Home Updates, Accessories & Tours

Smelling the Garden in Winter

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Hello Friday! It has been a brutal week weather-wise here in Indiana. On Wednesday the windchill factor was -35! But we had it easy compared to Minnesota whose windchill factor was -65!! Good golly!

So cold! I keep telling myself, “okay the nurses at my daughter’s school said years ago that we need things to freeze so that they may die”. Okay, are they dead yet because it’s COLD! Alright, let’s move on. I am looking forward to spring as many of you are and my favorite company has delivered a little bit of it already.

I went online a few days ago to check out new scents at Bath and Body Works and discovered beautifully decorated candles and wonderful new scents. I was so excited!

First things first, they brought back an oldie but goodie flower shop! I was so happy to see this candle. I had to purchase at least two for right now. My candle is the plain white one at the bottom. I must admit I hated that x and o wrapping on it. That was hideous to me so I had to take it off. Other than that I am so happy to have my favorite return. 
The next scent that I purchased was water hyacinth. I believe this is a new scent and is absolutely wonderful if you like hyacinth, bergamot, and water lily. Very refreshing, fragrant and just look at the wrapping. Very chic!
And many of you may have already seen this photo on my Instagram account but this is the last fragrance that I purchased and it is called garden greenery. It is lovely and just look at the wrapping on this? Gorgeous right? The notes in this candle are apricot, fresh basil, and bright mint leaves. The apricot is strong in this one but it is lovely. 
I also purchased cucumber lily a few weeks ago and loved that one too! The notes in that candle are fresh cucumber, green tea, and lily of the valley. All of the candles have essential oils and burn very well. Love seeing all of the floral wrapping on these candles. Makes it a joy to look at them too!
Well, I hope that you enjoyed this post and that if you are in a cold climate like me I hope that these floral candles helped you to forget what horrible wind is lurking outside. Enjoy your weekend!
(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

Tables for Nightstands…..Why Not?

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I am in home redecorating mode. I have been making lists, searching websites and doing everything I can to journal my thoughts on some of the rooms that I would like to redecorate in our home. I even want to redo the laundry room. I need a better shelving system and more hanging space.

Anyhoo, I have recently been taking a second look at our master bedroom. I love it don’t get me wrong but I want more table space for my nightstand area. I recently saw some pictures on Pinterest where some individuals used actually tables as their nightstands. Honestly, I think that is brilliant!

Okay…. here is my nightstand. It is very nice but it is really small. I purchased this from Homegoods around 2011. I do love it but I need more table space. I am considering moving the bedroom furniture around. If you look closely you can see that my nightstand is right next to the bathroom which means I have no wall space to get a bigger table. So I may have to move the bed which I am sure my husband will have a fit about. 
I would love to have something like this. It has drawers and the surface space is enough for me to have a cup of tea, my lamp, current book I am reading and a bouquet of flowers. With this nightstand having drawers I can place all of my personal items or books inside. Very nice and ideal. 

Just loving all of the table space. Ohh I need it!
Having more surface space would be wonderful ….

I thought this was quite creative. This almost looks like a bench. But I love how there is a large mirror for you to view yourself in the mornings before leaving. 
These next two tables are quite interesting….
No drawers but definitely like the option of having two surfaces. 

This one even offers three surface areas. Very nice!!
Honestly this might be the best option for me if we do not move around the furniture. 
Now this has nothing to do with nightstand tables but I do love the antique dresser with the antique white mirror. I think that the contrast between the two is just lovely. It’s very subtle yet very elegant. This might be my next suggestion but we will see. 
I hope that my husband is open to my new ideas. I don’t think that I am asking for too much. I think the nightstand idea can be accomplished now and the kitchen ideas can be down the road but we will see. 
Thanks for reading!!!
(photos via Mrs. Shockley & Pinterest)

My Perfect Kitchen Makeover

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We have been in our home for about 5 years now and I still love it. Unfortunately, I don’t think that we are going to stay in this house. I hate living in an HOA with all of the rules and how it is managed. It’s a mess.

My wish is to live in an older more established neighborhood. One with mature trees and older homes. The one thing that I hate about living in a subdivision is that you are stuck with the models and options that they offer and sometimes it can be pretty limited. In the end everyone ends up with the same home because when one neighbor sees you doing one thing then they end up doing it too. It’s no fun!

Could we stay in this home….. yes I believe that we could but if that is the case then I’ve got some ideas on how to change things around.

I would love to start with changing our kitchen. I do love the setup but I want newer cabinets and I want to bring in some bright airy colors.

