This House We Have

Colors borrowed from old houses & quiet New England towns I've always been drawn to the colors you find on old houses. Not the bright, perfectly matched colors you might find in a paint store, but the ones that have softened with time. Faded blue shutters. Weathered wood. Old brick that has lost some of its original color. Creamy walls that aren't quite white anymore. There is something about those colors that feels familiar. They remind me of old New England houses, quiet streets, worn porches, old barns, and places that have been around long enough to collect a little character. So I started putting together a palette inspired by exactly that. I call it  The Old House Palette . Old Linen #E8E0D3 Old Linen is the warm neutral that holds everything together. It's softer than a bright white and warmer than a typical cool beige. I picture it on old plaster walls, linen curtains, painted furniture, and rooms where the afternoon light has a chance to do some of the decorati...

There is a difference between a home being perfectly clean and a home feeling clean. I don't think a house needs to be spotless all the time to feel good. Real life doesn't really work that way. There are dishes in the sink, shoes by the door, laundry waiting to be folded, and usually something that needs to be wiped down. But there are a few little things that can make a home feel noticeably more cared for, even when it isn't perfectly tidy. For me, it's less about cleaning everything and more about paying attention to the details that make a house feel fresh and looked after. Start With the Things You See Every Day Sometimes the biggest difference comes from the smallest things. A cluttered kitchen counter, fingerprints on the refrigerator, a pile of mail by the door, or shoes scattered around the entryway can make a home feel messier than it actually is. You don't have to tackle the entire house. Start with the things that catch your eye every day. Clear off the ...

There is something about September that always feels like a reset. Not a dramatic one. I'm not talking about completely reinventing your life, cleaning every closet in the house, or suddenly becoming the person who wakes up at 5:00 in the morning and has everything figured out. Just a shift. The mornings feel different. The light starts to change. Summer slowly begins to give way to a new routine. For me, September also means heading back to school. I'm a paraprofessional, so after a summer of slower mornings and a much more relaxed schedule, going back to school always takes a little adjustment. This year, both the kids and I are getting back into that rhythm. There are backpacks by the door, earlier mornings, lunches to think about, and that familiar feeling of everyone settling into a routine again. And honestly, I kind of like it. There is something comforting about starting fresh without feeling like you have to start over. Bringing a Little Order Back After a summer of be...

Sometimes a room can have beautiful furniture, warm colors, and plenty of personality, but still feel a little off. I've found that lighting is often the reason. We tend to think about lighting as something purely functional. We need to be able to see, so we turn on the lights. But lighting can completely change the atmosphere of a room, especially once the sun goes down. A few small changes can make a bigger difference than you'd expect. Relying Only on Overhead Lighting A single ceiling light can make a room feel flat and overly bright. Instead, try bringing light into different areas of the room. A table lamp, floor lamp, or even a small lamp on a shelf can create little pockets of light that make the room feel much more inviting. You don't need every light on at once. That's part of the point. Choosing Bulbs That Are Too Cool This is one of the easiest mistakes to fix. Very cool white bulbs can make a room feel harsh, particularly in living rooms, bedrooms, and dini...

There is something different about a Saturday in September. Summer isn't quite gone, but you can feel the season beginning to shift. The mornings are cooler. The light looks a little different. The windows are open, but you don't quite need the fan anymore. And after a summer of later mornings and looser routines, Saturday feels a little different when September arrives. For me, I like keeping these days pretty simple. A Slow Morning The best part of a September Saturday might be the morning. Coffee in my favorite mug. Something easy for breakfast. Opening the windows and letting that cool morning air move through the house. There is usually laundry somewhere in the mix, and the kids are doing their own thing, but nobody is rushing out the door. Those quiet mornings feel especially nice after getting everyone back into the school routine. A Little House Reset I don't want to spend my entire Saturday cleaning, but I do like doing a few things around the house. I'll strai...

Living in a small home definitely changes the way you decorate. When you don't have a lot of extra space, every piece of furniture has to earn its place. Every basket, lamp, and little bit of decor takes up room that you actually need to live in. But I don't think having a small home means you have to choose between having a beautiful space and having a functional one. And I definitely don't think it means your home needs to be completely minimalist. Our home is small, and over the years I've learned that making a small space work isn't really about having less. It's about being thoughtful about what you have and how you use it. Here are some of the things that have made the biggest difference for me. Choose Furniture That Fits Your Space This sounds obvious, but I think it is one of the easiest things to get wrong. It can be tempting to buy the biggest sofa, table, or cabinet that will technically fit in a room. After all, when space is limited, you want to get...

There is a difference between a home that is decorated and a home that feels collected. A decorated home can be beautiful. Everything fits. The colors work together, the furniture is placed just right, and every corner looks finished. But sometimes, you walk into a room like that and something is missing. It doesn't feel like anyone actually lives there. I think that feeling comes from allowing ourselves to decorate for the space instead of decorating for the people who live in it. To me, a collected home is much more personal. It is made up of the things that matter to you, the things you've found, been given, inherited, or simply held onto because you couldn't imagine letting them go. They don't all have to match. They don't even have to be old. They just have to mean something. A Collected Home Tells Your Story My husband has his own collected things, and I have mine. We each have things we've carried with us through different parts of our lives. Some were th...

I've never really wanted our home to look like everything came from the same place at the same time. Maybe it's because I grew up around things that had a little history to them. I've always liked the feeling of finding something old and wondering where it came from, who owned it before me, or why I was drawn to it in the first place. But I also don't want our house to feel like a time capsule. There are things I love about a more modern home, too. Clean lines. Simple shapes. Pieces that make a room feel fresh instead of heavy. For me, the sweet spot is somewhere in between. I want our home to feel collected rather than decorated all at once. Start With What You Already Love I think it's easy to start decorating a room by asking,  What does this room need? I've been trying to ask a different question. What do I already love? Maybe it's an old wooden table. A piece of artwork. A lamp  (paid link) you've had for years. A vintage frame  (paid link) you foun...

Every year around this time, I feel the house start to shift. Summer has a way of making everything feel a little looser. The mornings are slower, the windows stay open later, there are usually swimsuits or towels somewhere they shouldn't be, and somehow dinner happens whenever we get around to it. I love that about summer. But then August starts winding down, and I can feel myself wanting a little more structure again. Back-to-school shopping starts. Calendars come out. Bedtimes slowly move earlier. Work starts feeling a little more serious again. There are places to be and things to remember, and suddenly the relaxed rhythm we've had for the past couple of months doesn't quite fit anymore. I'm not ready for summer to be over, but I am ready for our house to feel a little more grounded. I'm Not Decorating for Fall Yet This is probably the part where I'm supposed to tell you to bring out the pumpkins, switch everything to rust and amber, and make your house smel...

​ There is something beautiful about an ordinary day. Not every day needs to be a celebration or filled with plans. Sometimes the days I remember most are the quiet ones. Morning coffee. A favorite song playing in the kitchen. Fresh flowers on the table. Dinner that was made a little more thoughtfully than usual. I don't think making everyday life feel special has to mean spending more money or making everything look perfect. Most of the time, I think it is just about paying attention to the little things that make you feel good. Start with the way your home feels in the morning. Open the curtains and let the light in. Make the bed. Put on some music while you get ready for the day. Even something small can make a familiar morning feel a little different. There is also something to be said for actually using the things you normally save for special occasions. Light the candle you've been keeping in a drawer. Use the pretty glasses on a Tuesday night. Put flowers in the vase in...