Pub­lisher's Note: When we first put to­gether the money theme, I knew we had to have a piece from pho­tog­ra­pher and nu­tri­tion­ist Mickey Trescott. I asked her to send us pho­tos show­ing how she's cho­sen to spend money on her home.

"The couch was the first thing we ac­tu­ally bought at the store," Mickey told me in a quick in­ter­view.

It was the start of every­thing. They'd started rent­ing this space after mov­ing quite often for a few years, and their ratty $15 thrift store couch cracked in half in the move. "We couldn't think of putting a $15 couch in this beau­ti­ful space any­ways," she said. Look­ing at IKEA yielded noth­ing - it seemed worth it to spend more on some­thing well made, that they'd re­ally love.

From there, their col­lec­tion has grown. Noah Trescott, her hus­band and the maker be­hind Fer­mata Wood­works, built the cof­fee table, and the din­ing room table. In the years of our friend­ship, which started over a pic­ture of a cookie, I've watched them slowly in­vest in their home.

"Every time I come home, I think 'Ahhhh…" Mickey says, "I think that comes from not hav­ing a lot of stuff; the em­pha­sis we place on hav­ing a few nice things." The Trescotts had started get­ting rid of stuff in their pre­vi­ous tiny apart­ments. Look­ing at these pho­tos, you might guess that all the junk is in the clos­ets, but there are no clos­ets - or clut­ter - in the en­tire house.

The couch was ex­pen­sive. So was the Pendle­ton blan­ket in the bed­room - they saved for a few months after they had fi­nally de­cided on a de­sign they liked. Many things are thrifted along the way, or came from fam­ily. The clock by the yarn was her uncle's clock as a child, the art is all from friends.

Mickey's tips: be ob­sessed with re­search; be aware of what you would get if you are ever in the mar­ket for ____. "I'd never go into a store and buy some­thing just be­cause it looked cool - I might look, but then I'd think about things." And then save up, once you know what you want.