Beyond the wood floors, we’ve been adding other small details here and there to the house that have certainly made it a warmer, more inviting space. My favorite additions are the gorgeous curtains my mom sewed for our living room and kitchen windows. Our local Hancock’s Fabric Store is going out of business, but before they closed their doors I was able to get my hands on some of the most beautiful, simple drapery fabric in the store – just enough at just the right price for our big living room window. There’s something about curtains that tie a room together and make it feel finished, and my mom did an incredible job making the curtains for the living room and kitchen. Sewing requires such precision and patience; I could never pay attention to detail the way she does. Thank you momma!

We’ve had our eye on the local Craigslist ads lately, and it was there that we found an awesome new stained glass bedroom fan as well as a set of 8 antique dining room chairs that match our table. I also picked up an antique Queen Anne coffee table, and a sweet little kid-sized rocking chair from a local yard sale. I’ve been spending a lot of time at Goodwill lately (more on that later) and on one shopping trip I found a gorgeous curio cabinet for only $75 that we installed in the corner of our dining room. Now Javier and I finally have a place to display our family china and crystal that my aunt Jane and uncle Bruce gifted to us for our wedding 7 years ago!

Down in the basement we hung a couple dozen picture frames with up-to-date photos of our families. I bought all of these wood frames at goodwill years ago, and over the years I have painted them different colors depending on the rooms where they wind up. In our Nashville house these frames were white on a maroon background – but up against our almost-white walls in this house the frames looked pink. So I painted all of them gold, and I think they turned out great. We still have a ton of empty wall space in the house that I’d like to fill, but for now we’re happy that things are starting to come together! Now if I can just get home from tour to enjoy some of these new improvements…