Episode #195: Answering Your Decor Questions

This week, we are answering your home decor questions. We are talking about flooring, buying furniture online, decorating your walls and not over-planning. 

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Show Notes:

Check out Emma’s storage closet HERE

Q: Which floor do you recommend for kitchens?

A: We recommend wood flooring or have it match the rest of your house’s flooring. If using tile, don’t do light or white grout. Brick or glazed brick floors look great too.

Q: How do you feel confident making large purchases online? 

A: The most important thing is to get the right size and scale. Then make sure you get the fabric that you want. Read all the reviews and check the return policies.

Q: How do you decorate without destroying an older home or making a giant mess out of a simple project (like huge chunks of plaster being torn off, ruining your wallpaper, etc.)?

A: Test a very small area where no one will see with a command strip or use a tiny nail to hang light pieces of art.

Q: Do you ever find it debilitating planning too much?

A. You will always have FOMO, it’s unavoidable but over-planning can help you feel more confident in your decision.

Miss an Episode? Get Caught Up!

• Episode #193: The Best Advice We’ve Received (Deep Dive)
• Episode #192: Our Birthday Traditions
• Episode #191: Amazing Home Decor Items Under $50

Episode 195 Transcript:

Emma: You’re listening to The Beautiful Mess Podcast, your cozy comfort listen. This week we are answering all your questions. We are talking about flooring, buying furniture online, decorating your walls, and not over-planning. We’ve got it all. Decor!

Elsie: Nice. Yeah, I love that this episode is going to be all about answering questions. Okay. So before we jump in, Emma just took me into the world’s greatest storage closet. And I want her to tell you all about it because it’s such a trip. And we did make a video, so hopefully we can post the video as well. Okay, go ahead. 

Emma: So you might remember at the beginning of the summer, we were talking about summer bucket lists. One thing on my summer bucket list was that I wanted to organize my holiday closet, and the reason was I wanted to get it all organized and put together before the holiday season starts, which for me is like Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, because that’s what most of my decor that I have to store is for, because I don’t have that much for Valentine’s or Easter or fourth July. I have a couple of things, but not really. Anyway, so I was wanting to do that this summer while I try to find some time, and then it was done so that when it comes time to decorate, it’s just gonna be stress-free and fun instead of a big rat’s nest of garbage that I have to sort through. So I did that and in my mind I was like, I can do that over the whole summer. I’ll just work on it an hour here, an hour there as I have time. And then one day I started to work on it over my lunch break ’cause I was like, I’ll spend an hour on it. No big deal. And as soon as I started I was like, you fool, you can’t spend just an hour ’cause it like requires you to take all the stuff out and kind of put up some shelves and I had to hang a whole bunch of guitar hangers to put my skeletons on. Just a lot of drilling things into the wall kind of thing, and then putting it all back. And a lot of it is like glass or breakable or just stuff that’s like not safe for my son to be around, but if it was out, he would definitely wanna play with it. So I was like, there’s no way I can leave this stuff out until tomorrow. So anyway, then it just turned into like a five-hour marathon of like, I’ve gotta finish this today before my son heard some stuff on all this breakable stuff. So I used guitar hangers to hang my collection of nine life-sized skeletons up on the walls.

Elsie: They’re so cute hanging that way. 

Emma: I love them. It looks so cute in there ’cause they used to be just like a pile of skeletons in the basement. Yeah. And that was not cute, that was terrifying. And now I feel like you open the door and it’s like, well this is fun. This feels wacky and also organized, and it’s nice. I put up some shelves that have like big tupperware things and lots of like wreaths and garlands and Christmas ornaments and all sorts of things sitting on there. And then I also hung up some, they’re like hangers that you can put coffee mugs on ’cause I have a collection of Halloween mugs and a collection of Christmas mugs, and so I have those hanging up. And I showed Elsie, I have like two extra shelves I haven’t even hung yet. So that if I wanna buy more, I have more storage space. Then what was the other thing? Oh, I bought it, this was random, but it worked great. I bought these giant athletic ball nets. They’re kind of for basketballs? That you use them at gyms to like to store a whole bunch of basketballs. You can carry the basketballs around or soccer balls, whatever. I put all my fake pumpkins in there and I have four giant athletic bags of these fake pumpkins and it worked great and now they’re just hanging up on the shelf.

Elsie: I thought that was genius because when we recently moved, finding something to put all my pumpkins in was a big problem. And it does feel like you’re wasting a lot of space. Like in most storage bags. So that bag, just the way that it’s formatted and flexible, was perfect.

