Meaningful Pieces

On my first post, I pictured our dining room table that used to belong to my husband's parents that I now love and have embraced.  I wanted to show you a couple other spots in my home where there is a sense of coziness from the mix of new, special, and handed-down items.   For most of us, a fireplace is a fun spot to decorate, especially for the holidays.  I love changing the look of the mantle because in most homes with a fireplace, a mantle is a natural focal point.  Recently when we changed the wall in our dining room (see last post) to a collage, we removed a large painting.   Although I liked the painting fine, it really wasn't what I thought was my style.  Then my husband reminded me that his aunt had painted it!  I had forgotten that.  We had inherited the painting from his parents' house.  He put it up on the mantle and I have to say I love it.  The colors are great, it's a simple, meaningful scene, and the artist is family.   How cool is that?

Another spot in our great room that has more items from my in-laws is this wall with these great chairs.  They instantly went with our more rustic feel of the room and the light leather lightens up all the wood and other dark furniture!   We moved our old chairs to the basement and put these on either side of a piece that I love---a $100 solid piece we got from a JCPenney Outlet furniture store! The lamp is a clearance find from Target, and you may recognize the yellow flowers--they are the same flowers that I have in vases on my dining room table (again, see first post).  Guess what the flowers are in on this buffet--a pitcher and bowl that was hand-made by my mother-in-law!  So special.

Great room wall

The pics are of my great kids.  They need to be updated.....but I still love having all of them on the wall like that!

I hope I inspired you to look at things that were given to you in a different way.  I know I have!
Nothing is more special and meaningful than something that was made by or belonged to someone you loved.  The best home decor store couldn't sell a painting by an aunt or a piece of pottery made by a beloved mother.  Priceless!