My Mother's House #SOLC15 - 3/17

My mom always says home is where your mother is.

My mom's house has always been home.  She can make any house feel like home to me.  When she bought this house, I decided she had lost it.  Yes, it was much smaller, much easier to manage.  Much easier for my dad to get around.  But the house!  Sloping floors, missing floor boards, a sagging ceiling, old, OLD windows, dark walls, no vent hood!! These people had been cooking on a stove with no vent.  There was a nice little char mark on the ceiling above where the food was cooked.  How could anyone save this slowly dying house?

My mom did.  She has a formula that you can see in my own decorating now.
Step 1 - lighten it up.  Add color.
This house is now full of color.  A light, white sand in the living room, robin's egg blue in the dining room, pale green in the kitchen, cheery yellow in "the guest room" (My dad's old room).  Her own room is a pale pink, but she has been thinking of repainting it.

A fresh coat of paint

I had to chase Sir off the table. He loves placemats though

Step 2 - Add more color.  Add art.
The things that please me most in this house are the bursts of color in each room.  In the living room, a blue chair with bright green ivy.  In the dining room, a pop of red from placemats on an otherwise dark table.  Paintings, sketches, and photos from all stages of my mom's life hang in every room.  From neutral, sandy, New Mexico/Texas, to vibrant prints from Louisiana, oils and water colors, mosaics, and pencils.  I love the eclectic collection.

Guest Room before

Guest Room after

Step 3 - Add plants.  Then add some more plants.
This is something I have yet to master.  My mom has the greenest thumb I know of.  She touches it, it grows.  It's almost like Midas, if he has wished for green growth instead of gold.  There are plants in almost every room and surrounding the house.  Every summer there are new arrangements of blooms in the yard, new vegetables in the garden in the back.  So far, all I've managed to do is keep an ivy plant alive... and that's after a few unsuccessful attempts.

Diningroom full of plants

Baby Daffodils

The Original Hallway

New Hallway! 

Step 4 - Light, and Love.

There is so much light in this house.  There are new windows in every room so they can be opened and let in the fresh air.  There is so much love in the details of this house.  I hope that I can make and keep a house like she does.

I almost forgot the most important step!!!

Step 5 - Add a cat! (or two)

Francis bird watching in the morning

Sir bird watching all day!