Emma: So the athletic bags, they’re like a net because I had these giant gift bags that I had them stored in before, and they just got lots of like spiders and bugs, because they sit there all year until you pull them out for Halloween. Like in a storage area, which is, you know, it’s not like I spray it with bug spray all the time. It’s just sitting there for months and months and months and months. So now that it’s in these like nets, it’s like, okay, well it’s not gonna, there could be a spider on it, but it’s not gonna be like in the bottom of the bag, you know, kind of situation anyway, so it’s much better, basketball nets for the win.

Elsie: Yeah, well, it was adorable. It made my day and it looked so cute in there. And if I were you, I would just like go in there and like smell your candles. 

Emma: I literally go in there at least once a week since I did it and I just am like, Ah ’cause it just, I feel like I have my life together. I feel like a dream has come true where I’m like, look at all this holiday stuff and it’s all just organized and ready to go out. I just, I don’t know. I love it. I go in there all the time and I’m like, ah, there’s space for me to buy more Halloween stuff ’cause I have enough room. All right. I just feel so happy about it. It’s very dorky and I’m not sorry at all, this is who I am. All right. So that’s my decor update, but let’s get to listener questions. Dun, dun, dun.

Elsie: I love this. Okay, cool. The first Mirna question is from Mirna. It says I am finally ready to start seriously thinking about a kitchen remodel. Which floor do you recommend for kitchens? Okay, first of all, congratulations because that is so exciting. I think the kitchen, is the most exciting room to remodel in a home. And especially if you are at the point where you’re gonna do a big remodel. Yeah, I like can’t wait to do it myself. And yeah, I’m so excited for you. Okay, so for me, I love a wood floor in the kitchen, and here’s why. I know that it seems like the tile is more waterproof. I get that, but wood can be pretty waterproof too. Wood can be like pretty good. And I love a wood floor in a kitchen because I think that first of all, I like to have as few unnecessary transitions as possible. So I like to keep everything as simple as possible when it comes to flooring. So the only place that I personally want tile is in a bathroom or maybe a mudroom or something.

Emma: Or laundry, maybe if it’s its own area or whatever because that can be an area with water. Yeah. 

Elsie: But for the kitchen, I have just found that my main reason is that glasses and stuff will break on the tile so much easier. And with just having kids and stuff, I had a couple of tiled kitchens and a couple of wood floor kitchens and I just think the wood floor is better. So that’s my very strong opinion and it’s really just based on like things don’t break as much and it feels more comfortable for my feet and more like cozy and just a little more, my personal preference of what material I want to have. My true first choice is wood. So what do you think Em? 

Emma: Yeah, I’m the same. We got the opportunity to redo our kitchen before we moved into this house, and we have wood laminate, which is what we have throughout most of the house, except for the bathrooms, one mudroom, and a laundry room. 

Elsie: It’s really pretty. It’s really, really light. It’s really big planks. It’s really modern. 

Emma: Yeah. I really like it. It’s also very waterproof and it’s the kind that kind of snaps together where essentially you can replace an area. So if there was a big flood by the refrigerator or something, you can replace a portion of it. It’s not as easy as tile, I wouldn’t think but actually, maybe it’s easier in some ways. I guess it depends on what you consider easy. And I’m with Elsie, the fewer transitions in flooring the better in my opinion. Just because transitions can be visually disruptive, you know? ’cause you’re literally going from one material to another, so it like stops your eye. But then I also think sometimes transitions can be a little bit of like a tripping hazard, and so I just think the less of them the better. So that’s what I would prefer too. So here are some ideas. If you’re not gonna be able to like redo all your floors at once. So you’re like, my kitchen is not going to match the rest of my house, not possible that ship sailed. So what are some ideas? Here’s what I would do. So if you have wood or wood laminate in the rest of your house or the adjacent rooms to your kitchen, you could try to get something that matches, they could try to match the stain or something like that. So maybe it’s not the exact same flooring, but it could visually look the same, so you could do that. If you’re able to get the same flooring, then you obviously could continue it. You could also do a thing where you lay it differently, so here it goes from your living room into your kitchen. If those are the two rooms that are adjacent to each other, then the kitchen could be kind of a herringbone pattern. And so it’s like, you know, it’s similar materials, but it doesn’t exactly match, but because you decided to do a different kind of pattern or lay it a slightly different way, it’s like it gives it a like, that’s okay. That’s normal, it just kind of gets it in there. And then if you are doing tile, which I don’t think is a terrible choice by the way. I know Elsie and I are both not recommending it, but like it, if you are.

