Wednesday, July 10, 2013

A Mother's Influence



When I was a young girl I admired that my mother sewed her own clothes.  She taught me how to sew and I was fortunate enough to be able to whip up a new outfit in a few hours with a fabric remnant.  We perused fabric stores often where she taught me about the 'hand' of fabrics, i.e., the quality and feel, the way they hung, and I admired the tailored patterns she chose.  I loved those translucent ochre paper patterns and wanted to wallpaper a wall with them!

When she remarried in her fifties, her new life as a dentist's wife involved entertaining, a lot of social functions and travel.  Her sewing elevated to couture patterns and fabrics and I loved to watch her get dressed and accessorize herself!  I remember her fashion more than I remember her decorating our home growing up, until I was in college.  That's when Mom started adding Scandinavian furniture (mid-century modern now), Marimeeko fabrics and modern pieces to her already traditional collection of family antiques.  This is when my eyes opened to design.  I studied Fine Art in college, becoming an art teacher and furthering my own art career as a serigrapher and painter.  A few years later, I became an interior decorator with a large firm out of Atlanta at which point my love for home design coincided with my art career.  Timing doesn't always work in our favor; as I was hitting my stride and moving up as a designer, my father asked me to take over his business and slowly I began taking on less and less design work and transitioning into the family business full-time.  Finally, I am fully back into interior design and am making up for lost time!

I consider my style "transitional" in my own home decor.  However, since my mother passed away several years ago, I have added family antique or two.  I love that I have some of her mid-century pieces as well, and one unusual piece we all call 'Zeebee'.


She was ahead of her time with Zeebee.  People thought she was nuts buying this ceramic zebra (back in the '70's he was considered a fortune at $200).  I thought it was 'artsy' and loved it!  My daughter, Bethany, equates Zeebee with memories of her grandmother, who is a huge influence in her design tastes today. She used to run into 'Nonnie's' house and sit on Zeebee where he was perched in the foyer.

My mother's heirloom mahogany tilt-top table sits in the corner of my living room today.


Her Scandinavian wall-hung teak buffet holds our formal dishes and her antique Balinese carved window hangs above it (that we DIY'ed into a lighted piece of art).



It was my mom who taught me the value of good pieces, both in fashion and in furniture.   She reupholstered furniture often and changed with the times.  I will forever honor my mother as one of the people who influenced me the most in my life today.  Among her other attributes that I share were her love for dogs and horses, gardening and entertaining.  I have her Haviland china, that reportedly I never really liked until I was older, but now adore.


She was a style icon to me, and I see now that my daughter is carrying on the family tradition.  Bethany has one of her Waterford crystal lamps at her bedside. Along with a horse block-print resting beside it.


Bethany's guest room also displays a pair of happy green block prints that she was always partial to.


Just writing this post makes me miss my mother; her wonderful qualities and all that she brought to our family.  I hope your mother was a positive influence in your life.  I would love to hear what quality you inherited from your mother.





This post was created as part of a guest-post for Marcus Design over a year ago. While re-reading it I felt I'd like to share it again; hope you don't mind!

22 comments:

  1. Your Mom sounds like one amazing lady and she obviously shared that with her daughter and grand-daughter! My Mom was not really a creative or crafty person, I got that from my grandmother, but it was fully nurtured by my Mom, for which I am infinitely thankful.

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  2. Zeebee! Couldn't wait to tune in this morning to see the Zeebs in action as Bethany clued me in on IG. This makes me want to run right back to that store and get that one for P.

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  3. That is so sweet! very interesting to hear more about your family and what an interesting, style maven your mother was.

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  4. Oh, such a lovely post and very touching! My mother was an artist and her style has influenced me so much as well. She has alzheimer's now, but still maintains her artistic style which is amazing! I think I'm going to copy you and do a post about my mom too -- what a wonderful idea! xoxo

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    2. Im so sorry! My mom passed from Alzheimers after 11 years, but she still knew who I was even after she couldn't say my name..we just had a connection to the end. Bless you and your mom, and give her hugs as often as you can.

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  5. What a wonderful tribute to your mom!! Thanks for sharing. :)

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  6. I absolutely love this post and reading about your mom and her style, Nancy!!! What a lovely and chic lady, no wonder you admired her so much! And now look at you and your own daughter writing a design blog together….it's in the genes!!! My mom was a style minimalist, which drove me crazy when every other house on the block had tons of pattern and color (think Waverly in the 80s!) but as I get older I appreciate that aesthetic more and more and find myself taking on a less-is-more attitude with my own home. So funny how that happened!

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  7. Love this! I find that my mom has influenced me as well. My parents were immigrants who left a communist country with just 2 suitcases and came to Canada with nothing. My mom managed to create a home filled with love and character. Alot of what she did in our home was DIY. She wallpapered herself, she stained and painted furniture, sewed drapes, etc. She taught me to sew too. My parents also slowly collected teak furniture as well, as it reminded them of "home". Slowly my grandma sent over beautiful dishes and linens...what I disliked as a child, I have come to adore and cherish as an adult!

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  8. Love this Nancy ... you know how I feel about Mothers! I find as well that things I wasn't crazy about as a child are some of my favorites today! Thanks for sharing this beautiful sentiment! xo

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  9. A fabulous Post and certainly worth a repeat! I have many memories of my Grandmother who was my greatest influence, even down to choosing the perfect card for someone on their Birthday!!

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  10. Wow, this is a beautiful tribute to your mother. I can tell that you learned so much from her, and yes, Bethany has a great teacher!
    She was a lot like my mother. I grew up visiting a fabric store, hating every minute at the time, but learned so much.
    Teresa

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  11. Awww Nancy, what a poignant post. Such an amazing tribute to your mom, who was clearly a style icon. I swooned over that zebra for sure. Loves.

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  12. Aww, what a sweet post. Two hundred dollars in the 70's was huge. Thank goodness she bought that fabulous find. I think it is great when people have family pieces with lovely stories.

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  13. What a wonderful post, Nancy! She sounds like such a beautiful and interesting lady, and several things reminded me of my mom. What a treasure Zeebee must be to have as a daily reminder of her!

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  14. A wonderful post Nancy. Your mom reminds me of my grandmother, I learned to sew because of her and I certainly include her as a style icon for me. Having some of their treasures helps energize our homes with their spirit. Thank you for the great story. xob

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  15. This is so sweet Nancy. I love little Zeebee! My mother and I couldn't be more different in personality, I totally got her looks though. Love family!

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  16. Fantastic post. I think I inherited my mom's love of decorating, gardening and deal finding. If there's a lower price out there for anything, she'll find it.

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  17. Beautiful post, Nancy. It brought a flood of sweet memories about my own dear mother. She made all of my clothes growing up (I was a chubby lass). She even hand stitched the inside seams to finish them.

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  18. What a touching post Nancy... you've come full circle, going back to doing a lot of what you really love, which truly comes from your mom.. It's ok to miss her, heck just reading this made me miss her too! But you are blessed that there's so much of her IN YOU and a lot of her beautiful things that surround you at home! So to your mom, a big TOAST for all the she was and will always be to you and your family!!!

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  19. Thank you all sweet friends for your kind words and support. Our moms really helped to mold all of our lives in some way or another. Go hug your mom if she's still around! and put all of your strength as a mom into spending quality time with your children.

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  20. Your mother sounds absolutely amazing, what a wonderful post! What a classy, talented, and stylish lady. And Zeebee! Swoon!!!

    XOXO,
    The Glam Pad

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