The Fascinating Womanhood Podcast - The Feminine Revolution
The Fascinating Womanhood Podcast is your guide to timeless principles for creating a joyful, loving, and fulfilling marriage. Join us each week as we explore practical strategies, inspiring stories, and empowering insights to help women embrace their feminine strengths, nurture deeper connections with their husbands, and thrive in every area of life.
The Fascinating Womanhood Podcast - The Feminine Revolution
Creating a Beautiful Home Sanctuary: Domestic Goddess Series Episode 3
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In this final episode of the Domestic Goddess Series, we’re bringing it all home...literally. Your home is more than the place where you live; it’s the backdrop of your everyday life, and it has the power to influence how you feel, move, rest, and show love with yourself.
In this episode, I’m sharing 5 simple tips for creating a beautiful home sanctuary—a space that feels peaceful, personal, inviting, and uniquely yours. You don’t need a perfectly styled home or a huge budget. It’s about being intentional with your surroundings and creating little pockets of beauty, comfort, and calm that make everyday life feel more special.
Consider this your invitation to romanticize your space, elevate the everyday, and create a home that feels as good as it looks.
Don't forget to check out our home style quiz to find out what home style you are on our website: fascinatingwomanhood.com (under the podcast tab)!
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the official Fascinating Womanhood podcast, where we explore timeless principles for developing true femininity, inspiring authentic masculinity, and building strong, loving, and lasting relationships. I'm Cherry Lynn and I'm here with my mom, Dixie Analyn Forsythe. Together we'll dive into the heart of what makes relationships thrive, offering practical wisdom and heartfelt conversations to help you live a more fulfilled and fascinating life.
SPEAKER_01Today we are talking about creating a beautiful home sanctuary. This is the third episode of our three-part series on the domestic goddess. This has been really fun to enjoy this. Talk about all of these things. I know that a lot of our listeners are enjoying this. And if you haven't heard the first two, those are obviously on our website. And our free cleaning cards are also still on our website. We also have a free gift today that we're going to announce at the end for this beautiful home. I guess it's not really a gift, it's like a surprise.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_01So today we're talking, as I said, the about the beautiful home sanctuary. So we're really talking about what does that mean? Uh how to make your home beautiful with some decor tips.
SPEAKER_02So when we come in, we're tired, say we've been at work all day, we're coming in from a trip. We want to come in and feel like that, ah, feeling kind of like you do when you're tired and you go into a nice hotel room. Can you imagine if you go in there and either let's say it wasn't filthy, but let's just say it was really not attractive. Yeah. It doesn't, it doesn't give you that outdated. Yeah, outdated. Um yes, you know, really thin towels, it and not not as welcoming. Nowadays, most of us are used to a little refrigerator in there and there's none. Just all those things, but as opposed to we come in there and we think, uh, this is nice. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. And there's so many we could talk about decorating your home and different styles and different tips for days. I mean, this is a huge topic.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01We're just going to give you our five tips that we feel are a great place to start if you're if you're kind of wanting to learn more about this. And I like I said, we could go on for hours about this. So these are just the five that I felt like we, you and I both kind of use these in our okay. So the first tip is about giving the eye a place to rest. Now, this one has to do with I again, like there's so many personalities out there. Some people really love uh a lot of clutter. People like they don't even call it clutter, they just like a lot of layers, I guess you could say in your home. Um, but this has to do with visual noise. How do you do this in your home? How do you have like a place to rest visually with your eyes?
SPEAKER_02Okay, I am not a minimalist, so it's different for me than people who are a minimalist. I like I've heard people say they come and sit in my living room and there's always something to look at. And I I hope that's a compliment. I don't really know, but there's always interesting things to look at. So visually for me is something that uh everything in the room is something that is either attractive or interesting, that goes with the room, that kind of reflects your personality, as opposed to say, I know, I know people, and I know you do too, who think they go shopping and they think, oh, here's a lamp. I love this lamp. And they don't consider, does it go in that room? Does it have anything to do with the colors or the style or anything? And and if you say, Well, where are you gonna put it? I don't know, but I'll figure something out. And a lot of people do that, and sometimes it works, but sometimes it doesn't. And when it doesn't work, it doesn't give you the reaction that you want. Right, right.
SPEAKER_01Well, the store that I worked in, we talked a lot about visual rest. We talked about it all the time, and it was something that we'd even have conference calls about visual rest in our store and how you can create because it's hard to do that in a store. Um, and I think it's really hard to do that in your home because, like you said, you go shopping, you see something, you're not necessarily thinking about visual noise in your house. And this is really hard to discuss when you don't have photos. And I wish we had, I wish we could take a whole bunch of pictures of things that to describe, but when I the best way I can describe visual noise is colors that don't match, or many colors, or no, I guess no colors is almost the opposite. It's like too much rest. Um it's almost like it almost becomes like an uh office space.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's cold that isn't really cold.
