S2:E23 Bringing Travels Home

 Today we're diving into one of our favorite topics, how travel sparks inspiration and sneaks its way into the way we design our home or for clients, whether it's the art we bring back, the textures we touch, the sense we remember. Or the views that stick around in our minds forever. Travel has a way of reshaping the spaces we create.

Now we'll be talking to Stuart about his wide ranging collection of art across the globe, and why I very deliberately decided not to purchase a certain wooden phallic sculpture and Belize, I'm not joking. True story. This episode is about more than just souvenirs. It's about the stories and sparks of inspiration we gather along the way, and how they shape the way we feel our homes with meaning. Let's get to it. 

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Transcript

0:00

Today we're diving into one of our favorite topics, how travel sparks inspiration and sneaks its way into the way we design our home or for clients, whether it's the art we bring back, the textures we touch, the sense we remember, or the views that stick around in our minds forever. Travel has a way of reshaping the spaces we create. Now we'll be talking to Stewart about his wide ranging collection of art across the globe, and YI. Very deliberately decided not to purchase a certain wooden phallic sculpture in Belize. I'm not joking. True story. This episode is about more than just souvenirs. It's about the stories and sparks of inspiration we gather along the way in how they shape the way we feel our homes with meaning. Let's get to it.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 1:50

Well, I thought it was kind of interesting. Are they good for you?

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 1:55

good. Okay.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 1:57

I've noticed my breasts are getting smaller, but my underarm wings are getting bigger.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 2:01

Oh,

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 2:02

just flap away.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 2:03

into a 47-year-old hormonal woman.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 2:08

Yeah.

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 2:09

Yeah.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 2:09

Sure.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 2:10

I don't think we can put that on. Yeah, I guess we could.

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 2:13

Yeah, we probably can. They're listening. Speaking of hormonal women, uh, you know, last week I, um, went to the Benson Boone concert

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 2:26

Mm-hmm.

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 2:27

and listen, I was that basic white bitch standing there with my iced coffee in the audience. And my phone taking pictures with all the other moms.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 2:42

So that's his audience, huh? I had no idea.

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 2:45

Yeah, and the gays.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 2:47

And he like

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 2:48

Yeah, I would say anybody that he just turns on, I think that, uh, that would be his

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 2:51

Yeah.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 2:52

Yeah.

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 2:52

Yeah. His dad was there. It was very nice.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 2:58

he can sing, he can flip.'cause he's got that weird mustache thing that I don't think, it's kind of appealing to people. I guess it is though.

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 3:08

Uh, well, apparently it is.'cause he sells out everywhere he goes.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 3:12

You know, you know, I think

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 3:13

Yeah.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 3:14

he is talented. I also think that this is totally off subject, but

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 3:18

Yeah. Well,

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 3:19

is

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 3:20

to do with traveling.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 3:21

Sure it has to do with traveling. when we were in New York in the summer when we saw a couple of, Broadway shows, and there were two actresses that specifically every person in the, the theater. So, you know, 2000 people eating every syllable out of their hand. And there's just something about them. I imagine that's very common with a lot of, um, people that make it, there's just something about the person that draws you to them. Like there's that it factor that people always talk about, and I would imagine that he definitely has it, It's just, uh,

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 3:54

Oh yeah,

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 3:54

there's some, there's some kind of energy there.

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 3:56

it's the it factor.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 3:58

The a factor.

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 3:59

Yeah.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 4:00

He has an it

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 4:01

Yeah. Yeah.

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 4:03

Some days, some days I just have this shit factor, so.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 4:09

It's It is what it is.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 4:12

Well, to go back and revamp what we're talking about today was this was an idea of Dwayne's and it is about travels, whether they're big or small, and, and what we've taken from that and. What inspired us? What has, you know, got us thinking, what did we pick up along the way and how we've incorporated that into what we've done. Is that correct? Is that, is that a good, uh.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 4:36

It absolutely it. Well, I always feel like we are, um, advocates for loving your home and curated homes, and that's, that's our, our spiel, right? That's what we do. And I started really thinking about it though. But my home in, you know, when I work in a client's homes, but my in particular, it's a reflection of the places and things that inspire me and therefore I wanna tell that story of a. The things that I've curated seen, that's helped me create a house for myself and for Kathy and, uh, for other clients. Understanding that you, you have your cocoon, but then you also need to go out there and see the other parts of the world.'cause then it makes your cocoon even more interesting, which it's

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 5:23

Mm-hmm.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 5:24

that make sense.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 5:25

Mm-hmm.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 5:26

Stewart loves it. Stewart. So what? Stewart has this amazing collection of art, right?

