home decor – This is my hobby.

Make it Beautiful

Making every day moments feel beautiful brings me a lot of joy, and it’s no wonder because science is proving the mental health benefits of aesthetics.

During my day job, I’ve become familiar with the concept of neuroaesthetics — the neuroscience of beauty.

This research shows that when people view something they find beautiful, reward pathways are activated in the brain.

Memorial Day weekend poolside spread with my thrifted bamboo tray and snack plates from TJ Maxx.

Meaning the beauty you witness makes you feel good and prompts you to continue seeking out that feeling.

The science is backing up something kinda obvious when you think about Martha Stewart’s decades-long success.

So, making every day, small moments in your life beautiful is something worth doing — it makes you feel good in a brain nourishing way.

We’ll eat outside a ton this summer now that we have our fan on the lanai.

Saturday’s al fresco meal with thrifted bowls and a centerpiece from Trader Joe’s.

This weekend, I decided to make a visit with our cousin beautiful by bringing out a few collected items to enhance a simple snack spread.

Candle holders and blue dessert plates from Goodwill, Vintage floral plate from The Cozy Cottage in Lake Worth Beach, Gorgeous table runner handmade from Stone Button Studio in Northwood, Pink serving platter thrifted and gifted from my MIL

I can’t get over these napkins from The Cozy Cottage in Lake Worth Beach.

I loved pulling it together, which was a brain reward, but then our cousin noticed the beauty and the effort to create the moment, which brought its own reward.

Double. Doozie.

Slowing down enough to make small moments beautiful has big benefits — and brings a lot of joy, in my (and also science’s) humble opinion.

Baby girl worn out from her entertaining duties

We visited our Airbnb with new thrifted decor pieces over the weekend, and I think the place is looking a lot better.

>> Visit my previous post to see how the space looked before.

First stop – pick up the truck from Home Depot

One of the bedrooms with the trunk thrifted from Goodwill for added storage and a wall hanging I’ve had for years from Stone Button Studio in Northwood.

We found the new couch on Facebook Marketplace, and it brightens and airs out the space. We’ve been told we need to reconfigure the placement and swap the chair and couch. We also need to move the rug further under the furniture (and potentially add a new rug?).

My mom thrifted this table from Goodwill and it was in our guest room for a while. Now it’s a sturdy side table and I’ve added a basket to hold the remotes and some new artwork from Goodwill.

I’d love to replace the coffee table — keeping my eyes peeled in the shops! I found all the couch pillows at Goodwill.

I’d also like a few new lamps for all the rooms in the house.

This little bedroom table had an ugly canvas basket on the bottom shelf so I replaced it with a thrifted basket. We’ll continue to make incremental updates as I source things.

Last week’s thrifted ‘fits:

Tank top, pants, and tote from Goodwill West Palm Beach

That New Build Charm

Our cookie cutter 2020 home has all the amenities of modern living — a garage, a laundry room, and ample closet space.

All things we didn’t have in our first home, which was full of historic charm but had little convenience.

When we chose to leave our first family home, I was initially devastated to sacrifice the charm, but quickly grew accustomed to not having roof leaks, rats in the attic (a horrific chapter of my life), roots growing through old pipes, etc. etc. etc.

New build homes have their own version of charm — the charm of a lifestyle devoid of constant home repair.

At least, not major ones. *raps knuckles against forhead*

As new build home owners, we quickly learned of the term “builder grade” and its true meaning when the appliances that came with the house started falling apart, along with the cabinets.

So, we’ve found ourselves in a state of constant cabinet repair. Which is not as big of a deal as rats in the attic, so it’s okay.

This last repair round, we decided to finally add knobs to our cabinets!

I have no explanation for why we didn’t have knobs for six years. This is a safe space, I know you’d never dream of judging me.

For someone who cares deeply about design and aesthetics, I was oddly pretty hands off with the knob choosing. Vince wanted knobs that could be delivered next-day, which limited our options, so I picked out of a set of Amazon links he provided and I think they look great!

While we were at it, we installed a fan on the lanai (fancy word for porch) and added shelves to the boys’ room due to our increasing number of house plants that need surfaces to live on.

I shall not provide photos of the boys’ room — you’re welcome.

The knobs might be six years late, but they’re an example of how incremental tweaks over time make a house a home.

While I still miss the charm and character of our first home, I certainly do not miss squeaks that echo in the night or the scrabble of taloned paws overhead.

For now, I’ll happily take my builder grade cabinets, Amazon knobs, and structurally sound roof, and I’ll layer the charm on with my thrifted wares.

