I’ve moved into four different homes in the past 17 years, and each time I’ve taken the same approach to decorating the walls. I live in the house for a fair amount of time before I start pounding holes in the walls — to give myself time to understand how I feel about the house.

That might sound weird to some people. Because on some level, I think it implies I bought a house that I didn’t or wasn’t sure I would like. And why would anyone do that, right? (More on that later.) For me though, not accessorizing my walls right away also has come down to money. The first six months to a year after buying a house has always seemed to be the toughest financially. Usually, buying means moving up — a bigger or nicer house, plus the bigger mortgage and other associated costs. So waiting to buy wall hangings/art/pictures is a no-brainer.

And with our most recent move, money (or lack of it) definitely has played a role in the walls staying bare for so long. I quit my job in Wisconsin at the beginning of last July so I could get that house ready to sell, and then make all the moving arrangements by myself because husband was already at his new job in Texas. Finding the right job took awhile, and we didn’t resume our two-income family status until February of this year.

But another unexpected factor has played a much greater role in the walls staying bare for more than nine months. Until recently, I honestly wasn’t sure that I even liked our new house. Strange as it sounds, it’s true. I never actually walked through the house before we made the offer on it. There was too much going on in Wisconsin for me to fly down to Texas, so while I was taking care of that, husband looked at houses and sent daughter and me photos and videos.

Don’t get me wrong. Husband did a great job house hunting. And I did agree to buy the house. It’s a really nice house, too. Really nice. It’s just very different from what I’m used to — both the house itself (it’s brand new) and the neighborhood we live in (1/10th-of-an-acre-lot in a new subdivision compared to 1-1/4 acres in the country).

Our recent visit to Wisconsin, however, and the realization that by the end of the vacation I really was looking forward to going home — to my new home in Texas — was like flipping on a light switch for me. Now I can’t wait to start decorating the walls of my house. Strike that. The walls of my home.

Here are a photos of just a few of the walls that will be getting some attention in the near future.