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Decorating
Heirloom
Decorating
by
Rachel Paxton
I
love to surround myself with things from the past. To me
"heirloom" doesn't necessarily mean something really old,
because memories are always in the making, and displaying a family
keepsake can be treasured whether it's from last year or fifty years ago.
It's
easy to tastefully decorate your home with family heirlooms. Why not
put them on display rather than locking them away?
I
have many crocheted afghans that started taking up a lot of storage
space. When we moved to our new home we had room for our cedar chest
off to one side of the living room and I filled the chest with all of
the blankets. This also keeps them from being scattered all over the
living room. We take one out at a time and just fold it up and put it
back in the cedar chest when we're done using it.
I
love to decorate with family photos. Our home has a long hallway
where I can display a lot of photographs. Instead of randomly
arranging pictures I decided to go with themes. I bought a large
collage picture fame and arranged all of our family camping photos in
it. Another smaller collage displays pictures of our daughter opening
up her presents at Christmas throughout the years. My, how she's grown!
I've
also scattered picture frames throughout our home. Black and white
photos of generations past are displayed on the piano and china
hutch. I don't know about you, but I love looking at other people's
family photos. Ours are definitely a topic of conversation for
visiting guests.
I
love needlework. I have on display needlework that was done by my
mother, my mother-in-law, and myself, and these masterpieces make a
great addition to any room of the home. I'm partial myself to wedding
samplers. It doesn't seem like many people take the time to make
these anymore. I made one for my husband and myself that I hope to
someday pass on to my children. Birth samplers are also really great
and something your children will surely cherish someday. The counted
cross stitch project I'm currently working on will probably take me 5
years to complete, but someday it will grace the wall above our piano.
I
like to incorporate children's artwork wherever possible. My
favorite is a poem my daughter wrote and illustrated. One year she
made several and gave them away as Christmas gifts to family members.
Our
family has a lot of books that have been handed down as many as four
generations. Those books are displayed on shelves in our
entertainment center in the living room. My heirloom cookbooks I keep
in a small bookshelf between the kitchen and the dining room. Instead
of just filling the shelves with cookbooks, I alternated shelves,
arranging my favorite knick knacks in between.
One
heirloom I haven't found a place for are hand-embroidered tea towels
that have been in our family for many years. I've read that you can
make them into kitchen curtains. I'm going to have to give that a try!
Look
through your family treasures and see what you can dig up. You never
know what you might find--like a flower your grandmother dried and
framed! And remember, it's never too late to create new family
heirlooms. Your family will treasure them someday.
About The Author
Originally
published by Suite 101. Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom
of four. For easy do-it-yourself home decorating ideas for busy moms,
visit her site Frugal-Home-Decor.com.
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