Allison

Hello, homemakers. Welcome to the Art of Home podcast, where we are exploring how homemakers cultivate a place to belong. I'm your host, Alison Weeks. I'm a wife, a mom, a granny, and I have been practicing the Art of Home since 1992. Welcome to all of you listeners. I hope you're having a fantastic summer. Thank you for joining me today for this focused discussion, which I pray will inspire a deeper love of and commitment to homemaking in your heart. Today we are talking decor, but we are going beyond style and beyond trends to look at sentimental decorating, choosing meaning over what's trending, and letting our homes hold the real stories of our lives. My guest is Britney Shepherd, who is known as the Sentimental Decorator on Instagram. You may recognize her voice as she was featured in a homemaker portrait earlier this year, bringing the unique perspective of homemaking as a single woman. Today we are diving deeper into Brittany's passion, helping others become story keepers in their homes. A storekeeper is someone who doesn't save special things for someday, but lives with them, uses them, displays them, and allows the memories they carry to bring comfort, joy, and even a place for grief to land. We'll talk about how to curate keepsakes without clutter, how to decide what to hold on to and what to let go of, and some practical ways to create a meaningful home without buying anything new. I'm so excited to share this conversation with you today. Brittany offers wonderful insight into how the way we live with our belongings shapes the atmosphere of our homes and how those objects can help us honor the stories that formed us in the past while also shaping the story we're living right now in the present. I want to thank you for trusting me with some of your valuable time today. I will be back at the end with some closing reminders and this episode's emoji. Whatever you are applying your hands to as you listen, I know you will enjoy this deep dive with Brittany Shepherd, the sentimental decorator. Welcome to the Art of Home. I am here to do a deep dive today on sentimental decorating with former guest Britney Shepherd. I'm so excited to have her here to talk about this topic because I am a maximalist. Brittany is maximalist, and that's how I found her. Um just the algorithm fed me her beautiful content on Instagram because it knew that I loved all of those pretty things and sentimental things and heirlooms. And so I was thrilled when she agreed to be on the show, and I'm thrilled to have her back and to talk very specifically about this topic. So welcome to the show again, Brittany. Just say hi, tell everybody a little bit about you before we dive into the topic today.

SPEAKER_02

Okay. I am Brittany Shepherd. Um my Instagram is at Britney Shepherd, so that's where you can find me. But I have a website called thesentimentaldecorator.com because I am very sentimental, have a very sentimental soul, and all of my home is decor, furniture, is full of things that I inherited or collected or were given to me. And so that's sort of my um niche, if you will, on Instagram. It kind of happened by accident. I was sharing home and just my journey of sort of processing grief of losing my mom through using her beautiful things in my home. And that seemed to strike a chord with folks. And that's sort of how I uh started to grow my account on Instagram. But I love it and it's become sort of this wonderful community, and it has grown into um just this wonderful way to connect with other women who love sentimental um heirlooms and objects and things that they have collected and they want to display them beautifully in their home and remember the stories behind those things in their home. But I am 41 years old. I live in Dothan, Alabama, I'm joyfully single, as I say, and um I work for the local school system and I have two geriatric dogs and three nibblings, two nephews and a niece. And I host a podcast called The Sentimental Twist with my friend Melissa Austin Weeks, who is at home with a twist on Instagram. Um, and so that's a little bit about me in general and sort of how I came into this world.

Allison

Awesome. Thank you for that amazing intro. And I'm not related to Melissa Austin Weeks in case anybody is wondering, but it's just a coincidence that we have the same last name. I don't know. I I need to chat with her about that. We might have some distant relatives somewhere. Yeah. Okay, let's let's dive in. First, I want to talk about the philosophy of sentimental decorating. So, how do you define sentimental style and how does it shift the focus from a perfectly styled home to one that is lived in and loved?

SPEAKER_02

Okay, so I think, you know, for a long time, interior design and decor, I mean, not for a long time, just as it is, as a as a thing, decorating is about vision a visual exercise. So color palettes, furniture placement, and trends and those things I love as well. But most of the women I know are actually navigating something deeper than just decorating their homes. And a lot of people are, you know, your home is your safe haven and your space. And so they're carrying memories. Your home has grief and it has good times and it has um family history and it has moments of joy and moments of sadness and moments where you need comfort. And so what I have come to learn is that I am a sentimental decorator because I want my home to reflect all of those things, even when it's not, you know, butterflies and rainbows all the time. I want my home to be that safe haven. So for me, sentimental style is choosing meaning over trends and stories over stuff. So it's the belief that meaning is actually the most enduring form of beauty when you think about the things that are most beautiful to you probably have the most sentimental value. And so a perfectly styled home is asking the questions like, does this look right? Does is this how it's supposed to look? Does it match this aesthetic? But a sentimental home is asking a different question and it's saying, does this feel like me? Does this mean something to me? And, you know, those two paths can lead you in different directions. And I think they can marry them. The paths can marry together as well. The beauty, does this look right? can also have meaning. And, you know, I think that's obvious in our homes because um to me, the most beautiful homes are often the ones that are most lived in and loved on. And so that meaning is there, but that beauty and that sense of taste and style is there well as well. So in my own home, it's very much style to be lived in. And what I found is that that version of home really is the one that resonates most with people and comforts people most. Like when you say you love your home, it's because it is completely set up to bring you joy, to bring you comfort, to bring you peace. And so the things that feel most like us are there. So sentimental style is decorating with meaning, and it's not about buying things. Of course, I I love a good home goods fine like the rest of us, but beauty comes from surrounding ourselves with those things that um evoke memories, nostalgia, objects, furniture, art that reflect who we are and the journey that we've been on. So it feels personal rather than matching a magazine aesthetic.

