This Mom of Two Moved Into Her Grandparents’ Comfy Home (and Painted the Kitchen Blue)
Hannah Haehn, the co-founder of home goods store The Post Supply, lives with her two children in her late grandparents’ home in Los Angeles. “My father recently did some renovations, but before that, it had bumpy tweed wallpaper and brown carpet,” she laughs. “It was beautiful — but definitely a vibe of that time!” Here’s a look inside…
LIVING ROOM
Sofa: Ikea. Coffee table: Wayfair. Candle: The Post Supply. Rattan armchair: Ikea. Rug: vintage. Kids’ piano: family hand-me-down. Print: from “Living on The Earth” by Alicia Bay Laurel.
On relaxing: The key to a cozy home, I feel, is not to have anything too precious. I got a sofa with covers that can be thrown in the wash because I want everyone to bundle under blankets and eat snacks, without stressing about spills or crumbs. The more items get used and worn, the more inviting and homey they feel.
On a trick for glowy lighting: I believe in the three tiers of light rule. First, you have one tier of light at a higher level, like a tall floor lamp. Then you have a light that’s face-level, like a sconce. Finally, the third light is below you, like a table lamp or candle. There’s something about those three tiers that make the room feel enveloping and warm.
On a new kind of downtime: This year, I decided to quit all my TV subscriptions because flipping between shows didn’t make me feel good. Now if I want to watch something, I need to pay to rent the series or movie, which makes me watch only things I really like.
Bookshelves: Ikea.
On hobbies: I’ve played the guitar since I was 16, and I like playing at home for my kids. Lately I’ve been into old Carter Family songs and Johnny Cash. I like anything in the sad old country music scene. If it makes you cry, I’m into it!
KITCHEN
On remembering loved ones: I feel the presence of my grandparents the most in our kitchen. Growing up, I would sit at their table and eat seeded German bread and very intense cheese, while watching my grandmother cook Dampfnudel (steamed buns) or Kartoffelsuppe (potato soup). Every time I wash dishes, standing right where she stood, I feel her with me.
Paint: Admiral Blue from Behr. Mug: Ginny Sims.
On blue cabinets: My dad painted these cabinets bright French blue. It adds to the mix of aesthetics in this home — there are a lot! My grandparents’ keepsakes have an old world European feel, and my own furniture is more modern. But that’s okay — life is a generational collection of moments in time.
On go-to recipes: I’ve been cooking from Health Nut by Jess Damuck, and she makes a really nice tahini banana bread. I also make lots of soup. One year, my son gave me a can of soup for my birthday because he said it was my favorite thing.
DINING ROOM
Dining table: thrifted. Dining chairs: Wayfair. Credenza: vintage Henry Link. Pendant lamp: Ravenhill Studio.
On learning German: My grandfather was born in Luxembourg, and my dad’s first language was German. I always wanted to speak to my grandparents in their own language, so I took German classes in college, and thankfully, I was able to have a conversation in German with them before they passed.
On an open door: We can squeeze 10 people around our dining table and often invite friends over for veggie pasta. Most times, my friends will let themselves in before we get home, so by the time we show up, families are already playing and eating popsicles outside. And it feels so good. My grandparents always hosted, so it feels like they are blessing the relationships forming in this house.
On keepsakes: This is my grandma’s hutch, and it holds all of my great-grandma’s china. It means so much to me.
BEDROOM
Bed: vintage. Bedding: Matteo. Lamps: passed down from Hannah’s mother.
On strong women: I love this print above my bed from Danny Lyon — it features pictures of his wife with their baby, and it’s called ‘Super Woman’ because there’s a Super Woman poster in it, but also because she is a mother. I love this house, and I tap into the energy of strong female figures whenever I walk in.
Thank you so much, Hannah!
P.S. More home tours, including a single mom in an apartment with a swing and a very colorful Connecticut house.
(Photos by Leela Cyd for Cup of Jo.)
