family heirlooms.

i am excited to be linking up with Marie today at Emma Calls Me Mama, one of my favorite blogs, to take part in her Heirloom Party. please make a point to stop by over there and check out everyone else's special heirlooms.

framed photograph of hubby's grandparents' farm:


sorry about the flash situation. i actually gifted this to my husband for his birthday back when we were dating. i found a small black and white print in the bathroom of his old apartment (nice place, eh?) and discovered what it was: an aerial photograph of his grandpa's farm. realizing how close he was to his grandfather, i sneakily stole (borrowed) the photo to have it enlarged and framed (which was QUITE pricey, i might add). i love it displayed on the wall in our kitchen, and i hope it will be something we can pass down to our children, and so on.

antique dining set (from hubby's grandparents):





i love this set. i love the dark wood, i love how solid it is, and i love the buffet. the only thing i wish it had was a china cabinet to display my gorgeous wedding china that i didn't even WANT to register for, was harassed into it by hubby's aunt--hehe--and now LOVE. i also recovered the dining room chairs. you can see the before pictures here if you'd like.


painting passed down to me from Gran:


before my Gran (dad's mom) died, she gave me this painting that was done by her art teacher of many years. she knew i would love it because #1, it's 3 choir girls, and if you don't already know, i'm a singer, and #2, it's all kinds of blues and greens--my favorite colors. i absolutely LOVE this painting, even aside from the fact that it is sentimental. (the photo doesn't do it justice.) i had it reframed last summer when we moved into our house, because the old frame was awful. no before of it, sorry. =)

Gran's froggie bathroom painting:



Gran was an artist--i forgot to explain that before. she painted mostly landscapes (farm, beach, forest) and birds (amazing--oil paint on glass, which she did backwards, on the reverse side of the glass), but this one is one of my favorites. it is just plain cute. i love it in our guest bathroom. i had this one reframed as well--the original frame was an awful white with gold inner trim. i thought the detail of this black frame would be perfect for a bathroom (and it matches the black and white i've used in there).

in the second photo, hopefully you can see the artist's signature and the frame's detail.


Gran's silver serving tray:

ok, i'm sorry, but i forgot to pull this beauty out and get pictures, and frankly, i'm just too darn tired to upload anymore pictures tonight, so i'll just describe it. hehe. ok, this thing is awesome. it folds up to this nice, narrow little pedestal for storage, but when you unscrew the little screws, it folds out to show 3 tiers that are like small dessert plates...but silver. (i'm not so good at this descriptive business, hmm...) so anyway, it is great for entertaining, especially at bridal or baby showers. i put down those cheap white paper doilies on each tier and then load it up with yummy goodies! maybe i'll snap pictures at a later date or something, because i really do love it. moving on. good LORD, i ramble. my blog entries are often like dissertations, and for that, i apologize. in fact, no one is probably even reading this, because they all clicked away far earlier in this post. ha! but wait, there's more...


antique bench passed down from hub's grandparents:



i posted about this previously and mentioned that the bench is in need of a fabric makeover. i got some advice from a couple nice bloggers, but i just haven't gotten around to making it happen yet; hopefully in the next few weeks, but i am in project overload right now, so we shall see! your opinion, perhaps? do you think it would look ok to cover the bench in the same fabric i used for the piano bench, seen here?

take a look at our fabrics/colors in the living room:




(note: the accent wall to the left of the camera view is painted an avocado green--hence the color inspiration for the piano bench fabric.)


should have included a pic of the awesome chocolate brown shag rug; it really ties the room together. just imagine it: awesome.

thanks so much for any advice or opinions you may have! (and lord, that mirror is dirty, lol!)

xo, gayla