This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. Some people don’t even like to talk about, but it makes me smile. In an earlier post I shared how after my mom passed my siblings and I divided up her belongings which consisted of a 4 bedroom house and basement full. The post talked about the Vintage Sewing machine I turned into a bar cart. No room for a house full of furniture but you can’t ignore the sentimental aspect? Here are several ideas on ways to use items and incorporate them into your everyday life as decor, or in the kitchen. So a set of dishes, no one needs or you can’t figure a way to divide them four ways but they elicit memories of holidays and dinners? Creating a cake or dessert stand from a mug and salad plate or dinner plate allows you to keep a special part of the set and use to serve or display desserts or cookies when entertaining.
Another great idea is repurposing an item into something useful. My mom loved iris but I have a thing about matching mugs, but here I can keep her favorite mug on my desk and it serves a purpose.
Do you have a favorite recipe in your loved ones handwriting? What a perfect item to display in a nice frame. Close enough to enjoy and right there if you want to recreate the dish.
Another item that I adore even though I don’t have a silver set myself is a salt shaker that didn’t have a matching pepper. I use this as a little bud vase and I absolutely love it.
The next treasure is a teapot, I’m not a tea drinker but it’s cute so I’ve kept it and use it as a vase, I absolutely love fresh flowers anytime of year and it’s a versatile enough to go with anything. Just think a little outside the box!
You know how hard it is to part with something that’s in great shape…you just don’t need it? Think about how you could transform it into something new to you. My mom’s china closet was just that piece, no room or need for that, I have a ton of plants and thought I could use the bottom for storage and my plants. Some filler for the holes, paint and new knobs and now it incorporated into my dining area.
Then there are little items, easy to keep because they don’t take up much space but big on memories. Do you have any kitchen items that take you back to potatoes being mashed at Easter, or apples peeled at Thanksgiving? Why not keep them and use them, I promise it will make you smile when you do.
We live on a lake and absolutely love to birdwatch. My questions is how can you have too many pairs of binoculars especially when you need them on every floor? In comes Dad’s binoculars from back in the day watching the Colts when they were in Baltimore. A little rough looking, I feel close to him when I pick them up to zoom in on a pileated woodpecker.
This idea goes along with the china or dishes up above. Is there a special plate you’d like to keep but you want to make it more versatile? Using a globe for a ceiling fan, I used E6000 glue to attach an especially beautiful cut glass plate. Now it’s elevated to a Cake Stand or special serving piece.
Another item I love but hate to admit doesn’t fit around my waist anymore is one of mom’s aprons. It lives in my lingerie drawer and is made in a way you don’t find in stores these days. Isn’t it beautiful? I can picture her wearing it like it was yesterday. I hope this has allowed you to think outside the box and hold onto memories in ways you may not have thought of. Until next time XO – Regina
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