SPEAKER_01It's cold, yeah. And and but some people don't even think about colors at all. And they just like you said, I I found this lamp today and I love it, and I'm adding it in this room, and it doesn't really match or it doesn't really work. So let me go around to the other rooms and see if it'll go in one of them. Well, and sometimes you get lucky and that works, but for me, I when I walk into a home and it's visually noisy, I immediately just to kind of say this out loud so you can picture it in your head. I I'm thinking of bookcases filled with stuff, and there's really no rhythm to how those bookcases or those shelves are stocked with things. People just shove things in there, and it makes me start to think, I kind of get a little anxious because there's so much stuff, and I'm still I think it's good. Like you said, people say, Oh, I like looking. There's things to look at in here. I think that you have things very carefully placed. You have a a mantle and you're right when you walk into your house, you have a mantle that I always see, and it has this angel on it and it has candlesticks, and it's it's very thoughtful.
SPEAKER_02Well, some of us, and maybe no, probably not you, Cherry, but my husband, he's the type that if he sees like we have this big wall unit, if he sees a blank spot on it and he likes something, he'll stick it there because it's a blank spot.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_02And I have to because quietly move it because it clutters that space that I've tried to be careful what I put there. And a lot of people do that.
SPEAKER_01Traditionally, I think in design, you want a you want a focal point. And I think you everything that you're looking at in your house, you want a focal point. And I think that's what we're talking about when we're talking about visual rest, because the focal point is where your eye goes, and then the rest becomes what's around it. So if you're and you can look these things up, you can look on Pinterest, you can look on whatever uh kind of Googling you like to do and look up this visual rest and maybe start with a cabinet or start with a shelving unit and just say, like, I want to look at how people decorate a shelving unit or how they decorate a mantle, and I just want to see what visual rest looks like because you want your house to be a story of you and your life, and you want to represent that. And it's difficult, I think, to do that when you don't put thought and you just shove things into okay.
SPEAKER_02But that is absolutely true. But we always have to consider what if we're married to somebody who doesn't understand that and it's it's a it's a constant thing of well, there's there's a space here. Well, it doesn't work there. Because for any of us who are married, this is not just our house, it's their house.
SPEAKER_01So you always what do you do when dad tries to kind of like put things places? What do you how do you handle that?
SPEAKER_02I have learned that if I wait a day or so and just move it, he doesn't notice. Yeah. He doesn't know. If I did it right on the spot, it would hurt his feelings, but I just wait a little bit and he doesn't notice. So I find another home for it. And and that, but that doesn't work for all husbands. I mean, some husbands are are different, and then you maybe have to talk about it. But for me, I just I've learned how he is, and I just I find that I can I can do that. And he loves that I do what I do. He always says he's really glad I'm not. He loved his mother, but I'm not like her. She, I don't know if you remember her house, Cherry.
SPEAKER_01I do. Her house was what I'm talking about. There was no visual rest in her home. I loved being in her home, but it was not a home that I would want to live in. I I liked visiting, but that's probably because she was so warm and kind. It was her, she had the emotional self made me stress. I felt stressed in that house. It was from everywhere.
SPEAKER_02You had emotional emotional rest in her house.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_02She'd have she'd have a bowl of popcorn sitting out somewhere that'd been there for days and hadn't taken care of it.
SPEAKER_01And just that's but that's why we're talking about this though, because there's that's why we separated this into three parts. The very first episode we did was about the heart of your home. And I think some of us are really good at that. Some of us are good at this topic and not that topic. So there's different topics that you might be, oh, I'm really good at this. I'm not as good at this. This topic we're talking about today, I feel like is a stronger one for me. This is something that I feel I've I've understand more. The second episode is one where I feel more challenged with when we talked about order and cleanliness and stuff, because I have kids and it's harder for me to get some of those things done. So we all have our challenges.
SPEAKER_02We all have well, you you I've always um I mean, you've had years of experience in the retail business with this visual stuff.
SPEAKER_01So I I ask you a lot of questions about well, I had to do, I mean, I had to do completely redo the store and I had to submit my design ideas and I had to take pictures and had to go conference calls and talk about every single area of the store and everyone examining all the pictures. And the store is big. The store is huge. Yeah. So, you know, I I I think that this one is one where there's just so many aspects to it. So I think again, talking about that visual rest, that alone could be its own podcast. Because when you talk about visual rest, it can be really difficult for some people. The people out there that are minimalists, that's not difficult for them. But it may be difficult for them to add more feminine warmth to their home.
SPEAKER_02Maybe that's something where they would well, or if they're a minimalist and they're married to somebody who isn't, then they've got to be able to do that. Right.
SPEAKER_01Well, I guess I guess I'd love to hear from anyone out there listening if their husband does kind of get into this, because like my husband, he doesn't really care so much. He's more just about, I don't want to spend money. Okay. The second one is about the smell of your home. Now I know we're talking about decor, and it's like, well, wait a minute, why does why are we talking about decor, but we're talking about fragrance and smells? Can you talk a little bit about that?
