Like me, many of you may have attended the lecture series hosted by the Antiques and Garden Show Nashville held February 1-3 at the Music City Center.  Blogger Stacey Bewkes engaged guest designers in a lively and though provoking conversation for the audience.  I listened and observed attentively, hoping to come away with some helpful information for a couple of my own projects.. A particular topic of discussion between the four designers resonated with me.   Most of us probably have something in our home, which has been passed down to us as a generational gift.  These heirlooms may hold emotional importance or significance.  The designers talked about encounters with such pieces during design jobs in clients’ homes, and helping to create “a sense of place”(the show’s theme) for these important pieces based on the way we live in our homes today.  One designer mentioned helping clients organize these into like groups of items, to display as so, creating a cohesive feel within the design scheme.

This conversation reminded me of one I had when deciding how to bring an inherited collection into my own home décor.

My grandparents were married for 65 years.  My grandfather Hilman’s mother hosted a bridal shower for the couple in her community.  My grandmother Mimi received a beautiful milk glass bowl as a gift from a thoughtful shower guest.  Milk glass was the trend of the day, and she loved the way it looked in her home, so even though she did not have much of a homemaking or decorating budget she started her collection of Milk glass. My mother was born in 1952 and on her second birthday her mother made a doll cake that amazed family and friends.  My grandmother had seen a picture in a magazine and her interpretation was a success. Mimi went shopping for a stand to elevate the cake and saw a Fostoria milk glass piece at local jewelry shop in her hometown.   She bought it that day and it was not only ideal for the occasion, but makes a perfect set with the bowl in my kitchen today.

Milk Glass became popular in the Gilded Age where elaborate hand made pieces of dinnerware and home décor could be found in some of the most elegant American homes.  A decade later milk glass was being mass-produced in a simpler process with less elaborate patterns and was coined Depression glass in the 1930’s.  I also inherited my paternal great grandmother’s collection of milk glass, which represents the latter and sets a perfect vintage style luncheon table.

Milk glass makers continue to produce this popularly re-trended collectible.  I have grouped my family’s collection into displays and enjoy the story they tell in my home

As we look to the past to enrich our lives today incorporating items and traditions like heirloom silver pieces, vintage linens, family china patters and pieces with history can be an excellent way to bring significance to our homes and lives in a current way and for everyday.

Of course there are pieces I have inherited that I bring out just for appropriate occasions, but others I enjoy every day. Seeing something in my home that belonged to a loved one in a past era reminds me that I am part of a bigger story, and to be thankful for those who came before me.

As these pieces were part of celebrations in their first lives, so have they been in mine!  I decided using milk glass and vintage linens would be fitting for a bridesmaid’s luncheon I was hosting.  The theme of the luncheon was Vintage Friendships, since among the brides guests were ladies who had been friends of her mother’s since before the bride was born, as well as childhood best friends.  It was also a perfect representation of her loyal personality.

The front porch table seemed to come alive with stories from the past, and a good time was had by all!

Heirloom Pieces.  A Repouseé salad fork rests atop a handmade vintage tadded linen luncheon napkin.