Decorating With Heart

On the coffee table above is a heart plate that my niece sent to me for Christmas. She found this plate on her trip to Poland. Being the thoughtful niece that she is she thought of me when she brought this beautiful memento back from her travels. This beautiful heart shaped plate now graces my ordinary coffee table. It's the personal touches that give a home personality. Even if you have the money to buy the most expensive furniture it's not complete without the personal touches.

The rocking chair you see above has been recovered many times, but it's the story of this rocking chair that makes it special to me. My sister, Nonie, purchased this chair when we were only teenagers, but she had an eye for a bargain. Originally the chair was stained with a very dark stain and upholstered with leather that was rotting and falling off . She paid $15.00 for it, that was a steal, even back then. She pulled all the upholstery off and stripped the beautiful oak wood of all the dark stain and refinished it. Then she took the chair to the upholsterer and had him do his magic. Nonie told me that whoever had the first baby would get the chair. Of course, neither of us were even married yet, but I planned on holding her to it. Then, as it turned out, I was the first to marry and have a baby, but she simply could not part with the chair. Instead, she purchased a darling antique wicker rocker, recovered it with red and white pillow ticking and told me that was the best she could do. Naturally, I was thrilled. I adored her and respected her decision, not to mention I loved my new wicker rocker. After she passed away the oak rocker became mine. It's been recovered many times. No matter the upholstery, when sit in it or rock a baby in it, I always think of her with love .

The flowery chair in the picture above is one of my favorite's as well. When my husband of the last 36 years and I were moving into one of our first apartments as newlyweds he got tired. In the alley behind our apartment sat this chair, missing one of its legs. He sat down to rest his tired bones and thought it was the most comfortable chair ever. It was only half upholstered. I guess whoever had owned it before gave up on the job and threw it out. My husband found the missing leg half way down the alley, screwed it back on, and brought it in our apartment and threw a quilt over it, to cover the lousey upholstery job. At first I protested, but then I sat down and fell in love. It was just so darn comfortable, I couldn't argue. We had barely any furniture, so we really did kind of need it. The shape of the chair looked just like one my mother took my picture in, when I was a baby. We have had that chair recovered many times. Now it has this flowery slipcover on it and sits in our sunroom.

I have never been one to collect anything, but when I was in Germany, the same niece that gave me the heart shaped plate, had a collection of Starbuck's mugs that I just loved drinking out of .

It was then and there that I decided I wanted my own collection of Starbuck's mugs, so I bought one in London, Paris and Wiesbaden, then when I returned from my travels my daughter Lindsay bought one for me from San Francisco and my daughter Brook bought me one in Tucson. What I have noticed is that collections have a way of taking on a life of their own. Pretty soon my girlfriend Sybil bought me one when I was visiting her in L.A. and Lindsay brought one back for me from Hawaii. They are all proudly displayed under my cabinets and they remind me how much I love to travel. I really don't have room for one more mug, but I do love each and every one I have aquired.

I am lucky enough to have a built in china cabinet in my kitchen where I store all the pretty dishes I have, but it's the top row of dishes that I want to point out. These dishes are a series of dishes from the Chelsea Garden Show in London. These plates all hung over the kitchen table in the guest suite of my girlfriend's home, where I stayed while visiting her in October of '08. While I was there my friend told me that she and her husband were planning to redecorate the guest floor and that they wouldn't be using these plates any longer. I thought that was a shame because I rather liked them. When she heard me admire her collection she said she would simply mail them all to me so that I could enjoy them in my own home. Each and evey one of them is so beautiful and I will treasure them always, especially because they remind me of the kind hospitality of a dear friend.

The picture above, doesn't really do this painting justice. It was painted by my sister in-law and given to me as a gift. It makes me envision dancing fruit and it always makes me smile. My sister

in-law was delighted to see the frame that I chose for it when she visited me at Christmas and I was equally delighted that she chose me as the recipient of her artistry.

This last treasure is a clock that was lovingly made by one of my husband's jeeping buddies for our thirtieth wedding anniversary. It is proudly displayed on our fireplace mantle. As I look around my house I reflect on all the love I have been blessed to share with dear friends and family members, who without, life would just not be the same.

This final treasure was given to me on my 53rd birthday. I had the most wonderful party. I had about 15 of my closest girlfriends come for dinner and celebrate with me. My children did all the cooking and serving and I had the best time laughing and partying with the girls. This rooster was given to me by two women that I had worked with, along with many other lovely gifts from all my wonderful friends. It was a French themed party and I gave each guest a rooster sugar cookie to take home with them, so whenever I glance at this rooster I remember to be thankful for the friends I am blessed to have.