apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

My little red rocking chair from when I was a little girl. My grandmother saved it and my kids now have it in their playroom.

That and a copy of The Gingerbread Man that I remember making my family read to me over and over and over again. My grandpa used to sigh and say "I hate that ole gingerbread man!"

I use an old vanity that was a wedding gift to my grandparents nearly 63 years ago as a change table/drawers.
It desperatley needs to be refurbished, but I will wait until it has a more suitable use to make it pretty again.

My uncle made me a wooden rocking horse that I passed to my girls. They love it and it shows a bit more than it used to but I think that makes it special.

My son's "blankie" is an embroidered quilt that was made for me as a baby by my great aunt. My daughter's is a quilt my mother made for my sister when she was a newborn.

My daughter sleeps in the same antique Jenny Lind junior bed that I slept in and has all my old Raggedy Ann, Raggedy Andy, and Holly Hobby dolls. My son has sock monkeys made for me by my grandmother. They fight over my old hobby horse that my mom made.

My daughter has quite a few knitted, smocked, or otherwise handmade dresses...some were mine, some my sister's, and some my mother's. My mother's have matching dolly dresses, too.

But my favorite is the huge dollhouse my mother made for me. It's not a showcase...simple painted plywood...but it's big enough to literally sit in while you play with your dolls and I have so many memories of doing just that. Now my daughter gets to do it, too!

Our Lloyd Loom bassinet, which we restored and painted in a Farrow & Ball colour. My husband's father slept in it, my husband an his brother and sister, and now our children. It is beautiful, practical, and full of the sweetest memories for us. We hope it gets passed down to our grandchildren and their children.

Even if I have no child (yet), I'm fortunate to have my grand-mother's baby furnitures, antique wardrobe and vanity from the end of the 19th century. They're painted a beautiful light blue color that my mom hated in the 70's but it's perfect now.

I also have the bookcase that my grand-father painted for me with flowers he copied on one of his own father's drawing.

I really cherish those pieces...

I have an old wooden "toy" chest that my mom's grandfather made for her. I updated it a few years ago by lining it with fabric, but it will continue to be passed down for as long as I can manage.