When my mother passed away, and we were going through her belongings, my husband found my mother’s copy of the book Living a Beautiful Life by Alexandra Stoddard. Alexandra and her late husband Peter were friends of my mother’s, and my mother had many of her beautiful books. In this copy, she’d marked many of the suggestions Alexandra made to “live a beautiful life;” simple things to elevate the everyday.

These suggestions—from setting the table with beautiful table linens to always having fresh flowers—aren’t difficult to do, but make such a wonderful difference. I’ve been trying to remember to add fresh flowers to our grocery order, and I recently invested in some Julia Amory table linens, which I love (you’ve probably seen them ad nauseum on Instagram as the background to several posts!) I’m trying to organize my things better, a less-than-easy task for me, though one I’m hoping will become more of a habit as the days go by.

I love this picture of my grandparents’ house, and this is one of the rooms I remember best. I chose this picture for this post because I love the silver tea service set out. Yes, this was a photoshoot from a magazine, but I remember the elegance my grandmother brought to everyday life. I’d love my toddler to remember that, too.

Life is so short and so precious. Shouldn’t we try to bring as much joy and beauty to the world as we can? How do you elevate your everyday?