Inspiration Close to Home Part 2

After my earlier post about my grandma's house, I thought I should have asked her some decorating tips and included them in the post. So now here are a few tips from my grandma, Gloria . . . . 1. Buy things you love and your house will look loved, rather than looking like a house for show. 2. Building up a lamp on top of stacked books or a plant stand on a small table will give a table more height and look great. 3. Pictures on walls look more interesting mixed with objects that are not pictures and mixing pictures of various frame sizes looks great too. 4. Lots of candles are always good. 5. Don't be afraid of color. 6. Leopard looks great with everything (grandma loves animal prints--but a little goes a long way). A chair or rug in leopard adds a touch of pizazz. 7. It's nice to always have something black in a room. 8. Use outdoor objects inside like a stone figure. 9. As you grow and change, so should your home. 10. Use beautiful fabrics as throws. 11. Always have some fresh flowers or plants in your house. 12. Remember that your house reflects who you are more than any words can express.

I know I've posted this picture once before, but it's quintessentially my grandma, so I wanted to show it again


My grandma is also a really great artist. In every house she's owned, she's painted something, somewhere. I think she's painted a mural in each house she's lived in. Below is a mural she painted in my mom's old house, the house I grew up in, which actually took up a whole long wall (you just can't see all of it here). And below that, you can see where she painted the bricks and stone on the porch floor.


Also, my grandma has a tradition of painting on our Christmas presents. Each year she chooses a theme and paints something beautiful on one or two of each person's presents and then after Christmas we frame them. Some themes in the past were toys, santas, bible stories and birds. Below is a larger detail of one from the year of birds.