Home Updates, Accessories & Tours

The Details of Home ~ 2

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Small details around one’s home are everything. I love going to visit a friend or going to a home show and viewing all the “small details”. I look at everything. I look at the paint colors, plates, towels, carpets, the floors, bed linens, I mean you name it I pay attention to all the details of home.

Home can be a wonderful place. It is a place of safety and serenity. I wrote a post about 2 years ago called “Small Details Around the Home”.  This post is a continuation of the details around my home. I have made some changes and have added some things. I do enjoy my home and I am very grateful for what I have.

My black and white chairs that I picked up at Costco.

My sitting room. To get the details on my pillows see here.

Our bedroom. I love my wing~back bed. To get the details on the bed see here.
My home office

Fresh flowers in the bedroom

My kitchen chandelier. I still love it! To see the details click here.
A new chandelier in my closet. 

My elegant arm candy.

Fresh flowers everywhere in my home…







My art on my wall in the office.

My favorite body spritz perfume (Amazing Grace).
The bottle says:
Philosophy: how you climb up the mountain is just as important as how you get 
down the mountain. and so it is with life, which for many of us becomes one big
gigantic test followed by one big gigantic lesson. in the end, it all comes down to one word.
grace. it’s how you accept winning and losing, good luck and bad luck,
the darkness and the light. 




Roses in my home office. To see more of the candles click here.
The scent in this photo is called “Garden”. 

The new dinner plates I found at T.J. Maxx. I love blue and white dinnerware. 




Lilies in my blue and white vase in the family room.
I hope you enjoyed the small details of my home. I hope to do another post soon showing other details of my home that I enjoy. Remember celebrate you life and do not let toxic people stop you from seeing the wonder in your life because they can’t see theirs. 
(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

Are Flowers Good for You?

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I had the biggest smile on my face when I saw this article Can Flower Bouquets Actually Make You Healthier? As most of you know I LOVE flowers! I buy 2 to 3 bouquets a week.

I love having a bouquet at work and at least two at home. There is just something about waking up and seeing fresh roses on my nightstand or coming home and opening my mail on my kitchen island and having a big vase full of white lilies.

The scent and beauty just take me away for a moment. Then I look over and see my daughter smiling at me. She loves red roses so I buy her a bouquet twice a month for her bedroom.

But reading this article about some of the benefits to having flowers and plants around is just another reason why I celebrate beauty. Here are some of the reasons….

“Some plants can really help us, while others can be a trigger for patients with lung disease such as asthma,” says Raj Dasgupta, MD, a pulmonary sleep doctor and professor at the Keck School of Medicine at University of Southern California.
Most plants, however, will help you breathe better, says Dr. Dasgupta. (It’s probably best to talk to your doctor about potential triggers or allergens if you do have any lung conditions, though.) On a cellular level, plants give the human body the oxygen it needs to create food, while humans exhale carbon dioxide—grub for plants. In case you’re rusty on 7th grade science, that healthy relationship is called symbiosis.
My peony bouquet at the office
“Little things can go a long way,” he says. “Research has found that patients who have flowers and plants in their hospital rooms take less pain medication and have less anxiety.”

photo credit Mrs. Shockley
Plants can also reintroduce humidity into the air by releasing water, helping lubricate the nasal passages and the back of the throat.
“Lack of humidity creates an environment in your body that breeds infections,” says Dr. Dasgupta. “That’s why in the dry wintertime you see so many people getting the cold and flu. Water released naturally by plants will help with sore throats, dry skin, and heavy dry cough.”

WHAT A PSYCHOLOGIST SAYS: Bouquets can help you reach your goals.


On a more primal level, flowers appeal to our two most important senses: sight and smell.



“Smell is one of the most primal of our senses, and sight is our primary sensation,” says Kopec. “Combining our primary sensation with our primal sensation evokes strong feelings, happiness, and brings about a lot of positive moods.”



photo credit Aerin Lauder Instagram account



Barnard’s advice: Strategically place a bouquet where you’ll see it when you open your eyes in the morning. “If the first thing you see every morning is natural and beautiful, rather than, say, a turned-off television screen, it’s going to give you a more positive start to your day.”


I really enjoyed this article of course. I absolutely adore flowers. If you wish to read more about my flowers at home see here, here, and here.

text via Town and Country 

Spring blooms in my life….

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I have had some great blooms for spring so far. Everything from the items I planted in my yard two years ago to the home and office bouquets I have been able to pick up at my local store. I wanted to share some of the beauty that I have had for the past couple of months.

My front yard

My “Miss America” peonies that I picked up from the nursery.

My pink flowering tree

My lilac bushes

My white lilac tree. My husband will be putting it in the ground.

Our Canadian cherry choke tree. It is so fragrant in the spring.



An up close photo of the blooms on the tree.

An up close photo of my rhododendrons. 

My pink lilies at home.

These were at my office.

And last but not least my peach roses from Costco. 


I look forward to my flowers this year. Enjoy the beauty in your life. 
(all photos Mrs. Shockley)

~Updating My Lamps

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Lamps can be a great way to bring in more color, style, and elegance. I follow Heather Clawson of Habitually Chic and I saw her white base lamp with the black shade and I just loved it!





So I took notice and some tips and decided to update my lampshades with a chic black. 


This is my lamp in my sitting room. I love it! This is the before and after.

I love this black and white lampshade that I found at a store called At Home.

I found this lamp there also. It has a creamy color to it and matched it up with this bell-shaped black lamp shade. Magnifique!

And I had this white lamp base for some years now and added this black lamp shade last year. It looks great!




I hope this inspires you to take a second look at black lamp shades!
(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

Chinoserie Curtain Panels

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My love for chinoserie continues to increase. I just think the print is so beautiful and timeless. My daughter and I went to T.J. Maxx about a month ago and I spotted these chinoserie inspired curtains! I was over the moon! It is rare to see something like this here. Indiana is SO laid back and everyone seems to have the same decor style so to see this was a huge shocker to me!
I snatched them up quickly and I did not care if I did not have a place to hang them. I was not walking away without them! They are just that fantastic to me!
I could not find mine on the website but here is a close match.

Here they are in my loft.
I have seen a few people with them on Instagram. They are very lovely. If you find a pair at your local T.J. Maxx grab them fast!
(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

Lovely Little Things

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This past weekend I went and visited some stores that I haven’t been to in awhile. One was Steinmart and the other was Tuesday Morning. I found some great goodies there and great deals!

Marilyn Matte Satin Pillow
I love this pillow!! So feminine, fun and chic!

I didn’t get this arrangement from Steinmart but I just couldn’t pass it up!
I found it at T.J. Maxx. Sorry I could not find a link for it. 



Great stripe curtains at Tuesday Morning. 

Ohh, I love these blue and white curtains!

Another great floral arrangement!




Sorry but I could not find links to these products but I do hope that they inspire you to do some spring decorating!
(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

Second Hand Finds ~ Part 2

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In 2014 I wrote about how I love to thrift store shop (see here) and how most of my home is full of second hand finds. I am still on the hunt for great things and my love for “thrifting” has not stopped. A couple of weekends ago I visited my favorite flea market the Beech Grove Emporium.

I found some wonderful things and just wanted to share my finds….

These two peony urns were $24.99 each! 

This is an Arthur Wood Fine Staffordshire Ironstone vase
I only paid $3!

I found this homemade gift bag. I gave it to my friend for her birthday.







Nice little clear vase with small details at the bottom for 80 cents!




I saw this at the Goodwill for $35! I should have bought it!

I got these two small Christmas trees and this blue and white vase 
from the Goodwill for just a few dollars. 

(photos via AHFE)