Allison

So yeah. Okay, that's a very good definition. I love that. And I love what you said about meaning being the most enduring form of beauty. I think that's a really good way to kind of sum sum it all up is that which is beautiful to one person may not be beautiful to another person because it doesn't have the same meaning.

SPEAKER_02

Meaning. And you know, when I say, you know, meaningful objects and things, I mean not only the inherited or the hand-me-down things, but the things that you collected in your your life and your journey, things that have been given to you, it doesn't necessarily mean heirlooms.

Allison

Um, that's a good uh distinction there. So okay, so you use the term story keeping to describe your approach to decor. What does it mean to be a story keeper in our homes and how is that different from saving things?

SPEAKER_02

Okay, so this is probably one of my favorite questions, but saving something is sort of passive. It's the box in the closet, it's the china that stays in the cabinet wrapped up for special occasions that never come. It's the things that you're afraid to use of saving things because they're precious and you don't want to injure them in some way. Um, and so saving things is more passive than story keeping. Story keeping is active, it's tending to the story instead of just preserving the object. So my mother's dishes that I unpacked could have stayed in a box forever because I felt like they were very precious to me. But that would have been saving them. Instead, they're on my table for regular gatherings for myself when I set the table just for me on a random weeknight for no reason other than they're beautiful and they're meaningful to me. And I want that story to be lived in my home. Um, and I'm not guarding it for someday. So a story keeper is someone who doesn't just keep things, but they keep the meaning alive by actually living with the story. So I would say, in a nutshell, story keeping is the practice of honoring the stories held within our homes. And that looks like practically living with things on display and in use and in rotation in your home. But it's also just like the keeping, you know, word is represerving those stories for future generations. Um, so it differs from saving things because the goal isn't accumulation and just having things. It is, it's not can I keep this or should I keep this? It's what does this hold? What story does this tell? And how do I want that story to continue in my home and future generations of my family's homes? Um, and sometimes the answer is keeping an item and sometimes it might not be. Um there's a little bit of decision making involved in story keeping, and you can keep the story of something that you don't keep, you know, whatever. Um, but you I encourage you to display and use those meaningful things because that is actually story keeping, that's living with the stories and making that meaning become relevant to the other people in your life, because if the meaning is not relevant, then they have no reason to keep the story either or itself. So, you know, it's preserving meaning, but not preserving everything if that's what fits for your season of life.

Allison

So yeah, yeah, that's a great explanation. And I think um just a couple of points that you made right there that it it is um really important to pass on the story to the future generations, your kids, your grandchildren, so that they understand why that item has so much meaning to you. And I guess if you are using it regularly, then they should get, you know, that should just naturally come out. But then also to not be offended, like if they don't attach the same meaning and and they don't want it, you know, when it's time to hand it off. I think that's really important too. Uh, because it's not the stuff, it's what it's the meaning that's attached to the stuff.

SPEAKER_02

Exactly.

Allison

Is what mo matters the most. So, okay, right now um thrifting is very trendy. Um, so and when you said the other thing that I, the other point I was gonna make is that you were saying it's not just the it's not the same as like collecting things, hoarding things. And and I think that can be a real danger with thrifting. I know it is for me because it's like I go thrifting and I see all this cool stuff, and it's like I want this and I want that, and I, you know, um, and I want to hang on to these or I want to bring them home just because I love them so much. And I know we're gonna talk more practically a little bit later, but in the in the whole vein of trending things, how do we prioritize storekeeping over following trends?

SPEAKER_02

Trends, yeah. So trends like trends are just what is beautiful right now, yeah, when you think about it, and what's popped off on social media right now. But story keeping is what matters for the long term, what what is enduring? What like I said, meaning is the most enduring form of beauty, like what is timeless. And it doesn't mean that something that gravitate that you gravitate to in a trend doesn't become meaningful and transcend the trend, you know, because it it speaks to you and resonates with you. But when you start with what already matters, if it's meaningful to you, then you don't really worry about the trends as much and you only adopt trends or attach yourself to trends or bring trends into your home because it matters to you in a way. And it has some sort of feeling to it. And I think the thing about trends is you think about how everything, nothing's new under the sun, and trends, they expire, but they also come back around. And I think that's why timeless decor is timeless, because you know, blue and white chenoiserie, all of that had has is enduring, timeless. It's in beautiful homes for centuries. But it had a moment, it's having a moment still. I think it's on the tail end of the trendy moment. So, like, if you're buying those things now because they're trendy, they're still gonna be beautiful in 30 years because everything is nothing is new under the sun. But trends have to expire because that's the whole business of exactly, you know, retail. Because then home goods would be out of business if the trend didn't expire. But the thing about story keeping, it doesn't expire because it's personal. So when your home is built around meaning first, you never are trying to catch up with anything. Right. And so I think that's sort of freeing and I don't know, it's freeing and relieving to me. I mean, I see beautiful homes and have hundreds, thousands of Pinterest pens and Instagram saves of inspiring spaces and coffee table books. But what I do with those trendy pictures that I save is look at them and say, what do I have that I love and matters to me that I can use in this way or style in this similar way to this inspiration photo that I saved. But, you know, if you are designing a home or creating a home that you want to live with you for the rest of your life, then meaning is the way to go. It's the way to start because trends are going to move and to change and they can be fun. But before I bring something trendy into my home, I'm gonna ask myself, what role does this play in my story for longer than now? You know, if it's just for now. And sometimes I will buy something that's just for now, like the whole lemon craze. Yeah, you know, there when I'm having a table doing a tablescape or having a party and that might be the theme, I might bring some things into my home that fit that style and that trend. But I'm gonna choose things that I think can go beyond just the moment, um, if possible. And so asking, you know, what role can this play in my story for the long haul is a really good way to us, you know, look at trends. And that question immediately kind of slows you down a little bit. And then it becomes less about I because fat fast decor, fast fashion, you know, it's just this we live in this consumerism world, and um trends are meant to keep people consuming and accumulating, and then things end up in the landfills. But when you're bringing meaningful things into your home or keeping meaning in your home, that's not something that you have to really worry about. You may have to be creative on how you use things and maybe not for their intended purpose so that they stay relevant in your life, but you know, it helps you move from reacting to trends toward creating a home that's personal and lived in and long term and not just for now.

