Last month I drove across the country to visit my Uncle Ralph. He lives in South Lake Tahoe. The last time I had been there was when I was ten years old. My tenth summer around that emerald water was magical. I don't know why I hadn't been back until now...
I walked into Uncle Ralph's log cabin, and the first thing I see is this gorgeous rustic lighting chandelier. The chandelier was made of antlers, almost exactly like the one I found on Pinterest below.
Photocred: http://j-architects.net/Andlinger.htm
Directly below the rustic light fixtures (there were two small chandeliers on either side of the large one) was this exquisite handmade rug my grandmother had braided nearly sixty years ago.
Photocred: http://www.countryliving.com/cooking/entertaining/christmas-tables-1208#slide-1
I had forgotten about this type of interior design. But being reawakened to it, I now want to decorate my studio apartment with this rustic country style.
I walked into the bedroom Uncle Ralph had prepared for me and immediately flopped myself on the bed. I was beat from the long drive. I looked up, and I couldn't help but notice the most beautiful rustic pendant lighting I think I've ever seen. The picture below doesn't even do it justice.
Photo cred: https://www.etsy.com/listing/168952397/similar?ref=error_page_redirect&filters=rustic+victorian
Sleeping was easy under that gorgeous
design. When I woke up, I continued to be amazed at each of Uncle Ralph’s small
details of design that made up his home. Each detail told a story about somewhere Uncle Ralph had been, somewhere he was going, or––as was the case with
the most of the objects and furniture he made himself––what he had been feeling and
thinking at a certain time in his life.
That’s the thing with rustic lighting
fixtures. They do more than just exist in a room. They do more than just make a
room look good. They tell a story. They tell stories about their owners. You
know the saying, if walls could talk…? Well, at Uncle Ralph’s it wasn’t the walls as much as those lights. They spoke
to me about my family, about who we used to be and who we still are.
Now that I’m back home in my lonely
apartment, I’ve decided to incorporate my family's history into my present life by starting up my
own small business of all things rustic. Mostly I’ll be
selling lights that I purchase from a manufacture, but occasionally, you
shouldn’t be surprised if I also try my hand at those braided rugs. I’d love to
decorate my own home with this style, so I can only imagine how many others
want to as well.
Follow this blog to see what I’m
selling and what gives me inspiration. Hopefully you too will feel inspired to
reinvent your home in a freshly nostalgic, rustic way.
For more on rustic lighting visit jahimissing
