I hope you all had wonderful Thanksgivings!! Between our birth class, visitors, travel, big work events, Articles Club, birthday parties, our church family group, and showers, November has been an exceptionally busy month. I am so grateful for a few days off work and without activities to relax a bit — and tackle a few things that have been on my to do list for weeks! One thing I did accomplish this month, though: finally pulling the trigger on new chairs for our dining table!! It should be well known around these parts that I tend to agonize over home decor purchases, especially ones that come with a large price tag. (For proof, see here, here, and here.) Though I think I have a strong design sense, I can’t help researching every possible option, and then second guessing everything a few times just for good measure. I’ve been researching and debating options for this space for about a year now, so it definitely felt good to finally make a decision! You can see where we started thanks to our most recent home tour: Our former chairs were given to us for free (yay!) from a friend’s parents when we moved to North Carolina, more than six years ago. Though I liked the general shape, they were lightly dusted in glitter and fluff (the chairs had been in their craft room!) and they didn’t work super well with our wood floors. Here are a few of the things I considered as I looked for replacements: — Between the teal upholstered bar stools close on one side and the tan sofa close on the other, there were a lot of surfaces with which to coordinate. — I loved the idea of at least some upholstered options, but was having a really hard

Welcome back, y’all! You’ve had a peek at our first floor, so let’s head up the stairs to the second. It’s still less-finished than our first, but it’s definitely coming along! Things look pretty much the same in our loft. I do have big DIY plans for art for the wall over my desk — hoping I can get it done before the new year!! Speaking of art, I’d also love to add a piece of some sort over the guest bed. I’m not sure yet what would fit best with the still life photos we already have, but I’m thinking maybe a landscape painting. Alright, here we are at our last two photos of this year’s tour! They might be the least interesting, but to me they represent the greatest amount of potential. In fact, they’ve already changed quite a bit since these photos were taken! For one, the beds have been swapped, so that the queen bed is now in the blue striped room and the twin bed is in the “cactus room” (which will be baby girl’s room). As of this weekend, baby girl’s room has also been painted, her crib assembled, and Mr. Cactus has been moved to a new home :) I think my next blog post will be about our plans for the nursery, so you’ll get a better idea of where these rooms are headed! In the meantime, thank you all for your kind comments, and don’t hesitate to ask if you have any more questions about sources! Once again, all photos except the first one are by the lovely Anna Routh, first shared in our home tour on Southern Weddings

Update: Congratulations to reader no. 23, Laura Kittrell, our lucky winner! An email is on its way to you! Since I’ve been searching for and saving home inspiration, this photo has always been one of my favorites: It captures so well the colorful but classic, clean, happy, comfortable vibe I’m hoping for in our home, which is why I included it in my home color post! Truly, pretty much every photo from Caitlin Wilson could have been included in that post – her aesthetic is just a perfect fit for mine! Y’all know I do not splurge easily, but I think her patterns can really add a “pop” to a room and bring a color scheme together – and the Mint Fleur Chinoise pillow I finally purchased last year does just that. The kind folks at CWD somehow found my home tour post where it was featured and offered up another pillow for me and one for me to giveaway! I hemmed and hawed for a long time over which to choose, but finally settled on a Greige Greek Key lumbar pillow for our guest bedroom: I love supporting such a smart woman-owned, mama-owned business that is doing so many things right, including offering up a giveaway for y’all! :) Please leave a comment with your favorite CWD pillow pattern and I’ll choose a random winner to receive the 14×20 or 20×20 pillow cover of their choice next Friday. Good luck!! P.S. Anyone can use code MARVELOUS10 for 10% off of their purchase!

The last home tour I offered up was about one year and two months ago – just a few days after we moved in. Things certainly look different now, and I like the idea of marking our house’s progression for posterity (roughly) once a year. It’s a bit nerve-wracking to share so openly before our space is completely “done,” but hopefully it will be an encouraging reminder that not every home is transformed in a week, and not every homeowner has an unlimited budget. We’ve tried to make changes with thoughtful consideration, and purchases with our budget priorities in mind (and with hearts of contentment). There are definitely things we’d still like to do (and I’ve noted several of them throughout this post), but for now, please enjoy a peek at our home! P.S. “Before” photos are included where I have them! The Front Porch: This summer, our front porch has really grown to be one of our favorite parts of our home. We’ve sat out there for hours in the evening, chatting, eating peaches or cherries, and living life slowly. Yes, rocking chairs really do make your life that idyllic. Since moving in, we’ve hung our American flag, added solar lights around the stairs, and added the rockers. Future plans include painting our front door, and growing something up a trellis on the side for a little more privacy. The Foyer: One of the first things we hung after moving in was that little plaque by the front door. I love it! Before moving in, we painted the entire downstairs main room Benjamin Moore “Simply White” colormatched to Behr No VOC paint in eggshell. If I was doing it again, I might have gone with a truer white – Simply White can look a touch too creamy with the