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 5:37

Yes.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 5:37

I've always been curious how that started and where that came from. Now it may not be anything to do with travel, but was it from

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 5:46

Well,

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 5:46

is

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 5:46

no, I would say, I would say 90% of the art came from travel. So

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 5:53

Yeah, what I

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 5:54

rather than saying, Ooh, I'm gonna do right, rather than saying, Ooh, I'm going to rip out my bathroom when I get home.'cause I love this spa bathroom at this hotel I'm staying in. I'm like, Hmm, I like that piece of art. And that's how I remember that place. So that's why it's so, I guess mine is curated differently than the actual structure itself.'cause, you know, structures.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 6:16

what, that's what this whole conversation's about. It doesn't necessarily, uh, you know, it's funny you honed in on the boutique, hotels and that's something we'll go back to, but No, it's curated through the sites, the, the smells, the colors, and, um, you get inspired by Right. And. You, you're, you're hon in, in exactly what I'm trying to get people to hear is when you go out and see the world, you find those objects, for example. You don't necessarily tear your house down, but you find those objects and you bring those memories back and it starts creating a look, a feel, uh, for your house. Now you all make fun of me, so I really hate both of you even, even more this morning, right? Because I,

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 6:59

That's what this podcast is about. Just sticking it to the, sticking it to us this time. Right.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 7:03

I guess it is. Maybe it is. You know. Here we go. Kids. Um. But I think it was two years ago, I went to, uh, Kathy and I went to, uh, the family the whole story. Uh, went to Siesta Key, which is our favorite landing spot, and we went to the local,

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 7:21

I am already

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 7:23

Yeah,

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 7:23

Jesus Christ.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 7:24

I bought a piece of art

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 7:26

Yes.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 7:27

you know, yes, it was

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 7:28

It was painted on a Tuesday

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 7:29

a

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 7:30

at 5:00 PM.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 7:32

yes, yes. And the picture. And I asked her, I said, do you remember painting this picture and when you did it? And she's like, oh, yeah. She said, I remember this. And specifically because I had a friend visiting and she wanted to go to the beach, and I took that beach and then I got inspired. And then what did you all do? You made fun of me.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 7:48

Yeah, I shit on it.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 7:49

she lied to you. She

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 7:51

She did,

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 7:52

of art.

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 7:52

she did. I have bought, I have bought pieces of art from people in the street that took my leftover food, so they didn't know where the hell they painted it.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 8:05

okay. that what you paid'em with?

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 8:08

Well now I paid them money and I gave'em my food from the restaurant.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 8:12

Oh,

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 8:12

They were true starving people.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 8:14

Like, where, weren't they?

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 8:16

Yes.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 8:17

Well, so where some, where some of your art came from? Where's the, um, where you found these pieces?

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 8:22

Oh, Asheville, um,

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 8:25

Mm-hmm. place to find good stuff.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 8:27

you've got

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 8:28

uh,

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 8:28

cool piece inside your office from Savannah. The word, the word art.

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 8:34

Yeah, the small piece is here in my work office from Savannah. I have a larger piece that's about five by seven from the same artist in Savannah. He went to the scad. Um, that one was real interesting because I was there working on a project for someone and she wanted to go dress shopping. It has nothing to do with the house. We're talking about wallpaper and she's like, I need a new dress. So we go downtown Savannah. Um, and I go to this dress shop with her and I'm sitting there while she's, you know, trying on dresses or whatever, and behind the checkout counter was this five foot by seven foot piece of art. And I started reading it'cause it's all words. And I start reading it, I'm like, huh. And I got distracted and then I look at it and start reading it. It was something different. Like I was reading it differently. So I looked away again and went back to it. So every time you start reading it, the lines change and it's a different sentence, and it's a different meaning every single time. So I asked the little lady at the sales counter, I said, do you know where that came from? And she's like, oh yeah, he's a student over at SCAD and blah, blah, blah. I said, oh. I said, is he still a student? She's like, oh yeah. I said, uh, do you know if this is for sale? She's like, I don't know. I'll call him. So she called the boy who painted this, and yes, he was a boy. He was like a junior at that time. And, um, he rode his bicycle over there as fast as he could. I swear he was there in like 32 seconds selling a piece of his art, and, and he told me how much it was. I said, okay, that's fine. He went really? I said, yeah, I said this. It's, it's worth that to me. He's like, oh, oh, okay. Thing is I had to take it off of its stretcher so I could fit it in the car'cause I couldn't fit that big piece of art in the car. He sat there and pulled out every single staple, put'em in a little baggie. He said, here, I want you to have the staples too. I said, well, thank you. So the staples are actually in a baggie on the back of that painting, hanging on my wall.'cause I had to re-stretch it when I got home.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 10:46

Mm-hmm.

