A Mother’s Day Home Tour

Happy Mother’s Day to everyone. I hope all you moms out there get a well-deserved break!

I decided to take a detour from our regular Spring Open House series today since it’s Mother’s Day, and instead feature someone very special to me, my mom! I am also going to be sneaky and share a bit of her home, too, since we are essentially a blog very focused on decor.  I hope you enjoy a little peek and thank you for letting me share a little bit about my sweet Mom. And, Mom, thanks for letting me share your home with the world, and thanks for not being mad at me that I did!

Before I start, I want to spend a quick minute sharing our post from last year on Mother’s Day. If you missed it, Christy wrote this beautiful post about Mother’s Day when your Mother is no longer with you and I encourage each of you to read it if you haven’t already. I knew Christy’s mom, and she was such a radiant, joyful person and still very much in our hearts. And, as you also may know, Terry’s dear mom lost her fight with cancer just last fall, so this day is one where I just want to honor their mothers along with mine.  Both of my sweet friends carry on their mothers’ legacies today and every day, they are amazing people because they came from strong, beautiful, and much-loved mothers. My heart is with them today.

I could probably write a book about my mom, and honestly this may be the hardest post I have ever written, as there really just aren’t words.  This is my attempt to share a few wonderful tidbits about her with you all today.  My mom and I are extremely close, and we are very similar people.

Here she is in either college or high school.

And, here she is with my son at my brother’s wedding a few years ago–I just love this picture, they were so excited!

So much of my style, and my home channels my parents’ home. I was fortunate to grow up in what my brother once called a “scarily dysfunction-LESS” family.   Words cannot express how grateful I am to have my parents in our day-to-day life.

This is not the home I grew up in, but it’s still very special. My parents have made it truly their own over the last decade-plus that they have lived in it. They have been gracious enough to share their space with my family on two occasions when we were waiting for our home to be constructed, and for that I am truly grateful. It’s sure not easy to tolerate our craziness!

 

Among her many talents, my mother is a master gardener. She nurtures all living things, be it me, my children, her extended family, or her friends. She is one of the most giving people I know, and my whole life she has modeled a life of service. She left a teaching career to return to school to become a nurse when I was young, working to earn a second degree with two small children. She has volunteered her whole life in every capacity I can name from hospice, teaching underprivileged children to read, helping elderly shut-ins pay bills, volunteering in countless roles at her church, sewing dresses for little girls in Haiti, to counseling the stressed and grieving, much of this while working in nursing full-time. That’s a small sample, I am not even mentioning all the “little” things like reading in my kid’s classes, shepherding a large extended family, volunteering at church and all the hundreds of times she has rushed to my rescue without a second thought. She’s amazing, selfless and is always thinking of what she can do not for herself, but for someone else.

Her life has not been easy, but she remains a positive, faith-filled, giving person despite much loss. She is thoughtful, kind and yes, in my opinion pretty much the gold-standard as far as mothers go.

Oh, and her gardens are beautiful too, here is a sample of the fruits of her favorite hobby.

She treasures her grandchildren, throughout her house you see their little faces. She is the best kind of grandmother, always reading to them, taking them on outings and teaching them all sorts of wonderful things with patience and kindness.

She is “Mimi” to 6 special grandchildren. My brother and I each have a daughter and two sons, so in their home my parents have made sure to have a special place for their little guests.

Above is the boy’s room {I am sure they don’t even notice the antique lace tablecloth 🙂 }, and she recently created this sweet girl’s room for her little granddaughters.

This room is a little girl’s dream, with a flowered bed and this darling dresser.

My parents are some of the most hospitable people I know. At this time of year, should you stop in you will be invited to sit on their screened porch, have a cold drink and stay awhile. The porch is in the middle of a decor update, being refreshed just last week with new blue color scheme. Like mine, things in their home is always changing–I guess you can see where I get it from!

My mother has Southern roots, and traditions are very important to her. Her china collections (yes, that is plural) are stunning, and she makes sure to use them for holidays. Her tables are always complete with polished silver, fresh flowers and crystal.

We are so similar, our decor styles even match. I could pick this whole room up and happily move it right into my house.

 {Let me also mention, my Dad is pretty great too, aren’t they cute? He’ll get his own post someday}

If you want to see more of their home, last year I redid her “craft” room as a birthday present, you can see that room makeover HERE. Working on that room was truly a joy, it’s a small thing to do for such a wonderful person.

Happy, happy Mother’s Day, Mom. You deserve it all and much more!

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While you are here, don’t miss any of the homes in our Spring Open House series~

Bliss at Home

The 11 Magnolia Lane Historic Home {the home that inspired our blog!}

Simple Details

Amy’s Mom’s House (a Mother’s Day treat!)

Less Than Perfect Life of Bliss

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XO,