Tags: house tours
Comments
104 commentsI love how homes with family history carry so much character. It’s so nice that Hannah can live in her grandparents’ house and give it a fresh update while keeping the memories alive. Those details like the bumpy tweed wallpaper and brown carpet really show the home’s past—I’ve seen similar vintage makeovers done with Evolve Contractors, and it’s always amazing to watch a space transform while still holding onto its story.
Would love to know the year built of the home? Sorry if I missed that in the article. I live in my maternal great-grandparents’ home- they purchased it after they married in 1926 (the home was built the same year) so I definitely understand the familial connections she enjoys. There’s nothing like it- having so many family memories tied to a single home. I was looking at some picture of my mom and her siblings a few days ago taken in my home back in the 1950’s; it’s so cool to say that’s my fireplace! That’s the window in my kitchen! That’s my backyard!
1964! Xo
I love the part about learning German to have a conversation with the grandparents so much. I write about language and do research in linguistics and this moved me very much. Curious if the German will continue, I would love to hear.
Would love to know where all the cozy, colourful throw pillows come from. Thank you!
I went to graduate school with Hannah, and she is just as lovely, if not more so, in person as she seems here. Loved seeing her smiling face on COJ!
This is beautiful and wild. I too live in my grandmother’s old home. Her and my grandfather built it and I grew up coming over for big weekly family dinners and holidays. I live here with my husband and daughter and it’s definitely an eclectic mix of our own funky style and their very classic, more traditional style, and it really works somehow. I so get this! Cheers to being in the presence of and adding to a special generational energy. It’s all love baby! Thanks for bringing a happy tear to my eye today, it’s much appreciated.
I would give anything to have my grandparents’ house back. My grandfather and three of his brothers built it in 1936 and they lived there until 1965. Then it stayed in the family until my cousin died ten or twelve years ago and her husband inherited. It’s a classic double- barreled shotgun that has been impeccably maintained and updated by the family. I drive past it every couple of months to torment myself with what could have been.
Just want to say, how thankful I am for this website. I have been an avid reader for maybe 10 years?? and it feels so cozy to come “home” to it time and time again. I love reading articles like this. Please stay in my life forever :) k bye x
oh my gosh, this means so much to us, Karissa! Thank you so much, you made our day. xo
I’m curious about which IKEA sofa that is and is it comfy and durable?
This house reminds me of my grandmother’s home, and now I’m day dreaming of what it would be like to live there and feel her with me. How dreamy.
Love the blue kitchen and the hutch, and WOW to having a home that was your grandparents’.
A lovely generational home, that feels so warm! Also, does anyone else see a prominent chin face in the rock wall? :)
Haha yea I’ve just seen!
Ha ha yes! But first I saw a cute little two legged stool on the bottom right
I love everything about this home- its aesthetic and its story. Such a truly beautiful home filled with love, meaning and inspiration. A pleasure to read. Thank you for sharing. (Ps: I love the blue in the kitchen!)
Health Nut is such a great cookbook!
One of the loveliest home tours I’ve seen on CoJ. My dream home would look like this. The kitchen made me teary.
I love your esthetic Hannah! What a special home.
That dining room ceiling omggggg
Ah, I absolutely love this! We are selling my grandparents’ home at the moment after my grandfather died in August. It’s such a heartbreak – I adored being with them at their beautiful home. My husband and I seriously crunched the numbers on buying it but we’d have needed to relocate to a city that neither of us especially want to live in and it needs major weathertightness renovations to be habitable. I took a 52 minute video of every minor detail in the house and garden when I visited for the last time in April, which I so highly recommend doing if you’re ever lucky enough to know you’ll be visiting a beloved house for the final time.
It hurts to drive past my grandparents home after the family has to sell it. My childhood memories of being there with them are absolutely magical. I too captured a bunch of small details the last time I walked through it. May the time we had being in those homes be evergreen in our memories….
what are those circular wooden knobs tho???😍
Oh my god the idea of coming home to people already in my house – even people I love – is my nightmare haha. I’ve always envied people who were so carefree and open with their space, but as a Cancer and (crucially) an only child, my home is my sanctuary and visits must be thoroughly planned.
