09/19/2026
FROM WHERE I SIT:
Hopefully Not Next to a Doll
I have a theory about Rice Krispie treats.
They were perfectly good with Rice Krispies, marshmallows and butter. Somewhere along the way, someone decided they needed Reese’s Pieces, M&M’s, chocolate chips, peanut butter, caramel and a chocolate drizzle across the top.🤪
At some point, I just want to say, quit jacking up the Rice Krispie treats. 😂 We don’t have to trick everything up. Not everything gets better just because we keep adding things to it.
I feel the same way about a Dairy Queen Blizzard. Give me ice cream and some candy. I don’t need brownies, cheesecake, iced animal crackers or Hot Tamales in there. 😩
And don’t even get me started on Bloody Marys. If yours has shrimp, bacon, cheese, pickles and a cheeseburger sticking out of the top, we’ve stopped making a drink and started building an appetizer tray.
Apparently, I have strong feelings about that fine line between enough and too much. 😂
Which brings me to houses.
People have always had a tendency to collect things and then keep adding to the collection. When I was little, souvenir spoons were a thing. I remember going into one lady’s house who had an ENTIRE wall of spoons.
Not a little spoon rack. A spoon WALL.
Even as a kid, I remember thinking, She REALLY loves spoons.
Every generation has had its own version of the spoon wall. I remember decorative plates, baskets, Precious Moments, artificial ivy on top of the kitchen cabinets, the endless hallway of family pictures, and now maybe an entire collection of hats displayed on a wall.
And listen, I love a good animal mount. So I’m certainly not judging anybody’s collections. But even I know there’s a fine line between a few great mounts and a room that somehow looks like it has a smell…even when it doesn’t. 😂
That’s the thing about collections. Whether it’s spoons, pictures, hats, figurines, or animal mounts, there’s that fine line again between enough and too much.
And I’m certain there are things in my own house right now that my kids will someday make fun of me for.
But there is one decorating choice I’ve never been able to get behind: DOLLS🫣
Years ago, some friends and I stayed at a cabin that had more personality than just about any place I’ve ever stayed. Someone had clearly spent a lot of time collecting things they loved and making that cabin exactly what they wanted it to be.
It was cozy, collected and definitely decorated with a “more is more” philosophy. ..which, as you’ve probably figured out by now, is pretty much the opposite of mine. 😂
I am not exaggerating when I tell you there had to be close to 100 quilts in that cabin. They were beautiful and they were everywhere. On the beds, hanging on the walls, layered throughout the rooms. I honestly didn’t know there were that many ways to decorate with a quilt.
And then we found the BABY DOLLS‼️
That’s where they lost me. 😂
They were sitting on the beds. Just sitting there. Looking at us.
And let me tell you, nobody got a good night’s sleep with those babies watching us. 😂 Apparently, it doesn’t matter how old you are put a baby doll beside your bed in a strange cabin and suddenly you are scared to death and start imagining all kinds of ridiculous “killer doll” scenarios.🧟
We laughed about those dolls the entire trip, and I’m pretty sure none of us have ever wanted to sleep next to one again.
One person’s cozy is another person’s creepy. Neither one is necessarily wrong. Decorating is just incredibly personal.
And while I can appreciate almost any collection, I’ve learned that dolls are probably never going to be mine. 🙅♀️
Of course, I have my own decorating quirks too.
Mine happens to be signs, but not the usual kind. I’ve never really understood hanging other people’s sayings all over my house. I think Maya Angelou was incredibly wise, but I don’t necessarily need Maya hanging on my kitchen wall telling me how to live every morning.
When we built our house, I decided if I was going to put words on our walls, I wanted them to be our words. So I took things that each of mine and E’s boys said habitually (the phrases that had become uniquely theirs) and had those quotes made into signs. They probably don’t mean a thing to anyone else, but they mean something to us.
And I think that’s really the point.
Your home should tell your story.
Fill it with things that make you laugh, remind you of people you love and make it feel like yours. Someone else may walk in, look at something you absolutely love and think, Well…that’s an interesting choice.
That’s okay. When you’re living in your house, decorate it for you.
When you’re selling it, however, that’s when sometimes we need to edit.
As a real estate agent, I’ve walked into homes where there is so much to look at that I almost forget to look at the house. And sometimes what’s underneath all of that decorating is an absolutely amazing house! The beautiful windows, the great fireplace, the size of the room, the details that made the owners fall in love with it in the first place gets lost.
But buyers can’t appreciate what they can’t see.
That doesn’t mean stripping away every ounce of personality and turning your home into a beige furniture showroom. Keep the character. Keep the warmth. Keep some of what makes it yours. Just don’t let the things inside the house become more noticeable than the house itself.
Because Rice Krispie treats, Blizzards, Bloody Marys and houses apparently have something in common: adding more doesn’t necessarily make something better.
So if you’re getting ready to sell, maybe pack up a few things a little early.
And please, for the love… pack the baby dolls. 😂
From where I sit, your home should absolutely have your personality. When it’s time to sell, keep a little of the sugar and spice …just maybe not every ingredient in the kitchen. Sometimes what you started with was already pretty darn good.
I’ll put a picture of some of our family sayings in the comments so y’all can decide if my decorating choices belong on somebody else’s “pack that up before the showing” list. 😂
