There’s this theory interior designers have that the home style you most respond to is not that of your parents, but that of your grandparents. I have to admit to completely adoring a lot of mid-century stuff that I recognise from both sets of grandparents’ houses.
And I love this house of my grandparents, pictured below. Since buying a home of our own I am only now struck by just how much of our house reminds me of theirs. I love their eclectic mix of country house and beach house, and residence of artist.
When my grandfather dies this house will be sold and someone will destroy it. The house is on million dollar real estate. It looks directly on to the sea.
This sea.
But I love the inside of this house just as much as what is outside. I especially love its colours:
My grandfather’s paints set.
Kitchen chair.
Cormac.
Bathroom tiles.
Photos in the hallway.
One of my grandfather’s desks.
Lauca reading.
Story time.
A chair for sitting.
Two little cross-stitches.
A doll’s dress, sewn by my step-grandmother when she was a little girl.
Front door.
The darkroom.
After swimming.
Lauca and her great-grandfather.
blue milk 
Interesting! I had never heard that before, but it is certainly true in my case!
Wowwww. I have joked that since living on my own and discovering my taste in home furnishing, it turns out my taste is ‘grandma’: I adore vintage items more from 20s-40s and secondhand, sometimes shabby stuff. My parents also like this stuff tho, with more mid century things. One of my tastes in art is anything bold and brightly coloured, and when I was younger I wanted that in everything around me. All my grandparents passed away when I was quite young, so my memories of my mother’s parents’ place are hazy and my father’s nonexistent.
Funny. I was up late last night trying to find a way to squeeze several hundred dollars out of our budget for a chair on Craigslist that’s probably worth pennies, but reminds me of my grandfather’s favorite green club chair…I don’t have space for it…unless I put the kids’ bunk bed in storage, they refuse to sleep in it anyway…
Your family is gorgeous.
I just inherited some plates that belonged to my Nana. I found myself online looking up others and thinking about purchasing more!
I wonder if our responses to the decorating styles of our grandparents has anything at all to do with evocative memories. I know that certain textures, colours, styles, sounds and smells that remind me of Nan make me feel happy, safe and loved beyond all reason.
That house is a gem, just as it is. Hopefully the buyers will have the same nostalgia for its peacefulness. I relaxed just looking at the photos!
Those bathroom tiles are amazing.
I think you’ll find similar sentiments within this rant of mine…….
http://www.modernistaustralia.com/index.php/fibro-beach-houses-a-love-letter/
cheers
Modernistaustralia.com
That’s lovely, thank you for letting me know about it.
My overwhelming memory of my grandparents’ house is *orange*. Perhaps this has been both a socio-cultural and genetic contributor to my complete lack of ability in anything design 🙂
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