Author · Tessa Marchetti

I write A Home Filled With Love from the house I have kept for most of my life. Most of what I write about arrived here from somebody else's house first, and I would rather tell you the version with the mistake still in it.

The Wobble in the Third Leg - gathering table
Gathering Table

The Wobble in the Third Leg

Our kitchen table has had a wobble in one leg for over a decade. I keep meaning to fix it properly, and…

Repairing My Grandfather’s Chair Instead of Replacing It - keepsakes & heirlooms
Keepsakes & Heirlooms

Repairing My Grandfather’s Chair Instead of Replacing It

My grandfather's chair sat in my parents' garage for six years before anyone did anything with it. It was a ladder back…

A Key That Does Not Belong to Anyone in Particular - welcoming guests
Welcoming Guests

A Key That Does Not Belong to Anyone in Particular

There is a key on a hook inside our garage, unmarked, that fits our back door, and it has been there so…

The Kettle Goes On Before Anything Else - everyday rituals
Everyday Rituals

The Kettle Goes On Before Anything Else

Before anything else in the morning, the stovetop kettle goes on the back burner, and the ten slow minutes it takes to…

The Cutting Board I Sanded Down to Nothing - handmade at home
Handmade at Home

The Cutting Board I Sanded Down to Nothing

I decided to make my own cutting board out of a stack of maple offcuts Sal had been saving in the garage,…

The Way We Argue About Directions in the Car - family traditions
Family Traditions

The Way We Argue About Directions in the Car

Every family, I think, has at least one habit that looks from the outside like a flaw and feels, from the inside,…

Easter Morning Before Anyone Else Is Awake - holidays at home
Holidays at Home

Easter Morning Before Anyone Else Is Awake

There is a basket in my front hall closet that gets pulled out exactly once a year, woven from a pale straw…

Swapping the Mantel Photos with the Seasons - photo displays
Photo Displays

Swapping the Mantel Photos with the Seasons

My grandmother swapped a few photographs on her mantel with the seasons, without ever announcing it. Years later I finally understood why,…

Setting the Table for One - gathering table
Gathering Table

Setting the Table for One

When my last child moved out, I stopped setting the table for a while. Here is how I learned to sit down…