Elsie: Let’s skip tips for what tile would choose if it is tile. 

Emma: Yeah. The main thing I would say is don’t do light or white grout. For some people, this will be so obvious and for some people, they’ll be like, what? But I have an all-white kitchen. I love white. And it’s like, I get it. But white grout on a floor, especially a high-traffic area, like a kitchen, it’s just gonna get gross. So plan your design where your grout can be a mid-tone or maybe dark if you have a darker floor. 

Elsie: Yeah. I would say even light gray grout is better than white. Or if you want like a more warm color like a light, sort of like beige color is better. Pure white grout, I had it in the kitchen before and we were touching it up once a year, it was a lot of work to maintain. If you’re willing to do that, get done with there with that grout pin, then that’s an option too.,But I wouldn’t recommend it probably. Okay, so if I were going to do tile in the kitchen, obviously, like I love the look of marble. I think marble is beautiful, but having had it, I don’t know, I felt I just broke so many glasses in that kitchen. I think I would go more, I like the look of brick floor kitchens. I think they’re really pretty, that’s nice and classic, very classy and unique. And I also like glazed brick. They have it on fire, clay tile if you wanna just like look at it and see what it looks like if you took a thin piece of brick, it’s like, it’s thin as a tile, but it really is a brick, and then you glaze just the outside of it, a color that’s what those are. I like fire clay also because they have like a nonslip thing you can add to any tile. Which is nice. It’s very, very important to know that you get something that’s not gonna be super slippery with little kids.

Emma: Yeah, and dogs too. You know pets that can be an issue too. 

Elsie: I think I would do a, I really love like a black and white or like a gray and white. 

Emma: Like a checkered? 

Elsie: Yeah, like a checkered, or like a what’s it called when it’s like tilted to the side? 

Emma: Like a diamond?

Elsie: Diamond? Yeah, a diamond pattern floor for a kitchen, I think is so classy and so pretty, and I love how it looks. So I guess I would probably go in that direction after having had the marble floors. I would probably choose a porcelain tile just for like ease of use. And you know, just like keeping it looking brand new forever, if that’s important to you. I know so many people think that you shouldn’t feel like everything has to stay looking brand new forever. But I kind of like it when it does. So, everyone’s different. 

Emma: I think there are different levels of it, and everyone has their own comfort and that’s fine. I’ll also say if you end up in a situation where you’re renovating something like a kitchen and you don’t get to do your top choice of flooring because maybe you ran outta budget, you spent it on those nice countertops or whatever else. The rugs are great. You can always do a very neutral floor and something durable that’s simple, and don’t go wild and do a beautiful rug. Get a beautiful rug in there. Just throwing that out there ’cause I know there are times pretty much every renovation goes over budget and you end up having to cut something that you were excited about. So just know there’s always an alternative that can be very exciting still. So don’t worry about it. Stick to that budget as best you can. It’s hard. We’re here for you. Okay, next question. 

Elsie: I think we definitely answered that question from every possible direction.

Emma: You wanna talk about floors? Great. 

Elsie: Quite thoroughly.

Emma: This question comes from Talia, and she says, how do you feel confident making large purchases online? I’m in the process of purchasing a couch, and I find it difficult to know how to pull the trigger, especially for stores that don’t have a local showroom to test beforehand. Would love to know how you make these decisions and what your top considerations are. Buying a couch online or other things. But yes, that is nerve-wracking. 

Elsie: I definitely am like, online shopping lady. So, I can definitely answer this. So I think if you live in a city where you have abundant options of sofas that you can look at in person and test in person, you should do that. I’ve never lived in a city with anything more than a West Elm and I guess they had an Our House in Nashville. There are not a lot of choices and I think that even with those choices, I would still shop online. Sofas are such a specific thing that you need to get the size and scale right for your room first and foremost the most important thing is that you get the right size and scale. And then the second most important thing in my opinion is that you get the fabric that you prefer and you know, whatever that is. You need to pick the right thing, not just like what’s available. And I know there are probably some people who are open-minded enough that they could just like go to any furniture store and pick something and that’s fine and they don’t care. But I am not that person. I do agonize over major purchases, sofas, rugs, beds, and things like that. But my best tips are, first of all, reviews. So I like to get a personal recommendation that is always best for me above anything else. A lot of the most, like biggest, most important purchases I’ve ever made were definitely from friends who are like, I really like this bed. I really like this type of rug that cleans really well, things like that.

