Funny story… when I was very young, and my parents would visit their friends homes, of course the adults would send the children off to play in little Johnny or Susie’s room while they chatted and hung out in the living room or kitchen. I would clean, organize and re-arrange the space, before I could “play” comfortably. When their parents would come to tell us our time of play has come to an end, there was surprise and awe, and a request to bring me back the next week so I could “play” in another area of the house. Crazy, right?!
As a little girl I remember our living room was always changing. The sofa was turned this way or the other, or the chairs were placed catercorner, (that’s how I learned what that word even meant, haha!) or the whole room may have been switched around. And the tabletops? Forget about it. They might have changed daily! Once I was all grown up and on my own, decorating my own place, I totally understood it, and it wasn’t strange to me anymore, because now I was doing it!
Remember my “Real Deal” post where I talked about changing out the mirror in my master bath just on a whim one Saturday night? You can check it out here.It wasn’t long after I moved into my own place after college that I realized I had the same gift as my Mom… being able to visualize the room and resourcefully find, re-purpose or create items of little expense to make the space look like something of great expense. I definitely got my eye for decor and design from my Mom. And although our decorating styles are very different, I certainly have a deep appreciation for the way she was able to always beautify the home for me, my brother and my Dad. Who knows what my Dad thought about it all, lol! He must have been fine with it because if you knew him, you know he didn’t bite his tongue, AT ALL, and didn’t mind hurting your feelings in the process! Here is a picture of the room shared by my brother and I, created by Mom. We were 6 and 7 at the time.
Yes, that’s me and my brother almost 50 years ago. (This pic is so old, I couldn’t get our little faces any clearer.) It kind of depicts who we are now. Mike is still slinging his guitar, and I’m still girly as ever. I do believe this was one of my very first photo shoots! Mom designed and sewed the window treatment, designed and painted the door treatment, (that was a door to an enclosed back sun porch), as well as painted the dresser and the image on it. She also designed and sewed the bedding. So when I look at this picture I see so much creativity. She is a ridiculously talented fine artist, welder and sculptor. Many years and life situations later, Mom continued her personal trend of “Room Refresh”. When my parents moved to Atlanta shortly after I did, again, I remember the house looking completely different sometimes weekly when I would visit. Pictures re-hung in different areas. If furniture hadn’t been moved, there was at least two or three things that HAD been moved, changed or discarded.
Mom and I debate, sometimes rather passionately, about the decor direction of a room. I am like most daughters, who believe they have gotten to a point where they know more than their mothers. (I am right most of the time, haha!) And as I continue to grow, decoratively speaking that is, our design and decor preferences continue to move even further in totally different directions. But I’m always grounded in what I witnessed and lived all those years ago. Any creativity in interior decorating I have, I definitely inherited and learned from my mother. As we approach Mother’s Day, and as I prepare to be inundated with all things decor with the new house, it is only fitting that I pay homage to that transference of gifts.
They say girls become their mothers, and that is certainly true to some extent. I remember my Mom fussing with her mother, and now she and I fuss the same way. Many times over things like appropriate window treatments and paint color and where things should be placed to draw the eye up, making the room appear larger. I am thankful for the gift I have, of being able to take most anything and turn it into something fabulous. I now realize how valuable such a gift is and I don’t take it for granted. And I am ever mindful that this, I get from my mama. To all the mothers, and to everyone who operates in mother-mode, caring for and tending to the well-being of a child, your role is priceless. Happy Mother’s Day!
