diff --git a/src/db.rs b/src/db.rs
index c3f9b1b..de98e54 100644
--- a/src/db.rs
+++ b/src/db.rs
@@ -6,11 +6,7 @@
 //! exposed for convenient interaction with the database, such as adding
 //! inserting and returning posts.
 
-use std::{
-    fmt,
-    fmt::{Display, Formatter},
-    path::Path,
-};
+use std::path::Path;
 
 use log::{debug, info};
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
@@ -77,29 +73,6 @@ pub struct Post {
     pub subject: Option<String>,
 }
 
-/// Convenience type which facilitates converting an IVec into a String.
-/// The IVec type is returned when getting a value from the sled database.
-#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq)]
-struct IVecString {
-    pub bytes: IVec,
-    pub string: String,
-}
-
-impl Display for IVecString {
-    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
-        write!(f, "{}", self.string)
-    }
-}
-
-impl From<IVec> for IVecString {
-    fn from(bytes: IVec) -> Self {
-        Self {
-            string: String::from_utf8_lossy(&bytes).into_owned(),
-            bytes,
-        }
-    }
-}
-
 /// An instance of the key-value database and relevant trees.
 #[allow(dead_code)]
 #[derive(Clone)]
@@ -126,11 +99,11 @@ impl Database {
         debug!("Opening 'peers' database tree");
         let peer_tree = db
             .open_tree("peers")
-            .expect("Failed to open database peers tree");
+            .expect("Failed to open 'peers' database tree");
         debug!("Opening 'posts' database tree");
         let post_tree = db
             .open_tree("posts")
-            .expect("Failed to open database posts tree");
+            .expect("Failed to open 'posts' database tree");
 
         Database {
             db,
@@ -142,14 +115,20 @@ impl Database {
     /// Add a peer to the database by inserting the public key into the peer
     /// tree.
     pub fn add_peer(&self, peer: Peer) -> Result<Option<IVec>> {
+        debug!("Serializing peer data for {} to bincode", &peer.public_key);
         let peer_bytes = bincode::serialize(&peer).unwrap();
 
+        debug!(
+            "Inserting peer {} into 'peers' database tree",
+            &peer.public_key
+        );
         self.peer_tree.insert(&peer.public_key, peer_bytes)
     }
 
     /// Remove a peer from the database, as represented by the given public
     /// key.
     pub fn remove_peer(&self, public_key: &str) -> Result<()> {
+        debug!("Removing peer {} from 'peers' database tree", &public_key);
         self.peer_tree.remove(&public_key).map(|_| ())
     }
 
@@ -157,11 +136,18 @@ impl Database {
     /// The byte value for the matching entry, if found, is deserialized from
     /// bincode into an instance of the Peer struct.
     pub fn get_peer(&self, public_key: &str) -> Result<Option<Peer>> {
+        debug!(
+            "Retrieving peer data for {} from 'peers' database tree",
+            &public_key
+        );
         let peer = self
             .peer_tree
             .get(public_key.as_bytes())
             .unwrap()
-            .map(|peer| bincode::deserialize(&peer).unwrap());
+            .map(|peer| {
+                debug!("Deserializing peer data for {} from bincode", &public_key);
+                bincode::deserialize(&peer).unwrap()
+            });
 
         Ok(peer)
     }
@@ -170,12 +156,19 @@ impl Database {
     /// peer entry is deserialized from bincode into an instance of the Peer
     /// struct.
     pub fn get_peers(&self) -> Vec<Peer> {
+        debug!("Retrieving data for all peers in the 'peers' database tree");
         let mut peers = Vec::new();
 
         self.peer_tree
             .iter()
             .map(|peer| peer.unwrap())
-            .for_each(|peer| peers.push(bincode::deserialize(&peer.1).unwrap()));
+            .for_each(|peer| {
+                debug!(
+                    "Deserializing peer data for {} from bincode",
+                    String::from_utf8_lossy(&peer.0).into_owned()
+                );
+                peers.push(bincode::deserialize(&peer.1).unwrap())
+            });
 
         peers
     }
@@ -189,8 +182,10 @@ impl Database {
     /// This method can also be used to update an existing database entry.
     pub fn add_post(&self, public_key: &str, post: Post) -> Result<Option<IVec>> {
         let post_key = format!("{}_{}", public_key, post.key);
+        debug!("Serializing post data for {} to bincode", &post_key);
         let post_bytes = bincode::serialize(&post).unwrap();
 