Allison

So yes, yes, yes, and amen. All right, let's talk about the emotional weight of objects. So, how has the minimalism slash Marie Kondo uh movement coupled with increased consumer consumption, which we've already talked about, negatively impacted our view of family heirlooms and what we keep?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, so I want to be fair here too, because I don't think that minimalism is the enemy.

Allison

No, I agree.

SPEAKER_02

And there's no there, I mean, there's a lot of wisdom in asking what you actually need and only keeping what you actually need. But I think need is beyond just physical and needs, and there are emotional needs that we have and spiritual needs that we have, and so we have to recognize that. But I think what happened in that does it spark joy movement is that that has kind of gotten flattened a little bit into fewer things is always better. Yes. And I don't think that fewer things is necessarily always better if they're held and kept for a reason beyond just accumulation, like we've talked about. But somewhere in there, a lot of us absorb that message that loving inherited objects, keeping them it makes you too much, or um or like too or too worldly.

Allison

I mean, even within the church, it's kind of like, oh, it's holier to be a minimalist.

SPEAKER_02

Yes. Not everybody's something to apologize for. Like, yeah, I have a friend and she has a beautiful collected home, and she I had to tell her, stop apologizing for I have just so much stuff, I'm so sorry. Oh, here's where you can put your drink. I'm like, your home is beautifully decorated with the things that you love. It is do not apologize for that. And so it I think there's that that and I feel this way sometimes being putting my philosophy, I guess, out there, and especially on Facebook, not on Instagram. Instagram people are lovely, but the Facebook people come after you for the clutter. Um, that because you can't let go something's wrong with you, that you're keeping all this stuff and you're just burdening future people in your family. And I'm like, okay, um, I see where you're coming from, but you do you, and I'll do me. And this is how I do me, and how I I hate this, like, what's gonna happen in the future? Well, I want to love my home now. Yes, and that's okay, you know, and it it doesn't mean I'm gonna have a wonderful estate sale one day if if the case comes to that. But yes, um, but what concerns me really about that whole like minalism, having less is better, is that when we apply the same decision-making framework to a coffee mug that we got from Target to our grandmother's recipe box. You can't do that. They're not the same category, they're not the same thing. And meaningful objects require a different conversation than am I using this regularly? Or, you know, is this practical? Um, so we've been encouraged to consume constantly at the same time as telling us to declutter, which is okay.

Allison

Um very different messages, yeah. Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So um, we're kind of caught in the middle, and I think we feel that in our homes a lot more than we would our closets, maybe, because home, I don't know, home is just so personal in general. And so my approach is to encourage people to evaluate that meaning of their belongings differently than they would something that is not meaningful, because not everything should be kept. Yeah, but not every meaningful thing should be treated like clutter. And so I never tell someone to get rid of something that matters to them, not because decluttering is a bad idea. I mean, sometimes you do need to have less and clean things out, um, but don't do it because some decluttering or organizational expert or society is telling you to holding on to something because it carries weight to you is not a failure in decluttering and cleaning out and minimalism. So it's just a different value system. And I think we've been constantly pulled from one to the other because we have, you know, consumerism that's telling us buy this, get this, this is the next big thing, but also don't keep everything, throw things away, get rid of things. And so it's very hard and sentimental things just kind of get lost in the mix, yeah. And we don't really know as well how to approach those things because of that emotion. So usually we just end up avoiding the decisions, right?

Allison

Because we become overwhelmed with just the the sheer volume of things, and I think that's what can plague people too when they're dealing with um an estate of someone who has passed away. They're like, and especially if the stories haven't been handed down, they're like, I don't, I don't know like what's meaningful, what's not meaningful. So that's something I'm trying to be really intentional about is thinking about okay, how can I make sure that my kids know these things are meaningful, these things not so much. And if if it none of it's meaningful to you, that's fine. Like I want you to have the best, biggest estate sale when I'm gone. Yeah. And so people like me can come and love it and and find treasures, and that would just make me so happy to know that.

SPEAKER_02

But I love that you said that because it is our responsibility to make sure the meaning is there for them and they decide how to carry that meaning forward. Yes. But it's our responsibility as the generation that has it now to to make the meaning be relevant to them.

Allison

And I think that's a very different approach than what you often will hear on on the internet, which is it's your responsibility. To do Swedish death cleaning right now so that you're not going to burden your children with all of that. And I totally get where that's coming from because I know that there are people who, you know, lose their parents or grandparents or whatever, and they are overwhelmed with so rooms and rooms and rooms full of, you know, 80 years accumulated stuff and they don't even know where to begin. So I get that, but um, I think that there's a different conversation we can be having and different advice that can be given. And I think you're doing that. So um I want to talk about grief and beauty. You often will say that a home can hold both at the same time. So, how can we use our treasures to honor past memories while still creating a joyful environment for the present?

