Two years ago today, I pressed publish on a little Instagram account called Love of Luverne. Five years ago today, we stood on the front steps of our 1927 colonial, keys in hand, completely unaware of just how much life those walls would hold.

It feels fitting that these anniversaries fall together, because one really wouldn’t exist without the other. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about why I started this account in the first place.

The easy answer is that I’ve always loved beautiful homes. I’ve always been drawn to old houses with character, collected rooms, heirlooms, gardens, dinner parties, and the kind of spaces that feel as though they’ve been loved for generations. Plus, extensive digital marketing experience made diving into something like this a little less daunting.

But that’s only part of the story. The deeper answer is that I’ve always believed a home matters. Not because it’s filled with expensive thing – and not because it’s perfectly designed. Not because it impresses anyone else. Because it’s where life happens.

A house is, in the most practical sense, just a place to keep your things and sleep at night. But it’s also so much more than that.

It’s the backdrop to your children’s childhoods. It’s where ordinary Tuesday dinners become family traditions. Where birthdays are celebrated, Christmas mornings unfold, friends linger around the dining room table, and babies take their first steps. It’s where sadness as been carried, hopes and wishes whispered, and joy has somewhere to land.

I know there are people who would say, “It’s just a house.” But I also think the places we inhabit quietly shape the way we experience our lives. They don’t have to be grand or magazine-worthy to be meaningful. They simply have to be loved.

This has never been about chasing perfection or convincing anyone they need a bigger home, a better renovation, or the latest trend…if I’m being honest, it’s been the opposite.

I want to celebrate homes that are truly lived in. Homes where toys are tucked under antique tables, where thrifted finds tell stories, where DIY projects are built with more heart than budget, and where beauty is found in the everyday rather than the extraordinary. Because that’s the kind of home we’re building.One that is imperfect, evolving, sometimes chaotic, but deeply loved.

Over the last five years, these walls have witnessed more than I ever could have imagined. We’ve welcomed two beautiful boys into our family. We’ve hosted holidays, birthday parties, neighborhood dinners, and quiet evenings after long days. We’ve painted walls, planted gardens, hunted through antique stores, baked bread, made mistakes, started over, and filled room after room with memories that mean far more than the things inside them.

That’s what I hope Love of Luverne captures, the quiet art of building a life. One that’s slower. More intentional. More grateful. More rooted in what lasts.

If you’ve been here from the beginning, or if you’ve just found your way here, thank you for being part of this little corner of the internet.

Here’s to five years of loving this old house, two years of Love of Luverne, and many more stories still waiting to be lived.

Until next week,

Lauren