SPEAKER_02I think I think they're interconnected. Yeah. Because uh fragrance is either one of the quickest or the quickest way that that triggers memories. And because I know music is one too.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Well, you hear music and you instantly are certain songs are instantly transported back to a particular day or time. And same with fragrance. How many of us can remember? I know I can, the smell of, can you remember the smell of grandma Forsyth's house? I can remember the smell of my mother's house.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Smell of my grandmother's house. And when you remember the smell, or the fragrance, because smell sounds kind of negative, when you remember the fragrance, does it bring back pleasant memories of being there? And you wish you could go back there.
SPEAKER_01Here's a cra I think you just kind of basically said this. Here's a crazy thing to think about. Every house has a signature scent. It does. And it's kind of wild to think about, oh my gosh, my house has a signature scent. What is it? Because we don't really know what our signature scent is of our house. Everybody else knows.
SPEAKER_02You become nose blind to it.
SPEAKER_01You do, yeah. Actually, my kids say this all the time. I wonder what our house smells like to other people. They say it all the time. I don't know why.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah, because they go to other kids' houses and smell those.
SPEAKER_01And well, yeah. And you don't want your house to look beautiful but smell bad. I think that's the the key here. And and this is why hotels, especially really nice hotels, will even they'll even pay to have a signature scent in their hotel. My gym that I go to has a signature scent that's plugged in to the outlets, or not the outlets, it's plugged, it's like plugged in, but it's hiding. And I've I've been going there for so many years. I've seen it, and it smells a certain way in the gym. They do that in a gym.
SPEAKER_02Well, yeah, a gym could very easily smell not so great with all the sweat.
SPEAKER_01Well, and people could easily just be like, oh well, it's just a gym, but they they they carefully take care of that for their they want you to what they want you to want to come back in. Exactly. And that's what we're talking about is wanting people to feel like when they're in your home, it smells great. It doesn't just look great, it smells great. What are some things you do for making your? I mean, I know you obviously cook a lot, so that's a big one.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I don't, I don't uh like today. I'm gonna bake bread because I'm I'm about out of bread. And the smell of baking bread, even after it's out, it still hangs around a while, is really homey. So it's just a byproduct of it. And when I have, when I am baking bread, I don't burn candles because it's competing. Um but I do have you discovered it, these plug-ins. Yeah, night light plugins that have scent that you screw into them, a little bottle of like oil. And that's wonderful because there's all these different fragrances you can choose, and it and it lasts so when you come in from shopping or working or whatever, you smell the smell also gives helps you to uh relax, rest the smell.
SPEAKER_01Well, and for those of you that have animals, I think it's really important to be thinking about how your house smells and how you are kind of working with that smell because other people will smell it. Maybe you don't smell it. And I that there's nothing worse than walking into someone's house and you smell like kitty litter or like yeah, I was my first thought is the litter box. Yeah, the litter box is one that I I'm very like, oh my gosh, there's a cat, but probably because I'm allergic to cats, so I'm immediately like on red alert when I smell that because I'm like, oh no, there's a cat somewhere around here. Um, and there's ways that you can combat that. I love what you talked about with cooking and stuff, but if you have a day where you're not, where your big day you're not baking, because I don't make things every day that are smelling.
SPEAKER_02No, I don't either.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, we're not affiliated with Bath and Body Works, so I'm just I'll just say that right now. I wish we got a kickback when we tell us. We're not making, I will just tell you I love Bath and Body Works wall plugins, and I'm not getting paid to say that. It's just I love their wall plugins, they are such great quality. You can get them on great deals, and they last a really long time and they have really pretty designs. I wish they had more. I wish they had more designs.
SPEAKER_02I do too. I do too. I saw one online, it wasn't Bath Body, but it was a little tiny chandelier with little lights. You plug it in. So cute. And I thought, oh, I would love that. But it was a lot more expensive than Bath Body Works.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, Bath and Body Works are very affordable. I have one plugged in into my each of my kids' rooms. I have one in my main living area when you walk in, and people always say, Oh, your house smells so good. What is that? And I change them constantly, and they're way cheaper than candles. Way cheaper than candles, you can't walk out of your house and leave a candle burning. It's just not and I love that they hide, like you don't know where they are. And so I mean, obviously, you can see where the ones are in my kids' rooms because they picked out like cute ones that match, but I love that and having them in your bathroom is just so wonderful. My husband loves a really great smelling bathroom. I don't know why.
SPEAKER_02Well, bathrooms are very important. Bathrooms sometimes don't smell good.
SPEAKER_01Well, he I don't know why he's like really into like we should get some, like he'll even say, like, we should get some lavender for the bathroom. Like, oh do they have lavender ones? Yeah, they do. They have a lot of tons of smells, they just don't have a lot of designs for the actual plug. Um, a lot of their designs are kind of like juvenile designs.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, they're not quite as sophisticated. But that that's just an example. You can have um oils, you can have some people love incense. I don't as much. Some people still love potpourri, which I don't know where they're finding that. But uh, whatever you like to have in your house, just have it smell good and be aware of your signature scent in your home.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and we're not saying to cover up bad smells with incense or anything. You need to keep your house clean, but that was what we covered on on another episode.
