Home Updates, Accessories & Tours

To Fit or Not to Fit

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Hello All,

The weather, oh the weather has been wonderful. Our trees have begun to bloom. It’s like it happened overnight. I love it so. I hope you are able to enjoy your weather wherever you are. It is Wednesday and our daughter is back in school four days a week. I can not tell you how happy I am. She needs to be in school and I need a break from Algebra. We had a 3-hour Zoom meeting during quarantine about Algebra. I don’t want to do that ever again! 

I received the most wonderful email Monday evening. In March I wrote a blog post called, “Beauty from Mom”, and in that post, I talked about an article that I found in Victoria magazine. Well, I don’t know how but the author found my blog post and sent me the following email…

 

Message: Dear Mrs. Shockley,

I just stumbled across your blog post “Beauty from Mom,” and I wanted to say I am fairly certain your daughter absolutely will appreciate all the elegance you bring into her life. Growing up, I definitely rolled my eyes at the amount of time my mom spent sorting through boring old linens in our local antique stores. I definitely did not understand why we had multiple storage boxes of fake flowers for every season. But here I am, years later, not only “getting it” but celebrating it in the frilliest magazine I can think of.

Thank you for giving your girl that gift. And thank you so much for sharing your story. It was such a thrill for me to discover your blog. I love writing because of how it connects us to people we’ll never meet. Usually, I just have to hope the connection is made. It’s always such a joy to hear that it worked for sure.

Abi

photo credit: Pinterest (Reily Vintage Home Photography)

 

Isn’t that WONDERFUL? I immediately wrote back and told her thank you for reaching out and encouraging me. I really needed to hear that.  Now on to today’s post. 

I have recently been ordering books from my Amazon list. The most recent order was Linens for Every Room and Occasion by Jane Scott Hodges. This book has been on my “want” list for over 4 years and I am so glad that I ordered it. It is huge! 

I was skimming through it and came across a list of sheets and pillowcase basics. The paragraph that pulled me in was the fitted sheet one. How many of you like fitted sheets? I use a fitted sheet but have been wanting to try a flat sheet. I have used flat sheets in the past but my husband normally complains. 

 

photo credit: Walmart.com

 

What are your thoughts? Are flat sheets better than fitted sheets? Jane mentioned that “some don’t like fitted sheets due to the elastic, which can lose its tautness over time and often rides up if the sheet isn’t deep enough”. 

I am experiencing that now with my fitted sheets. Please share what you think in the comments section below. I am really curious. 

 

Have a great Wednesday and thanks for reading!

 

 

Please note: some links are affiliate links and if you make a purchase through this link, I will receive a small commission for referring you to the product. Thank you so much in advance if you decide to make a purchase through my link.

The Walmart Grandmillennial Canvas

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Well Hello April, and hello 20-degree weather!

Yikes, our frigid weather has returned! It is so cold but I am still wearing my lavender trench coat and carrying my blue Tory Burch tote. I love the colors together. So this weekend is Easter and I am planning a simple meal with my husband, daughter, in-laws, and my brother-in-law. I am so excited to have a small dinner with family and use my new FBMP china that I found earlier this month! I will be setting the table of course and heading to the grocery store this weekend to get ingredients and fresh flowers. So on the menu for us is meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, southern-style biscuits, and fruit tarts with ice cream. 

I wanted to keep it simple and prepare a family favorite. I will take photos if I remember to. This is a celebration of our Lord and Savior’s ultimate sacrifice of dying on the cross. I am always grateful to him and my faith. Always. 

Well ladies I wanted to share a recent purchase from Walmart. I still can’t believe I got this from Walmart. I actually saw this canvas on another blogger’s LIKEtoKNOW.it account and had to take a look at it. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

This is the toile fabrics canvas and the frame comes with it! I purchased the 16×20 size. It is perfect for any room in your home. It actually does not look cheap! It looks like it came from an antique store. It’s a wonderful canvas, especially for the price. 

 

 

I hung it in our bedroom. It looks wonderful with the paint color that we have on the walls in there. You know this might also be a great Mother’s Day gift. Mother’s Day is next month. It’s time to start planning ahead!

I hope everyone enjoyed this great Walmart find. Please enjoy your Easter with family and celebrate the risen King! Happy Resurrection Day! 

 

 

 

Please note: some links are affiliate links and if you make a purchase through this link, I will receive a small commission for referring you to the product. Thank you so much in advance if you decide to make a purchase through my link.

