House to Home Series Part II - Fill it with Family

One great way of making your house feel more like a home is by adding pieces that remind you of family and people that are important to you. From a simple apartment to the most high end show house, anyone can add meaningful pieces that blend well into the decor.

Family Heirlooms
My dad passed away many years ago and so my sisters and I have chosen to display many of the things that my dad passed down to us from his days of growing up on a ranch in Wyoming. It's a great way to remember him throughout our day, and give a piece of him to our kids.

We each got a milk jug that they stored fresh milk in on the ranch, and all of us have decided to leave them as-is and not refinish them. One of my sisters opened hers and found it crammed full of letters from our late-grandmother, which was a really cool experience.

Each of us were also given a horseshoe from the ranch as well, and we all hang ours above our doors to bring everyone who enters good luck.

If you don't have a dad that lived on a ranch that passed down interesting relics to you, never fear! It could be something as simple as a book, a collection of family photos, grandma's knitted blanket, or in my case, a candle holder. Recently my mom was giving away a pile of junk, including this Avon turtle candle holder, which still had the original candle in it from who knows when. I remembered this turtle lying around the house when I was a kid and thought my kids would love it, and so I rescued it from the Goodwill pile and took it home and cleaned it up. He's a cool little vintage piece with a history and I love that.

If you don't have any family heirlooms, but you want to have something that reminds you of your family, be bold and ask your family if there is something you can have to remind you of them. I bet they'd love to share a bit of them with you.

Family Art

After watching Monuments Men, I resolved to honor my family and our history by displaying family artwork. The first thing I did was hang up an oil painting I did in high school. I had never hung him up before because he looks like Johnny Lingo, but I decided to embrace it's quirkiness and hang him in a prominent place in our house. I want my kids to know that we place an emphasis on artistic creation and celebrate one another's accomplishments.

The middle piece of art in the picture below is a copy of a piece that my grandpa painted, and my sister has displayed it in a really nice way in her home. Someone else in my family owns the original, but my mom felt it was important enough to make a print for each of us to display in our home.

I think its especially important to hang art that your children have done. Regardless if it's a masterpiece or a scribble, display it proudly! 

Family Photos

Maybe the most obvious way that we can make our house more homey is by displaying family photos around the house. My Mom and Dad's wedding photo is displayed on our bedside table. 

And pictures of our family are scattered throughout the house, mostly in wall collages like this one.

You can find lots of interesting ways to display your pictures (as well as heirlooms and art) online, so get creative! The sky's the limit. 

Whether it be an heirloom, a special souvenir you've collected in your travels, artwork that your children have done, or even something that just reminds you of your family history or those that you love, find a place for those things in your home. Don't clutter the house with them, but a piece here and there will be just the touch of family to make your house feel more like a home.