I will be the first to admit that I’m a bit of a homebody. I love being home because home is the most comfortable place I can imagine being. I also love decorating our home although I never seem to have enough time or money to do as much as I would like. Ironically though when I look around our home, the things that make me the happiest usually didn’t cost much, if anything at all. They are the things that tell our story and make our house our home. I love that when people come into our home and point something out, there is usually a story about it to share.  Unfortunately my parents and grandparents have all passed.  I am fortunate to have many pieces that belonged to them that I love incorporating into my decorating to remind me of them and feel surrounded by family and memories of THEIR homes.  Lucky for me they had a love of antiques and timeless pieces but you can mix old and new pieces in all kinds of ways.  So many times I see homes decorated strictly in one style and by using a more eclectic approach you are able to surround yourself with things you love, not just things that look good together.  I am in love with so many styles of decorating; boho, antiques, mid century modern, and more contemporary pieces and you will find them all mixed and matched all over my home.So,  here are a few of my favorite things.

There are so many precious pieces in the photos above.  The “Ice Box”  belonged to my paternal grandmother.  It was actually her “refrigerator” as a child.  She gave it to my mother who loved antiques but didn’t have room for it so it actually stayed at my maternal grandparents large house.  They stored toys in it that I would play with when I visited and I love that it is now in my home.  The gorgeous antique box with drawers is one of the pieces my mom collected through the years.  The plant was given to me by one of my mother-in-laws (I’m lucky to have two).  I made the “macrame” feather.  Even the decorative balls have a story.  The dark one is an orange that has hundreds of cloves stuck into it.  This was created with my mom many years ago.  The cloves preserve the orange and keep it from rotting and it still smells wonderful.  We spent hours and hours together on this project and laughed until we cried while our fingers were in agony from pushing cloves into oranges.

My mom went through many phases of collecting things.  I have several iron figures throughout my kitchen that belonged to her.  I love the piggies above.

The large wicker basket you see above was actually in my childhood room and held my stuffed animals.  Every night my mom would pick a different one for me to sleep with.  I love having it in my home and how it fits in with everything.

The iron candlesticks and antique mason jar in this photos were some of my mom’s treasures.  I bought the fantastic wooden arch and have added some modern day “farmhouse pieces” to the fireplace in our hearth room.  It’s one of my favorite places to curl up and relax.

This table was in my living room as a child.  It could use a little freshening up but I love that it is in our living room now.  (Don’t mind the hockey puck…kids live here too).

My office is full of a combination of antiques, pictures and pieces from today that I love.  It’s my “me space”.

This is the entryway  of our home.  The ceilings are crazy high and it’s hard to fill the space and make it feel less empty.  These angel wings from Decor Steals don’t look like it in this space but are actually huge.  I love them so much!  They are only available a couple times a year and sell out super fast.  You can check out Decor Steals at the top of my blog home page and be sure to like my Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/heathernealphotography/  because I will share them when they become available (I may have the inside scoop).  😉