Kat, I’m so with you on this!
My moon is in Cancer, and when I recently had an audio-only intuitive reading the reader said “You have really big energy. It feels like it encompasses the entirety of your house and yard.” She was right – this whole place is a physical and energetic extension of me. So someone coming into my home is entering my auric field, and it takes a freaking toll to unexpectedly host someone in there! Working on building some definition between my field and my home’s protective layers, but someone’s presence in my home is never going to be a nonchalant thing.
So moved by all the thought and comfort Hannah has put into this home. AND I love that she kept so many of the “dated” details that often get renovated out. The blue cabinets and the hutch were such lovely elements of generational care of this home <3
I agree! I love the fireplace and the old kitchen countertops and tiles.
This house has great bones, I love Grandma’s HUTCH and the lovely serene bedroom. Give me an antique home with love and character and memories every time.
The layers of meaning in this home are truly moving. If there was anything that makes a house a home, it’s this.
Hannah – if you read this – I love Post Supply! I buy Ty Williams pieces. :)
Same sentiment – I live in Portland and love Post Supply! I go every few months to stock up on Danica candles (the very best) and love browsing around.
This house is not my style, I would HAVE to update everything, THEN add back the cherished pieces, but I love that she loves it. That makes me happy. Also, desperately wanted to see the backyard! Especially in LA that seems like another part of the house!
Ahh, another country girl! The Carter Family and Doc Watson have been on particularly heavy rotation with me lately – it must be a special feeling to actually perform the songs yourself. Your home is beautiful, as is your method of honoring your grandparents’ memory.
Oh Hannah, I adore how your home has a patina of love from your grandparents! The bright blue in your kitchen is such an excellent way to integrate your story with theirs. I’m also extremely into jarred produce as a bookend?! Getting on that!
Loved this home and just wish there were a few more photos of different parts of the home! It felt like there were several of the same spot. I know this is really nitpicky since y’all do a great job!
I sometimes find homes so beautiful and deep that I have a little warm cry because life and actually living it can be so damn beautiful. I just came from a friend’s house where the energy is like Hannah’s house. It is truly precious to feel at home somewhere and let your people and heart just be.
I love this house!! It feels like people really live there and reminds me of my own grandparents’ homes. Sitting at the kitchen table eating Campbells soup, playing with the rotary phone, that wood panelling that was everywhere, hutches and tchotchkes. I love the spirit of living alongside the memories of your grandparents.
“My grandfather was born in Luxembourg…”. Wow — I was born in Luxembourg too!
I live there now and was thinking how I never see sentences like that outside of Luxembourg 😂
Moien Becky! From another Luxembourger!!
What a beautiful house. I wonder if Hannah knows what white paint was used in the living room? I’m looking for a warm white and that one is so cozy and inviting.
I will ask her! x
Rebecca, you might try benjamin moore white dove. It is a classic and seems to work in lots of different styles of homes.
I just painted my entire house (we just complete a whole house renovation) in Sherwin Williams Shoji White. I wanted the same! A warm white that felt cozy and inviting! Haha! Paired it with pure white trim, Thunder Gray (like a murky dark green) doors, warm oak floors. I just adore it. Happy to share a pic if it helps.
Thanks Annie and Jen! I will check those out.
We used ballet white for our living spaces and love it
Love love love everything about this. The aesthetic of the house is definitely my vibe which I appreciate. Thank you, Hannah for opening up your house!!
What a beautiful home. It’s my dream to buy back my grandparents home in Northern MN. Her kitchen is what I feel homesick for and miss so much about them.
I like the brightness, and the warm coziness. Someone with a soul lives here! I like to look online at what’s for sale in my area, and it’s become a lot of huge homes that look like office buildings…new, “flat,” and grey all over the interior. I guess a builder just comes in and picks a piece of granite for the countertops, puts in grey floors, grey painted walls, often grey cabinets. It all looks dead to me. This house has a vibrancy and a feeling of comfort.
