The Many Antique Collections In My Mom's House

large gray house with garden

I have to be honest: this post was going to be named My Mom’s House and Cottage Garden.

But after I started writing it, it became clear that I had to rename it. I had so much material about my parents’ many collections of antiques and vintage items alone, this post would’ve been way too long to also write about the garden.

We came back from visited my mom in Germany a couple of days ago. I made a point to take a lot of pictures of her house because it’s beautiful, and I wanted to show it to you.

She still lives in the house I grew up in until age 23. That’s when I packed two suitcases and moved from my childhood home all the way to Los Angeles to study acting.

Can you say huge adventure? Gosh, the stories I could tell…

Antique Collections in My Mom’s House

When you see the decor in my mom’s house, it’ll become clear why I’m such a fan of everything vintage and antique, with a touch of quirky.

I didn’t take pictures of the tiles in the four bathrooms — I should have. They are so out there, it makes me wonder what my usually conservative parents were thinking when they picked the finishes for this house. Those tiles make me smile every time I see them.

My father was an architect, and he turned this two-family house into a home for just the four of us — my parents, my brother, and me.

This is what you see when you enter the house: a collection of framed antique maps of Bremen, our town, and my mom’s collection of bronzed antique baby shoes and bells.

And umbrellas, apparently.

I think half of these baby shoes and bells are from me. I keep buying them for my mom even though she says she has enough.

That tiny shoe there? I just had to buy it for her when I saw it at the Country Living Fair.

When you turn right, you see this room, the living room, and the sun room. There is a powder room and office to the right, and that left door leads to the kitchen, which overlooks the garden.

Why are there so many antiques in our house? My parents owned an antique store, and they kept their favorite pieces. My father collected antique books, and they also collected antique weights.

Yes, weights.

There are weights everywhere — even on the wall! I don’t think they have moved since my childhood — they have always been there.

More weights.

And more weights. Oh, and my mom’s collection of elephants and antique irons.

Who collects weights? It’s such an odd thing, when you think of it. We have many more — huge ones that you can hardly move — in the party room in the basement.

I’ve never asked my mom what made them start to collect weights. I assume it’s just what happens with every collection, it starts with one and then two, and when you are a collector at heart, all of a sudden weights (or vintage teacups or milk glass in my case) keep appearing in your life, not to be ignored.