 

 

My First FBMP Purchase ~ Haviland China

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Good Afternoon Everyone,

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend. Our weekend was pretty quiet. My daughter had a hair appointment and I just went to the grocery store. I wanted to go shopping so bad but I did not have a place in mind so I stayed home and did some house stuff. 

I have recently started doing searches on Facebook Marketplace for antiques and furniture pieces for my home. I am a member of the Grandmilliennial Style Facebook group and they are always posting wonderful finds that they purchased on Facebook so I decided to take a peek to see what treasures my city may have to offer. 

I was really surprised to see so many wonderful furniture pieces and they were great pieces! I have lots of items saved on my list. One of the items that I had saved was this Johann Haviland 56-piece china set. I also decided to look this particular design up and found out that it is called the blue garland design. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

After reading the history I knew that I had a great set saved to my favorites list. I also saw how much it costs and soon realized that I need to get this set soon! The gentleman selling the 56 pieces originally wanted only $70 which I knew was a steal! But I sent a message and asked if that was firm. He then responded by dropping the price to $50! OMG!!!! SOLD! 

 

 

All of the pieces are in great shape. There is some fading on some of the plates but no matter. I still love it!

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

 

 

I have a total of 8 dinner plates, 8 medium plates, 8 small plates, 8 teacups and saucers, 1 large bowl, 1 large gravy boat, 1 small gravy boat, 1 large oval plate, 1 large covered bowl with lid, and 1 small bowl with lid. I can’t tell you how excited I am about this set. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I have to say that this piece is my favorite. I learned that it is called round covered vegetable. 

 

 

 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Everything is so beautiful. I could not wait to use the teacups and saucers for my morning breakfast and hot tea. 

 

 

I hand-washed every piece and used the plates and teacup and saucer for my breakfast. It was so nice and the quality is incredible. You can always tell if a china piece is good. I found a few pieces on Ebay. I did find this 40-piece set for $110 or you can make an offer. There was also this set. I also found this three-tiered plate stand that you can make an offer on. 

 

I hope everyone enjoyed this post and I have a few more items saved on my FBMP tab. There are some french style nightstands that I REALLY want to go and take a look at! I hope I can soon! Have a great Monday!

 

 

Please note: some links are affiliate links and if you make a purchase through this link, I will receive a small commission for referring you to the product. Thank you so much in advance if you decide to make a purchase through my link.

 

 

Chinoiserie Inspired Rug

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Hello Everyone,

With all of the excitement of the boutique, I completely forgot about sharing my beautiful new chinoiserie-inspired rug from Target and that this month is the 7 year anniversary of the blog! I can’t believe it has been 7 years already!

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I actually found this on a fellow blogger’s LIKEtoKNOWit. account. I could not help myself. I had to order it. Now it does say outdoor but I don’t mind. It kind of reminds me of a sisal rug. 

 

 

The colors and details are so beautiful! The print is large and the colors are vibrant. It is such a gorgeous decor item.

 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I placed it in my office/boutique. I love the way it looks and the color it provides for the room. I purchased the 5×7 size. It is perfect for any room in the house. If you order it and place your outside that is perfectly okay. I just think it’s too pretty to place outside in the elements. Especially here in Indy.

I hope this post provided some beautiful inspiration for you today. As always thanks for reading! 

 

 

Please note: some links are affiliate links and if you make a purchase through this link, I will receive a small commission for referring you to the product. Thank you so much in advance if you decide to make a purchase through my link.

 

 

TallWood Country House~ Home Tour

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Good Afternoon and Happy Monday,

I had a pretty good weekend. It was still cold but hey we went from 7 degrees to 30! Heatwave! I stopped by Kohls this weekend and just took a look around. I saw these floral scarves, these makeup bags, and I purchased the bamboo leaves candle by Harry Slatkin. This scent is my favorite! It smells so good!

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

 

It’s Monday and I am feeling a little home inspiration. I found an Instagram account called Tallwood Country House and I just fell in love with her decor! 

 

photo credit Tallwood Country House 

 

I shared this photo on my stories last week. I think the wallpaper is original to the house. I think a few of us might have seen the little chicks swimming in the sink this past summer. If you did that was her video. So cute!

 

You have to go to Instagram to watch these videos. They were heaven sent during quarantine. 

 

photo credit: Tallwood Country Home 

 

I can not get enough of this painting. It depicts the famous Villa d’Este in Tovoli, Italy. Wonderful isn’t it?  Below is a wonderful Youtube video from Alison Kenworthy’s channel Homeworthy.  In this video, Jennifer Bohannon talks in detail about her home and her precious chicks. 