“If it makes you cry, I’m into it!” I feel this in my BONES. Thanks for sharing your warm, beautiful home, and ancestors, Hannah!
This is definitely a home and not just a house! Love to see how real people actually live!
Just popping in to say, I LOVE the new color for commenter names… :)
Agree very much with everyone else who loves this home. So many loving and lovely and sentimental and meaningful touches. It feels warm and loved in the very best ways. One small request – when there’s a photo, where the caption mentions a specific item, like the photos of the woman and baby why Super Woman, I would love so much to see a close up photo of that item (be it a candle holder, a painting, a serving bowl) . I zoomed in and still couldn’t find the Super Woman mentioned. Just a request for future stories, personally I love these little details and really want to see them up close. I’d love this for outfits stories too. Thank you!! And thanks to everyone who shares their lives with us.
Thanks for this note! I totally hear that and we will keep this in mind for future posts! We usually receive our photos before we interview our subjects, so sometimes when they talk about a specific piece or item that they love, we don’t always have a closeup photo of it because we didn’t know about it before the shoot. Of course if we are doing an interview in person, at the subject’s home when it is being photographed, we try to get closeup shots of any items with a special story or meaning behind that, but we don’t do in-person interviews very often since our subjects live all over the country. Hope that makes sense :)
i’m so curious about the super woman print too! i zoomed in and tried a google image search but the only result was from a photo from “sophia loren a life in pictures”
Such a good request, Sasha, and such an interesting behind the scenes insight, Janelle! Thank you both
Thanks for your reply Janelle, that all makes sense. It would be cool to do a behind the scenes/ process of how the blog posts go together! All of this is so fascinating to me.
Shout out to the glass jar of Costco peaches serving as a gorgeous design feature on the counter! I got some a few months ago, mostly because of how they looked haha, and they were delicious.
Such a warm and cozy home, how lovely! And also, I’m almost shocked now: Wait, can you buy the movies from Amazon Prime without having a subscription? Really? I thought I needed that damn subscription to even get access to anything, be it with or without extra cost – this is the only reason why I still have it although I hate to spend 10 Euros a month to Jeff Bezos’ company! Could I get the series and movies by paying for them individually and save those 10 Euros??? Does someone know?
You can just rent movies on Amazon with no Prime account. They are usually under $5, I’ve never had a Prime subscription (other than an occasional free 30-day trial), but have definitely rented movies, and even purchased a few favorites that are stored in my account.
Yes, you can definitely buy individual movies from Amazon with just a basic free Amazon account.
Want an alternative to online Prime tv and movie rentals, https://athome.fandango.com/
https://play.google.com/store/movies?hl=en_US Is avail internationally.
Yup, renting a single movie from Amazon is usually about $4. If you watch a lot of movies it might be better to subscribe, but if you’re like me (I watch less than one movie a month), then the individual rentals are definitely cheaper. YouTube also has quite a lot of free movies. The selection is more limited and you have to watch commercials, so there is a trade-off, but sometimes I find something there that I want to watch.
Thank you to all your helpful and kind replies! My mind is blown. I’ve wasted so much money over the years, and to a company I have no wish to support! But what a great thing I can actually turn my back on it without missing out! And can you also watch their series?
I love the little red piano used as a side table.
What a beautiful home. The best houses to me are just like this – a combination of new and old and full of meaning. Thank you for sharing, Hannah.
That hutch is so beautiful!
Yes! My daughter and I were just talking about how we would kill for that hutch. Not really….maybe not….
LOVE this house. Great blend of eras.
Re: cancelled subscriptions and watching with intention, I got so annoyed recently that even though we PAY for a service, we still get ads, and so I cancelled the whole service and got my TV show (on DVDs!) from the library instead. It is such an enjoyable experience to a) visit the library and b) unearth our ancient DVD player to watch through our favorite shows without the omnipresent pressure of consumerism. It takes a little planning if you have something specific you want to watch, but it’s also so much fun to just peruse the shelves and happen upon movies and shows that just strike your fancy! My husband and I now have a running list of movies to look for on our weekend library trips :)
Hooray for libraries!
this is an incredible idea!!!!!!!
