We’ve been in our home about eight months now. While the journey to contentment and feeling “at home” in this house has been a winding one, I can confidently say that, from today’s perch, I feel so grateful to be here. We have a long ways to go to before this home fully reflects our family’s personality, culture, and needs, but we’re here. We’re doing it, little by little. And I’d love to invite you in to see this at-the-beginning portrait. Shall we? Here is what we’re variously calling the piano room, the library, and the study — even though it currently has no piano and no books. Eventually, I would love to replace the keyboard with an actual piano and hang John’s guitar on the wall nearby, maybe put a little chaise lounge reading nook in the window corner. You might recognize this rug from our previous foyer. (This whole tour is going to be a bit of a Where’s-Waldo situation for longtime readers!) I don’t know that it will stay here forever, but it keeps things cozier for now. The classic wooden hutch is new to me, from Facebook Marketplace: I sold my navy desk because I needed something taller for this narrow space between the windows and pillar, and I love it. Hilariously, everyone who visits says, “my parents have one of these in their house,” ha. I keep desk supplies, stamps, envelopes, stationery, candles, notebooks, paper napkins, and more in the drawers. Moving a little further into the room, we have the second half of this space. Same sofa, armchair, chest, bookshelf, etc. from our last house. We are considering whether to do a sectional here, but there is more considering to do. (Plus, that tan beauty, circa 2011, is the comfiest, sturdiest, and most resilient

Welcome back to our home! Today I thought we could take a tour of our main room. As you may have seen in this video, our downstairs is pretty much one big room (aside from our master bedroom, which is also on the first floor). In the ten years we’ve lived in this house we’ve never fully settled on a name for this space – it alternatively goes by family room, living room, main room, and sometimes just “out there” if we’re in the bedroom – but main room will do for today’s purposes :) The last time I shared a full look at this space was in 2015, two years after moving into our home and before we had any kids. Since then, I’ve shared details here and there, like our upgraded toy storage, my desk/family command center, and our dining room chairs. My style has evolved over the years, too, shifting from more colorful and cute to warm and classic. With craftsmen in our home for our kitchen refresh, we took the opportunity to make a few final updates (for now! ;)) to this space, too. I love how it’s looking these days, so come on in! Dining Area Paint: Simply White, Benjamin Moore. Table: antique. Dining chairs: Willa chairs from Crate & Barrel (similar). Silhouettes: Erik Johnson. Stools: a gift (similar). Chandelier: Wayfair. Bookshelf: Ikea. The centerpiece of our dining area is our table. I found it in an antiques shop in Connecticut many years ago; my parents generously gave it to me as a college graduation gift (it was about $300). It is a heavy sucker, and has beautifully carried us through life from a party of two in an apartment to a family of five who regularly hosts Articles Club. (At its smallest, it is

We’ve been in our home for about two and a half years now. Decorating progress, as ever, has been slow and steady. Sometimes slower than we would like, due to the budget and my tendency to overthink home purchasing decisions (there is NOTHING that I overthink more than home purchasing decisions). However, sharing these yearly-ish tours helps me see that there IS progress being made, that our home is inching closer and closer to the vision we have for it, and that we have much for which to be grateful. I hope you enjoy this peek into a home in progress! All photos are by the lovely Anna Routh, first shared in our home tour on Southern Weddings, except the obviously worse-quality ones, which were taken by me :) Here’s a good look at the true color of our red front door! Jack always wants to do good :) I am SO excited to say that since these photos were taken we’ve purchased new dining room chairs!! The ones here, the same ones we’ve had since starting out, were free hand-me-downs, and though they’ve served us well, I didn’t love their color, they had some glitter and fluff stuck to them from their previous owners, and there were only four of them. It took me so long to figure out what we wanted, but I’m happy to report I’m very pleased with our decision. Will share more soon! Our plan for replacing paper towels is still going strong! I shared my plan for re-working our big wall of art last year, and here’s the final result! The four photos are ones we took on our last four big vacations. We didn’t get a great pulled-back shot of the master bedroom, but here are a few details! For more photos and

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