We Southern women love to decorate our homes in our favorite colors and patterns. If you know anything about me, you know mine has a lot of blue and white porcelains, fabrics, upholstery, and dishes. When I saw the cover of our new Southern Home special edition, I went completely starry-eyed over the large blue and white striped chairs.
Immediately I began to think of two chairs in my house that might need a little facelift! As I was thinking about it, I was reminded of a day when I was in high school. I came home from school to find my mom reupholstering her favorite chair. She had completely dismantled the chair, taken the fabrics apart for the pattern, and cut out new pieces. I was totally astonished. Moms don’t do that! Well, mine did.
This was the official “avocado green, blue, and gold” era in interior decorating. You remember it, don’t you? Everyone had replaced the safe beige décor for colors. Oh, the magic of textiles and trims. You can take a neutral room and add such drama with colorful textiles.
Every year there seems to be a “new” trend or color scheme that takes hold of us. We look at the new paint colors and fabrics that excite us and begin redecorating in our minds. Actually our homes are acquisitions of memories. I love my table that Dad and I refinished when I was in high school. I have my grandmother’s pump organ in the room with my piano. I just gave Amelia the white iron bed that was my dad’s when he was a boy. It has a new life in her pink and white room.
From inside the pages of Southern Home — a clean, white office gets a colorful accent from a collection of books.
Neal and I love finding a piece to add to our home, especially if it is from a trip or an antiques store we just discovered. As I thumbed through the pages of Southern Home, I wondered what memories are attached to the beautiful things in the photographs. One home had stacks of books while another boasted stained glass windows. I was attracted to the majolica on a beautiful cabinet.
The well-preserved stained-glass windows in this living room highlight the historic character of this Dallas home.
It is not the cost of an item but the beauty that excites us. Simple shells from a wonderful vacation artfully displayed remind us of our blessings of time spent with family. Surround yourself with colors and furniture that excites you. Pull out items that you love, and decorate with them. It is our personal expression that makes our homes beautiful and a special gathering place for family.
What stories do you tell through your décor?
Comments 13
We are recovering from a water disaster and while the contractors are working, I am redecorating in my mind. The photos that you show in this message inspire me all the more! Thank you so much for bringing beauty and elegance into our lives. Family antiques mean so much and bring a sense of history and continuity.
I thought this was YOUR house!
No this isnt, but I could move in anytime……Neal and I both love this photo. The chairs just send me up the wall they are so fabulous.
Lovely rooms…I too decorate with items both new and old. I have a new baby grand piano but also my grandfather’s old upright. I have kept my grandparents’ bent wood chair and it sits against a new highboy. And the list goes on.
Gorgeous rooms! My mother amazed me at the things she would tackle! She would look at the little girl dresses in JC Penney Catalog and replicate them quite well. She, like your mom, reupholstered many of our chairs through the years. We called her super woman. She is 85 and still amazes me. The best part, she made our abode not just a house but truly a home with many wonderful stories and happy memories. And I am in love with those blue and white striped chairs too, Phyllis.
Simply divine!! My absolute favorite color combination, year after year, season after season. Will cherish this issue for a long time to come! So classy and timeless!
Phyllis, this is such a timely post. Towards the end of summer I always start thinking about making some simple changes in our home to reflect the season coming up. As an antique dealer, I have to comment on the first photograph, that room exemplifies how we are all using antiques today, that contemporary lucite table just makes the older pieces pop!
Here at home, our house is filled with antiques that all have memories attached, from my grandmother’s silver teapot to shells we found on a nearby beach with our children in a big bowl. I love Marilyn’s story about her kitchen.
You are such an inspiration!! You value the beauty in a home and share your thoughts and fantastic ideas and talents ! Thank you
Oh Phyllis, I’m in that “mood” to re-arrange. Just finished the guest bedroom, I call my antique bedroom. The star attraction is the quilt on the bed made by my grandmother in the 1930’s. Thanks so much for your inspiration in decorating. Love the blog, all of your blogs!
Thank you so much. I feel as though all of you are family. We all love the same things and share our enthusiasm for the beauty in our surroundings.
Ah,,, this struck a sweet note with me. Last month with my daughter’s help, I completed decorating two walls in my kitchen with each one telling a story. I used shadow boxes to hold paperback cookbooks–identical ones that my mother had in the 40’s and I had in the 70’s (Jell-o– congealed salads:) and Pillsbury)–more than a “coincidence” that we shared those interests, as well as hers for biscuits and Good Luck pudding from the 1940’s too. In addition, I have her hand written recipes and a photo of my grandmother cooking and our family at the table. The other wall holds a dish that appears in the photo, and a pizza pan that was my grandmothers from 1914. (She was an immigrant.) People come into my home and love to hear the stories and I love telling them. I relocated to this area last year, so no one knows my history. What an opportunity to share it. I wish I could post a photo for you.
I would love to see your room!!!! Sounds perfect.
Beautiful, just beautiful..!!