Support your libraries, and let everyone know that you do! These budget cuts are a gut punch to libraries, and museums.
YESSSS! We’ve never had a TV or subscription services :D We watch DVDs (that we’ve purchased or borrowed from the library) on our portable DVD player. And, occasionally, we rent movies from YouTube to watch on a laptop.
I did “only-DVDs” with my kids for Lent, because I didn’t think they could handle going screen-free entirely, and it really was a somewhat gentle but definitely noticeable transition to less reliance on screens in general. That extra effort to find and put in a DVD, and switch to a new episode if you want to keep watching, can be enough to break the spell. I think we’ll do it for summer too!
Yay for libraries! Mine even had a copy of Health Nut I just put on hold 🤗
Also, check to see if your library subscribes to Hoopla or Kanopy – both have shows and movies (and books and magazines) available if they participate!
hands down top 3 CoJ house tours of all time for me (and that’s about 15 years running). home has always been where the heart is. this embodies so many hearts still beating generation, upon generation. thanks for having me over! ;-)
this makes us so happy!
I love that Hannah hasn’t simply discarded things because they weren’t in style or matched anymore. This is mindset is both meaningful and responsible!
AGREE!
I just love seeing a home that doesn’t have “DESIGN” as the defining feature — an evolution of someone’s own style, mixed with heirlooms, enhanced by the everyday life of necessary objects…that feels so much more “stylish” to me than a room created to be featured in AD. Side note: I swooned over that hutch! May you create many more happy memories in your awesome house.
100% agree. Reusing things and layering things from different phases of your life IS a beautiful aesthetic! I think someone from a previous house tour said “my style is ‘things I like’” — I always loved that mentality. This is a gorgeous home.
This is breathtakingly beautiful.
Love this home and this sentiment in particular: “My grandparents’ keepsakes have an old world European feel, and my own furniture is more modern. But that’s okay — life is a generational collection of moments in time.” (Is the rug in the living room possible to link? It’s terrific)
My favorite part <3
Keepsakes have a very special place in my heart. The very definition of home.
I love this house! And also “life is a generational collection of moments in time” … historian approved!
I love her home style, just gorgeous! Is it possible to find out if her couch is the Gunnared beige or the Tallmyra beige? I love the look with the earthy-colored pillows. Thank you!
This home isn’t just beautiful, it’s meaningful. It’s a story. I love, love, love it so much and wish Hannah and her family many happy chapters.
Dampfnudeln! My grandmother’s specialty as well :) love the house tour, such a perfect mix of old and new and so cozy. I love the scene of your friends arriving at your home before you. Future goals. Liebe Grüße from Germany!
What a lovely home, and even more lovely… the connection to her grandparents, and her grandmother especially. When Hannah wrote “Every time I wash dishes, standing right where she stood, I feel her with me”, that brought tears to my eyes. I feel the same way when sitting at my grandmother’s secretary desk. That connection to family is everything!
Yes, same! Such a beautiful sentiment.
Oh my goodness! My grandparents house had that exact same rock wall fireplace. It was perfect for hanging stockings on. What a beautiful space filled with beautiful memories.
Mind did, too! x
I live in a 1970s house and we have a big rock wall like that also!! It’s *very* après ski chic and we’re Coloradans, so we really lean into that in the winter and with Christmas decorations. We love it – will never change it!
My grandparents’ house ALSO has a rock wall fireplace!! <3 So cozy.
I have and really enjoy Jess Damuck’s Health Nut cookbook too. I just made the tahini banana bread for the first time three days ago! It’s a delicious spin on a classic.
This was truly delightful in every imaginable way!
This home is a DREAM! I love everything about it. Side note: my daughter is finishing up a semester abroad in Luxembourg! She has completely fallen in love with it.
My daughter, when describing Luxembourg, says – it’s Genovia!