+        debug!("Inserting post {} into 'posts' database tree", &post_key);
         self.post_tree.insert(post_key.as_bytes(), post_bytes)
     }
 
@@ -204,11 +199,14 @@ impl Database {
 
         for post in posts {
             let post_key = format!("{}_{}", public_key, post.key);
+            debug!("Serializing post data for {} to bincode", &post_key);
             let post_bytes = bincode::serialize(&post).unwrap();
 
+            debug!("Inserting post {} into 'posts' database tree", &post_key);
             post_batch.insert(post_key.as_bytes(), post_bytes)
         }
 
+        debug!("Applying batch insertion into 'posts' database tree");
         self.post_tree.apply_batch(post_batch)
     }
 
@@ -217,12 +215,19 @@ impl Database {
     /// each matching entry is deserialized from bincode into an instance of
     /// the Post struct.
     pub fn get_posts(&self, public_key: &str) -> Result<Vec<Post>> {
+        debug!("Retrieving data for all posts in the 'posts' database tree");
         let mut posts = Vec::new();
 
         self.post_tree
             .scan_prefix(public_key.as_bytes())
             .map(|post| post.unwrap())
-            .for_each(|post| posts.push(bincode::deserialize(&post.1).unwrap()));
+            .for_each(|post| {
+                debug!(
+                    "Deserializing post data for {} from bincode",
+                    String::from_utf8_lossy(&post.0).into_owned()
+                );
+                posts.push(bincode::deserialize(&post.1).unwrap())
+            });
 
         posts.sort_by(|a: &Post, b: &Post| b.timestamp.cmp(&a.timestamp));
 
@@ -235,12 +240,19 @@ impl Database {
     /// Post struct.
     pub fn get_post(&self, public_key: &str, msg_id: &str) -> Result<Option<Post>> {
         let post_key = format!("{}_{}", public_key, msg_id);
+        debug!(
+            "Retrieving post data for {} from 'posts' database tree",
+            &post_key
+        );
 
         let post = self
             .post_tree
             .get(post_key.as_bytes())
             .unwrap()
-            .map(|post| bincode::deserialize(&post).unwrap());
+            .map(|post| {
+                debug!("Deserializing post data for {} from bincode", &post_key);
+                bincode::deserialize(&post).unwrap()
+            });
 
         Ok(post)
     }
@@ -249,6 +261,7 @@ impl Database {
     /// key and defined by the given message ID.
     pub fn remove_post(&self, public_key: &str, msg_id: &str) -> Result<()> {
         let post_key = format!("{}_{}", public_key, msg_id);
+        debug!("Removing post {} from 'posts' database tree", &post_key);
 
         // .remove() would ordinarily return the value of the deleted entry
         // as an Option, returning None if the post_key was not found.
@@ -260,12 +273,21 @@ impl Database {
     /// Sum the total number of unread posts for the peer represented by the
     /// given public key.
     pub fn get_unread_post_count(&self, public_key: &str) -> u16 {
+        debug!(
+            "Counting total number of unread posts for peer {}",
+            &public_key
+        );
+
         let mut unread_post_counter = 0;
 
         self.post_tree
             .scan_prefix(public_key.as_bytes())
             .map(|post| post.unwrap())
             .for_each(|post| {
+                debug!(
+                    "Deserializing post data for {} from bincode",
+                    String::from_utf8_lossy(&post.0).into_owned()
+                );
                 let deserialized_post: Post = bincode::deserialize(&post.1).unwrap();
                 if !deserialized_post.read {
                     unread_post_counter += 1