Joanna Gaines, our reigning home-decor monarch, may be more literal royalty than you think. On Instagram, the designer recently revisited her 2019 purchase of Cottonland Castle with husband Chip Gaines – an actual, hundred-year-old castle in Waco – and the exhaustive restoration they completed in 2022
‘For nearly 20 years, Chip Gaines and I imagined what it would be like to breathe new life into this abandoned, century-old castle in the heart of Waco, TX,’ Joanna shared. ‘The Castle taught us there’s great reward in restoring beauty in forgotten places. And that kind of work is always worth the wait.’
Three years post-renovation, the project reads like a bit of foreshadowing. Joanna was tapping interior trends that were only beginning to percolate across the design world; today, those same ideas feel fully crystallized – and, ironically, fresher than ever – inside a century-old structure.
The good news is that you don’t need a castle to design a home that never dates. Below, three timeless design moves from the project's storied sitting room that feel especially right as we head into 2026.
1. Mounting Candle Sconces
When Cottonland Castle was first built, electricity was more of a novelty, with candlelight often being the default, not a design choice. The romance, however, hasn’t aged a day. Now we use candle sconces for atmosphere rather than necessity, and fortunately, these accents have gotten far chicer since the early 1900s. Joanna Gaines has helped that evolution along herself, designing several elevated iterations for her Magnolia line, like the Adeline Antique Brass Double Wall Sconce which looks like it's been plucked from an antiques fair.
In the castle’s sitting room, Joanna chose a slim, classically inspired linear duo to counter the ornate molding elsewhere. It echoes the old–meets–new tension we love in Parisian flats and New York brownstones: a modern silhouette, rendered in antique brass, flanking the fireplace like a gentle nod to the room’s origins. Analog lighting ideas, contemporary lines, historically aware – and entirely right now.
2. Layering Natural Whites
In case you missed it, Pantone crowned 11-4201 TCX Cloud Dancer its 2026 Color of the Year – ‘a billowy, balanced white,’ per the institute’s release. The choice shocked just about everyone (designers were betting on chocolate or oxblood), but apparently Joanna Gaines was already in the loop with her castle fireplace vignette, which layers a crisp mantel white over a softer, gray-tinted, nature-washed white.
What makes this feel dynamic today is the nuance. These whites aren’t stark or sterile; they’re lived-in, sunlit, and subtly modulated. In daylight, they brighten everything around them – the greens outside the window look lusher, the brass in the sconces and fireplace screen gleams harder.
Let it be a reminder before our Cloud Dancer-clad year to come is that white is only ‘boring’ when you let it be one note – so layer accordingly.
3. Juxtaposing Eras
This sitting room works because Joanna wasn't being literal about the castle’s age – she spoke its language, then slipped in a few modern verbs. Take the brass vase on the coffee table. In another finish (chrome, red lacquer, anything overtly '2025'), it would announce its newness immediately. In brass, it plays the part – period-coded at first glance – but its proportions and silhouette give it away on the second.
The same trick is happening in the mirror’s reflection. That chandelier does not, by any historical metric, 'belong' in a hundred-year-old castle. Its orb-like shapes are definitely modern. But the elongated form echoes the mantel mirror, and the creamy shades nod to the surrounding whites – suddenly, a piece that shouldn’t fit… does.
So the real lesson in timelessness isn’t about matching the era of the walls. It’s about matching the attitude. Mix decades, mix sensibilities, and let pieces converse across time.
Shop the Look
Opting for clean lines of a different kind, this curved candle sconce delivers double the drama with its two-taper silhouette. It’s a regal touch in a hallway or living room without shouting for attention.
Set the tone for the year ahead with a white rug that is decidedly non-fluorescent. Crisp but lived-in, it’s just the kind of future-facing neutral Joanna would approve of. Echo the timeless tone with other whites in slightly varied undertones to re-create the nuance.
Goop pushes the orb-light idea even further for CB2 with this jewelry-like chandelier, a wink to the tension that makes this old–new space feel exciting in the first place. Hang it in a room with real architectural bones (crown molding, paneling, anything with history) and let the contrast do the talking.
The more globes, the better. This 27-inch-wide chandelier is built to hold court in your most stately rooms – consider a sitting area, a dining space, or even an ambitious bedroom. Riff off of its brass with other antique-inspired accents to keep the visual story tight.
Add a fresh touch alongside your seating with a tiny table in – you guessed it – more white. The wood top keeps it from going too pristine, adding the kind of soft, natural warmth that feels very much in line with Joanna’s early Cloud Dancer instincts.
This candle sconce reads closer to true antique than the one in Cottonland Castle, but we’ll allow it: that full-bloom floral-on-floral etching continues to freshen a room, whether it be a century ago or tomorrow. Pair it with an unexpected taper (ribbed, sculptural) to push the look firmly in the now.
Joanna Gaines has a sixth sense for which design ideas have staying power and which ones are just passing through. So if Cottonland Castle is any indication, the ‘bookshelf wealth’ wave of 2024 may have longer legs than anyone expected. Hardbacks, heirlooms, lived-in treasures – these are the 'quiet luxuries' that animate a space, whether it’s an apartment, a suburban home, or even a castle.