Emma: This leather sofa actually held up way better than I thought, or whatever. Yeah, yeah. Stuff like that.

Elsie: And then below that, I think reading reviews online, there are so many places that have lots of reviews, and I think that you can usually get a pretty good idea. I don’t like to sway my opinion too much on reviews, just because I think a lot of negative people vent on them, but you know. Yeah. You know, you have to kind of overlook the people who are just like, am I able to tell my thing arrived, broken? And it’s like, good for you. That’s not helpful to other people. Ignore all those people, but like, you know, the people who are really taking the time to write a review that is meant to inform someone else making a purchase, I think is a generous, good thing and worth reading. And beyond that, the other thing is I learned this lesson the hard way. I think I talked about it a couple of years ago, but really with sofas and furniture, you need to check the return policies. I’ve returned sofas before more than once, and I have had an experience where it was like, a very good experience and I got almost all my money back. And then I’ve had one that was a very bad experience where like a huge fee came out and it was like a thousand dollars or something, and it just was like very frustrating because I felt like it wasn’t my fault in any way. It was just like the sofa wasn’t good quality when it arrived after a huge waiting period. And then I knew that I needed to return it ’cause I knew it wasn’t gonna hold up, and then they were like, okay, great. You can have this small amount of money back, and I was like, what? I didn’t read the return policy closely. So I think those are some tips that are helpful. And I think the, like also just experiencing buying online is like something, it’s a skill that you grow at where you kind of like learn what to watch out for, and when you have certain things arrive that don’t meet your expectations and then you have certain brands that exceed your expectations, you kind of learn to rely on those experiences too for like, I really trust these certain retailers and these retailers I know to like watch out for and you know, I’m only gonna shop there if it’s like a deal. 

Emma: Yeah, I think there’s that too. Thinking about your budget, and making sure that you are realistic. Like if you have a really, really low budget, but you have very high taste, you’re probably gonna have to compromise in some way.

Elsie: It’s Facebook marketplace time for you. 

Emma: I would try that first one a hundred percent. I would also look into reupholstering, something that you could buy way cheaper or like get from a friend or something like that.

You know, like just depending on your budget. But I’m assuming this person probably has a budget. They’re just thinking like, oh, I’m making a big purchase online. And that’s kind of scary. But yeah, I think the main thing I wrote down, I was like, two words, return policy, make sure that you know. And I do feel like brands that are great, a lot of times they have like the risk-free, some kind of return policy that’s like, look, we get it. Sometimes things aren’t what you thought. You’re gonna be able to return this no problem. And it’s like, okay, now I feel a lot more confidence trying you out and trying this out for maybe thousands of dollars because you’ve made it very straightforward that you’re not gonna like, trick me with all these fees if I don’t end up loving it. Nobody wants to return a couch. It’s a huge hassle, but if something’s not gonna be a good fit, you gotta return it. ’cause it’s a big thing, you’re gonna sit on it every day probably. So it’s gotta last and it’s gotta be the right fit and the right size and all the things that you need.

Elsie: Yeah, definitely. I definitely think that the best sofas are online, probably for most people in most parts of the country. Before we move on, one little shout-out for Facebook Marketplace and buying things used. I do think that the lowest budget, highest quality items are always going to be something from that category. It’s kind of never gonna be from Amazon, like a high low budget, super high-quality sofa. I would kind of say never like it’s very unlikely. If you want that like Ralph Lauren vibey, then you’re gonna need to, you’re gonna need to find something that’s used. And I think that it’s such a great thing from a perspective of like a vintage lover and from a perspective of just like the environment and waste and things like that. I think it’s really cool to learn how to clean things, learn how to restore things, learn how to make things better, you know, that are like a little bit beat up, but not bad. I think that those are super great qualities to embrace. So yeah, I would definitely encourage you to at least check and see, because yeah, there are definitely just so many different types of sofas you can find in a place like that. 

Emma: Oh yeah, there are treasures to be had. Turns out the only treasure map is a Facebook marketplace. Okay, our third question is from Kate and she says, I own a 100-year-old home with plaster walls and just put wallpaper up in our baby’s nursery. I hate dealing with plaster walls, so prefer using command strips, but the instructions say to not use them on wallpaper, how do you decorate without destroying an older home or making a giant mess out of a simple project, like huge chunks of plaster being torn off and ruining your wallpaper. Okay. We know about these plaster walls and wallpaper. 

