Today starts another new series to Our house now a home, the “share your space”. This is a chance for all of you to be a part of this blog. Whenever I am thinking about content, projects, pictures, or even what I am going to say I have you all in mind. As a whole you have become this other entity to my blog. But, you are all wonderfully individual. I would like to get to know you all better, I share my home with you daily, I want to see yours! I show you mine, you show me yours…. wait, what? This just got awkward….
I was trying to think of the best way to launch this, and figured I would share another space, one I know well. This is my childhood home. It is where my decorating obsession got a kick off. I grew up around a woman that adored decorating and redoing things, my Grandma upcycled before it was a thing to do. She did IKEA hacks before it was a popular hashtag on Instagram. The garage almost always had a piece of furniture in it, in some form of redo. She went on morning walks and came back schlepping some chair on her back that someone was going to throw out. I was raised by a wonderful partnership that is my young Mom and strong Grandma. We all lived here together, eventually welcoming my little brother into the fold. My Grandma still lives here, and we visit her all the time.
My Grandma lives just outside of San Diego, California. I grew up in a wonderful town, with near perfect weather year round. This home sits high on a hill, and on a clear day you can see the ocean from the huge back deck. This is what I called home until I moved to Wisconsin at 19.
Here is the lady of the hour, the first installment of share your space. Her name is Jean, a.k.a Grandma. She has no blog, has a vague awareness of the internet, still has a VCR, but has a legit Pinterest ready show home. This little 5 feet tall lady had 12 kids, she has 30 or so grand kids and as of now has around 25 great grand kids. More will come, only about half of my cousins have had kids. She is a living legend. My Grandma is kind of a big deal to our family, OK huge deal. To say she is the love of all of our lives is a huge understatement, she is wonderful.
This is my family, the people who lived in this humble yet beautiful abode.
I know for a fact I have seen this planter in a bottom-less antique chair thing floating around online. My Grandma just thought of this on her own, no inspiration but her own wonderful creativity.
It is a small home, the living room, dining room and kitchen are all squished together. But, it is open concept! This room is brightened up by the wall of windows. It makes the space feel massive.
This was when we were here last year, my kids make themselves right at home.
She has so many clocks, all that tick and chime. None of them are inline with the other. So random chiming and ticks happen all day long. It is so comforting to me when we visit because it is what I used to fall asleep hearing.
I should put a declaimer here, everything in her home has been either purchased from a secondhand store, a rummage sale, or picked up from the side of the road. Seriously. Every single piece. She was trendy in re-using before it was even a thing.
This big shelf with doors, she painted. If there is a piece of furniture that is not actually wood color, that means she refinished it. She scraped the paint, sanded it down, removed the finish, and painted the furniture piece. Only now do I appreciate her talents. I do all of that, but with Google, Pinterest, bloggers, and a number of other ways to find the best way to do these things. All with step by step instructions, and pictures. She just simply either knew how to do it or figured it out. It truly blows my mind now.
This is the entryway into the home. A former front porch that is now a enclosed portion of the house. She has turned this into her beach retreat. Her coastal style decor. I try to not get all sticky fingers when visiting her, I seriously would like to take all of this home with me.
My Grandma can create a gallery wall like a boss. She uses post cards, magazine pictures, calenders, or sketches of her own and just makes it happen.
This made me laugh, I have the same little white lantern with stars on it. I have two of them, purchased from IKEA. I have seen these in many other home decor bloggers homes. My Grandma has this, got it from Goodwill for $1.00. She is not familiar with this “IKEA” I speak of.
I am in love with this shelf, it is gloriously bulky, dark wood, and beautiful. She found this in a dumpster on one of her morning walks. What?!! She had to strip a ton of paint off of this. It was in bad shape. But, under all of that she found this beautiful dark wood color. My Grandma is the DIY founder. Bow down!
She painted this desk.
That gown hanging up was her baby gown. There is so much history in the home. Every thing has a story, has a memory, has a reason it is there. I have noticed that I am incorporating that into my home. There is small pieces of me, Dale and the kids all throughout our home. It is what makes it our’s. Without even realizing it, I am emulating her. I may not decorate with as many antiques, or breakables… because kids, but the theme and idea of the home is the same.
