It’s been three months since our episode of In With the Old came out on Magnolia Network and honestly, we needed to take a breather from all the content. There was so much stuff to talk about–so many people who helped, so many projects, so much aftermath (not to mention the renovation itself). Now I’m slowly getting back into it and sharing more about the heart of the home. So today I’m sharing 5 ways to bring your family history into your home.
5 ways to bring your family history into your home
If you don’t follow along on Instagram, I shared about how I got to attend Roots Tech conference in March after I had spent some time talking about how our family heritage influenced the design of our home here on the blog, which was then featured here and here. I’ve been hearing some requests about how to do it in your own home so I’m sharing 5 ways to bring your family history into your home.
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I realized I haven’t shared it with you here.
Why bring your family history into your home
Let’s start with the why. Now, of course you don’t have to bring your family heritage into your home in order to love and honor your family. You don’t even have to do anything big. For me, my grandparent’s home was so crucial to my aesthetic development that I have always hearkened back to it and wished to bring it in.
My grandparents built their home in Los Angeles in 1951 and were known for their hospitality and hosted showers, weddings, out of town visitors. My grandmother had a small sewing room behind the laundry room with a cabinet full of fabrics that she had collected from all around the world. She taught me to sew all sorts of things. That room was magic.
The kitchen was French-inspired. It had hand-painted tile with delicate flourishes and little toile scenes. It was placed on the counters, on the kitchen hood along with beautiful accessories. The family room had a high cup rack around the ceiling of the room where mugs were displayed. It was covered in a beautiful wood treatment. All around the house was furniture and paintings that my artist uncle had designed and painted.
By hearkening back to this time, I feel like I am able to capture my grandparent’s essence. Like they still live on through me. They were the loveliest.
I know we do always know those who came before us or have great relationships with them, and I’ll get to that, but they do inform who we are and finding a way to honor it can get us in touch with our soul.
1. Look back to your family history origins
If you don’t have a specific idea of how to bring your family heritage into your home, look back to where you came from. Here in the States we all came from somewhere else and so there’s quite a bit to look to.
Growing up, I was told stories about my Irish and Danish ancestry and grew up really interested in learning more about it. And in school, I always selected Denmark if given the choice, for a country project. Denmark always made its way into the stories I wrote. I was fascinated! So learning about the aesthetic history of the country was something that I was always interested in and it happened to align with what I naturally gravitated to.
On a trip to Denmark to visit Paul’s family, I snuck away to the National Museum of Denmark and stumbled across this cabinet below middle. I loved it so much that I used it as the inspiration for our fridge in the kitchen. You can see how I used all three traditional Danish wedding cabinets to inform it.
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Of course, you don’t have to actually go to the country in order to be inspired by it. Look at books, videos, movies. There are more resources than ever to help you get familiar with your heritage.
You can read more about the fridge in this post about the kitchen.
2. Identify the people in your family tree
A large storyline in our episode of In With the Old was my ancestor, Patty Sessions, a Mormon midwife who delivered babies along the plains as they came over to Utah in the 1840s. I grew up on stories about her and learned to love her for her grit, business acumen, and strength. Being able to talk about her on the show was very special and we found ways to honor her throughout the house.
The staircase is one place where we honored her. I was inspired by traditional flat sawn balusters in Scandinavia, then had my friend, Jill DeHaan carve our flowers onto a few of them. We used the birth flowers of our family members along with the birth flower of Patty Sessions on them. Hers was the rose (June) so we featured it here on the balusters and on fabrics throughout the house.
Learn about them, find things out about them, make them your own!
You can read more about the staircase in this post here.
3. Work in the family heirlooms into your home
We don’t always get to inherit the things that we were really hoping for or the things that matter most to us. In fact, when my grandmother died, I inherited her globe. I LOVE the globe, but there were so many other things that reminded me of her and that I was really hoping to have. Slowly, family members have been giving us some things that didn’t fit into their own homes and I’ve been treasuring them.
One of them is this painting of my grandparent’s house. It’s actually my mom’s that she received as a wedding present and it’s just on loan, but I placed it in the kitchen where I think about my grandparent’s every single day. It’s a beautiful memento. You can see it better here:
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This coo-coo clock was also my grandparent’s that they got in Germany. It’s also on loan, but I will cherish it while I have it!
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I know not everyone has the same style as their grandparent’s mementos and that’s fine! Work it in a place where it can be read as an heirloom and not necessarily the focus of your design.
You can see more of the kitchen renovation here.
4. Blend in your heritage with your personal tastes
Jasper’s bed was inspired by traditional Scandinavian built-in alcove beds, but I didn’t want it to read too historical. I wanted it to be slightly modern so we removed some of the decoration and left a few details here and there. We added in that mural and wanted it to shine.
We also painted in yellow as an homage to the traditional color of Danish homes, but also one of my favorite colors and the color that I use for Jasper. (I’ve more or less assigned the boys an unofficial color).
You can see more about Jasper’s bedroom here.
5. Create what you don’t have with your family history
I know it can be hard to secure items of importance like family heirlooms. In that case, create what you don’t have. My great grandmother’s favorite flowers were fuchsias so I always make sure to have at least one pot of fuchsias in the garden. And without fail, I think of her every time I walk by. It can be simple and cheap!
You can read more about our drought tolerant cottage garden here.
Bringing your family history into your home
Weaving in your family heritage into the design of your home can seem daunting, but with a bit of research it can be simple to add in some mementos of those who have based on before us. I LOVE having these reminders because it fills my soul. I actually feel things inside of me stirring.
I’d love to hear if you’ve done anything special to bring your family heritage in. Tell me in the comments!Â