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 10:46

But anyway, so yeah, it's little things like that that you remember the place for, um,

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 10:53

Yeah.

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 10:54

you know, Eleuthera, New York, Maine, Arizona, I bought art from all those places, Denver, so, yeah.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 11:04

Yeah. You, you? Yeah. Well, I think when we were in Atlanta a few years ago, many years ago now, 27 years ago, probably, uh, didn't you all buy some pieces of art or Jeremy, you took us to something?

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 11:16

No, Jeremy bought one in Chicago. That little baby,

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 11:19

okay.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 11:19

you

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 11:20

that I love of his,

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 11:21

know, the little two, I got two of them. Mm-hmm.

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 11:23

yeah. Yeah. He did that in Chicago, which is funny. I remember his art and where he bought it.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 11:29

Mm-hmm. No, I, I remember it'cause it was really, it was fun. Mm-hmm.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 11:32

Well, that's what this whole thing is about, is those, is, as much as it's an anything, it's an experience. But how those pieces of art come into your house now, you know, I really wasn't, uh, gonna do this to stick it to the man, but I'm gonna stick it to the man. So I also now recall, yeah, with my clients, I just buy whatever shit art I want and just put it in their shitty house to give them shitty art. So, and I say.

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 12:00

Not me.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 12:01

you said that be. Yeah. Both of you. Because I

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 12:03

I did not.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 12:04

I would. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Because I said I curate art and I involve them and I want moments. Yeah, no, it's fine. Stuff just matches the house and stick it in there. And I thought, well,

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 12:15

Dwayne, you have bought the same Fern art for people for the last seven years because I have had to order it. So don't even say Uhuh. Uhuh, Uhuh.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 12:29

You, you get off my, get off my high horse is what you're

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 12:32

Well there,

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 12:32

Yeah.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 12:33

think there's a time and a place like you can't, I don't think, I mean, if, if you have a collection, and we've gotten really art specific, like on, on, so far on this, but like, if you have like a very interesting art collection, you're not going to be interested in produced art, like mass produced art. Right? Most people don't care. There's gonna be, and they're gonna be somewhere in the middle. Right? They're, they're okay with it, but they're, they're also okay with having some new fun.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 12:57

don't care

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 12:58

Right.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 12:58

you guide them,

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 13:00

God. Yeah, he got him right into a wall. Okay.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 13:03

Yeah. Okay. Well keep walking. Okay. So is, and we do know, and I, I've always, um, appreciated his, um, collections of, uh, varied art. And, uh, I always think it's more modern, but it may not be. But I always think it's more modern. Uh, it's a mix. And it's a mix.

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 13:19

Yeah, it's a mix. It's a mix.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 13:21

are there things, Jeremy, that you have found or been inspired by? And again, it doesn't have to be a tchotchke, it can be color, feel, you know. You do that house in, uh, on 30 a,

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 13:31

Mm-hmm.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 13:32

know what the beach is. I can't remember which it is,

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 13:34

Rosemary Beach. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 13:36

does that inspire you or like, is it a lease that's next to them? That's,

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 13:41

Alice. Mm-hmm.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 13:43

Alice again, I

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 13:44

Mm-hmm.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 13:44

wrong. Uh, have those kind of places inspired how you've done things or maybe your travels to Edinburg

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 13:53

Hmm.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 13:53

Um, you know, the, the, the beach is a wonderful place to go, and I'm definitely inspired by the textures and the, and the looks and, and all that. For me, I have to say that I think that, uh, what I get from traveling is more of how it makes me feel. I think that's what I walk away from it with. So like in our most recent, trip to Europe, were a lot of, um, a really kind of, you know, we all actually our last podcast was about, polished heritage or like this, you know, using older, um, elements and, and items in the house and. really, um, it was very comfy. So, you know, that, that's how I kind of explain, explained to my, how I felt when I traveled over. So you had lots of mohair and velvet and, um, beautiful woven tweeds and hounds juices. And so it was very English and heavy, right? Like, so that very, always, very comfortable, always very classic for me. So it just made, it was very homey. Um, and so that just feels comfortable to me. So I always love, um. Using those elements for sure, just because it does kind of sophisticated it all and it still feels home. But for me, more of what I. When we travel, I could, I won't. Art isn't necessarily my thing because if I see something, regardless of whether I like it or not, if it doesn't match the house or if it doesn't work in the house, I'm not gonna buy it. Like I'm, I'm just not going to. So the approach that I also take with like when we travel is wherever we go, I try to buy something that we're actually going to use. So when we went to,, Belize forever ago, um, was trying to find something and you know, if you wanted a wooden penis, figure they were everywhere. But that was not necessarily what I was trying to, trying to buy. I thought that was the oddest thing to have everywhere.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 15:46

Now why? Why are they fixating?