Speaking of thrifted wares, I finally styled some of my finds around the house last weekend:

I found the small pressed flower art on top at Goodwill recently; I’ve had the butterfly pressed flower art for several years and found it at American Thrift in West Palm Beach

I purchased this crocheted garland from The Cozy Cottage in Lake Worth Beach and layered it over a garland purchased at World Market in our loft.

I hung this sconce from The Cozy Cottage in Lake Worth Beach in our entryway and placed beach treasures on it.

Everything in my entryway is thrifted – the antique chair, pillow, table, and lamp

These shells and sea fan remind me of beach days in the Bahamas.

Another sconce from The Cozy Cottage in Lake Worth Beach, now holding more beach treasures and resting underneath a gorgeous needlepoint piece I found at a garage sale in West Palm Beach

Last Week’s Thrifted ‘Fits

Dress secondhand from a friend, sunglasses from Goodwill West Palm Beach

Top from Goodwill Denver, Tote from Goodwill West Palm Beach

A Very Vibey Guest Bedroom

I re-styled my guest room and in a word it’s giving: vibes.

My mom stays in this room several months out of the year, so she has collected most of these pieces.

I don’t know where this came from — is it Gen Z terminology? My algorithm? — but now I just say, “vibes” in response to most things.

I say it so often that Vince asked me to stop.

Rude.

Sadly for Vince, this verbal tick is here to stay and now a core part of my personality *shrug*.

So, as I was saying — the room is v, v vibey and (naturally) full of thrifted finds. Here’s how it’s laid out:

My mom lives in this room several months out of the year, and there’s only one small closet, so coming up with storage solutions for her stuff has been tricky.

She found this gorgeous dresser at The Cozy Cottage in Lake Worth Beach last month which has been a total game changer. It’s just missing a handle on the top drawer, so she’s on the hunt!

My mom was worried this piece would crowd the space, but placing it against the wall near the head of the bed has actually made the room feel less crowded to me.

We have more than 60 house plants at this point, so we’re in a phase of coming up with creative ways to place them and make sure they’re getting enough light.

This little macrame hanging shelf does the trick in this room.

I love styling with books and stack them everywhere, much like our house plants. Mom’s old yearbooks and a few others are leaning against the chair in the corner here.

Mom found this chair and pillow at separate thrift shops. The chair previously lived at The Breakers Palm Beach.

Baskets are utilized as clothing hampers and extra storage.

The artwork was gifted to my mom from our neighbor in Columbia, Missouri. We have lots of this artist’s pieces throughout our home.

The tassel pillow is from a local thrift market and the crochet throw is from The Cozy Cottage in Lake Worth Beach.

My mom almost got rid of this little dresser because she thought it would be too heavy in the space across from the other larger dresser she found.

I convinced her to keep it for more storage (it now holds her purses) and also because I’m obsessed with it. The stud detailing and color is perfection — we found this piece at Quantum House Thrift in Jupiter.

The basket tray keeps tabletop items tidy and is sourced from Goodwill, the mirror is from Stone Button Studio in Northwood, and the matching pair of lamps is from The Nearly New Thrift Shop in West Palm Beach. They originally came with old fashioned lampshades so I replaced them with these modern gray ones I found at Home Goods years ago.

My favorite thing in this room is the macrame hat organizer I gifted to my mom for her birthday last year. It’s so practical but also feels like art.

I love the use of trays to organize surfaces. Mom found this tray at a local garage sale and I styled various thrifted and gifted items inside. The gorgeous shell box next to it is from Stone Button Studio.

This room is the only one in the house with so much gray. I tend to stay away from “millennial gray” but the cool tones in this room feel refreshing rather than bland.

Let me know if you want to come visit, the room is ready for ya. 😉

In other news, I wore a $15.99 Goodwill gown to a Gala over the weekend and truly felt like a million bucks.

My super comfy shoes are also from Goodwill.

I fear this is the type of dress you can only wear once, which kills me because it’s perfection.

I forgot to snag a photo of the back — it’s sheer!!

The only good full length photo I got of the dress. Here we are with our handsome cousins!

I found this gown a few weeks ago while shopping with my mom and remember telling her, “When am I ever going to wear something like this?!” I debated over it and decided the price was too good not to take it.

Who would have thought a last minute gala would plop onto my calendar?!

Goodwill comes through in all life’s moments, friends. Have I turned you into a thrifter yet??

Last week’s thrfited ‘fits:

Dress and Bag from Goodwill West Palm Beach

An Airbnb Refresh

Vince and I purchased our first home in 2017 — a tiny, historic Spanish Mission style house with a cottage behind it.

