Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Personalizing your home

When designing/decorating a house I always strive to personalize it so that it becomes a home. One of the ways of achieving this goal is to add touches that are personal to the homeowners. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways, but to name a few:  by doing a wall of maps from your travels (currently doing this with one of my client's), framing your child's artwork (I've done in my daughter's bedroom & in our kitchen) or using shadow boxes to display special momentos (I've done several of these for my own home).

Here is an example of one of my shadow boxes. I took an $8.00 shadowbox, lined it with a wallpaper remnant and took my daughter's first bathing suit (from when she was three months old) and created a piece of artwork. I had an ear to ear grin when I hung it...it brought back such sweet memories of her first dip in the pool on a very hot summer day.
I love learning about different ways people make their house a home...willing to share some of your ideas?


16 comments:

TSL said...

I love that! There is nothing so wonderful as our little girls in their first little bathing suits, so teeny and cute, with a pail in one hand and a shovel in the other! I remember my first bathing suit, not kidding, and both my daughter's! I saved them, too!

Unknown said...

Oh, clever! I love shadowboxes, I have an antique apron that was my great-grandmother's, and I've been meaning to put it in a shadowbox and hang it in the kitchen. Where did you find an $8 shadowbox, though? All the ones I've run across have been so much more expensive!

Unknown said...

I did the exact same thing with my sons newborn size Villebrequin swim trunks (that match my husband's)! Love this! Too cute.

Rock'n Roll Ballerina said...

What a great idea! I think you blog is so cosy and welcoming and I am following it;)

La Dolfina said...

You are so talented and do the most amazing things! Thanks for sharing your creativity.
xo

That Girl in Pearls said...

Great blog!! So glad I found you through Erica. I am sucker for personalizing my home... If I could engrave or embroider every last pillow and sheet I totally would. Just beautiful!

I'll be following :)

Beatriz.
thatgirlinpearls.com

Bailey@ peppermintbliss said...

Love a shadowbox! My friend did one with her moms old baby bather and it is just the cutest thing ever!

Unknown said...

i love the bikini shadowbox! definitely something for me to keep in mind as a way to organize all the goodies i've saved from my time in europe this semester!

Hamptontoes said...

Shari @ little blue deer,
I buy my shadowboxes at a place called the Christmas Tree Shop. They are a solid wood with a magnetic door that closes. The only draw back with them is that the hooks on the back aren't in the exact location on each side, so you have to factor that in when hanging....otherwise, they are perfect for this purpose.

The Zhush,
I'd love to see your son's framed swim trunks! Do a post.

Rock and Roll Ballerina,
Love your name! Thanks for following my blog...I do appreciate.

To all of you,
Thanks for your comments!

Susie @ Maddie G Designs said...

Love this post! And the swinsuit is so cute. I've got a stack of "art" accumulating from our art classes and need to motivate to get it organized and some pieces on display.

bluehydrangea said...

Love it!!! I am going to dig up something to put in a shadow box!!

Marija said...

While I think I'm pretty creative, I just never come up with things like this to do! It looks wonderful! Marjia

Kathysue said...

Okay that is the cutest little swimsuit ever. Love it and how fun to look at it and have sweet memories. Too precious!! Kathysue

M.A. the 2nd ~ Frances Russell said...

This is adorable Lisa .. how cute to have the bathing suit still. I still have outfits from all my children! The shadowbox is a great idea and I love the RL wallpaper behind! Perfect combination!

Cashon&Co said...

this is adorable. i just saw a bunch of 1940's suits framed like this. its a great look too!

Kathleen said...

I love the Christmas Tree Shop. I wrote to them for 10 years begging them to come to LI. I started going almost 20 yrs ago in Mass.
It is a long drive from Southampton, but I manage to make it worthwhile! :)