Ideas on how to clean and organize the home

Bedmaking with Bunny Williams

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Good Morning,

This past Monday my supervisor took me and the other ladies in management out to lunch to a new restaurant. I love going to new places around my city. This restaurant was called The Hulman. It was a very sophisticated restaurant. I ordered the veggie omelette. Oh my goodness, it was so good. I am still thinking about it.   

Now let’s stop thinking about food and move on… 

Okay I might be the only person on the planet who is not making their bed this way. I recently saw a video from the Schumacher Youtube channel from Bunny Williams on how to make the perfect “Bunny” bed. 

 

 

I watched this video over and over trying to learn some of the techniques. Now I have to say I have seen pillows stacked like this on beds in almost every interior design book that I have but I never really paid much attention to them until this video. 

I am one of those people that Bunny mentioned that lined their pillows down the bed. I never saw anything wrong with it and honestly there is still nothing wrong with it but what I did notice is that this trick from Bunny does save more space on the bed. 

 

 

I decided to give it a try. So, I stacked our pillows to see how it would work. This is my husband’s side of the bed. He has these funny pillows that he lodges in all sorts of places for his body. 

 

 

This is my side of the bed of course. You see the flowers and decor books. I only have a few pillows compared to him. 

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Now here is the front. I will say that I love this look more. It does give the bed a more uniform look in the front and looks a little “crisper”. Let me know in the comments section below how you make your bed. Do you make it the “Bunny” way, my old way or a different way. I am curious. Have a great Wednesday! 

 

Oh I almost forgot the boutique’s new arrival is available. It is called the Vera Blush Maxi. It’s a beautiful pink color of course. I love my pink dresses. They simply look good on everyone! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Simple Spruce Up Checklist

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Good Morning!

I am so excited! Tomorrow I am taking the day off to attend this year’s Indiana Decorator’s Show House & Garden Tour! Last year was my first year attending and I am looking forward to this year. I am still dreaming about that desk from last year’s tour. My goodness…

I was able to purchase a new Day Designer from Target this past weekend. I would link it but my particular design is not available online. This particular planner was a collaboration with The Home Edit so it was a different format. 

In the back of the book, they had an extra credit section and in that section, it gives you “home edit” ideas for each month. Since we are finishing the month of April I thought I would share their “spruce up for spring” ideas. 

 

photo credit: Pinterest

 

It said, “Don’t feel like staging a deep spring cleaning this month? Create space and clarity by purging outdated, unwanted items that are taking up valuable space.” Then they give a list of items to purge:

  • Stained or frayed dishtowels
  • Outdated technology and accessories
  • Appliance manuals (you can probably find them online now)
  • Outdated bills and policies
  • Medicines, drugs & cosmetics

Now looking at this list you are probably saying to yourself, “I can absolutely organize those items”. I know I plan on getting rid of old wash rags myself. I need some new ones. As far as technology items I have most of my cells phones since 2004! I really need to get rid of them. There are only about 6 of them but I need to purge them. I am hanging on to them because they have Lauren’s baby pictures stored on them. I need to find a way to get those off!

 

 

photo credit: Murphey Beckerart Instagram 

 

When it comes to outdated old appliance manuals we have a drawer dedicated to such books and now since it has been brought to my attention that we can get these online I will be purging that drawer! I would love to have the extra space. I always get rid of old medicine and cosmetics pretty easily. 

I hope everyone enjoyed this quick list of sprucing up. If you want something with a little more substance then read my “The Butler Speaks” blog posts about cleaning. Those are still reader favorites. Have a great Wednesday! 

 

 

 

My Garden Inspiraton

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Good Morning Everyone,

Boy did we have some spectacular weather here in Indy this weekend! It was sooo nice. I opened up all of the windows to let in the nice breeze. I love having fresh air circulate in our home. It seems to get that stale winter air out. All of the sunshine we had this weekend got me thinking about what I want to do with my garden this year. I have shared my peonies before and I love them. I can’t wait to see this year’s colors and varieties. Each year we get more peonies and more hydrangeas. 

In my recent Youtube video, I talked about how I wanted some climbers in my garden. I am still wanting that. So I have started my research on what kind of roses would be best to grow here in my state. I can’t wait until after Mother’s Day, that’s when I start to work in my yard. Honestly, May is the best time. We still get snow in Indiana up until April! It’s terrible. 

I am also on the hunt for a garden trellis. I found a few on Wayfair that I am interested in. But I really want a white one. 

 

photo via: Pinterest

 

This is the end goal. I am hoping to grow some pink roses of course. I would love to have a scented light pink version. We will see what the garden center says. I am so anxious about it. It always seems to be hard to grow things here but I am determined to have some climbing roses on the side of my house. 

 

photo via: Pinterest

 

Isn’t this spectacular? I would love to come home from a long day in the office, grab a chilled glass of wine, sit on my porch and literally smell the roses. Let me know in the comments below if you have a trellis. I would love to know what you growing. Also, has anyone everyone grown dahlias? Let me know! Have a great Monday!

 

 

 

 

Home Project: New Carpet Installed

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Good Morning,

I wanted to say a quick thank you to every veteran that has served this country. My husband served during Desert Storm so I understand it as well. Thank you for your courage!