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 15:48

I, you know, I think that they also thought that there's a young, a

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 15:52

Fertility.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 15:53

Uh, yeah, I don't know. I, I, I don't know. I don't know if they were bongs. I don't know what they were, but these were like roadside, you know, people that were actually whittling things and they had enough of'em that they had to sell'em. So I don't know. But what we.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 16:05

world, I mean, I, I think we all realize we all have penises, but I'm not gonna sit there and have one carved

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 16:11

No. Well, you know, we, we mentioned this, but you know, we used to have a coworker that came back from a cruise and

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 16:16

It's like coconut bras.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 16:17

uh,

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 16:19

Well,

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 16:19

he, he, he brought me back. Don't you remember when Dusty brought back that, uh,

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 16:23

Oh yeah.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 16:24

Granite, uh, penis.

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 16:26

Yeah.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 16:27

and it had Cozumel carved in it. I, you know, so this is,

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 16:31

tuned that one out.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 16:32

I don't know why. Um, but so when, but when we were in Belize, like again trying to find things that made sense for me, and, and in the house we, we found some really beautiful, um. Wooden coasters that were carved and made there. Right. So, and I love that. I knew that was something that we're actually gonna use. I'll look for bowls, I'll look for, look for things that, that actually we're gonna like. You know, it's not just gonna be something to sit there, because.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 17:01

the Myrtle Beach T-shirt for$3.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 17:03

No, and I'm not looking

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 17:04

Yeah.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 17:05

a little lighthouse fig. Like, no, that's that for me. That's not it. Now there is one piece of photography that we bought, when we were in St. Thomas one time, and I was, we were on a tour of, uh, was it I think it was a rum distillery. Anyway, it, it was just seeing the people and, and how they had, they had built from, you know, nothing. Right. So way, way back when having to carry all the sugar cane and, and all this, you know, and then the ladies, the women carried this stuff on their heads, right? In baskets and, um. I was always taken back by how hard the work was. Like, you know, farming is not easy, is not an easy job, right? No matter what anybody says. Um, not that I've ever heard, heard anybody say farming's an easy job, but I think we all understand. Nobody wants to be out there in the heat. But I was so taken back about how hard these people were working and, there was an image of this woman who was carrying her sugar cane to, I guess wherever they were, wherever they were doing it, to, to make the room. And she was also, um, had one hand holding the thing on top of her head, and the other hand was holding her little child's hand as they were walking down the street. And, um. For me, it told me a beautiful story about the people that were there and their dedication to their family and also the work. So like that for me was something that I bought and that's frames, you know, almost 10 years later we still have it down in, in the sunroom. It's just something for me to look at every time. I always think back about that and the resilience of people. Um, so that's always more of how I try to bring something back with me. You know, we have a friend who. well, and a lot of people do this, they, uh, will buy Christmas ornaments when they come back. And I love that for you. Love that. It's not me.\ But yeah, I, I'll try to find something that makes sense that I know that I'm going to use. cause then I feel like I'm gonna see it more often.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 18:58

it is Kathy every, as far as Christmas ornament, we have the, the trolley from San Francisco, we have the crab from Maine, we have the,

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 19:08

Yeah.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 19:09

you know, Rockefeller Center, everything. And so I always go back to, I bet your tree's beautiful. And I was like, well, it is just a junk tree. And we love our junk tree because

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 19:22

Yeah. I think we don't have one like that.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 19:24

putting the Christmas tree up. You know, the kids and I were there. She's like, now I got this ornament here, here. So it's like 12, 12 hours later. We still haven't got through the first box of ornaments. I'm like, I got to go to bed. I got to go

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 19:39

Put it up.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 19:41

put it up. Just get the damn tree done. We're done

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 19:44

Yeah. You know, I think if we had, both of the trees that we have that go up are more what we call like a decorator tree. So I think if I had a, a, a quote unquote family tree, if I had something that was more like that, we, we might do it.'cause when we were gone last time, I found something, ornaments I thought we're really super cute, but they don't match our, our aesthetic. So,

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 20:04

It's a commitment. It's a commitment. Right? It's just a look. It's a look.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 20:10

Mm-hmm.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 20:10

Well, I, um. I have a little collection of everything, but I always, you know. my mind of we are local, right? but then as a, a shop owners, we're local,