SPEAKER_01Well, and I really love cleaning with products that I love the smell of. Like I really love this, it's super random, but I really love the smell of pine salt mixed with this mint, the eucalyptus mint. I went to a I went to a hotel that smelled like so amazing years and years ago. And my husband and I both love the smell of this hotel so much that we finally asked, what do you guys use to make that smell? And that's what they used. They used pine salt and they put eucalyptus mint um essential oil into their pine salt, and they're they're they clean their floors with that. Wow. And we just thought it was so wonderful. I had no idea it was gonna be pine salt.
SPEAKER_02I was like, what pineapple? I know, and we all know that smell, at least most of us do.
SPEAKER_01But that's what I'm talking about. Like that, I still can smell it. And I it was years and years ago that we went there, and I can still smell those floors, and I didn't realize it was the floors, I just thought the whole hotel smelled so good. Um, so coming up with that for your home really changes the mood of your home.
SPEAKER_02And it also is for you when you come in. It's it's not just for your guests, it's for you.
SPEAKER_01Well, if you are consistently cleaning with vinegar, I know someone that does this. I do too. And that's great. That's great because it's it's toxic free and you're not dealing with these terrible chemicals. But could you put something maybe with your vinegar like lemons or oranges? Because it smells bad when you're cleaning with it. Yeah, you don't want that. I walk into this house and I every time I walk in, it smells like vinegar. And I to me, that's just not as positive of a memory.
SPEAKER_02No, so you want to you clean with vinegar, but but have another fragrance there in the background, like perhaps the plug-ins or something like that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well, you can add that's what I'm saying. That's why I brought up the pine salt thing. You can add stuff to the vinegar that's still healthy and and toxic free that smells good. Just it's about being aware. That's all. Yeah, really, that's all okay. Then the third tip we have, we're calling it let your home hug people, which has to do with a lot of thought and how cozy your home is. Now, some people do not struggle with this at all and their home. You come in and boy, the furniture is just you just want to dive right in and there's pillows everywhere. But some people purchase their furniture and their decor based on this is pretty, but it doesn't necessarily feel great. Oh, yeah. And then some people don't even, they may just have a mix and they're not even really thinking about it. Your house, I think this is completely natural for you. You always have purchased, like people even call your couch when you walk in the cloud.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. And and they're soft. The sofa, there's two sofas in there, but they and they both are off uh cream colored, which is terrifying to a lot of people. But I deliberately chose them because they have washable covers.
SPEAKER_01Well, you want your home to say, like, come in. That's why we're calling it your home, let your home hug people. You want your house to kind of have like this inviting feel to it. And this this is gonna be different for everybody. If you live in a small apartment, you're gonna have a much smaller task than if you live in a huge home. And a lot of this is just layering and how you choose to layer your home. It may not have to do with necessarily your sofa. I know I brought that up as an example, but it it has to do with your thought. So some of the things we we because this is kind of hard to kind of grasp without photos or any kind of imagery. I know, I know. Some of the things we made a list of things you can ask yourself to figure out if your home is inviting and cozy. Is there a lamp for reading? Lamps, I think, light in general is so cozy. Light is really important. Is there a place for someone to sit down and read? Even if you don't read, or look at their phone.
SPEAKER_02I mean, you know, that's also kind of a reading.
SPEAKER_01Is there a blanket within reach? Now, obviously, you're not going to want a blanket within reach in every single room. You're not gonna want that in the dining room or the kitchen, but is there a blanket within reach in the areas for Sitting. I know that sounds really obvious for some of us, but but others may not may not be thinking about that.
SPEAKER_02That's why a lot of people put like a lap blanket diagonally all across the back of their sofa.
SPEAKER_01Just it's it should say grab me. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02It should just say grab me.
SPEAKER_01Um is there a place to sit down and set a cup?
SPEAKER_02That's difficult for me. There's one place in my living room where I can I I don't have a place and it bugs me.
SPEAKER_01I I I have a seating area where I've noticed when I have guests over, they don't sit there. And I I asked you about this last time you were here, and you said it's because there's nowhere to put a cup. And I was like, oh my goodness.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01How can I not see that? It it there is a place for some of the people to put a cup, but not every seat has a place for someone to put a couple.
SPEAKER_02Like a like a coffee table is an obvious place to put a cup. But what if you're on the end and the coffee table?
SPEAKER_01Exactly. And I realize I'm still looking for a table that will fit there because I have no space there. And this is what I'm this is what's fun about decorating, is you know, you have a list of things that you're saying, okay, I need a blanket there. And then next time I'm out, I'm looking for this specific blanket. I need a table there. Next time I'm out shopping, I'm gonna look. And it's a treasure hunt that you're looking for.
SPEAKER_02These are getting that, I don't know what it's called. It's a cup holder that fits over the arm of a chair and it's attractive.
