Things We Love Right Now – July 2013

We hope that when our customers buy fine antique furniture, vintage home decor accents, and high-quality reproductions from EuroLuxHome.com, those treasures will become family heirlooms! Heirloom pieces always have a story to tell, and they add so much character to a home. Greg's parents John and Kathy have been hunting out their own family heirlooms to share with us.

John is our genius accountant and gallery greeter, and this child's chair once belonged to his paternal grandfather. It is about 130 years old and was originally a rocker. As a child, John had a lot of fun turning the chair upside down and using it as a "plow." Farming was what he knew, so farming was part of his play! You can see how the finials on the top and the ends of the arms are worn down due to his diligent farmhand efforts.

This German enamelware coffee set was purchased in Germany in about 1954 by John's dad, who was in the military. (John followed in dad's footsteps, and flew P3 Orions in the US Navy.) Supposedly, the coffee set was an antique already when John's father bought it as a gift for John's mom.

This handsome walking cane belonged to John's great-great-grandfather, John William Talbott, who was born in Kentucky in 1831. His initials are engraved in the top of the handle, making it a very personal family heirloom. I bet this cane has some stories to tell about the places it's been and the changes it's seen over more than a century.

Kathy is our Director of Restoration Services. She's a wizard at rewiring our vintage chandeliers, touching up furniture and restoring ceramics! This pretty cream pitcher belonged to Kathy's maternal grandmother who said her family brought it to America when they came over from Germany. It's marked 'Bavaria' on the bottom. Obviously Kathy's grandmother treasured it. "She had it and took special care of it as long as I can remember," says Kathy.

This Confederate Bond is also a family heirloom from Kathy's grandmother. "It was kept in her cedar chest and she would take it out and show it to me when I was a child," says Kathy. Grandma promised Kathy that she could have it when she grew up. And so it came true! Although it was just a folded piece of paper when Kathy received it, she had the Confederate Bond mounted and framed when she lived in Florida in about 1968.

Someone in Kathy's maternal grandfather's family made this chest of drawers. Kathy recalls it in her grandparents' bathroom as far back as she can remember. They used it to hold towels and other linen, and the small drawers at the top were dusty with bath powder. The chest of drawers continues to be a very special piece of furniture to Kathy.

Do you have a family heirloom that you especially treasure? Tell us about it in the comment box below!