Today I’m excited to share our fall home tour! But first, let’s talk about 2020. It goes without saying that this has been a really tough year for everyone. Now that we’re nearing the holiday season, I’m looking forward to what positivity and newness 2021 will bring.

This year was one of great hardship and change, but I’ve been looking for ways to find the silver linings— namely, more time with family and to think about how to design the best spaces to fit our lifestyle. Since we are all spending much more time at home lately, I decided we should update ours — a 1932 Tudor-style brick bungalow in Chicago — and bring some more happy patterns and colors into the house.

One of the things I was missing from our current design, I realized, was nature. Sure, we had greenery sprinkled throughout the rooms, but we live in the city, and it’s hard to get out and truly feel like you’re getting away from it all. So I decided to find ways to bring nature into our home instead to try to recreate some of those blissful, relaxed feelings I get from spending time outdoors.

I thought it would be fun to give you a peek at the updates we’ve made in 2020. While not a ton has changed since our last home tour — mainly, just the dining room and the playroom, with a few furniture swaps here and there — doing this made me remember how enjoyable it is to photograph your house every few years, if only to help you see it in a fresh light. One thing I discovered through this process: Redoing even a single room can give your entire home a lift.

See what I mean below — I hope these ideas inspire you!

How We Updated Our Dining Room

Previously, our dining room was centered around casual elegance. I brought in blush, black and gold tones mixed with sophisticated patterns (Greek key and marble) to make the space interesting, but the walls were medium gray and I was craving more pattern and color. My goal in updating the dining room was to bring the outdoors in! And to also help it to feel more cohesive with the living room, which has touches of green already. Read more about my wallpaper choice here.

How We Updated Our Playroom

A few weeks ago, we had the big reveal of my 2.5-year-old daughter Willa’s new playroom, which we transformed into a cheery, colorful space with the help of a playful patterned wallpaper and matching window treatments, a cozy rug, custom lighting and pops of red. It’s a space we both love spending time in now—accessible and fun for her while not being too childlike for me to enjoy.

More Small Updates in Our Fall Home Tour

When I first shared a tour of our home in 2017, we didn’t have children. Then Willa came along! As she’s grown into a busy toddler, I’ve had to rethink some of the furniture choices. Our previous living room coffee table wasn’t child-friendly, so I swapped it out with this softer storage ottoman. (Read more about baby proofing your home with style here.)

My Favorite Vendors for Updating My Home

As a designer, I work with countless vendors to help my clients achieve their dream home. But when it comes to decorating my own house, I have a few favorites I turn to often.

For refurbishing + vintage furniture:

Chairish

MegMade

For wallpaper:

Schumacher

Relativity Textiles

For cabinet hardware:

Rejuvenation

For door hardware:

Nostalgic Warehouse

For rugs:

Perigold

Revival Rugs

Find more of my designer favorites in a downloadable PDF here.