Mother's Day, and Decorating with Mom's Things

How was your Mother's Day?

My morning started with a lovely restaurant brunch, wearing freshly pressed white pants, only to have one of my girls knock an entire tall glass of orange juice in my lap/down my legs/into my shoes. 

Things picked up when I got to watch my eldest (by one minute, but she takes the distinction seriously) perform at her dance recital.  The best part?  She just kept bowing, long after the bowing was over.  Even as she was exiting the stage, she had a change of heart, turned back around to face the audience, and threw one last bow in. 

I spent much of my youth dancing on stage, and I can honestly say I never would have done something like this if my life depended on it.  I was too shy, and too much of a rule follower - I never would have gone "off script" like that!  I got such a kick out of seeing her act like a ham, and have the confidence to draw attention to herself (I would have preferred to disappear into the wallpaper at that age). 

Recently I read a sweet article in the Wall Street Journal called Decorating with Mama's Things by Frances Schultz, where she focused not on her and her mother's differences in personality, but on their differences in collecting and decorating.

After her mother's death (Schultz describes her mother putting on lipstick before the ambulance came, and lying about her age to the paramedics in her last days of life), Schultz struggled with what to do with her things, and how to incorporate them into her own designs and homes.

To read the article on "Inherited Design", click here, and enjoy the photos below showing how Schultz decorated with her mother's things, on her own terms.