 

Yesterday I got quite a bit done. I finished organizing my step-son’s/husband’s mancave. It looks so much better and smells better. My husband finally purged and dropped off some items at Goodwill! I can hear the Hallelujah chorus! We went to Costco and got a few things. I got my turkeys for Thanksgiving and Christmas and I am so happy! The Honeysuckle turkeys are my absolute favorite! And I put “Alfred” back on his cleaning schedule. The house still feels so empty without Deacon but we are getting better. 

I did want to share our recent home project. We have been in need of new carpet for the last 3 years! Our old carpet was in such bad shape! We had rips, tears, dog hair, and dog feet smells!

 

 

This was the original carpet. This is the same carpet that we picked out when we built our home. It looks so outdated but we were able to stretch it out for as long as we did. It seemed to have gotten worse over the last 2 years. And with Deacon’s last two weeks with us, it just reeked of pet urine. 

 

 

I was so excited about this project. My husband and I have been wanting to update the carpet for a few years now. When the workers pulled out the old carpet and placed it outside, I have to admit that I was a bit embarrassed about how it looked. It looks so bad and smelled bad. We were both so happy to see it go!

This is a beautiful gray color. We got extra padding underneath so that if we do have spills or pet accidents we will have that protection in the carpet. 

 

 

I got new carpet in the sitting room too! So exciting! 

 

 

It looks so much better and smells wonderful! I love the color and feel like we got a fresh start. After dealing with Deacon for two weeks and cleaning up all the messes it was nice to say goodbye to the smells and damage. It is so soft as you walk on it. 

 

photos via Mrs. Shockley 

 

I love the gray in the sitting room as well.  We still have to finish the steps. That will get done this weekend and next year we will replace the carpet in my office and bedrooms. I have a home project binder and it has all of my home inspiration in it. There are still more things that I want to do with our home but we will see. This weekend I will be putting up our Christmas trees. I want to keep things light this year. I am not going to be putting up a bunch of Christmas decor. I want it to be crisp for some reason. So I plan on buying some faux white poinsettias this year. And we will just see what I come up with.

Also please don’t forget about the boutique’s new arrival. It is available for purchase! Have a great weekend! 

 

 

 

Empress Stationery ~ A New Find

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Good Morning,

It is a cold Friday! We are forecasted to only get up to the high 50s today. Oh my… a little cold but still lovely. I am a little excited about this weekend. I have a hair appointment. I have not had my hair officially done since 2019. I think that I shared that the woman who was doing my hair passed away unexpectedly last year. She had a stroke in 2019 and then a massive stroke in 2020. Then she caught Covid and passed away. It has been very hard for me to let anyone do my hair. My loyalty was with her and it still is. I miss her so much! I was with her for 17 years. But I know that she is resting and it is okay for me to allow someone else to do my hair so we will see. It is the woman who does Lauren’s hair so I trust her completely. 

Okay, enough sad stuff.  In today’s post, I wanted to share this beautiful company that I found. It is called Empress Stationery and it is the most gorgeous stationery company that I have ever seen! I mean the work is beautiful!

 

photo credit: Empress Stationery.com

 

Isn’t it stunning? This is called the Louisa Suite collection. Honestly, I think that I am in love with all of it!

 

 

photo credit: Empress Stationery.com 

 

They offer custom artwork. All of the custom pieces are created with watercolors. Another section that you all should take a look at is the holiday section. 

 

photo credit: Empress Stationery 

 

These Christmas gift tags are my favorite. I would love to have something like this on my gifts this year.  I hope everyone enjoyed this fantastic find today. I love finding and learning about companies like this. It always makes me smile when I see a company create beautiful items for everyday living.

In other news, the boutique, blog, and Instagram page were shared on Inspired by Nikki’s Youtube channel! I loved being included in this video. My dresser vanity along with another subscriber’s closet was shared in her video. I think these are so fun to watch! I hope you get a chance to watch Nikki’s Video! I also have a coupon code for anyone who wants to make a purchase from the boutique. If you use code InspNikki20 you will get 20% off of your purchase. Have a great weekend!

 

 

 

 

This post is not sponsored. 

 

Keeping Delicates Fresh

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photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

 

Good Morning Everyone,

Guess what? It is in the 50s this morning!! Yay! My morning walk was so great! Oh goodness! I enjoyed it a lot today. It was wonderful. Well, today I just wanted to share my delicate upkeep routine. I shared this delicate spray from the Laundress last week. This is what I use in my undergarment drawer.  I spray all of my delicates about twice a week. 

 

photo credit: the Laundress 

 

I also wanted to share this laundry checklist from the Laundress. What do you guys think? I know I follow the bra rule and when I do wash them I use my mesh bag to keep them from being caught in something or getting damaged in the washer. 

How often do you take care of your delicates? Also, do you know of any other products to use? Please share in the comments section below. Have a great Wednesday!

 

 

 

Easy Decor: Mary Kay Cup

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Good Morning Everyone,

I just wanted to quickly share this Goodwill find from some years ago. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

 

I don’t know when I purchased this but I have had it for some time now. It is a beautiful Mary Kay cup that I found and could not leave it in the store. 

 

 

At the moment right now I am using it as a pen holder and it sits on my desk but isn’t it the chicest thing you have ever seen? I LOVE it! I have found a few on eBay for some great prices. I found this one, this one, and this one actually has the original box. 

You could use it for your morning tea, coffee or use it as a desk decoration as I did. I hope you all like this “vintage” find.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

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