We had our two boys and lived on top of each other but absolutely loved that little house.

Vince used the Florida room as his office, we knocked out a closet to put in a stackable washer and dryer (a lot of old FL homes don’t have laundry hookups indoor or in the main house), and I filled each space with thrifted finds.

So many sweet memories in our first home as a family.

Had so much fun styling and sharing with my friends.

Love, love, love this piece and will never get rid of it.

The hardest thing about living in this house was that our headboard was right against the boys’ bathroom, so they were constantly waking us up!

I had a blast making style choices for the boys’ room.

Was obsessed with this bird chandelier we ordered on Etsy but had to eventually dismantle because of our cats.

We filled the cottage with thrifted finds.

We moved to our current home just as the pandemic started — it couldn’t have been better timing. I can’t imagine us weathering lock down and virtual learning on top of each other in that small space.

Our new house is much bigger, but it’s a cookie cutter new build, so we sacrificed the historic charm of our first house for modern comforts as our family grew.

It was fun and special to watch our new house being built.

We did keep our first place, though, and now rent out both the main house and cottage.

With my hectic schedule, I hardly drive by the house and haven’t been inside in over a year, maybe longer. With all the amazing thrift finds I’ve come across recently and left behind, Vince asked me to consider snagging some and saving them for an airbnb decor revamp.

The current styling of the airbnb is much more modern, neutral and less eclectic than my house — it needs to appeal to broader tastes — so my challenge is finding ways to update decor that fit within as specific palate.

I went out over the weekend and came away with some starting points:

At Goodwill, I found four matching pillows to brighten up the couch, a basket that can be used on the kitchen counter or maybe living room coffee table, some artwork for the kitchen, and a woven trunk.

I’m thinking the woven trunk would be good to double as a table and extra storage in the secondary bedroom of the main house.

We are in desperate need of a new couch (maybe leather this time around?), so I’ll be visiting the Nearly New Shop in West Palm Beach weekly to see if I can find the perfect piece.

What do you think? I’m open to all suggestions for sprucing up the place. I’ll share styling details here as I go!

Last week’s thrifted ‘fits:

Shirt thrifted and passed on from a friend, Madewell jeans (my fave) from a Goodwill Boutique in Boca

Always Follow the Garage Sale Sign

A typical Saturday morning routine in the Moss house includes a stop by Dixie Hwy Donuts for an apple fritter the size of your head and half-a-dozen assorted treats.

I was assigned the task of pick-up last Saturday, and after securing the package, was dutifully driving back home when a bright green garage sale sign caught my eye.

I can’t go, I thought to myself. The donuts might melt in the car and my family is hungry.

But…I could just swing by for a few minutes. Pop around a bit and then head home — yeah!

My poor, sweet family.

No regrets, though, obviously (at least for me). I pulled up to the best garage sale I’ve seen in recent memory and left with several treasures:

Can you believe I snagged this gorgeous needlepoint art for $10?!

I love this so much! Instantly hung in our living room.

Another vintage needlepoint for $10. This one is for Elaine’s bedroom. It reminds me of our carousel rides at the Palm Beach Zoo and on cruises we take.

I found this vintage rattan lampshade and placed it on our bar lamp, which I sourced from Goodwill last year.

Y’all know how I feel about shells. This statement necklace is quite a statement indeed and I can’t wait to style it with an outfit.

Another fun necklace with a pressed flower pendant.

Garage sales are always fun to visit but let’s be honest, they’re usually full of junk.

This sale was truly impeccable, so I had to chat up the seller to find out how she curated so many beautiful things and was not surprised to learn that she used to own a boutique in Northwood.

We exchanged numbers and she’s going to hit me up the next time she has a sale — hell yeah!

In closing: the donuts didn’t melt, everybody at home forgave me for the detour, and I had my apple fritter and ate it too. 😉

Last week’s thrifted ‘fits:

Comfy dress from Goodwill West Palm Beach

Sadly, the sleeve of this dress ripped, so this was my last wearing of it — found at Goodwill West Palm Beach

Dress and bag from Goodwill West Palm Beach. Vintage chintz charm necklace by Sarah Bray Bermuda.

This massive shell ring isn’t thrifted but I’m obsessed with it — found it in Gaudeloupe.

Top and Bag from Goodwill West Palm Beach. Pants thrifted and gifted from a friend.

Love this vintage vase pendant that I found at a Trashe Vintage rummage sale. My pink ring is from the West Palm Beach Antiques Festival.