SPEAKER_01See, my my sofas won't work with for that because I have giant arms, which by the way, my husband picked out because he likes these giant uh pieces of furniture. Um, another one is are your pillows soft? I know this is kind of silly for some of us, but do you have a a habit of buying these beautiful pillows and not realizing, oh, I would never want to put my face on that.
SPEAKER_02I would never want to hop that bees all over it. As Bob, I have two like that, which I need to change. As Bob says, it feels like I'm it feels like it's third base. And I said, why third base? He said, because third base is the base and bait is this part in baseball where uh more people they don't ever get to third base before they're struck out. And so so the base doesn't get pounded soft like it does first base. Yeah, I said he said, because it doesn't the third base pillow thing that they have doesn't get pounded soft because not as many people get to it, they get struck out before then. That is such an interesting way to think about a pillow. Well, he's into sports.
SPEAKER_01I would never have thought of that.
SPEAKER_02That's because you don't want a pillow that feels like third base.
SPEAKER_01Well, that's a good way of thinking about it from a male's perspective. Like, wow, they really, really appreciate it. I know my husband really appreciates soft pillows, he's very particular, but he doesn't buy them. I buy them. So I have to think about that when I'm shopping. And I I tend to love pillows that are not soft. I'll I'll go straight to the pillow that is knit or something or wool, and it's so beautiful. And then I touch it and I'm like, scratchy. Darn it, it's scratchy. Um, and that's not saying you can't have beautiful, uncomfortable pillows. I think it's just about having that balance of okay, well, I've got these really soft ones here, and then I have my one that's like that's not the cuddly one. Yeah, yeah, it has shark teeth all over it. Another thing you can ask yourself for finding out if your home is cozy. Could two people easily sit here and have a conversation? Is it like your house is obviously so great for that? You have it perfectly set up for that. Um TV in that room where everyone gathers and stuff.
SPEAKER_02Oh, that room. Yeah, I just I I knew that if this when she's talking about what I call the living room, because there's is a TV room downstairs. If I had a TV there, you would hear it all over the upstairs.
SPEAKER_01And I just having no TV in a room, I think, is uh hopefully people understand what we're talking about. And if you have a small apartment, obviously that's gonna be challenging. But do you have an area where it is inviting to just you're inviting people to sit down and have a conversation? And maybe it's about one piece of furniture that's facing away from the TV, if you can. Yeah, but it's just something this to think about. Is there a place where we can sit and talk and it feels welcoming? Yes. Um can can my husband put his feet up? I I I know this depends on the husband, of course, but men love to traditionally, you know, come home from work, put their feet up. Women do too. Um so I guess it's not necessarily just about your husband, but is there a place where you can kind of put your feet up and relax?
SPEAKER_02Or do you have furniture that if a person wanted to, they could they could put their feet on like on the sofa? Now, obviously they should probably remove their shoes, but there's some furniture that you don't even even with socks on, you don't want to put your feet up on it because you're afraid you'll get it dirty. But there are a lot of different fabrics or even leather that you could put your feet on and not worry about it soiling it.
SPEAKER_01Yes. Is there a place that kids can play or build a puzzle on the floor? Is there a place where you can set we already talked about setting your cup down, but like setting your cup down and not worrying that it might fall over? Is there a place where you feel like you can just relax and sink in? Well, you could maybe have what's it called?
SPEAKER_02You know, those coasters, a stack of coasters. Exactly.
SPEAKER_01Having yes, having those layers and that thought in your home, you know, is there a place to put your things? Is there a place to put your stuff down? I know when people come in and they aren't sure, should I put my shoes here? Having a little place for that is very warm and inviting. Okay. The fourth tip is we talked a little bit already about light, but we're gonna talk a little bit more about light. But let light tell the story. Light is just so important in your home. If you have a home that doesn't have a lot of light, are you investing in other lighting options and layering with lamps? I know the episode we did about decorating your home on YouTube, we interviewed Eliza Timbo. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I always think of her when we talk about light because in that in that interview that you did with her, she talked about twinkle lights and how she puts twinkle lights all over the place in her house that her battery operated. And I well, after watching that interview, I ended up doing that. And I have them in my house. Um, it just light just tells such a wonderful, warm, cozy story.
SPEAKER_02Some people some people call them fairy lights if you want to look them up.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. And there's so many different kinds, and I actually have rechargeable batteries. Oh, that's nice. Um, and I have a charger for my batteries, so I'm not really spending hardly anything on these things because I just once you invest in the initial batteries, and they last for I think about a month, they're on a timer and they come on at night, and it just makes your home feel so warm and cozy. It's something that is definitely like a woman's touch kind of thing.
SPEAKER_02Like And one thing, one thing about light to remember right now when we're when we're recording this, it is summer. So in most of the places, unless you're in the southern hemisphere, it there's a lot of light. But a lot of us live in places, I know you do, in the winter, there's a lot of gray days. And so you want you don't want to have to depend on natural light, even if you have windows for light, because um gray days don't provide that warm light that the sun that the sunnier days do.