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 20:23

Mm-hmm.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 20:24

but I always channel micro local. And what I mean by that is, um, you know, we'll ever go to like the, the little crass fairs and, uh, Cynthiana just had the, uh, honey festival. And, uh, there's the thing in Georgetown where you go. Cut, uh, lavender, I don't know if y'all know about this, uh, but you literally, it's lavender fields and the all kinds of different lavenders, or Berea will have a festival. when you go there, you all these little popup tints with beautiful artisans. And I always feel so bad.'cause half the time doesn't feel like half of'em sell anything truthfully, and always make it a point to try to find something that's decent or good. Sometimes there's good, really good right. And buy something.'cause I attach that memory to that moment. And like you, Jeremy, I always try to do something that,'cause I don't need more tchotchkes necessarily, but it's a mixed bag. But they like cutting boards, you know, you have a sickness of cutting

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 21:22

Mm-hmm.

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 21:24

Hmm.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 21:24

try to find cutting boards, uh, that are locally made and it's the wood. I know that I, uh, Kathy and I have that a wooden spoon. Quite big wooden spoon and it's chipped a little bit and this it act actually has the guise. Little, very crudely done, initials, uh, etched into it, or I don't say monogram'cause it's really etched into it or cut into it. this wooden spoon came from Berea. I don't know. 20 years ago, and I probably, every time I have this big pot of utensils that set out, I'll grab that wooden spoon first. And it's that, that spoon has a history and a story. And you know, we're able to curate that from that. And I remember being in Berea and it's, it's, it's, it's things that you don't even necessarily. Understand at the moment. It's like, I buy, I buy this wooden spoon, but how much you end up loving that thing it's just a spoon, it's just a

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 22:17

Right.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 22:17

to stir food with. And that's what I keep coming back to, that sometimes we work a little too hard, but it really can be, uh, those little treasures. Um, our friend Dennis, the, the, uh, Dennis Varney,

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 22:31

Mm-hmm.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 22:31

guy,

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 22:32

Little pottery man.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 22:33

we had. Uh, we had some, uh, family that visited and she brought back this, uh, and gifted us this bowl that she was staying with us, uh, for a while. And so she, uh, this literally this done browns and blues, caramel colored bowl, and I think this probably this porcelain. Bowl is probably 16 inches wide. It's massive. And it came from Asheville

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 22:59

Mm-hmm.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 22:59

and it, it's just a gorgeous piece that sits on, um, the same coffee table that you have Jeremy in your front living room

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 23:06

Mm-hmm.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 23:07

uh, uh, reclaimed

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 23:08

Mm-hmm.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 23:09

And I don't know if you know this, so we get on tangent that when we went to your house 222,000 years ago, you maybe had just gotten that coffee table and Kathy walked away and she said, his coffee table.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 23:20

No, I,

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 23:21

It's like, well, I don't know if I need to necessarily, won't use golf food table. And it's like, I think it's a little too big for a room. I won't. His coffee table. So guess what? We have

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 23:33

Right.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 23:34

table, right? a pretty healthy sized coffee table, isn't it? And

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 23:38

Speak

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 23:39

anyway, she gave us this piece, and then we went to this festival and there was this great potter pottery person. I don't, he's a potter, how do you say that?

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 23:49

just a potter.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 23:50

those same colors. And then Dennis came in our. Pottery friend and he had a popup and there was another bowl that was beautifully curated and all the pretty caramelly colors and the blues in it. And I have this beautiful collection and each one of them has a little story and they sat on our coffee table and really, if you look at'em, they're pretty darn country in a way. Uh, but uh, I love'em once it's,

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 24:14

Mm-hmm.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 24:16

they have great stories. The piece of art that stands out to me. It really came locally, but I wanted it because of memories and vacations. So of the two of you, did you, did you each go to Gatlinburg, uh, pigeon Forge? Very much. I, I would think

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 24:36

Yes. Mm-hmm.

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 24:37

Oh, I've been,

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 24:39

Now

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 24:40

but no, it was not a, it was not a regular.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 24:43

not right.'cause you grew up in Illinois where if you're from Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky and Jeremy is kind of on, the