Last Weekend’s Goodwill Haul

I popped into Goodwill last weekend after a brief hiatus, so I’m sharing my haul with you (never mind the wrinkled jeans – never ironing anything is my toxic trait):

I love a good button up and couldn’t pass up this long, lightweight one — picturing it with linen shorts for our spring break cruise next week. $7.99

As soon as I felt this jacket, I knew it was high quality, and I always love an embroidered detail. $7.99

Here’s what it’s priced at online:

I’m picturing this silky House of Harlow top with black slacks for work. $6.99

I found this cute basket to add to my collection:

I almost didn’t get this little plate because it has some damage, but I flipped it over to see that it’s vintage Fitz & Floyd. You know I love a shell moment!

This hand painted wooden picture frame is absolutely adorable. I’m thinking of adding this to my gift stash and giving it to someone for a birthday or special occasion.

Elaine’s room has a thrifted toy bakery stand, and I’ve thrifted toy fruits, veggies, breads, etc. for her to play with. I’ve also thrifted vintage straw baskets to hold all her produce (photos of Elaine’s room here).

I found these gorgeous baskets to add to her play area:

I’ve been wanting a new travel backpack that is cute enough to wear all day during vacation outings (I always haul wet wipes, a change of clothes, etc. for Elaine).

The thrifterverse provided: My best find this Goodwill haul was a brand new Vera Bradley travel backpack — and inside was a matching purse! I paid $20, which is a bit more than I usually like to spend on a thrifted item, but it’s totally worth it.

I thought these chairs were adorable, but I don’t have a need for them, so they stayed at the store. The embroidered detail is so sweet — with a good scrubbing, they’d look great.

Last week’s thrifted ‘fits:

A fave comfy dress from Goodwill West Palm Beach

J.Jill Linen Dress from Goodwill West Palm Beach

Baskets for a Better Life

My husband is the type of person who likes things in extremes.

For example, if he finds a pair of shorts he likes, he gets them in every color.

He’s really into baseball caps, so we have a plethora. He buys them everywhere we go.

Right now, he’s having a major sunglasses moment.

He discovered that for about $40, he can get an entire box full of sunglasses on Alibaba.

I don’t know anything about this site and am not endorsing it — y’all know I’m a thrifter/secondhand champion, so this sunglasses-in-bulk business is not my vibe.

I prefer to source cheap sunglasses from Goodwill.

We are aligned, however, in the general concept of cheap sunglasses for him, because he’s lost several expensive pairs, including on airplanes and in the ocean.

When the sunglasses box arrived, I immediately knew I was in danger.

With each pair Vince tried on, the previous was tossed to the side, and my kitchen counter was soon covered in sunnies.

A future flashed before me that was full of sunglasses — surfaces throughout my home covered in them — all the same pair in different colors.

The horror.

BASKETS TO THE RESCUE.

I’ve thrifted two baskets from Goodwill that are now full of sunnies.

These baskets are keeping me calm.

These baskets are keeping me sane.

These baskets are good for my marriage.

: a poem.

I recommend baskets for a better life.

A lil Collecty

The older I get, the more collecty I get.

As a younger person, I didn’t collect anything and didn’t really see the point. It didn’t seem like a practical thing to do.

Now that I’ve settled into a family home, I like having more stuff around me and genuinely enjoy staring at my shelves and walls full of collected things.

I’m sure there’s science behind the benefits of just….staring in this overstimulating world.

Lately, I’ve been collecting home design books.

Owning this type of collection serves two purposes — it’s easy and fun to style shelves and surfaces with books, and I glean lots of inspo from the pages.

I love cracking one open on a Saturday morning with a cup of coffee after a busy week.

I’ve also started collecting pins.

I thrifted this old Dooney & Bourke canvas purse from Goodwill years ago, and have given it new life by sticking vintage pins on it that I’ve found while thrifting.

I love the shape and size of this purse, but it has some imperfections (stains on the leather). Adding the pins has gussied this old girl up!

I recently purchased a Lands End canvas tote for beach and travel, so now I have even more real estate for pin collecting.

Accessorizing bags, hats, and sweaters with pins is adorable! Why wasn’t I doing this before?!

Old collecty me is all about it.

Last week’s thrifted ‘fits:

Top from The Nearly New Shop West Palm Beach

Button Up and Linen Pants from Goodwill West Palm Beach

Mom’s entire outfit is Goodwill West Palm Beach – Top, Skirt, Sandals, and Bag

Top and Bag from Goodwill West Palm Beach

Cardigan from my Swap Brunch Party, Pants passed down from a friend, Tote from Goodwill West Palm Beach

Cole Haan Pumps from Goodwill West Palm Beach

Gallery Moments

I’m a big fan of the gallery wall, and have several in my home. I’ve always liked using them in a non-traditional way (traditional being matching frames hung in a perfectly symmetrical grouping).

