Unearthed from a corner of my parents’ attic, meet our new-to-us dining room tapestry!

Last fall, soon after we’d purchased this house, I was doing the thrifty adult thing where you dig through your parents’ old stuff to see if anything can jive with your style/your home. I discovered this wall hanging in the corner that I couldn’t remember from childhood, so I asked my Mom for the back story.

Did you know that back in the ‘70s, American Express used to send gifts to new cardholders—can you even imagine?! As young newlyweds, my Mom and her first husband purchased their first cards and received this tapestry in the mail. Why, you might ask, would American Express send a woven piece of art featuring an Austrian Emperor who lived in the second half of the sixteenth century? Zero clue. But tapestries were trendy and worldly, which I’m sure was the company branding message they were channeling.

And so it hung over a maroon velvet sofa in their first home. My mom was widowed a few years later, but she held onto the tapestry, displaying it until it felt drab and dated. Plus her second husband (my dad) brought to the marriage a plethora of colorful, original art painted by his mother. It has sat in storage, moving from home to home, for the past 30+ years.

As I started designing this room, I knew the tapestry’s color palette would work perfectly — the deep greens and reds would add rich sophistication. And then because I didn’t love any of the tapestry hanging contraptions on the internet (of course I didn’t), I stitched on some red-orange velvet ribbon, cut a dowel rod from Home Depot and stained it deep walnut color, and added brass end caps with wood glue (TBD if this will hold).

Sure, tapestries are cool again, but in this case, it’s personal too—which is the best kind of decor.