On a sunny afternoon over Christmas break, I spent a few hours with my daughter, Kate, using her home as a backdrop for a photo shoot for my maps. She lives in an area near downtown Columbus, called Victorian Village. It is a neighborhood with mammoth, ornate Victorian homes on lovely tree-lined streets with brick sidewalks. Her apartment occupies one half of the downstairs, and the second floor has two more apartments. Everything is old, lovely, and exuding charm and character.
She has a couple brick walls in her kitchen that made a perfect backdrop for my maps, but because I couldn’t put any nails in the brick, I had to be content with leaning them against the wall.
She has high ceilings with tall windows, but because the homes are so close together with large trees, the lighting in her apartment is quite low.
Her kitchen is the brightest room in the apartment, and has been remodeled with new cabinets. It is larger than the kitchen in my house . . . room enough for a good-sized table, lots of plants, and even her bike.
The walls in the kitchen that aren’t brick, are painted a deep clay color, giving warmth to the room.
The living room has lighter walls, but is still a darker room because of an overhanging front porch. It has a non-working fireplace and is a large, spacious room with high ceilings and hardwood floors.
Kate likes to travel and has a life-time goal of visiting all the National Parks . . .
which includes lots of hiking . . .
and collecting patches from the parks.
The bedroom is separated from the living room by beautiful wood pocket doors, and was originally the dining room. The hardwood floors and brick walls coordinate nicely with Kate’s industrial style decor.
The bedroom has a working gas fireplace with another brick wall over the mantel.
She’s a lucky lady to have such a charming apartment with character not found in more contemporary buildings. I always love visiting her home, and talking walks in her neighborhood in nearby Goodale Park.
I love your apartment! It’s gorgeous!
My daughter is a lucky girl. I would have loved to have such a charming place at that age.
Such a great spot for a photoshoot of your maps! I still need to hang the PA map in my son’s room (I’ve had to wait to paint in there until my shoulder can handle it) and last night, I found him sitting on his bed with the map in his lap. He had circled Biglerville (where we lived) and Gettysburg, the closest town where we went to church, his grandparent’s lived, etc. He started crying, leaning down over the map. It was such a beautiful moment, showing that your map was a special reminder of where he spent the first 8 years of his life.
Ahhh, that is so touching, it makes me cry. That is what I want my maps to mean to people. Thank you for sharing that with me Marian.
You asked me once what my passion was with creating the maps, and I couldn’t really answer that at the time. As my business went downhill, I discovered how much I love making them, hoping that the people who buy them will love them for the places and memories they represent.
With my hand broken, I haven’t been able to make or cut any maps, but I’m working on improving the shop images and banners instead. It has been a fun way to proceed forward and still be creative despite my hand’s limitations. I’ve been working with some digital mock ups for backgrounds and reacquainting myself with Photoshop. It is always fun to keep learning and expanding our horizons.
Thank you again for all the inspiration you are to me, and have been over the years. I very much miss the group, and enjoy following all of them on Instagram. Still hoping to return one day.
Your daughter’s apartment provided a great backdrop for your maps. She clearly inherited your decorating skills. While the look is very different from that in your home, she’s got also got a good eye for putting unique materials together. Your photos presented it beautifully too.
I hope your hand is healing well, Cindy!
Thank you Kim, my hand is healing nicely. I’m out of the splint, but still have be careful how I use it. A couple more weeks and I should be as good as new.
Kate has great taste in decorating and we do a lot of our shopping at flea markets. So many unique things can be found there, and it’s our favorite place to shop.
Nice place… looks like she has her mother’s sense of style!
We do a lot of our home decor shopping together at flea markets. We do have different styles, but sometimes they overlap. I love her industrial style, but she’s on the move to change it again. I’m anxious to see what she ends up with this time.