 

 

I hope you enjoy the video. Have a wonderful day! Oh and if you pick up the March/ April issue of Victoria Magazine you will find another interview and spread there! Enjoy!

 

photo credit: Tallwood Country Home 

 

 

 

My Chinoiserie Bathroom

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Good Morning and Happy Friday,

I hope everyone watched the Inauguration. I did and was very happy to see everyone being gracious to one another. That meant more to me than anything. I was happy to see former VP Mike Pence there and how he and our new VP Kamala Harris treated each other. It was respectable. I am a very traditional person and enjoy historical ceremonies such as these. I am always curious to see how the women will dress. Everyone looked great. Although I must admit, I was coveting Jennifer Lopez’s Chanel earrings! How chic were those! Well on to a favorite project. 

I mentioned in my last Youtube video that my husband would be painting our downstairs guest bathroom. I mentioned a stencil by a company called Cutting Edge Stencils that would help accomplish the beautiful chinoiserie print that I wanted and I must say it turned out beautiful!

 

 

This is our bathroom before. The color on the wall is called Flagstone and I believe my husband painted it about 3 years ago. I love this color and knew that white would look great with it. 

 

 

We ordered the Avian Chinoiserie Chic stencil in small. It turned out to be a perfect size. I think if we had ordered the large then the birds and vines would have been too big. 

 

 

This was the bathroom after one day. It took a lot of work. My husband had to use a spray adhesive to get the stencil to stick to the wall. This was a slow process because you also had to wait for the sections to dry before you could continue. 

 

 

This is my husband and this was Day 2. He started off using a roller brush but we soon realized that it could not get all of the details of the stencil. The roller would miss spots so I went and grabbed my foundation sponge and it worked like a charm!!!

 

 

Day 3….

 

 

This was Day 4 and I could not love it more. The paint has dried and it looks like a completely different room. The family is use to closing the door but I have been demanding that they leave it open. I want to be able to see my beautiful bathroom. Plus my husband did a lot of work so I think he should be able to see it too. 

 

 

This was a great compromise for us. I have been wanting chinoiserie wallpaper for a while (some of you may know that) and this was a great substitution. We have had a lot of people already tell us that it looks like wallpaper. I know there are a few spots that we need to fix but for the most part it is a dream for me. My husband has packed away the stencil for another day. I am sure that we will use it again soon. I am very tempted to order a second stencil just in case! 

 

Let me know in the comments section below what you think. Are you a chinoiserie lover? 

 

Have a great weekend!

 

fyi: This post is not sponsored. 

A New Decor Idea ~ Throw Pillow Covers

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Good Morning Everyone,

I hope everyone had a restful weekend. We finally had snow here in Indy! I have been looking forward to it. It has been quite warm here so the snow is not sticking but it sure was nice to see this weekend. 

Has anyone else realized that next week is the last week of January…. already. I was talking to my husband and I saw that on the calendar. It’s just crazy. I really haven’t made any New Year resolutions. Well the main thing for me is to keep to my weight loss goals. I am really hoping to be down another 10 lbs. before June! I will keep you posted. 

In today’s post, I wanted to talk about throw pillow covers. Now I have never really been a fan of these. I have always been frustrated when I saw a pillow online and wanted to order it but did not because it was a pillow cover. 

Well since I have been purging items I realized that over the last few years I have gotten rid of so many pillows! If I would have thought that through I would have kept those pillows just changed the pillow covers. My recent pillow cover purchase from H&M really turned my perspective around.  When I received those pillow covers I thought wow I could really change the look of my pillows, save space, and money. It was like a whole new world open up to me and so now I have been more open to buying pillow covers. 

 

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I recently ordered these toile inspired pillow covers from Amazon. I was not sure how they were going to look in person but I must say that I am pleasantly surprised! The size is perfect and the print is incredibly chic! 

 

 

 

The size is 20×20 and they were only $18 per cover! Great right? 

 

 

The pillow inserts that I used were from other pillows that I had in the house. I removed those covers and put the toile ones on. It was perfect. I have now pulled one of my baskets and will use that to put all of my pillow covers in. I am so glad that I have considered doing this. It makes so much sense. 

 

Let me know in the comments section below if you use pillow covers. I would love to hear who often you change them and what are your favorites!

 

Thanks for reading!

 

 

fyi: This post is not sponsored. I use affiliate links, including Amazon affiliate links.