Now there is our kitchen. I love it and I loved the cabinets and counter-tops when we picked out everything 5 years ago but I know that down the road I am going to want to change this and I have been “pinning” ideas to my Pinterest board for sometime now. 
Of course this is my ideal kitchen. This is one of my favorites. I love the detailing in the cabinet doors. I showed my husband this photo and I said this is what I want and he was okay with it. I love white cabinets but I don’t want anything “stark” white and I need them to have details on them. I hate seeing all white cabinets with no details. They look too plain to me. 
Also look at the island. It is the perfect blue and look at all of the carvings on it. It looks like a work of art. The gold hardware is exquisite. It is the perfect combination of french charm. 
I also love the stove in this kitchen. This would inspire anyone to cook at home. The island in this kitchen is also ideal. The wood beams in the ceiling are captivating too. 
I also would not mind having some of my cabinets with glass doors. I think that this is a lovely way to display some of your china and to see it. You don’t use what you don’t see. 
We also have a half bathroom downstairs connected to the kitchen. I still want wallpaper. I would love to install something like this in my small bathroom downstairs. I even love the gold hardware around the sink. 
I am glad to record my thoughts and ideas here on the blog. It’s funny, I’ll have an idea about something then I realize that I can’t remember all of the details so I come to my blog and pull up the entry and voila it is there. The Bible says to “write down the vision and make it plain”. Here is my vision for my kitchen. I hope that it can come into fruition. 
Thanks for reading!
(photos via Mrs. Shockley and Pinterest)

A Simple Snowflake Napkin Ring

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We had Monday off for Veterans Day and I just want to say (I know it’s late) but thank you to all who serve our country. We are eternally GRATEFUL! My husband served with the Marines so I am really grateful!

For my day off I just wanted to do a little window shopping and we stopped by Sur La Table. Love this store! It’s beautiful to the eyes and such a tingle to the organizational “bug” in you if you have one. I could not help but to notice these beautiful napkin rings.

Okay and also these light pink pitchers! These are called the Mosser Milk Glass Pitcher. Very pretty in person. 
These snowflake napkin rings add just enough sparkle and festive glamour to your Christmas table. 
They look beautiful with the red and white holiday plates. 
I hope these have inspired you to add a little more sparkle to your table this year. I just had to share these on the blog. They were too lovely to pass up!
Enjoy!

(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

The New Couch…..

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A few weeks ago I posted an entry called “Ideas for a New Couch”.  In that post I talked about how I was just so ready to get rid of the brown furniture that I had.

We have had brown furniture for over 10 years and honestly I didn’t like the pieces when we purchased them. But we were on such a tight budget and needed to get rid of the horrible pieces that we already had so I just went with it.

I mentioned that I was on Wayfair taking a peek around and I found some couches or settees that I was interested in.

A lot of people liked the second one that I mentioned.

This is the Versailles sofa and it is lovely but it just didn’t sing to me. I read all of the reviews and they were good but I also looked at some of the actually photos from people’s homes and I just did not like it. 
The piece that “sung” to me was this. I just loved it! Now I didn’t purchase this piece either. This is the Barryknoll settee which is what I was going to purchase but I wanted to find one similar but with a little more substance. 
So this is what I found and purchased…..
This is the Laurel Foundry settee in beige. I am so HAPPY!!! I do love it. It has changed our sitting room dramatically. It is very similar to the Barryknoll but cost a little more and is a little bigger. 
I love the texture and the color. 

I am loving it with my new brass arrangement that I found at the antique store this past weekend. 

I can’t decide if I want it with my fluffy white pillow or the blue velvet pillow.
I think it looks great with my other tufted furniture pieces. 
Still loving my re-purposed cabinet. If you missed the blog post about this you may view it here.
I do look forward to spending more of my weekend mornings in my sitting room now. I am up before everyone else on most days so it will be nice to come down and have a cup of hot water, lemon and honey, read a devotional, plan events and organize my week with my new day designer and just enjoy the morning. Bonjour!!!
(photos via Mrs. Shockley and Wayfair.com)

Shopping for Bedding Sets

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Let’s continue our Wayfair journey. Since I was already on the site looking at couches, I started to think about other items I would like for my home. Bedding…..

I really like this set. The beige color would like great with any decor. This is called the Bridgestone Comforter Set. Lovely isn’t it?
Okay, I know that this is super girly but I just love the color. It’s so beautiful to me. This is the Oraine Comforter set and it has great reviews!
I am not a bed pattern kind of person but I think that this is quite charming. It is called the Rosedorf Seren Set. It is beautiful. 
I am leaning toward the first one but I just love the mauve color of the second one. Another item that I was taking a look at is area rugs. 
And last but certainly not least……I really like the Upham area rug. So many ideas in my head but we will see. 

(photos via Wayfair.com)

Ideas for a New Couch

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Okay, there is nothing wrong with the couch that I have now in my sitting room but I have been wanting something different for so long now.

This is my sitting room now. It is a hodge-podge of items and honestly I like it. I don’t like to buy “uniform” or living room sets. I think buying items separately and buying different items from all over the place takes creativity and imagination. 

I do like my blue and white with my brown couch but honestly I am just sick of brown furniture. You guys remember our gray sectional that we got last year (see here if you missed it). That was just the beginning of my brown furniture purge. 

This whole weekend I have been watching Hallmark movies and commercials for Wayfair just kept coming on. Honestly, I have never really paid much attention to them until I saw a black and white couch on the commercial and I thought hummmm, why don’t I just take a look. 
I found this beauty. It is called the Barryknoll Standard Settee. They have it in several different colors but I really like the gray and for $250 why not! They also provided a video for it. How wonderful is that? 
The next couch that I saw was this. It is called the Versailles Sofa. We can see that I want another gray sofa with tufts and studs. I just think that it is classic. 
The next one was this Menyauthe Settee.
These are just a few of the couches that I am interested in. I am not sure which one I want but I will update everyone on the blog if I end up purchasing anything. It is always fun looking for new furniture pieces. I just want to find something that I will love. 

(Photos via Mrs. Shockley and Wayfair.com)