Where It All Comes From

I've just returned from nearly two weeks at our family cabin. My grandparents built the place in the 1950s and I've spent at least a bit of most of my summers there. This year the hot weather in most of the Midwest made for lovely lake weather and there was lots of kayaking, swimming, and simply floating around in an inner tube.

Because I've spent so much time at the cabin, it's decor undoubtedly has had an influence on me. Certainly all the "folkloric" touches have been embedded in my psyche. And I find more and more that I'm drawn to red—I have a big red chair in my living room and red makes an appearance in most of my rugs, pillows, and much of the artwork in my home.

Here are some photos of the things I've seen nearly every summer of my life—the elegant, the funky, the international, the provincial. (Decorating still courtesy of my grandmother, who passed away more than 40 years ago. Some things never change, and the cabin often seems as though it's frozen in time, which isn't all bad.)