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 24:49

Mm-hmm.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 24:50

Irving is considered Eastern Kentucky's edge for

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 24:52

Sure. Mm-hmm.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 24:54

and Pigeon Forge is like kind of the old or Myrtle Beach

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 24:57

Mm-hmm.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 24:58

Fort Fort Lauderdale. There, there's three places, right? so. There is a, a valley, um, in between Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, and right now, I can't remember what it is, but you'll drive through there and you'll see the bears and stuff like that. Well. We were driving very rural, you know, Gatlinburg iss so busy anymore, but it's a beautiful area. we were driving through there and I just kind of looked over there was, were gonna go to the chimneys to actually have a picnic, I think is what we were doing. But we got off on a little side tangent and um, I saw this field and the kids were very, very young in the mountains behind it. It's like, I know this is. Private property, but Kathy, I think we should have a picnic over there. She's like, ah. And I was like, yeah. And so we found a little parking place and we had a picnic in this beautiful field with the mountains behind us. And just within weeks I walk into the framing shop in Paris that I use Bobby Frames on Maine. Plug you. Um, there was this. Gorgeous. Massive oil painting of all the colors I love, which are blues and browns and greens kind of muddled in it that when I say this picture's huge, it is. I don't know, three foot by seven feet. I mean it's big oil painting. And it was there to get repaired'cause it had been, had a hole punched in it, but it was from, uh, another retail shop and he was gonna get it repaired. And I said, I love that because. That picture reminded me literally of the picnic we had two weeks before that. It was just like a god wink. It was like, is your moment a painting form.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 26:46

Mm-hmm.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 26:46

And I said to uh, Bobby, I said, if that guy ever wants to sell that, let me know. Thinking I ain't no way in word I can ever afford it.'cause it's, it's an oil painting and it's original and it's huge. Right. And I just moved into the house. We hadn't been in the house in like two years. I'm still recuperating from being broke. Really broke. It really broke, right? And we just started the business, right?

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 27:07

Mm-hmm.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 27:08

had, when we're finishing the house, we were opening the business. So we, we, we didn't have any money at all. And, uh, he said, okay, I'll reach out to him thinking nothing will come from this. back and he said, well, the guy's getting the, the piece of art fixed, but he's closing his retail store and he doesn't really want it. He just had to get it fixed so he can try to sell it, but this is what it is. Sell it to you for. And I went, whoa. Yeah, yeah, I'll take it. And so it hangs on the staircase going up the stairwell and every single time I look at that, but then what that piece of art then is it gave me an opportunity to curate of. Local places and local art that there's a collection of probably 10 or 12 pieces of it that are all local and all originals. And some were$7 and some might have been$200. None of'em were

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 27:58

Mm-hmm.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 27:59

at all, truthfully. But it also goes back to you can have original art, uh, and it, you not go broke doing it. But that was a moment uh, because of the travels gave me that piece. And every time I look at it, I think of that moment, which is a pretty cool way to end up getting in your hands too, I think.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 28:15

Yeah. What that love that. Well, you know what we.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 28:18

today. You look good.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 28:20

you. Thank you.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 28:21

Mm-hmm.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 28:22

Um, you know what we're not talking about, and I do want to kind of just like loosely mention this is necessarily trying to, uh, do cultural appropriation. I guess I'm trying to say that outgoing. Um, and because I have a, I have a kind of a horror story about that. I went to this customer's house, this was.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 28:41

at Stewart like, I don't know what this is all about.

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 28:43

I know. I was like, that was a big word to lead into.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 28:47

Cultural appropriation.

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 28:49

Mm-hmm.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 28:49

first are we, are we kind of, do we kind of understand what, what, what that means? Or how about this? So, but okay, so basically what it is, is the idea of a, group, uh, usually someone who's not suppressed, taking something that's from a suppressed party or oppressed party, um, and then kind of bastardizing, whatever that is without really understanding the cultural, um. The, and it's so, like, for Oh.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 29:17

think you

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 29:17

Oh,

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 29:18

hire? Is that where we're going?

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 29:19

No, no, no, no. What, uh, so what? This was this? No, IG I'm

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 29:26

uh.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 29:27

sensitive to, um, th this was, okay, so, okay. Let me tell you the backstory and then I'll tell you why I wanted to mention this.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 29:36

know what you're

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 29:36

Went to this lady's house and she. Um, had, the only way I can describe her aesthetic was PeeWee's Playhouse. And

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 29:50

Oh.

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 29:51

Oh.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 29:52

is not my aesthetic, nor do I even understand how to even wrap my mind around this. And this was on. This was pre 2010. Okay. And walked in and she had, Um, will say 10 African masks, um, on the wall. And then what she proceeded to let me know was that, that she was so inspired by these African masks and, um, and that she and her husband had not been to Africa. And I was like, okay. Uh, okay. Lovely. Well, then I found out that she bought'em at like some, she, wherever she had bought them was not in Africa. The artist is not African. Um, it was really taking these African masks and then turning'em into. A piece that someone could just sell and profit off of. And that's the, that's, that's the issue. I don't, I'm looking at Dwayne, I can see Dwayne's eyes, his eyes just kinda like, he doesn't get it. Okay. It's fine.