SPEAKER_02

Yes. So when my mom passed away, you know, I did have a lot to clean out. She was a collector. Um, but I started unpacking her dishes into my home, and you know, that grief did not go away when I did that. But something did sort of start shifting in me, and using and displaying her things became very important to me. It didn't erase the loss by loss by any means, but it gave that grief like somewhere to land, you know, um, alongside joy, because those things that I brought into my home, now I'm using them and seeing them and displaying them, and they're witnessing and being a part of joyful moments. And also they remind me of joyful moments. So that that grief is there. Yes, I'd much rather have my mom than her blue willow dishes.

Allison

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

But the fact that she loved them and she used them and she made them a part of our special occasions in everyday lives brings me joy. And now when I do that in my daily life, use those things, it brings me joy. So I walk through my home, I see my mom. I've said this a a time or two, but I very much still feel her presence because I see the things that she loved and collected, whether for herself or for me, because I have quite a few things that she got for me. Um and so in those dishes and the little collections and trinkets that she loved, they they stopped feeling like reminders of of what I lost and started feeling like a presence of her here in my life. And um, so I think we're kind of taught that grief and beauty have to take turns, you know, that you go through hard times and then good times. But generally life has both in it at the same time. And so a home can hold both at the same time in the very same object. The same thing that makes you cry can also make you smile and be happy and enjoy your day because you remember those occasions where they were a part of it. And that's not confusing to me. Like some people would say, Well, that's confusing, you know, but it's not. That's just what it means to actually love someone. And so the same thing happens when I ponder memories of my mom. I cry and I laugh. And so the things that those that those people that are represented by those people, those people are represented in my home by those things, sorry, they bring both, and that's okay. Um, so using a loved one's dishes, displaying a photograph, keeping treasured objects nearby, it isn't living in the past. It's allowing love to remain present in an everyday kind of tangible physical way. Yeah, sometimes it's your it's their love and their uh their memories and their presence in your life or their having been in your life in a tangible physical way. Um and so the grief doesn't disappear, that's for sure, because I have moments even nearly nine years later. Um, but it's woven into that story in a beautiful way because the things bring back the good memories as well.

Allison

So yes, yes, I love that. Um you have a quote that I pulled from somewhere, I can't remember, but I wrote it down. Grief doesn't ask you to stop living beautifully, it asks you to live more intentionally.

SPEAKER_02

And I think the whole thing about sentimental style and story keeping and having these beautiful and meaningful things in your home, whether they are those inherited things, the hand-me-downs or the gifted or collected that you got yourself, intention is the only word that really makes sense. It's how you intend to use them or keep them and display them that makes them feel like beauty instead of clutter.

Allison

And um so um, all right, let's talk practical strategies for the home. So whether you're feeling the weight of inherited items, the weight of inherited items, or the temptation to jump on the current maximalist grandma core trend, what advice do you have for curating keepsakes versus just collecting them?

SPEAKER_02

Okay. We kind of we reference this a little bit. So collecting is just having it just to have it to achieve the look or the aesthetic or have the collection because it's the thing to have.

Allison

Because it's a thing, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Right. But curating is what does this represent? And I'm always going to bring myself back to like what is what is the story I want to tell in my home and how is this piece that I like going to fit in that? Right. So a simple filter, you know, there's I think people are like, do you really love it? But I don't think that's deep enough of a question because I love a lot of things that I still need to buy. And so that question is not useful to me. But the question I ask myself is, does this still represent who I am now, who I'm becoming, and who I want to, you know, be for the long haul, or who, you know, what I want my home to represent, or how I want my home to love people, does it does it fit there? If it's me just wanting it because I love it and it's trendy right now, I might pass on it. More like more than likely, I'm going to pass on it because that that do I love it is not a good question to ask as a filter. And so curating becomes bringing things in intentionally. I think it's a lot about intention.

Allison

Intention. Yeah, that's a good word. That's what I think about when I think about a curator. So I think about like a museum curator or somebody who is curating a collection for a very specific purpose. You know, I think museum, that's a good, that's a good parallel here. You're gonna walk into a museum in the ancient Egyptian section, and that has been curated very intentionally. You're not going to find like Nordic stuff in there. Right. Right. Because that's not the purpose of that space. That space has been purposefully set aside to highlight a particular culture and a particular time in history. And it it it kind of crosses over. I think it works as a parallel to what we're talking about today. And that is a good filter to have in your mind when you're in the thrift store and you there's, you know, lots of good finds that day, or you're at an estate sale and you're just like you get caught up in that that manic energy of like just grabbing everything. But you have to like take a beat and say, okay, does this fit into who what what would what did you say? Who I am?

SPEAKER_02

Who I am and who I'm becoming and how I want my home to surf me and to serve others from beyond just this moment in time. Yes. Um, and we are so not future focused a lot of times when we're shopping. No, you know, and I think it's hard to get yourself into that rhythm of changing from an impulse like I love this, I want this now, to a more practical, like, how is this gonna live with me forever? Is it gonna end up in the donation pile in two months? You know, or am I gonna try to resell it on eBay or Etsy in a couple months? You know, which is not a bad thing. Sometimes it's like a business for you, right? I I I have a little vintage pop-up shop with my best friend. And so it's one of the ways that I'm able to bring some of the current thrifty vintage trends in that may not be a part of my story for the long haul because I can just rotate them out. Exactly.

Allison

So that is a good workaround. I like that. Um, okay, so um this kind of bleeds well into this next question because it's not necessarily when you're in the store or at the estate sale and you're going, Do I need this thing? Does this fit who I'm becoming? You may be sorting through um some inherited items or or a situation where you've maybe acquired and accumulated lots of things. How do you decide when a sentimental item, something that does hold meaning and value, no longer serves your home story? And how do you practice the art of letting go?

