Home Is Where My Story Begins

Decorating With Old Books – Loving Family History

My husband calls it old junk, but I love home decor that has some sort of history.  I think he may be coming around a bit.  Recently, when we went away for the weekend, I convinced him to wander the antique mall for a few minutes.  He actually said that it wasn’t the worst part of the weekend.  That’s improvement!

I love treasures that tell a story. Even more special is a treasure that tells part of my own story, and reveals a little bit about where I’m from. I love the look of old books in home decor, but I really love that my old books came from my grandparents.



They have the neatest old covers.

The inside of the cover is beautiful too! They just don’t make books like this anymore.

Here’s my favorite. This is a bible that was on my grandma’s bookshelf. Inside, it says, “For Our Dear Mother. From, Edith and Chester. August, 1927.” Edith and Chester were my grandmother’s parents. So, this bible belonged to Edith or Chester’s mother, my great-great-grandmother. How cool is that… just to know that I’m holding the same bible that my great-great-grandmother held.

There are even hand written notes inside the margins that were written during church services or bible studies.

I also have an old hymnal from Seattle Pacific College (now Seattle Pacific University). Both of my grandparents, both parents, several aunts, uncles, cousins, and I also went there.

If you look around my house, you’ll see that I decorate with lots of old books. To most people, that’s all they are… just old books. To me, they’re part of my history and it’s amazing to hold a little piece of history in my hands.

Happy decorating!

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