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 30:54

So it was a knockoff

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 30:56

It was a, it was a,

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 30:58

that she wanted to be real

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 31:02

Well, she didn't care if it was

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 31:03

or they inspired her to have said aesthetic. But for you, it really wasn't that a static, it was something fake.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 31:11

No, it

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 31:12

mm-hmm.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 31:12

fake. And so really what the whole kind of idea and, and listeners, Lord, if I'm bastardizing this and I'm slaughtering, please don't murder me or, you know, send me hateful messages. Um, but it is, um, it's really just trying to say, Hey, before we take something, don't we take the time to learn what it actually is and then credit what it really is. The,

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 31:36

So.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 31:38

with, here's my problem with your problem. Okay. It is if she had done it with the understanding that it could have potentially done harm, get it. But if she walked into that buying because she curated them because they were beautiful and they represented a culture and a people, and a place that inspired her as an inspiration, she did no harm to me and

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 32:01

Yeah, but that's not what she did. But that's not what she did. Yeah, that's, that's, that's it, right? That's it. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And, um, yeah. Yeah, yeah. That's, that, that's that, that was it. it was, it was, there was two shits about what they actually, what these masks actually were and what they symbolized and what it was for the culture. It was just more of just of like, something to schlep on the wall. Right. And, um, so yeah, so that's, so I guess I'm trying to just be, uh, sensitive and like, I, that's why I don't try to go somewhere and just take all of their pretty things or take all the things and then try to use it for myself. I really, that's why I even mentioned like with, with the piece of art.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 32:39

thing from Belize, you probably need to understand what it means, right?

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 32:44

I guess that's right, and that's why I don't have one anymore.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 32:47

a penis on your desk, it needs to have a purpose or a meaning. I maybe not purpose. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong connotation. Uh, it has the meaning. Yeah.'cause it has, they have a purpose.

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 32:56

Wow.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 32:57

Yeah.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 32:57

but yeah, I'm sorry. Sorry, people. But I mean,

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 33:00

Well, I guess that's why for me it's, it's more important for me to under, like what I bring home, it, it's important for me to understand, you know, it what if it was made there, right. To know that like artisans made it. Lemme tell you when the last time we were in Mexico, struggle that I had finding, because I really wanted to get some, um, beautiful because we, we love glassware, but I love, um. Getting like handmade if we can, wherever we go, right? So the struggle to find glasses like drinking glasses that were made in Mexico Now I realized that, that, you know, I could have just gone to, you know, wherever. But that was the thing. I didn't want to go to,

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 33:39

Are you saying that

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 33:40

uh, p Pier one.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 33:40

people that from

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 33:41

Like an authentic.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 33:42

20. Hours a day.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 33:44

No, no, no, no. But that was what, but we drink a lot of margaritas. That's all I'm saying. But, um, and, and I thought, well, these are like, when it came to glasses, I didn't have a set of margarita glasses I was like, okay, let's, let's see if we can find some. And, but like everything I found when we were there was all made overseas. I was like, I just want it from Mexico. I'm like, this is my important part. Like this is what I'm taking back. And I finally did find some, but it took me probably. Six days into a seven day trip to find them.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 34:15

Well, I

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 34:15

Yeah.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 34:16

it makes making a lot of glass product, but I guess they do. I don't know.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 34:19

Well they make anything anywhere, I think, ultimately, but,

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 34:22

well, it's true.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 34:26

But, you know. Okay. So the other thing that I really, and I'll, we can wrap up here soon if you want, but the other thing that I always, that I get from traveling, and, and maybe this is because of the, the hotels or wherever we stay, they do such a beautiful job of trying to focus, uh, highlight where it is or the surrounding area around it. And maybe it, you, I notice it more just because it's a different place, like a different surrounding. But I, um, take. For granted the surroundings sometime. And so just yesterday, Dwayne, you posted it on Instagram about the, the picture about the lady's porch that you didn't turned into whatever. And just seeing that beautiful view and so it always me going somewhere else and seeing the beautiful surroundings helps me, uh, remember that we have beautiful surroundings around us here too, right? I guess ultimately that's it. It, it just always seeing what's all out there, uh, reminds me of you because you forget it, you take for granted here. So.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 35:25

You know, I, Stewart may not as, as forget as much as, uh, as you do. And I, and I know I, I don't because I have the luxury of, uh, working in Lexington, but driving in Paris and because of whoever's in the powers that be, that created the road between those two in. kept the fencing in the farm and how it's done. I literally keep saying to everybody, don't move to Paris'cause I don't need you there. Uh, but I love living there to the fact it is driving home through a park. And so I. Try consciously to be aware of noticing the horses in the barns and stuff. I know that sounds hokey, uh, but I really do because it is like living and driving through a little piece of heaven daily. Daily.