SPEAKER_02

This is a very hard one. And I think what we're used to seeing in the decluttering, organizing, you know, genre of content is getting rid of things for just getting rid of things' sake. Um and so emotion is usually never factored into the equation or very subtly, like it's not really a part of it. And for me as a sentimental person, most everything has an emotion or a story tied to it. So I never want to present what I share in them in the way of a decluttering checklist or um even logic sometimes, because logic and sentimental things don't usually go together, but we do have to have a framework and a thought process. And so what I look for is if an object still connects to a story that I want to keep telling in my home, or whether I am keeping it out of obligation, yeah, fear, or guilt.

Allison

Yes.

SPEAKER_02

And um I like to tell the members of my membership community that you are not going to betray anyone by letting go of something that belonged to them.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Um, and the the meaning, the entire story is not wrapped up in the item itself. And so when you that's a real signal to me if you're keeping it, if you realize you're keeping it out of obligation instead of um wanting the story to endure in your home. So guilt and love can look a lot like the same thing on the outside because they keep us from letting go. Um they feel continue different on the inside. Um, so eventually I do ask myself, does this item still help me remember, honor, and support something meaningful, or am I keeping it because I feel guilty of letting it go, or I have this sense of obligation or responsibility because it belonged to someone I love, or out of fear of like regret, because for me, I fear when I let something go, I fear regretting letting it go, wanting it again. Um and so when the relationship shifts from from loving it because of the story it tells and how you want to carry that story, when it shifts from that to feeling like a burden, that's probably the signal that the story has already done its work in your home and you can lovingly let it go. And clarity usually comes after the fact. I think that with faith all the time, like when God's telling you to do something and you take the step, you don't get the clarity until after the step is taken. And I think it goes the same way when you're sorting through sentimental items or inherited items and cleaning out a loved one's home. It sometimes takes that act of letting it go before you feel that relief and clarity and release. And so it's a really hard position to be in. So, you know, we have a framework for doing this that I share, and it's really, it's it's a it's a lot less about the object, more about your emotions and um and processing that grief and that loss or that change and transition. It might be someone who's downsizing or wanting to kind of go ahead and front load some of the clean out for their children and grandchildren and having that conversation so they're not burdening them with more things than they want to burden them with. And so it's a battle of your heart and mind more than just letting the object go. And so um that's the only kind of decluttering I encourage is walking through the process of your emotions and and preserving the story regardless of whether you keep the item or not. And that way you can always refer to it anyway. It's it's it's varied case by case, object by object, person by person.

Allison

Absolutely. For the homemaker who's on a budget, what are your favorite ways to create meaningful spaces without buying anything new?

SPEAKER_02

I love this question because it's kind of the whole thing. It's not about the new things and getting things new. It proves that meaning doesn't require a budget to begin with, you know, and when the meaningful things are here and you may have to style them in a different way, you know. Yeah, yeah. That that is creating a meaningful space. So my favorite thing to do is rotate what's already in my stash into visible use seasonally sometimes, maybe a seasonal object, but it may just be rotated seasonally, and you know, take one heirloom or hand me down or treasured item and let it anchor a new coffee table vignette instead of saying box away. It might be moving something so you see it more visibly in your everyday. And the investment really isn't the money, it's the attention, it's the time that you take to make the spaces meaningful, bringing out those things. So truly, some of those most meaningful things that you have cost you nothing. Um, I love the idea of we talked about this, but gathering like family photos into one place or bringing old family photos out, that costs you nothing. You might go to the thrift store and get a few a few, you know, frames if you need them. But photos are probably some of the most meaningful things that you own because it represents your life. And but I also love displaying handwritten um recipes or letters or anything that you may have handwritten that could be meaningful. Um, bring that meaning to vision and to focus. Uh, and I have this like use the good dishes um philosophy. And so a meaningful space, having a meaningful dinner means using the good dishes, using the things for your regular weeknight meal and um not saving them for someday. I think I talked about that in the episode we did on the homemaker uh the portrait. But I I think that's just an easy way to make your home more meaningful on a budget is to use what's meaningful, you know, and using the good dishes is an example of that. But there's so many other ways it's sort of like, you know, a snowball effect. Um, one of the things that I like to do without so I don't go shop is shop my house and rearrange bookshelves or tables or whatever so that a new story is represented in that space. Um and that doesn't require a budget, but just things like that. Um, I talked a lot about rituals, and I think rituals are foundational to the way I live in my home and the way I experience the meaning in my home. And so simple things like lighting a candle in the evening to signal that transition from work to rest and restoration, you know, that's not even decor. It's doing something and but it makes your home like it's an intentional thing. It's yes, it's intentionally um making it cozy and special and signaling something in your heart and mind. So those are just some practical things. Shop your home, yeah, bring meaning into vision and to focus and to put it on display and think creatively about the meaningful things you have. You may not think they're decor.

Allison

Right. Like you said, like handwritten recipes. I wouldn't think to do that. Like, how would you display handwritten recipes?

SPEAKER_02

I would frame them or I have a little um recipe, like stand, if you will.

Allison

Okay.

SPEAKER_02

A vintage fork that was like oh yeah, like like bent and bent back. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I'll put just on my kitchen windowsill or by my stove a different recipe, and it might be a seasonal recipe that you know, and that's just it's not decor necessarily, but it is at the same time. But it's bringing bringing that meaning into focus.

Allison

Uh that's such a good idea. I mean, you could even stick it on your refrigerator if refrigerators nowadays aren't magnetic though.

