Today’s post is hard to write. I don’t know why, but it just is. You see I lost my grandpa this past spring. Oh man I’m already crying just typing that. Get it together Liz! I’m so blessed to have had 27 years with him & still have one of my grandpas here still today, but it doesn’t make it any easier to have had all those years with him.. it makes it harder. He was so wise & had the driest humor of anyone I knew. He would say it like it was & at the root of everything he said & did was God. If you EVER wanted to hear the fairest answer you could hear, you would ask him. He was just a really neat guy with probably one of the most interesting life stories I have ever heard. I just miss him.
Well, back in the spring right before he passed away we all knew he was going to leave us soon & his health declined very quickly. I would go and visit him & every time think it was my last time, but every time I got to see him again I was just so thankful & hopeful that maybe this wasn’t the end. I remember one day sitting by his bedside & my once strongly statured grandpa was now laying in a hospital bed in the den very weak & so close to leaving us. I sat next to his bed just being silent. I would cry & pray & then just sit there silent listening to his forced breathing that sounded so painful. He woke up startled all of the sudden & almost made me jump out of the chair. He looked at me with wide eyes & said “Hey Liz, what are you up to today?” I said “Hangin’ with you grandpa” then he told me he had meaning to talk to me about something & went on to tell me about this historic home that was on their condo’s property. I had seen the home many times driving in to visit them so I knew what he was talking about. It was a lovely home with awesome historic architecture and details. He started to tell me that the owners were going to tear it down, & that I should do something about that because it was too beautiful to be torn down. He wasn’t always the most sentimental guy, but in the middle of that very short conversation he complimented me and my talent for homes and design… oh there the tears come again ahhh…. and that was my proudest moment. My grandpa caring about what I did & telling me in so very little words that he was proud of me. He then fell back asleep, & I left the room in tears. Forgetting that the baby monitor was on in the other room, I didn’t realize that my family had heard the conversation we had just had, and it made me cry a little more knowing people had heard that special moment I just shared with my grandpa. It was the last memory I have with him that I really want to treasure. Him so frail, but still making me feel so honored with his very few words. Here is the house by their condo that I took pictures of after he passed away this summer…
So why am I telling you this story? Because we now have a piece of that house hanging above our bed…
So. The house ended up getting torn down against a lot of people arguing against it, but lucky for me someone got all of the salvaged goods from the home & was selling them. Want to hear a weird story? Well, I saw this “corbel shelf” on Facebook that someone was going to sell at our Farmgirl Flea that I hosted a few weeks ago. I said on the photo “I want to buy these” & the seller said ok I’ll bring them to the flea for you. When I saw him the day before the flea he reminded me that he had the corbels for me & told me that were off some old house in Grand Rapids. I asked him what house & he told me it was in front of these condos… my grandparent’s condo. I had no idea. I had no idea that the corbels I wanted weeks before were off of the house my grandpa wanted me to do something with. & now, I get to do something with the “house” that my grandpa wanted me to do something with. So we made a shelf for above our bed…
The corbels on the house…
& the corbels above our bed…
The corbels already came attached to each other just like they were on the house, but they were cut into sections. This section actually came in a set of five, but because Jose is so awesome & I wanted it to be a little longer, he cut up another section of the corbels & added two more sections to each end so that it was long enough for over the bed. We hung it by literally screwing it into the wall so that it was super secure. Because it’s obviously hanging above our heads.
It’s not styled yet for our final “room reveal” but I quickly styled it to show you today because I couldn’t wait to show you. I promise our room is almost finished & I will be doing a reveal very soon. I still feel so lucky to have found this piece off of that old historic home. Every time I look at it I think of my grandpa & I hope he is proud of what I did with the house. xx
See the chair that I got from my grandma & re-upholstered [here]. Thank you guys for stopping by my blog today.. IT MEANS SO MUCH! & that is from the bottom of my heart. Thank you. I hope you enjoyed today’s post. Be sure to follow me on Facebook & Instagram to keep up! xx
Some other room sources:
Light fixture: Painted Fox [here]
Bedding & Bed: Arhaus Furniture
Mirrors: Marshalls
Frames: Found
Lamps: Pottery Barn
It BROKE my heart they tore down that beautiful house. I drove by it multiple times a month for work. So so sad!
I love this story though what a great memory to have in your home.
It reminds me a few months ago i saw this ice cream parlor sign at an antique store and it looked so familiar to me. I asked the owner where it came from and it was from my grandparents old restaurant. LOVE it.
What an amazing piece, and what an amazing story. So glad I found this page, you write and design with a lot of love and personality. A tip is to print the story on a piece of paper and staple it to the back. My grandma had done that and it made for a lot of fun memories when we cleared out her house for the move into the carehome. I have the dining room set from their 10th anniversary, under the table is a story how granddad surprised her with it. Looking forward to the reveal =)
Liz this is so cool! I heard Grandpa talk about that house on multiple occasions. But how incredible that you wanted to buy the corbel before knowing it came off that house. Love it.
Such a gentle, meaningful story and glad you had that time with your grandfather. I’m sure he was pleased that you inherited an appreciation for old things and would love that you ended up with the corbels. I recently purchased something similar and now have an idea of how to use it. When you style it, perhaps you could include a small, framed black and white print of the house from which it came.
Such a lovely, lovely piece and beautiful story. What a treasure to have in your house! Thanks for sharing.
awesome
This was really great to read. Thank you!