There's really only one place to start the tour of Jana Kramer's new Nashville "dream house," and it's the wine wall in the dining room.
That's exactly what TODAY's Natalie Morales did when she visited the "One Tree Hill" star, country music singer and podcast host for our series "At Home with Natalie."
"Bow down to my wine," said Kramer. "Obviously, there's a few missing. I need to restock a little bit."
Wine is important to Kramer and her husband, Mike Caussin, a former NFL player, who co-host the podcast "Whine Down" together and often discuss relationships with a celebrity guest while sipping a glass of red or white. But throughout the tour, it's clear that family is the most important thing to this couple.
The living room, for example, features treasured family mementos, like heirloom jewelry from both Kramer's and Caussin's great-great-grandparents. The couple also keeps a book on display that chronicles the past year of family memories. This year, it prominently features their move from Los Angeles to Nashville.
"We were just, 'Man, we want to be around our friends, and closer to our family, and we want space,'" Kramer explained of their cross-country move. "In L.A., we just were in this tiny little house. And we knew what we could get here in Nashville. And it just, for us personally, it just feels better for that slower pace. A new start, a fresh start in a place that we love."
If Kramer had to pick her favorite room in the house, it would have to be the gorgeous, screened-in porch that overlooks the couple's spacious backyard.
"I come out here a lot," Kramer told Natalie. "With a glass of wine, it's nice to just sit out here. I probably come out here at least four times a week after the kids (Jolie Rae, 3, and Jace Joseph, 1) go down. And I just take a deep breath. This is my room. This is my time. And I just own that."
The room itself is "a little piece of L.A." with flexible doors that easily turn it into an indoor/outdoor space.
"This is my quiet. I don't want any drama out here," Kramer said. "I don't want any screaming. I don't want any crayons. I just want a little glass of wine, a little peace."
When it comes time for the couple to work together on their podcast, they move into the spacious office, which features two large desks that face each other.
Kramer said the arrangement, while productive, can sometimes be difficult.
"It's hard, because we have very different working styles," she said. "I like to talk things out and be like, 'OK, what if we, like, do this?' And he's just like, 'I need to just do it, like, in quiet.' I'm like, 'No, but I like to, like, talk it out.' So we're figuring it out."
Perhaps as a source of inspiration, the couple uses a nearby wall to display keepsakes, awards and honors, including an I Heart Radio Podcast Award for the best entertainment and TV podcast, a 2012 female vocalist of the year award from the Academy of Country Music and sweet photos of Kramer and Caussin with their two children. There's also a handwritten list of personal and professional goals; something that the couple creates together every year.
The next stop on the tour is the spacious kitchen, which features quartz countertops and a huge cooking area that Caussin uses frequently — but he quickly learned that not everything in the kitchen is functional.
"Mike likes to make fun of me because he went to grab some of these noodles, and I was like 'No, no, no, no,'" Kramer said. "He's like, 'Oh, these are show noddles?' I was like, '100% show rice, show noodles. Don't touch.'"
While the rest of the house is for work and play, Kramer calls her peaceful bedroom "an oasis."
"When we come in here, we just take a deep breath," Kramer said. "It feels like a sanctuary."
That calming, relaxing atmosphere continues into the bathroom, which features a beautiful walk-through shower, large bathtub and spacious vanity.
But perhaps the best feature in the bathroom is a framed, handwritten letter that Caussin wrote to Kramer.
"Our journey has not been easy," he wrote in the letter. "We've been tested, we have been tried, we have felt the pain that no relationship should ever have to feel. Through all of that, we are still breathing, still fighting and still in love."
"I love that," Natalie said, after reading the letter. "It's a good thing to, everyday, just kind of remind yourselves why you're here."