Home Town host Erin Napier likes to get a little background and personal history on her clients and families before renovation work begins — to help get a feel for the kind of design, features and aesthetic choices that might work best in their home. Here are a few insights provided by client Dawn Trest, featured in the Home Town episode titled "So Long Loft, Hello Home".

Erin: Is there an object in your current home that you love that you think may be weird, ugly or unusual? For instance, I have a porcelain Elvis bust on a bookcase in my living room!

Dawn: I don't know about weird or unusual, but probably 90% of the furniture and artwork in our home is some kind of antique or handmade piece. My brother Adam has painted most of the artwork in our house. My dad made the stained glass. My parents and grandparents gave us most of the antiques we have. So weird or ugly? Not so much. Nostalgic and irreplaceable? Most of what we have.

Erin: What colors do you love?

Dawn: Grey, white... lighter colors. With maybe the occasional navy blue. Walls that are mostly lighter colors. Michael summed it up one time as a foggy forest morning.

Erin: What is the one thing you can't live without in your home?

Dawn: All of our favorite books. Our house would be incomplete without them.