These were her Dad’s and Grandfathers things.
These are all from her Mom. I remember when she made this massive pin cushion. It was a picture frame that she put foam in, cut to size and put the material over. Again, this is such talent and raw ideas. I can claim to be all great and wonderful with my ideas. But, all of us home decor and DIY bloggers now see other ideas. We do the work, change it up, think of a new way to do something. However, the initial inspiration and ideas has been done before. MY Grandma has no way of seeing anyone’s ideas. She simply just made this. At the time I was around 8 and remember vividly just wanting to put the glasses on.
This clock is antique perfection, Home Goods probably wishes it has something like this. Not calling out or dissing the store. Just saying, this clock is awesome.
That huge yardstick I used to beg her to let me play with. I either wanted to use it as a sword, or a wand. She never let me. I am sure my kid’s will want to play with it when we visit. I, now seeing the beauty in it will not let them touch it. The cycle will continue.
My Grandma and I, a sort of selfie.
Here is the lady of the hour, the first official share your space feature. She is the brown haired lady with the long plaid skirt. Her , my Grandpa (who passed away when I was a baby) and their 12 kids. My Mom is the youngest. It worked out for me that they went for a even 12.
She raised her 12 kid’s, along with a handful of Grand kids. I have always been so close to her, and she tells me she forgets I am not one of her children. That is the biggest compliment to me, knowing I mean that much to her. Knowing I was never a burden to her, she is the world to me. Nora’s middle name is Jean after my Grandma. I talk to her constantly on the phone. I also call her for advice with redoing things quite often. She is my secret weapon. I have a good relationship with my Mom, but we did a lot of growing up together. My Grandma has a special place in my heart, and this home is the same way. No matter the money we had, our home looked like this. She found a way to make it feel like a home. There was times when I was embarrassed because we did not have a big house. This house is a tiny one. But, all of my friends adored our home and always wanted to stay here. The second you walk in, you breathe easier, it smells amazing, it feels… right… homey. This is why people create their dream space. A oasis can be big, dramatic, or a small home with comfort.
We are going back this summer to California, and I will take some more pictures of the house. There is a lot I did not picture properly. I have my pro-blogging photography skills now. She also painted the kitchen cabinets and a dark blue feature wall since we have been there. Yeah, she is pretty awesome in her decorating ways. Also freakishly on trend.
My kid’s call it the orange tree house. Where you can pick oranges, pomegranates and avocados. My kid’s also said it is the house with a grocery store. To me, this is simply home. Always has been and always will be. I learned from the best, had the best example of what hard work, shopping smart, and using what you have. You do not need money to make a house a home. My Grandma and her house is proof of that. I plan to pick her brain while I am there. So if anyone needs any tricks of the DIY, rummage sale, up-cycling trade secrets let me have them. I will ask her and hopefully she will be ok spilling all of her long kept secrets. Seriously, she amazes me, in many ways. When I grow up I want to be like her.
If you have a home, project, room renovation, or outdoor space and want to be featured. Send me a email at emilye1@gmail.com with your name, blog name, blog url, and pictures you want featured. You do not have to have a blog to be featured in the share your space series. I would love to get to know you all, see your home’s!
Is your decorating style similar to your childhood home? Have you taken some of the lessons learned and traits for your parents when decorating your home?
Emily, this is such a beautiful tribute to an obviously amazing woman. Thank you so much for sharing this story. It really inspired me to put together some things for my grown children. I also got a little teary eyed when I saw the blue/white plate hanging that says "A good mother makes a happy home" because I have the same one in a rose color. It was my Mother's & I cherish it. She died very young, so we don't have many of her things at all. This used to hang in our kitchen when I was growing up & I now display it in mine. It makes me smile everytime I see it. Have a great weekend! Michelle OurCraftyMom
That is so sweet that you do have something special from your Mom, and cherish it. I am sorry you lost her so long ago. My Grandma is a amazing woman with a wonderful style to her home. She is the one that started me on my home decorating journey so I thought it was fitting to share her space first.