SPEAKER_02

So that's some are, some still are.

Allison

Some still are. Um, yeah, that those are some great suggestions. I did that often as a young wife with no money. Um, one of my favorite pastimes was moving furniture around.

SPEAKER_02

Oh yeah. And then like the the thing I love is using things not for their intended purpose, but because they're, you know, meaningful. I have a lot of glass, like cut glassware serving dishes and things that were my grandmother's, and we're not in a date and time where we don't do it. I mean, they might you might have a baby shower that you can use one for every now and then, or like I have this relish tray and you know, things that we don't use regularly. But I've like tried to find ways to use them in a different way. Not for what they were intended for. You know, whatever it may be, just finding something so that it's visible to you and you see it and it's not it's necessarily its intended purpose.

Allison

But that's a good idea. Yeah, use it as a plant, as a plant saucer. Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_02

Plant saucer or what else? Oh, I have a little, it's a actually a relish dish, I think, that I have my dish soap and hand soap in by the sink, you know, and it was my grandmother's. And so my Mrs. Myers Compassion Flower sits in it, but every time I wash my hands or wash a dish with it, I might that piece is there, and it just brings a little bit of them into my daily life.

Allison

So oh, those are wonderful ideas. Um, okay. What if, however, you don't have any heirlooms? Nothing was handed down to you, but you still want sentimental style. Do you have some tips for that person?

SPEAKER_02

Yes. I have a lot of tips actually, and some of us kind of lead into that from that last uh question. But this is where I talk about adopting heirlooms. Now, it does require budget to adopt heirlooms sometimes. Um, but thrifting and and thrift stores are the best place to adopt heirlooms right now because the generation that their homes are being cleaned out right now is really good stuff.

SPEAKER_01

It is good stuff.

SPEAKER_02

Adopt some heirlooms. They don't have to belong to a blood relation for an object to carry a story. Um a vintage find, an estate sale piece, a thrift store, something from the flea market. It can become yours in the moment you decide to adopt it and carry its story forward into your story. And so I love call calling them adopted heirlooms because I think that just is a different picture on buying things because you're these things were loved and cherished by their original owner, but somehow found their way in in a in a shop, in a thrift store or an antique home. And you can give them a new story and carry their story forward. And I sound like they're living objects, but you know what I mean. Um we know what you mean. But you know, every heirloom was somebody else's new purchase, and that sentimentality was, you know, that sentimentality is a part of the object's history before you found it, and it's what you decide to build with it next. And but just like in the question about the budget, you know, you can have sentimental style with what you already have. We all have stories worth keeping, veneers for meaningful trips, uh, books that changed your life, you know, books that, you know, spoke to you, um, notes from friends, vintage pieces that you rescue because it spoke to you, even um new finds that mean something to you. They're sure that sentimental style, and that's part of your story. I mean, I have a few things that I that were new that I got on girls' trips that just remind me of those fun experiences and that camaraderie and sisterhood. And so they are present and they're part of my, you know, sentimental heirlooms one day, and who knows who's gonna have them, but somebody can adopt them eventually. But I think sentimental style belongs to everybody, like you can create it, and tomorrow's heirlooms are being created today, is what like I like to say, the things you use now are part of your legacy, and so that doesn't matter where they came from, you know, they become part of your legacy, and that begins the moment you start paying attention to them and using them. And I in this question, I wanted to on a related note, speak to the women who feel like they have the stuff but not the people to share them with. Um, I I encounter this a lot with my social media um people messaging me or even members of the story keepers' circle, but there's a fear that a lot of women have that no one will want their stuff. And they may even have heard from children and grandchildren that they don't want the stuff when they're gone. They're just gonna throw it all away or give it all to goodwill. But keeping meaning in motion, like we talked about, by using those things, telling those stories, letting it be a part of your life and your gatherings so that meaning attaches itself to those things, may happen, may change their minds a little bit. And I encourage you to do that now if you feel like your children and grandchildren are not gonna want some of those things. Tell them the stories, bring the stories into focus why your mother's china is important to you. And you know, use it, but make sure it's not gonna poison them with lead. But you know, things things like that. But um carry the story forward, is what I'm trying to say. But also the person that really wants those things, those things might not be in your family.

Allison

In your family, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And And you might have to look a little, I call it look a little sideways for your sideways airs. Um, and I have a few things that were given to me by people that aren't in my family, but they're just as meaningful because of the person and the relationship I had with them. Um, a dear friend who I worked with that's older than me and she was cleaning out her home. I have a beautiful game table of hers that now it's, you know, as important to me as some of the things that were my grandmother's because I've our friendship.

Allison

Yes.

SPEAKER_02

And so I'm one of her sideways heirs, if you will, because that was a part of our story together. And then, you know, it might be a niece, it may not be children, grandchildren, it might be niece or um a neighbor, even that comes over and visits, and or maybe you share a love for gardening and there's some things that that they might want that were yours because of that relationship there. So just think a little sideways if you need to. So I want that to encourage people. There, there are women and men in my generation and younger that want those things. You just might have to be a little creative in looking for them.