SPEAKER_01Well, and and some homes have so many windows and you get that beautiful natural light. And then you have other homes that don't have hardly any. And so, or apartments are like that. Yeah. Or maybe you just have a room with no windows or hardly any windows, and you don't get a lot of light. And I think this is where you just are more thoughtful about areas that have light. Do you have a dark corner and you want a little bit more light there? Is that where you want to strategically put a lamp? I've been looking at um these options because I don't have a very well-lit house. I've been looking at these options for lights in my house that are battery operated because getting an electrician to come in and put in overhead lighting or sconces on your walls can be really expensive. And they are starting to make, I think it's still pretty new technology, but they're starting to make lights that you can literally just it's just a battery.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I've seen I've saw some on um on TV advertised, and it looked like a sconce. Yeah, but they they peeled something off the back, and I thought, I hope it doesn't, I hope you can get it off your wall without wrecking your wall. I just remember that, but it was battery operated, but it looks really cute. They had one on either side of a fireplace, and yeah, I thought that was kind of neat.
SPEAKER_01I've been looking at the ones that you actually screw into the wall because I would be afraid to choose a sticky one. I would that would make me nervous that it would fall. But I've been looking at the ones that you can you can screw into the wall and you cannot tell at all that it is um that it's battery operated.
SPEAKER_02And it's bright enough because you don't you know brighter than say a night light.
SPEAKER_01Well, I haven't bought any yet. If I I don't know, it's still kind of newer technology, and I think it there's very limited styles, but I think this is what I'm what we're talking about is like finding ways, creative ways to add more light into your home into the right places.
SPEAKER_02Well, I know in your kitchen, my kitchen has a lot more light, but your kitchen is quite dark and the cabinets are dark. So what if there was what if there was uh an under that you something you could stick under the under the top cupboards that was light that you could I should do that?
SPEAKER_01I probably will do that um now that we're talking about this, because I actually posted a picture of my kitchen on our Facebook group. I saw that. And someone suggested that I do that. And I was under the cabinet. Now you're suggesting it.
SPEAKER_02So now I need to do it. Well, and they're not they're not even very expensive because for one thing, they're not meant to be attractive because they don't show.
SPEAKER_01I just have to be careful about light, and maybe there's somebody out there listening to this that will uh relate to this. I have to be really careful about how many lamps I buy and how many actual powered things I buy because my husband is really, really stingy about like electricity and he doesn't like lights on. He wants everything off. He has our lights in our main living room area on a timer, on a motion timer. So when you're sitting in there and you're reading, the lights will just turn off because it doesn't emotion. I I I really struggle with that. Like I really, really struggle with it. We've actually gotten into several debates about it because I just can't stand it and it drives me nuts. I'll be in there working, I'll be on the computer and like the lights just turn off. And or I'll be in there doing a puzzle with my daughter and the lights will just turn off. And I have to be really careful because that's really important to him.
SPEAKER_02So if that's Does it bother him when he's when he's sitting in there and the lights go off? No, does it bother him? No, it doesn't bother him at all.
SPEAKER_01It doesn't happen to him very often because he's not in there very often. So for me, I struggle with this whole like so. If I get something from my kitchen, this is where I was going with the story. If I get something for my kitchen, I need to get something that's battery operated. I'm really into the battery stuff because he can't he can't burger anything. Well, and I I do have to say, electricity, our electric bill is $400 and some dollars a month. It is expensive.
SPEAKER_02So it's probably not lights, it's probably not lights, it's probably heating and air and water, you know, water heaters and well, it's a separate, we have a separate water bill.
SPEAKER_01I don't want to get too off into a tangent, but it's it is just the electric bill, just the electric bill. It is very expensive, and we do have a lot of things plugged in. And he has an electric car. Like we have, we just have a lot of car.
SPEAKER_02I forgot about that.
SPEAKER_01We have a lot of devices, we have air purifiers, we have so many things plugged in. I obviously have the plugins from Bath and Body Works. Now you added those that I mentioned earlier. I I we use a lot of electricity, so I have to be careful of that. Some of the tips that we have for lights is obviously if you have a lot of natural light, opening your curtains and letting that light come in. I think that's a big one. It's just like open up, open your shutters, open your curtains, trying to go for warmer bulbs instead of harsh whites. I know that some people are like, they love the bright whites. My husband really likes the bright.
SPEAKER_02He does. Oh, I like the warm ones.
SPEAKER_01So that's that's something that I kind of have to, that's where I get my twinkle. My twinkle lights are always those really warm, um, kind of gold. Uh, so I can kind of add that in. Yeah. You can do that with your lamps too. Yes. And putting lamps in dark corners, if you can. I know I don't have a lot of that ability in my house, but you do a really nice. I love how in your house when the lights are all off, you usually have lamps on it. It's so cozy.
SPEAKER_02Well, you could also, if you don't have if you need to, you can do a standing lamp. Um, because you don't have to have a table. The standing lamp means you don't have to have a table or a piece of furniture.