Elsie: I just had an experience with my new wallpaper in my sunroom this week, so I had to put these little food backdrops, I needed to either tape or pin them to the walls. So I went to the store for push pins and they didn’t have them. It was at a grocery store, and they weren’t there, so I got the tape and I was like, it’ll be fine. It’ll be fine. And it wasn’t fine. Now I have two pieces of tape that are going to be on my wall forever unless I want to rip off the wallpaper until I get them patched in, which I probably will ’cause it’ll bug me. And after that, I will put probably two little nails in there, and some little clips. ’cause I’m so mad at myself for like, I felt like I just need to get this done. I need to get going on this, and it’s like, oh, I’m so frustrated. So I do understand your concern, and I think that you’re right. I would stay very far away from those command strips on that wallpaper. I love command strips.

Emma: I would test it. I would test it in a low-down corner somewhere where you’re never gonna see it anyway. 

Elsie: That’s a good idea. 

Emma: ’cause I have used command strips on wallpaper before and I have used it and it has been a disaster like what you’re just describing. And I’ve used it on wallpaper and it was fine. 

Elsie: I guess. I just like personally don’t understand people who think that command strips don’t cause damage to walls, because I’ve just had so many times that they ripped off my paint or wallpaper that I just have very small trust for them. 

Emma: Oh, I agree. But if you’ve ever tried to put a wall anchor into a plaster wall then you know the pain that Kate feels, and plaster walls are just in case anyone listening has never had a plaster wall and never dealt with it, they kind of crumble. So even putting a nail in sometimes can kind of make them sort of crumble. And it’s really annoying if you’re trying to hang something semi-heavy where you need a wall anchor because there’s not a stud there. Because if it crumbles, then like your wall anchor isn’t going to stay put in the wall either. It has nothing to grab onto. So you’re just like making this big hole and you’re getting no closer to hanging your art or your calendar or whatever it is you wanted to hang up there, and it’s super frustrating. Plaster walls, I love old houses, but that is the thing. It’s like I wanna move art around fairly often and plaster walls drive me nuts when it comes to those things. 

Elsie: Yeah. I have them. I still put tiny nails in them.

Emma: Tiny nails are good, if for something light. 

Elsie: If you can’t put a tiny nail, there are these kinds of nails that you can get on Amazon. I’ll link to them that are like, they kind of look like a little hoop. And the thing that’s cool about them is you can push them into your wall without a hammer, and then they can hold a lot of weight. But I don’t know how it would do on plaster. I use them a lot in my last house. They’re kind of good. I guess if I were you maybe I would use a command strip. I don’t know. 

Emma: I would test the command strip somewhere. I’d at least test it. Yeah, because on that wallpaper, that specific wallpaper in your nursery somewhere where you’re not gonna be able to see it. So if it does rip the wallpaper a tiny bit, you won’t see it. It’s like behind your kids’ bookshelf or something. I would at least test it. But the other product that I’ve used on plaster walls that worked, pretty well, but I wouldn’t say it’s perfect, is these things, maybe you’ve used them. They’re called wall dogs, they kind of look like a, I know it’s a weird name, but they kind of look like, what am I trying to say? Like a huge spiral. It’s almost like they’re a wall anchor. 

Elsie: I think that’s what I was trying to describe. 

Emma: You definitely have to use a drill to get ’em into the wall. You definitely can’t push it in with your hand. It’s like a wall anchor built into a screw, essentially, and they work pretty well, but I’ve also had moments where it’s still kind of like crumbled, and I was like, okay, well forget it. 

Elsie: The other thing is if you have leftover wallpaper, And you know, you could do a patch then you can just know that ahead of time. ’cause that’s kind of how I am now. I’m just like, I was so mad about my little tape thing on brand new wallpaper, but it’s like the damage is done. You know, patching is also fine. It’s a solution. It just always keeps that extra wallpaper in your closet or something.

Emma: Try to paint it or something too. I mean, it depends on what the wallpaper is. I don’t feel like we solved Kate’s problem. 

Elsie: We didn’t solve it, but we gave some ideas. 

Emma: We feel your pain, Kate. Plaster walls are kind of terrible, but I do love old houses and they almost are always in old houses, so what can you do?

Elsie: It’s worth it. It’s worth it a hundred percent. 

Emma: Alright, our fourth question is a voicemail. 

Elsie: Awesome. Okay. 