What a super idea Emily! I love venturing into other peoples homes and seeing their creative design ideas or the history of their lives. I can't wait to see your next one. Brandi
I am so happy you are enjoying it! I am loving the homes that have been sent my way already.
Awww, your grandma is so cute! Give her an extra big hug, I miss mine so much! I look forward to your upcoming home tours!
She is amazing, I am so excited to see her! I am loving the homes that I will be sharing soon with you all.
This is precious! You'll cherish these photos forever. I've always loved to explore my grandma's house! I love that back deck!
I loved looking through the pictures, and look forward to taking more when I am there. She has changed a lot.
This is my first visit to your blog, and I LOVE the Share Your Space idea!! I can't wait to see what other homes you feature here! I love seeing homes that are real we can all relate to. And what a beautiful tribute to your sweet Grandmother. She seems like quite an amazing lady.
I am so happy to have you here on my blog! I liked the idea of sharing homes of different styles, level of decor, and projects done. I think any house can be beautiful and they all deserve to shine.
Emily, this was so enjoyable to read through and I too share very fond memories of this home. To me her home is the 100% true deal! The examples my Mother, your grandmother set for all of us are amazing and none of us goes a day without something she has taught us coming up. I know the whole family loves going to her house and as you said when you were a teen ager your friends loved hanging out there. Your little brother (well not so little anymore) JC talks about Grandma's house all the time and has so many fond memories of growing up there too! Those were such happy times when we all lived there. I can't wait for the reunion to get here and see everyone but mostly to see my Mom and hold her tight and give her lots of love, oh and to see her house and what has changed since last summer. Thank you again, and yes like some of your readers this brought tears to my eyes as it felt like I was walking through 'home" all over again. Love you, Mom
I am happy you enjoyed it Mom, and cannot wait to see you and her this summer in California!!!
That's so sweet that you started with your grandma's house. Love the birdcage in her home. Looks like some great memories were made in her home. Such sweet photos! Look forward to these series!
I thought it was a fitting way to start the share your space series. She has a ton of beautiful details in her home. I am excited to launch this and share more homes!
Your Grandma Jean has a beautiful home! I love the themes in different areas, her China collection, and those windows!!! It is decorated so completely but not over the top. Love it!! =)
She has a way of making the space work, be beautiful and homey. I love it. I am so happy you enjoyed her home tour!
I love how everything is bright and homey and inviting. She sounds like a wonderful woman, you're so lucky to have her in your family! And 12 kids, she is amazing on so many levels!
I think my love of all things windows and bright light is because of her. She always uses those elements in her decor.
I loved getting to see your Grandma's home. It looks like a great place to grow up and bring your kids. I love that you could see the ocean from the deck on good days. So amazing!
I am so happy you enjoyed seeing her home! I will have to get a few pictures of her view when I am there this summer, she has a beautiful view!
What a beautiful home! I love all of the decor. It looks so comfortable. And I am so incredibly jealous that she has that view!!
I am happy you liked seeing it! Her home is definitely comfortable, which is how a home should be.
I just enjoyed this post so much. Your grandmother is amazing. I think this feature is a great idea and I will be looking forward to seeing other people's homes.
I am so excited to be doing this series, and the homes that are being sent my way are all beautiful and wonderful in their own way. Each Friday will be a new home, so look out for it.
What a lovely set of arrangements! I'll be tweeting this post to get the word out. Hope you get a great response!
Thank you so much for getting the word out! I have been getting some responses and they are great! So excited!
I love viewing your grandmother beautiful home! Very bright and inviting. Omg, I would love to have that view of the ocean!
She has a wonderful home, I will be sure to take some pictures of her view when I am out there this summer.
Such a beautiful tribute. Thank you so much for sharing it. 🙂
I thought it was a good way to start this series, I am so happy you enjoyed it!
I love how many pictures you took and the care you put into the descriptions. Seriously an adorable home! I love it
I am planning on showcasing all of the homes this way, not just my Grandma's. I think each home deserves to shine and be seen for the special place it is for the person. Come back this Friday for another edition of share your space.
I really love this post! It shares great things such as the talent that your grandma has! Her home is completely amazing and I really love her creativity.