A traditional gallery wall in our home featuring images from our favorite vacation.

I like thinking of my gallery moments as wall scrapbooks. I mix and match frame styles, include photos next to artwork, and hang objects like baskets and hats.

If someone writes me a cute note, or I leave a wedding with a polaroid keepsake, I’ll tuck these pieces into the edges of frames.

My gallery walls are constantly changing as I bring in new pieces from my thrift adventures, like puzzles that are never finished.

One of my favorite galleries is the one above my desk/office space in our primary bedroom.

It includes a floral painting found years ago at Stitches and Rust (the owner now operates a shop called Trashé Vintage), and a painting given to me by my mother.

The artist’s granddaughter was my mother’s neighbor in Missouri, and gave this piece, along with another large collection, to my mom for free, as long as she promised to keep them safe.

The post office gave us a copy of Elaine’s passport photo, so I tucked it in the floral painting’s frame, along with a tiny image of my boys that was leftover from some prints I made to go into a locket for my mother-in-law.

Now that my mom lives seasonally with us in Florida, we’re keeping all the art on our walls.

I’ve hung a hat from Stone Button Studio in Northwood Village, a little stained glass and shell mirror purchased at the Northwood Holiday Home Tours market in 2024, a basket I’ve just added to the collection this weekend (purchased at The Rust Market in Lake Park), and my favorite piece of all — framed hand written notes from my mother.

My mom wrote these notes to me when I was two years old. I had done a couple of cute/sweet things, so she jotted them down as memories and added little love notes in too.

A polaroid from Vince and Elaine’s first daddy daughter dance, and a tiny envelope with “Vanessa and Vince” written on it and a cute little butterfly

To this day, I can’t read the notes without crying. Even before becoming a mother myself, they brought tears to my eyes.

I love those notes so much that when my parents asked what I wanted for my college graduation gift, I just asked to have them matted and framed.

My mom couldn’t believe it — frame her slanted writing and spelling errors?!

Hell yeah! That’s what I love about it. The busy, working mom of a toddler taking a few minutes to jot down a moment she wanted to hold onto. A piece of life with her family she wanted to keep from fading. A quick little love story for later.

I love having moments like that on my walls.

Finally put up this rattan mirror I thrifted from Goodwill a few weeks ago.

Last week’s thrifted ‘fits:

>> Goodwill thrift haul reel on my Instagram profile!

>> Consignment shopping reel on my Instagram profile!

Sweater thrifted and gifted from a friend

Button up and striped H&M pants from Goodwill West Palm Beach

Huarache sandals from Goodwill West Palm Beach

Anthropologie skirt and MANGO tote from Goodwill West Palm Beach

Sunshine State cap from Goodwill West Palm Beach

Handmade dress created from a thrifted, vintage tablecloth purchased from a designer who exclusively sells at The Rust Market in Lake Park

J. McLaughlin sandals from Goodwill West Palm Beach

Men’s striped button up from Goodwill Denver, CO

Trashé for Moi, please.

Palm Beach County’s thrift community is made up of the best, most generous and creative people.

As an avid thrift shopper, I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know several local shop owners, and I’ve come to discover that folks who curate and collect have the warmest hearts. It’s just a tried and true combo.

I’ve known the owner of Trashé Vintage, Heidi, for many years. Our sons were elementary school friends, and when Heidi and I first met, her store was called Stitches and Rust.

Her eye for curation is impeccable, and her prices have always been within reach for the average shopper. The style of her shop has evolved over the years, which I think is a reflection of her own evolution as a person — a very cool thing.

Heidi hosted a community-wide rummage sale in the parking lot of her shop over the weekend and it was fun to see that, much like her artfully collected shop, she’s curated a community of people who love shopping secondhand, eating tacos, and singing karaoke in the middle of the day.

The Cozy Cottage table had items exclusively $5 and under

Mom snagged a free pair of sandals from the clothing swap section.

Baby chose her own outfit for the outing — head to toe black was an aggressive but respectable choice.

The rummage sale prices were insanely good. I spent $15 and came away with an awesome haul.

I also got to catch up with Denise, owner of The Cozy Cottage in Lake Worth Beach, who gave me a bag of clothes she’d collected that reminded her of me.

See what I mean about this awesome thrift community?!