We were working with one of our redesign clients yesterday when we noticed an enchanting vignette unfolding inside of her bookshelf cabinet. You'd never know until you got up close that there was something so meaningful and sacred happening in there...
Our client created a mini Mexican Day of the Dead (Dia de Los Muertos) scene to memorialize her parents, both deceased, and her beloved cat. The vignette includes pictures, as well as little objects adored by her loved ones during their lifetimes. For example, the kitty has a little fish nearby since well, you know, cats love fish. To top off this special bookshelf world there is a Day of the Dead altar within the Day of the Dead shelf - the client set up a miniature table with memorial objects placed on it - which is exactly what loved ones do during the Day of the Dead, in hopes of being visited by the souls of departed loved ones.
We've written before about the importance of memorial objects. Do you have similar scenes or altars devoted to deceased loved ones set up in your home?
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
I'm curious about the pink plastic (legos?) on the third shelf!
view Enamorada's profile
oh i see, that's the alter/table.
view Enamorada's profile
When I was a practicing Buddhist, I had a Gohonzon set up inside a butsudan in my apartment...
...now I just keep a Buddha on my bedroom dresser.
view bepsf's profile
I can happily say that I haven't lost anyone close to me. That being said, my Grandma is 85 and I think that when the time has come, I will memorialize her by cherishing the photographs of her when she was a young free spirit.
view revolution9's profile
..and Yes, I keep a couple framed photos of me with my former boyfriend/travel partner who died of colon cancer a couple years ago in my bedroom too.
view bepsf's profile
I have a shelf with my cat's ashes (RIP Duke) and then pics of him around the house..that's about it.
view animalhouze's profile
I have a black and white photo of my dog on the fridge, but I am considering doing a Warhol-esque multi-colored print and framing it. Because he's beautiful.
view jennyat's profile
There's a little shelf in my kitchen right in front of the sink about 4 or 5 inches deep that's where I keep my cat's ashes, next to some unrelated knick-knacks and some coffee mugs.
view K T G's profile
Nope. Nothing like that, apart from having my parent's wedding photo fromed in my room. (We used mine and his parents pictures at our wedding as part of the guest book display... it's from then.)
I do have a pantheon of all kinds of dietie sculptures from many cultures, though -- but it is not reverent.
view SherryBinNH's profile
Jennyyat..you can take a black and white photo to Kinkos and copy it in color on bright paper for a lot less than the ads you see for 100-200 dollars. I did this with a friend for artwork in her son's(grown son) bedroom makeover that we did. The result is amazingly like a Warhol screen print. We used a b/w cd cover of a favorite artist of Michael.
view hippyvieja's profile