SPEAKER_01Right. Exactly. Yeah. Candles. I know some people are against candles, but I do think that they can be really beautiful at night, especially if you're having dinner and you just want to make dinner a little extra special. Um, they do have those candles that I'm kind of a fan of. I have to go back to the batteries again. I really love the candles. Oh, those ones, yeah. I like that have the little batteries in them, and they you can even get ones that flicker.
SPEAKER_02It looks like it looks like a real light. And even if you're even if you're having, say, a simple dinner, like say, sandwich and soup, yeah, or pizza. It if you have candles, it makes them special.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. And they they have them that have the timers, and you can have on at night. I love those. Maybe they're not everybody's style, but I really love to put different kinds of ways to have light in your house. I just think it's so cozy and it motivates me as a person cooking and doing the majority of all the cleaning. I I feel cozy at night and it feels nice, especially in the winter.
SPEAKER_02Especially in the winter when it gets dark early anyway.
SPEAKER_01Yes. Okay, and then the fifth tip, we're calling it let nature do the decorating. Now, this has to do with bringing the outdoor feelings into your home. This has to do with bringing life into your home. And some people are really good at this, and some people just are afraid of it. They say I've heard so many people say, I don't want to get a plant, I kill it. I always kill all my plants.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's ways around that.
SPEAKER_01I don't understand people like that, but there are fake there's fake ones too. Well, there's really really quality artificial plants out there now. There didn't used to be. No. I still want to challenge those people that say they kill everything. I still want to challenge you to bring something alive into your home. It just brings so much warmth into your house. It makes people feel comfortable. I can't say enough about the texture of plants. And this isn't even just plants. I shouldn't just say it's limited to plants. This is about textures in your home. It could be about having like fruit sitting in a bowl. It could be about instead of constantly picking, like I know people that really are attracted for some reason to plastic, like plastic or like, oh, I want to have this plastic bowl with this plastic plant with this plastic. Like you know what I'm saying? Like, there's a lot of plastic out there, but pick wood, maybe instead of plastic, or pick something that's natural with nature as your container. Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_02Baskets. Well, um, I I know you remember this because you were still living at home then when I had a tree in my house. Yeah. It was it was not alive. It was we have tall ceilings, we have 12-foot ceilings. And one time we went to a wedding reception, a friend of ours, and the guy was really good at decorating. He had this these uh this tree in there that the the branches grew in such a way that it kind of highlighted the bride and groom who stood under it. And afterwards, he was going to throw it away. So I I said I wanted it, and he brought it over to our house, and I set it up in a corner. It was there for years until I realized it became a huge fire hazard. Uh and and I could put lights on it at Christmas, and I so I could decorate it at different times of the year.
SPEAKER_01Now I love that tree. I still miss that tree when I walk into your house. I'm like, oh, it's not the same.
SPEAKER_02It was, yeah, yeah, it was beautiful. It was really beautiful, and the room was big enough it could handle it.
SPEAKER_01I think just how can you like how can you choose to bring the outdoors into your home? The outdoors are a natural stress reliever. Think about it. When you go on a walk outside, maybe you don't love it, but maybe you you you and dad, like let's go on a walk and it's a beautiful day. It's a stress reliever. It's because nature naturally is a de stressor.
SPEAKER_02It's it's more of a stress reliever when you don't live in the city, but it still can be. We still get the trees. There's a lot of trees where we live. I think where you live, there's a lot of trees too, aren't there?
SPEAKER_01There are. And I personally, I live in a busy city, but I feel I feel wonderful when I go outside, even though I live in a busy city. I actually find neighbors comforting and I find all those sounds comforting. I don't like the country. But regardless, nature is a natural de stressor. And so bringing in into your home thoughtfully is always going to make your home better. So bringing in wood versus glass, for example, uh, not saying anything bad about glass, but uh, there's some people that really are attracted to glass uh desks, glass coffee tables, glasses.
SPEAKER_02Well, they not only they not well, they they not only get fingerprints on them, but they're breakable.
SPEAKER_01So that's well, they say hard, I guess is what I'm saying. Like they they send a message of heart. So if you have that glass coffee table, great, but do you have something on that surface that softens it like flower? Um thinking just being thoughtful about the if this container is made of plastic, what do I have in it that feels softer and more closer to nature?
SPEAKER_02Like a bowl of lemons, it can even be exactly like that. And they're beautiful, the colors are beautiful, oranges.
SPEAKER_01I mean, and and then you can get to the actual plants, which is is great too. I think some of the plants that you can use in your home that you don't kill are like a succulent is really difficult difficult to kill. I mean, if you just don't have any light and your house is freezing, I guess it'll die. But other than that, you really don't you really can't kill it. It is it's you just need light and a and warmth.
SPEAKER_02You yeah, you you you need plants that thrive on neglect.
