05/19/2026
Behind every beautiful aesthetic photo is probably a few tears, a little chaos, and a whole lot of stress. 🤍
These photos are from our very first open house in December and, in full transparency, it was a bit of a s**t show behind the scenes. The amount of work still remaining in the days leading up to December 1 felt completely overwhelming.
But thanks to some panicked phone calls and a true all-hands-on-deck effort from Jason Barrett, Enterprise Electric, , Toby for rushed custom handrails, .decor.design, and … we somehow pulled it off.
Additional gratitude to for snacks and to .anglin.9 for last-minute cleaning and hauling a box spring upstairs literally 20 minutes before guests arrived 🙃 are you even doing it right if this isn’t happening 😂
And just to make things more exciting, I got hit on the interstate the day before, which added an entirely new layer of complications.
The surprise 7 inches of snow over Thanksgiving weekend complicated nearly every part of reaching the finish line , but somehow created the dreamiest backdrop for our open houses and beyond. captured the most magical snowy night, and I still get emotional thinking about people experiencing Elm & Hearth for the very first time 🥲
One of the biggest lessons in all of this has been learning to launch before everything feels perfect.
It would’ve been easy to focus on what wasn’t done yet — the unfinished details, the pile of mulch that sat until February, the endless to-do list. But we knew the feeling we wanted to create, and we kept refining and improving one step at a time.
Our hope has always been that Elm & Hearth feels magical in every season here in central Iowa. A place that makes you stop in your tracks and think, “Is this heaven or Iowa?”
A true escape without the hassle of a plane ride and long road trips.
We’re hosting a summer open house on Wednesday, May 20 from 4–7 PM, and we’d absolutely love to welcome you. Whether it’s your first time seeing the space, you want to see how it’s evolved, or you simply want to daydream about cozy fall weekends ahead… we’d love to have you here. ✨
