There is such a feeling of newness or renewal as the new year dawns and the holidays fade away. For us it's been good to move things around a bit as we transition some of my mother's things into our home (she has moved to assisted living.) We fit her pieces in as we move others around ... a sort of "shopping the house." (I found myself shopping the house a bit with my Christmas gifts this year, finding objects meaningful to me that would also be pleasing to friends I know well--it was a lot of fun!) For sure our attic is stuffed fuller than it was as we put some things aside for later decisions. And it feels, just a bit, like a new house. It seems like home more than ever. I find myself wondering if that's due to the familiar furniture from my youth now gracing our home, or if it's just because it is ... home !
Photo: We moved this mirror and my favorite old wobbly chest to the upstairs hallway. The mirror is hanging higher than I would have chosen, but the Gardener did the hanging and he believes mirrors are to be looked into. With a foot difference in our heights we compromised. I'll see the top part of my head, and he'll see the lower part of his!
Dotsie,
ReplyDeleteVery nice post. As I look around my home, I see familiar items from my childhood. I find that they are reassuring and blend with the style that I have now.
Carol
I LOVE that chest! :)
ReplyDeleteHaving "new" things even if they are old; and moving things from room to room always makes your surroundings seem fresh and new. Love that green cupboard. Some people think it is bad luck if you hang a mirror and can't see your entire head in it -- so I always try to hang them so I can se myself (but that doesn't help the other folks who might be taller or shorter). :) Best wishes to you, Tammy
ReplyDeleteLove everything in your photo, Dotsie. I think having the items you grew up with surround you must have a very special feel.
ReplyDeleteBetween folks of height disparity, hanging anything on the wall is a challenge! LOL! That's why I try to do it while I am alone. hee hee
Podso,
ReplyDeleteOur home On Crooked Creek contains many heirlooms from our combined families. There is a sense of warmth, as you said, as those pieces recall memories of our youth. Once when we put down new carpet, we emptied all of the furnishings to our garage. Then as each piece returned to our home, it was truly, like a shopping experience. Amazing where some of those pieces were placed. Same items placed elsewhere, the transformation was a huge improvement.
You'll now have no excuse for "bad hair days", nor will your DH for an "unshaven face"! HA! We have the same dilemna On Crooked Creek.
What an inspiring and heartwarming post. My prayers are with your family as the adjustments are being made in your mother's life and in yours!
Fondly,
Pat
That green chest is so adorable! And even sweeter since it has sentimental value. Men are so practical! lol Tell him to look at this picture and ask him if it looks right to have all that space between the mirror and chest. I have found that a picture of my decor helps me better than trying to eye it. Actually both of you are right. The solution- a larger mirror. At least you two know how to compromise!
ReplyDeleteOver the years my mum has passed down pieces of furniture and bits of china as she's downsized, and like you, I have a very comfortable and cosy feeling about them.
ReplyDeleteAlso like you, I'm married to a tall man, while I'm only 5'2 (on a tall day). We often have debates about how high to hang pictures and mirrors!
Making the house "new" by rearranging things is a lot of fun and so satisfying when you are done. I agree.
ReplyDeleteI won't deny that I occasionally like new. When I need comforting, it's the old family pieces/objects/books/photos that I turn to.
ReplyDeleteOne never thinks, when choosing their life's mate, how high a mirror will be hung! Perhaps a step stool?
Best,
Bonnie
When my parents moved to assisted living a few years back, pieces of their home moved in with me; and it is a comfort and a joy to have them here.
ReplyDeleteIt's bits of my childhood, pieces of my grandparents' lives, echoes of the past woven into the present -- lovely.
Your "wobbly" chest? I have an identical one, painted and "antiqued" by my Mom, in my upstairs bathroom. I love it, even tho the right hand door often swings open of its own accord!
Enjoy your treasures.
Lovely post ... Cass
I don't have many heirlooms, but I do have a fair share of older pieces and they seem to ground everything around them and give me that sense of home.
ReplyDeleteI just love that chest and mirror. I would need a small stool to stand on to see! ;-D
XO,
Jane
a smile came bursting onto my face when I read the mirror compromise. we have the same issues in our house. bigger mirrors help, that way at 5'1" and 6'3" we can both use them. if the space between the chest and mirror seems to large you might try placing something taller on the chest--a larger vase/arrangement--or even putting a more colorful shade on the lamp to break up the space and make a stronger connection between the mirror and the chest. i love that mellow green. my bedroom is almost the same color. it is very soothing, and reminds me of old jade ware.
ReplyDeleteHope that the transition went smoothly.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the feeling of home!
Leann
BTW - I have a very similar dresser in my studio painted the same green!
LOL...about the hanging of them mirror...my dh is a foot taller that me too...I really enjoyed the photo of your grandparents...it tells us just a little of life then...and I *love* her smile...
ReplyDeleteRene
Love the chest ... and this post. Sounds like a wonderful space filled with warm memories. I have nothing from my childhood home, or homes, as the case is. But I can't recall a single piece from that time that would make a current space feel like "home" anyway. I think that's partially why I love to collect old/antique things from here and there -- to create the sense of "home" I never had in childhood. (Sheesh, that sounds so depressing. It's not. Really.)
ReplyDeleteLighter note: There's a foot difference between my husband and myself, too!