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 36:14

Right.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 36:14

beautiful. And, uh, the idea of. Part, part of the reason I kind of hyper aware of where I lived is it really goes back to, um, a school teacher who, who was inspirational and was Mr. Pliny, uh, Mr. Pliny Justice, but he wanted to be called Mr. Pliny. And Mr. Pliny was. Make us track the moon and the sun and we talk about waves and high tides and we're in the hills of Appalachia, but he had also, it's not feature obviously, but he also make us go collect leaves in the fall and we'd have to write, you know, where that, what that leaf was and its story. And this is before internet and you know, encyclopedias, you actually had to talk to your parents. And say Dad and my dad, you know, imagine that. And my dad, you know, grew, was a mountain boy and he grew up in the hills and he, he farmed on the side of a mountain. So he knew every oak tree and every, uh, maple tree and every nuance of what every tree was about. And so, so. What I share that stories about is it made me appreciate the things around me, and maybe that's why I'm so focused on stuff is because of like just that one teacher alone. But I had a, a, a, um, a half aunt and she lived in Boca Raton, but she would come and stay with us in the summers in the mountain that we lived on the hill we lived. She called it Mockingbird Hill. And she, seven years old to. 15 years old until she passed away.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 37:48

All.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 37:49

Always was talking about how beautiful Eastern Kentucky was in the world. But then when I moved to Lexington, I. saw my, I, I saw the world through a different lens of the horses and the fences and the rock and the stone. And you know, Stewart, I always so envious of you'cause you live in this beautiful piece of history. Right. You know, just what, what an amazing story that it is and where it is. So I always go back to, um. The surroundings behind around us, what, how beautiful it is. So I do always try to make that aware, even when I do designs, to make sure that you recognize where we live and how beautiful it is, blah, blah, blah.

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 38:33

Blah, blah, blah.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 38:35

I know, I know.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 38:37

what I wanna know from our listeners and they can call our hotline and let us know at 8 5 9 4 1 2 1 5 7 2. Um, and again, we won't play your, um, if you're worried about how you might sound on the podcast, don't worry about it.'cause we won't play it. I'll just read it. Um, but I wanna know what you all have gotten from your travels and what it brought back and what, what connects with you, because I've found this really interesting. So I think that would be wonderful Then.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 39:02

I tell you something? It's a positive thing. Your podcast from last week that you pitched the idea, I was like, oh, I don't know. It's right. actually inspired. And yesterday I'm doing, um, a bathroom with a client. And what I led off with was this. said, you know, everybody in the world has been doing Gold Bath fixtures for the master, for example. Like,'cause that's a higher end grade. And that's the new thing. Well they've been, it's been new thing for years right?

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 39:29

Mm-hmm.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 39:31

I said, so I'm gonna say to you, it's beautiful, timeless, classic. But polished nickel isn't something that should be not considered. And she said, show it to me. And she said, I love this. I want this.

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 39:48

Hmm.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 39:48

doing polished nickel for her master, and I may have not had said that and had that conversation if you hadn't brought your idea of this new polished heritage conversation to play. So you inspired, we inspired me. So

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 40:03

Oh,

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 40:04

So thank you.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 40:05

well look at

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 40:06

Yeah. Very cool.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 40:07

Hmm.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 40:08

me learning something.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 40:10

I do want to say, um, a good howdy to our friends who are listening in. Um, I just had to look real quick to see'cause I haven't looked at this in a while. We have some new listeners in Norway, hong Kong?

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 40:21

Probably to hear that twang,

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 40:23

I think so. Yeah. Um, some friends down in Australia, Singapore, and we just got some new ones in Sweden. So how exciting is

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 40:31

Oh,

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 40:31

Okay. That's kind of fun.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 40:32

Listen to my

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 40:32

cool.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 40:33

twang.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 40:33

about 40 listeners now?

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 40:34

We're tens and tens.

dwayne-guest511_1_09-16-2025_090656 40:37

Tens and

stuart_1_09-16-2025_090656 40:37

Tens and tens.

jeremy-host541_1_09-16-2025_090656 40:38

Tens and tens. Oh Lord. Well, hopefully you all enjoyed this week's podcast, and as always, we, hopefully we'll be back next week with another one. Uh, if you've not downloaded our mobile shopping app, house Floral, you can do that in any app store where you can, your stuff. It's also linked down in the show notes below. And until next week, we will see you then. Bye