Leslee Mitchell/ Illustration by Shanna Masters 

 

This room felt like a secret garden. This was the guest suite in the show house designed by Kim Scodro.  Again, the wallpaper! I am in love with it along with the substantial furniture pieces. This room also has wonderful light and French doors. What a guest room! 

 

photo by Leslee Mitchell/ Illustration by Diane Carnevale 

 

The last room is the mud room designed by Parkes & Lamb Interiors. Now this would be a dream room to have. I love the flowers and fabrics. It would be a great space to house all of my coats, scarves, and other outerwear accessories. I love the idea of having fresh flowers in a mud room. Now what a great welcome would that be to come home to? I hope you all enjoyed this house tour. I am loving home tours lately and looking for inspiration in my home that I can incorporate. Let me know in the comments below if you have visited a show house in your city! 

 

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The Dream Secretary

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Good Morning Friends,

Oh I am so happy to have the hour back. It means a lot in the mornings and really does help with getting things done throughout the day. This past weekend was nice. I did my usual errand runs and did a few things around the home. 

But friends I will be honest, this past month has been really frustrating especially these last two weeks. As a federal worker, I will say that it is hard. Lots of people think that we are sitting at home still collecting a paycheck but what people don’t understand is that we really are not. This week could be the second paycheck that we miss, and I tell you it is hard on families. I shared this back in 2019 (Living During a Shutdown), and I am still living this way but with a lot of frustration. 

I am still praying for clarity, peace, and understanding. Now onto my glorious FBMP find!

 

 

I still cannot believe that I actually purchased my dream secretary. I mentioned that I wanted this desk back in 2020. It is so funny how sometimes you can mention something, share it, post it, or put it on your vision board and watch it come into fruition. I must admit sometimes it is a bit scary. I shared this office in a blog post in 2019, so this desk has been on my mind for a long time. 

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

 

Now how did I found this beautiful piece you may ask? Well my one of our interior designers from the show house, Blake Richardson, sent me the FBMP post. I told him that I was on the hunt for one and he mentioned that he saw this piece on marketplace. I looked at it and immediately fell in love the only problem was it looked humongous on marketplace! I went home and pulled out my measuring tape and measured it out. Then I reached out to the seller to get more info. I spoke with my husband, and he said that it would just be too big. I then convinced myself that it would be too be for my space and tried to let it go. But I could not. I mean do you see the details of this beautiful thing! 

 

 

So a week goes by and it does not sell on FBMP. I cannot shake it. I kept thinking about it and you know what the price was? Only $330! Unbelievable! The cheapest I could find one was on Charish for $1,400 so I was completely aware that this was cheap, and I needed to see it in person. So I reached out to the seller to make arrangements to see it. Once I walked up to her door I knew. She was a beautiful older lady with fantastic taste. As soon as I stepped inside the house, I looked to my left and saw more Asian inspired furniture and the biggest smile on her face. It was as if she knew. One thing she did mentioned when I messaged her was that “only certain people can appreciate a piece like this”. I knew that that person was me. 

We sat and talked for over an hour! We talked about work, and beautiful homes. It was like she was my long-lost friend. The connection was truly incredible! 

 

 

She told me that this piece was over 40 years old and was purchased from an estate sale. She believed that it was originally from Spain but could not recall. I told her that it was beautiful and could not believe that she was selling it! She said that her and her husband were downsizing and that it would not fit in her new home. I then asked about the price of $330. She said that it was her favorite number. Look at all of the beautiful storage. I told her and her sweet husband that it was going to be placed in my new office in February downtown and that I promise to take care of it for the next 40 years. 

I am so happy to have this piece in my life. This was truly a surprise, and I am very grateful to God for having Blake send me the listing and for letting me have a wonderful encounter with Mrs. Ragland! Have a great weekend! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A New Toile Collection

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Hello Friends,

I had a really nice weekend this past Saturday. I received a message on TikTok (@Mrs..Shockley) regarding an antique store in Noblesville called The Annex by Thistle & Thyme and I went to visit this weekend. It was so lovely. I am in a point in my life where I only want to visit antique stores that are carefully curated. I don’t want to go to flea markets or antique stores full of junk. I have visited a few recently where I walked half of the store and just walked out. They were just full of junk and I have no interest nor time. 

I had a thought recently. I was repeating my morning affirmations while heading into work and I began to think about the word curate. I will explain it in another post. I promise. Last week I went to my first Indy Chamber meeting. The Indy Chamber is a non-profit organization that helps small business owners. They also have a Women’s Business Center and last week I attended my first event called Women and Wealth. It was a great opportunity to network and learn more about the organization. 

I also have lots of fun things going on this week. On Tuesday, I will be attending our Guild Luncheon to start off our next designer showhouse. I was recently added to our Supervisory Working Group for the Department of Justice which is a huge honor because it is so competitive. So that means my first meeting is this week. I have a Guild Director meeting, and my first Mahjong class is on Thursday. I am so excited! 

On Friday, our neighborhood is having its yearly fall HOA yard sale and then after that I am attending an interior designer workshop for Judy Bates Designs! It’s a fun and busy week. Speaking of interior design have any of you seen the new toile collection by Brandon Maxwell at Pottery Barn?

 

photos via Pottery Barn 

 

 

Can we say gorgeous? This showed up in my feed on Facebook and I just had to take a look at it. There are a lot of toile prints out there some are good and some (I think are really bad). I love toile with animals and nature. I believe that could go with your decor more.  This upholstered dining room set is stunning! 

 

photos via Pottery Barn 

 

I love this table skirt and reversible throw. The table skirt is not available on the website yet. I don’t know if it ever will be. If someone finds out, please let me know! Of course, the collection would not be complete with dinnerware and utensils. 

 

 

Ceramic pumpkins and vases are included in this beautiful collection as well. I love the combination of the toile and stripes. I think they flow together so well. I must admit the pumpkins were very tempting. I even love the doggie bed! Oh my goodness, so cute and chic. 

Let me know in the comments below are you a toile lover or not. Have a great weekend! 

 

 

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