Voicemail: Hi Emma and Elsie. Now I’m doing my kitchen and I worry sometimes that like I’m planning so much and what is something better out there that I haven’t seen, even though I’ve been looking for months. So I guess my question is, do you ever find it debilitating, like planning too much? I worry that I planned so much. I planned for months, and then like something better is either gonna come along or I’m gonna have missed something or I’m going to have planned all this out and then I’m gonna be like, oh my gosh. Like I should have planned even more because this isn’t what I like. Anyways, I hope that question makes sense. Love your podcast. Thank you. 

Elsie: I think this is a great question. It’s very relatable. I struggle with FOMO, like really badly. So I do understand, but I think that when you’re renovating, it’s really important to just like accept upfront that better ideas will always come along. It’s kind of like, I don’t know anything in life. As you commit to something, you love it a hundred percent, but then you’re always gonna see more things that would’ve been great or that you would’ve also loved. When you’re planning, like choosing your branding colors, planning a wedding, like anything you can think of that you do in life. 

Emma: Naming your child. 

Elsie: Yeah. Naming your child. But for real, like if you wanna have a strong point of view, and if you’re a creative person who’s always like, you know, looking around for evolving inspiration then you’re always gonna be like, oh, I wish I would’ve seen that idea.

I think just knowing that that’s an unavoidable fact, sort of eases the pain of it. I personally, as a person with a lot of FOMO, I think over-planning is a positive for me because I like to over-plan because I like to have a reason for everything. I like to have thought through the multiple options for everything. Especially when you’re spending a lot of money, you wanna feel like you didn’t just choose the first thing that you saw, as you chose it after looking at all of the options put available, and I think that that’s very healthy, but, the way you feel you’ll probably always have that, but I think just knowing that everyone feels that way, it does feel like so much pressure. But you can only design one house. You know, you can only design one kitchen, you know? At least this year, at a time. 

Emma: Yeah, I think too, one thing I would do if it were me, and I don’t know if this will help you, but you know, put it out there is if in the future you do see, oh my gosh, there’s this new kind of countertop or this new kind of shelf that I wish we had in our pantry, or whatever it is that you’re like, oh no, I’ve made a mistake. Focus on all the things that you did really well, because I bet you that everything that you researched, and there’s probably so many decisions that you’re gonna make that are gonna serve you and your family or whoever you live with really, really well. So you know, if there’s some small thing that’s like, oh, I wish I had made a different choice there, that’s normal, everybody has that. It’s not a big deal, but that you don’t have to make that the focal point. You could say that’s one part of the whole story, and the entire story is, mostly this went really well and it’s serving us well, and I like the vast majority of it, 90% success, and that is an A in any class. So, you know, just keep the faith. I don’t know. 

Elsie: It’ll be okay. Just get the best kitchen you can, pick the best stuff you can, and don’t worry about if Pinterest is gonna have more ideas in the future, because it absolutely will no matter what. 

Emma: And that’s okay. Who cares? Let ’em keep on rolling. You can also just appreciate things from afar. Not everything that you love is gonna be in your house. Some of it’s gonna be in your friend’s house, some of it’s gonna be in a hotel you visit one time. Some of it’s only gonna be in a book and it doesn’t even exist in real life, and that’s normal too. It’s all a part of our lives though. If we get to experience it in whatever little way we do, so it doesn’t all have to be in our house ’cause it’s not gonna be.

Elsie: I think that’s such a good perspective to have. Like you make your house your own little paradise, but there are still gonna be a million more different ways to have a dream home. 

Emma: I tell myself this every time I wanna cut my hair weird. ’cause I’m like, you won’t like it. You’ve done this before. Just admire somebody else’s hair. Don’t cut your hair that way. You won’t like it, you never do. So, you know, you’re always like, but there’s so many things out there and I wanna experience it all, and it’s like, I get it. 

Elsie: Yeah. No, I get it too. 

Emma: Okay. Well, that’s it on the decor, so now it’s time for a joke or a fact, or maybe a meditation with Nova. 

Elsie: Hey, Nova! Welcome back to the podcast. 

Nova: Hi. 

Elsie: Do you have a joke this week? 

Nova: Yes. What? I mean, why can’t you take a test in the jungle? 

Elsie: Why not? 

Nova: Cause there are too many cheetahs. 

Elsie: Cheetahs? Oh, that’s a good joke. I love it. 

Nova: Get it? Cheat?

Elsie: Yes. I do get it. That’s a good one. Thank you. Perfect. Thank you so much for listening. You can submit your questions at podcast@abeautifulmust.com or call our voicemail anytime at (417) 893-0011. We will be back next week with our go-to travel items.