Allison

Yes, I'm glad you said that because that's a really good point. And I I want to tack on to that. Just the idea that if you're fearful, if you think, if you assume, okay, so I want to speak to assuming, if you assume that your your kids won't want it, uh, or assume that they will want it, don't assume anything. Like talk to them and ask them. So just a quick example. I was getting, I was shifting. I had, I was really into like brown, like whole brown drip pottery and stuff for a long time. But my my taste shifted and I sort of moved away from that. And I was moving more towards like white and ironstone stuff because I collect um a lot of transferware, and the white goes with all the different colors of the transferware. So there was a practical reason there. Um, but we had all these like more primitive, you know, pottery bowls and brown drip bowls and stuff like that, and and they were kind of a smaller size, and we used them all through my kids' growing up years for all kinds, because we use our dishes. Um, and I was getting ready to get rid of them. So I texted my daughter-in-law and I sent her pictures and I said, Hey, these are on the way out, no pressure to take them. So I was very clear about that, especially with a daughter-in-law, and she's amazing. She would not be a problem at all with that. But I said, Do y'all want them? I want to offer them to you before I give them away. It's cool if you don't want them, but here we go. And I was like, they might want them, but I was like, probably not. Well, she almost right away texted me back and said, Um, this is this was Nathan, that's my son. This was Nathan's response. Oh my gosh, those bowls are my childhood. Yes, we want them. I mean, he remembered eating cereal out of those bowls and ice cream, and he wanted them, and so now they have them. So don't assume either way. Don't assume that they're going to want it and don't assume that they don't want it. You need to ask. So that's that's my two cents about that.

SPEAKER_02

Fully agree. Fully agree. And I mean, also, we've talked about this a lot, but the things that maybe come from generations before you that they might not know what they even mean. Make sure they understand the things behind them. We talked about that a little bit, but you know, I have some things of my great-grandparents I wish I knew more about, but I know that they were my great-grandparents. And then there are things I had no clue where they came from or why we had them. And I and, you know, I feel more at ease about letting those go because I don't know the story behind them, you know. But make sure those special things that you you would love to see carried forward in your home, even if that's a decision that they don't make, that that those very special things, you know, they're accounted for in some way that they they know the story, they know why you have them, they know why you've cherished and honored them.

Allison

Right. Just practically speaking, do you like in your story keeper keepers circle, do y'all do an exercise like that? Or do you have an ex like literally create a journal or something or write this down?

SPEAKER_02

We do. We have we call them story cards, and they can choose to do them digitally if they want to, if they think that's more practical. But I think handwriting is so important. And so the story cards are are larger and they tell the story behind the item, and they're great for things like pieces of furniture or art that you can take them to the back to leave them in the piece.

Allison

Like leave them with the piece. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

But the smaller things, you know, they may write a story card and they might just keep a file or a folder of those things. But then you can also do that in a journal. You don't have to have a story card for that. But we do we do talk about preserving the stories and making sure we have a process of sharing those stories if they're not known now. Um and then one of the things that we we have a framework for decision making. So deciding if this is ready to keep or let go. Um, and in the let go, there's a lot of different paths that you can take to to let something go. And um it doesn't necessarily mean that you're just donating everything to the thrift store. So to the goodwill. So, you know, there's there's that component. And then one of the things in one of our monthly themes coming up, we're going to have converse, it's going to be a conversations theme about having those conversations or sharing those things. And also if you still have older loved ones with you, the process of interviewing them and getting the stories behind those things. Um that even if you don't know the full story, you can carry it forward.

Allison

So yes. Oh, I let me just say an amen to that. Please do that because um, like I just lost my grandmother this this past beginning of this year, and I have a lot of her things. I have a lot of her furniture. And there's a few, there's some that I know the story behind them. One in particular that I redid, and it was my great great-grandmother's, and it like went through a flood. And I mean, it has this very long history, and it's great. I love it. But the other stuff I don't know. I I like I just and I wish that I had asked her. I really wish that I had asked her what's the story. I mean, I love them and they've I've had most of them for a long time. So now they're very much a part of my story. But what what's the backstory there? I would love to know that.

SPEAKER_02

And I think we're scared to have those kind of conversations because we don't want them to be uncomfortable for that person or feel morbid in any way. But honestly, they're gonna be so happy that you're they love, they love to talk about it.

Allison

Everybody loves to talk about their themselves and their history. And gosh, that's what I do all the time with this show. Right. Um but yeah, I I 100% agree. They will love it and be honored that you asked them and that you're interested to know. That will be very meaningful to them.

SPEAKER_02

So it's time too that you get to spend with them.

Allison

It is, and that's valuable, but you can't that's that you can't put a price tag on that um either. Okay, so last question. You have a free guide that offers 50 creative ways to add sentimental style to your home. So could you share as a takeaway for today, because we've given them a lot of information, but share like one or two just simple ideas that somebody could implement today, this afternoon, when they're done listening.

SPEAKER_02

Okay. So we talked, okay. Let me see. This is hard for me because I want to I want to tell more than like one or two, but I think my go-to one and the easiest thing to do is a part of that the good dishes. Use the good dishes challenge.

Allison

Okay.

SPEAKER_02

So use a favorite or sentimental or inherited piece of glassware or stemware for your diet coke this afternoon, for your sparkling water. Use a meaningful vessel every time you serve yourself something to eat or drink. Because that is the most simple way to add sentimental style to your home. Because we eat and drink all day, every day. Yes. And so use the good dishes now is very important. And I I like to drink my afternoon LaCroix in some long champ wine glasses that were given to me when I was a young girl, you know, when I was collecting, not young girl, I mean, it was that was my first apartment. When I was collecting my home, putting my home together, my mom got them for me. Or I have some great my great-grandparents' last name was Griffin. And I got this glass pitcher and eight tumblers that have a green, a green, have a G engraved in them. And so I will use those to serve, you know, myself a drink and iced tea or lemonade or whatever. So that's the simplest, easiest thing to do. And then photos are another very simple thing to do. And one of my favorite things in my home is my gallery wall in my guest bedroom, which is doubles as the kids' room of photos of my family members as babies and children. If you have them, I just think there's something about seeing your parents and grandparents as photos, as kids, photos of them as kids alongside photos of you and future generations in your family as kids. I don't know. That's just like to me, just so beautiful.