SPEAKER_01I love fig leaf trees. I I absolutely adore them, but I cannot, I know that it won't live in my house because I don't have a lot of natural light. I just don't. So don't buy plants that need a ton of light. Like that's why you're killing it, is because you're buying the wrong plant more than me. And orchids, I know a lot of people like to have orchids. You also have to have light and you have to be really careful that you keep it cool. It's just about doing a little bit of homework on what kind of plants work in your house and what kind you can actually take care of. If you have to go faux, just really try to get a better quality fake. Because if you're going to like, I don't know, like the craft store or Walmart has the worst fake play. Oh my gosh, they're terrible. They look so terrible. I don't think that those make your home look wonderful. I think that they make your home look tacky. But that's just me.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Well, also, uh another thing you can do that's fairly inexpensive is wooden cutting boards that are visible, not just in a drawer. Right.
SPEAKER_01Like the there goes the plastic again. Like a lot of people opt for the plastic, which is fine. I'm not saying don't get plastic kitchen utensils. I'm just saying, where's the balance? Do you have anything that is not plastic?
SPEAKER_02Well, there's there's cutting boards that look like wood that aren't.
SPEAKER_01And that also But I love woven bat, and you can get them at thrift stores. That's like there's like an aisle of them at my thrift store that I go to. And getting baskets to put your things in, they're your storage items in, rather than the plastic containers that a lot of people or the cheap fabric containers. I'm not saying like ever literally everything, but the things that are that are sitting out. If you have a bunch of pillows or if you have a throw and you you you want to store some of that stuff, having a basket on the floor versus like a cart or a or a box can add that it's it's all about the texture and bringing that texture into your home. You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I do. I know what you're saying. Stone too.
SPEAKER_01Stone is a natural clays, yeah. Anything that's just in your personality. What is your what is the what does your home feel like? What is the story in your home? And I think that's where you know you could start to get into the visual rest. That these things can be visual rest. The first tip that we talked about. Like if you have a giant tree, like you said, that in your house you used to have a big tree. That is Visual rest because it's huge. I think with the visual rest and plants, I think those two kind of really go hand in hand and they can they can go together because you're bringing this outside into your home, it can feel like that's your visual rest if you if you really do it strategically. Like in my kitchen, it's like you mentioned earlier, it's dark. I have I have to try to create visual rest in there with like you said, the cutting boards, the wood. I try to do rest with wood in there.
SPEAKER_02If you had if if your cabinets were lighter or like it would the lightness would bring light into it, but you have I think you only have one window, it's over the sink, and and the cabinet, and the cabinets are really dark. So it's a challenge. But again, going back to under the under the counter battery operated ones, I think I'd like one for a couple of areas of my kitchen. Yeah, I don't think have enough.
SPEAKER_01Well, and and we have a fun challenge here at the end that we want to ask for all of you to ask yourselves. When you go shopping, think about before you're buying another decoration, think about could this room use something living instead? I think that's such a great reminder when you're out and about and you're shopping and you're like, oh, this looks so cute. I'm gonna put this little, you know, like you said, dad likes to shove things into your into your little call unit, the wall unit.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, because there's these shelves, so it's like if there's a blank space, you can put something there. Not realizing it in a couple of years, the whole thing's gonna be cluttered.
SPEAKER_01Well, now you say to yourself, but could I get a plant or could I get something here that's softer? Could I get something that's from nature here? Could I get a basket here? Could I get could I put something there instead of the I keep buying the same things? Okay, so those are our tips for decorating your home. And it's the last episode of our domestic goddess series. Hope you enjoyed it. Mom, thank you for all of your tips.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, thank you for doing this.
SPEAKER_01So I hope you all enjoyed it. We have a little surprise for you on our website attached with this podcast. It is a style quiz that you can take and you can find out what your true style is. I think there's four or five, I can't remember, different personalities that are in there. This is actually a quiz that we used to do at the store. I worked, I worked at anthropology for nine years. And we used to train our sales associates on how to help customers with decorating. And we had to take this test as employees. And I remembered that we used to do that and how much my employees loved to do things like this. And it helped them kind of help customers guide them through the decor in the store. And so I basically had it memorized. I had to work on it and kind of tweak some things, things that I couldn't remember. And I created this quiz for anyone out there that wants to take it to learn what your style is and what um what that means about you.
SPEAKER_02It'll help you when you shop for new things.
SPEAKER_01I am the, I can't remember what it's called. I am the one that's eclectic. It's there's an eclectic uh result that you can that you might get. But it's really fun. You should definitely take it if you're interested in finding out more about your style. Yeah, I think it's a great idea. Be sure to share this episode if it resonated with you. If you know somebody that might enjoy it, we'd love to hear from you and other things that you'd like us to cover, other topics. Fascinatingwomanhood.com is a place you can visit, see all of our story, our library, our social media, all the communities you can connect with us on. Those are all on our website, as well as Dixie's books. You definitely need to check those out. We have workbooks, we have books, we have audiobooks. Everything that you could possibly want to learn about fascinating womanhood is on our website, and we will see you next time.
SPEAKER_02See you next time. Stay feminine.
SPEAKER_01Bye.