Allison

I love it.

SPEAKER_02

You know, it's just so cute to see them as kids and then see the how they're reflected in the the young ones' eyes and faces and things like that. So it's and I'm grateful, you know, to be able to walk past that every day and see all of my family members there. But I'm gonna share one more. And we've already talked about it a little bit, is like frame something handwritten. Yes. And you can buy a simple frame, you probably have a simple frame already to put a recipe or put a little note card that you got, a birthday card, fold it back to the page where they wrote you a sweet note because the handwriting, gosh, that's the heirloom in and of itself. And I have I lived in India, I don't know, we talked about this, I think.

Allison

Yeah, you were in India as a missionary.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, for two years. And I mom sent, you know, my parents sent me care packages all the time. But one day she got one of those big, like lead not legal-sized pieces of paper. Probably the day she was packing the box at my dad's law office, she pulled it out of the copy machine and she wrote, I love you, love mama in her bubbly kindergarten teacher cursive. And I have it framed and in my office, and it's just one of my favorite things because it it, I mean, her handwriting was so very her um and her personality, and just that handwritten reminder of her every day in my office, and it's so fun. And so those are just some simple little things to do.

Allison

That's fabulous. Yeah, I'm thinking like love let if you kept any old love letters from you know when you were dating your husband or or like like kids art. Oh, kids art is such a great one.

SPEAKER_02

I use creeting cards that I've been given. Like I had my knee replacement surgery earlier this year, and I got some lovely cards from people. They're my bookmarks. Oh, good idea. Because keeping cards is one of those weird things, like you don't want to throw away. What do I do? I know so. I'm like, I have I need bookmarks all the time when I'm reading a physical book. And so I've just started using those as my bookmarks. And then every time I turn to the page, I think of my sweet friend Nancy who sent me cards, you know, you whatever it may be. Um so greeting cards can serve other roles than just oh that's so good.

Allison

Okay, so eat and eat and drink in something meaningful. Um, use your photos, frame some photos, put some photos up, and frame something or display or use something with handwritten messages on it.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

Allison

You could do all of that without spending any money today.

SPEAKER_02

And it takes five minutes.

Allison

Yes. I love it. Yeah. Okay. So what do you currently have on offer through the sentimental decorator that would be most helpful to Art of Home listeners who want to embrace this storytelling and sentimental decor in their homes?

SPEAKER_02

Okay. Well, my website, thesentimentaldecorator.com, is basically a blog. I'm calling it my journal because I feel that's a little more elevated than the word blog. Yes. Um, it's where I write a little more detail than I do on social media about the things that um kind of shape the philosophy behind sentimental style and story keeping. And so that's an easy free resource, you know, if you're inspired by this to go and read. I have a weekly newsletter called Sentimental Sundays, email newsletter, and it's a recap of things on the blog, little notes from my sentimental home that I share weekly. And then that's the best way to see what's coming down the pipeline for um anybody interested. I have recently added a resource library, I'm calling it the story keeper shelf, in um to onto my website with some digital resources, a beginner's guide to story keeping. Um, it is a $17 guided journal to get you started on sentimental style and story keeping. And then, of course, the story keeper circle. If you're ready for a community of kindred spirits that just love home and love the stories that your home can tell and want to go deeper in that, that's the best place to do that. We work together each month on a monthly story keeping theme, and we it's really just a sweet community of ladies that um have become like a little family. Hopefully, we'll do some live and in-person retreats in the near future.

Allison

So Yeah. I I want to just put a plug in too for your Sunday newsletter because it's so delightful to receive on Sunday and and there it's worth its weight, and you're giving up your email, y'all. I mean, you just need to do that because there's a lot of really good stuff in there. Um, so everything can be found over at the sentimentaldecorator.com. Okay. And they can connect with you on Instagram at Britney Shepherd.

SPEAKER_02

Brittany Shepherd, yes. That's you know, I I I post there daily. Um but it's it's it's deep and beautiful, but the more meat and it's over on the website. It's website, yeah, newsletter.

Allison

Yeah, you know. Okay, all right, awesome. Well, thank you so much, Brittany. This has been as good as I thought it would be. So I appreciate you taking the time. Yeah, yeah. So everybody go find something to be sentimental about.

SPEAKER_02

Yes, that tells a story, it reminds you of somebody you love.

Allison

Yes, all right. Thanks. Bye.

unknown

Bye.

Allison

Thank you for joining me for this deep dive into sentimental decorating with Brittany Shepherd. I hope you have been encouraged and challenged to see that you are a curator, a story keeper of your home. Let's make the emoji for this episode a picture frame. Drop one in a comment, text, or email, and let me know one item you have seen today in a different light. Something you have been saving for someday, that you now plan to bring into daily life and make a part of your home's story. I want to thank Brittany again for sharing her wisdom and her passion for sentimental decor with us. I know she would love it if you would reach out to her on Instagram or on her website. Share that item with her that you're going to share with me too, and tell her how you were impacted by today's episode. I will put her contact information in the show notes. If you have found value in today's episode, please take a minute to share with another homemaker, leave a rating and a review on your listening app. And if you would like to support the Art of Home financially, you can give a one-time tip or become a monthly supporter over at buymeacoffee.com slash the art of home. That's all for this episode. I will be back on Monday with a new Monday motivation and next Wednesday with a very special homemaker portrait crossover episode in which Hannah Stewart of Sugar and Spice Mom Life Podcast is interviewing me as the subject of a homemaker portrait. Until then, keep practicing your art of making a home.