Things I Learned from My Mother from Arcadian Revival

This episode is all about creating home.

In this episode, my mom and I sit down to explore what it truly means to create home. We reflect on how design has been passed through generations in our family, not just as an aesthetic, but as a language of care, creativity, and continuity. 

From incorporating heirlooms that carry stories to embracing the rhythms of seasonal living, we talk about how the spaces we shape reflect the lives we lead.

We also share design and styling tips for anyone starting from scratch, and how even the simplest decisions can turn a house into a home using what you have. 

One of the most thoughtful sentiments is from my mom talking about accepting change, and how the seasons allow us to embrace the mindset of an ever-evolving world. 

At its heart, this conversation is about designing with intention: making spaces that feel warm, lived-in, and welcoming. Home, after all, is less about perfection and more about meaning.

Hi, I’m Bethany Bowyer Khan and this is Things I Learned from My Mother from Arcadian Revival, a podcast about creating home, community, and a deeper connection to nature and to one another. 

What does home feel like to you? Is there a scent, sound, or season that instantly transports you to a familiar place? Does it pull at a longing feeling for something warm, or inviting? 

For me home is a feeling…of love and acceptance, of empathy and understanding. It is a place of comfort and ease where we can feel inspired, can grow, and can be the best versions of ourselves. It is a place where lessons from the past help instill values for today. I connect to home through my own experiences of the smell of breakfast thoughtfully being made before I wake or the smell of the fresh summer air breezing through the windows of our century home filled with heirlooms and books where I grew up, I feel home through gardening, with my hands feeling the coolness of the earth between my fingers, of a hug, a shared glass of iced to after an afternoon of yard work, or the warmth of a familiar quilt wrapped around me while listening to a thunderstorm from the comfort of a porch swing on a summer evening. It’s the voices  calling my name, laughter, dancing around our kitchen, reading stories at bedtime, and a million other things. 

At its core it’s about creating a place that is welcoming, while keeping in mind that it is a microcosm of the greater global community in which we live in and a just a piece of the larger natural world in which we call home. 

Here we’ll explore answers to this question through generational wisdom, shared perspectives, and from Mother Nature herself. 

Whether you’re here for something you learned from your mother (or father) or you’re a parent yourself or you’re just looking for that warm feeling from a guiding voice we hope you’ll find it here. 

This episode of Things I Learned from My Mother is rooted in the garden, but really, it’s about so much more.

We sat down at the kitchen table to talk about how gardening has been a place of solace, restoration, and quiet discovery across generations. It’s where we’ve processed grief, reconnected with joy, and found our footing in seasons of change and growth.

The episode, called 'Living Heirlooms | Lessons Learned from the Garden', opens with my mom and me reflecting on what we’ve learned while kneeling in the dirt together—and how planting became a way to keep going, a way of building home, and a quiet act of hope.

These conversations, filmed around our kitchen table where we’ve sown seeds, arranged wreaths, made tea, told stories, played games, and shared meals, are where something shifts. The table holds more than just our hands—it holds memory, lineage, and the kind of truths that only come out when there’s a bloom in a vase and a kettle on the stove.

If you’ve ever turned to your garden when you didn’t have the words, or if you grew up learning from someone who did, this episode is for you.

Things I Learned from My Mother from Arcadian Revival

Episode 1 |  Fixing Up Old Buildings

Hosted by Bethany Bowyer Khan, Founder, Arcadian Revival

Featuring Dee Bowyer

A welcome

In our very first episode of Things I Learned from My Mother, we begin with how we hope this podcast makes you feel. 

Hi, I’m Bethany Bowyer Khan and this is Things I Learned from My Mother from Arcadian Revival, a podcast about creating home, community, and a deeper connection to nature and to one another. 

What does home feel like to you? Is there a scent, sound, or season that instantly transports you to a familiar place? Does it pull at a longing feeling for something warm, or inviting? 

For me home is a feeling…of love and acceptance, of empathy and understanding. It is a place of comfort and ease where we can feel inspired, can grow, and can be the best versions of ourselves. It is a place where lessons from the past help instill values for today. I connect to home through my own experiences of the smell of breakfast thoughtfully being made before I wake or the smell of the fresh summer air breezing through the windows of our century home filled with heirlooms and books where I grew up, I feel home through gardening, with my hands feeling the coolness of the earth between my fingers, of a hug, a shared glass of iced to after an afternoon of yard work, or the warmth of a familiar quilt wrapped around me while listening to a thunderstorm from the comfort of a porch swing on a summer evening. It’s the voices calling my name, laughter, dancing around our kitchen, reading stories at bedtime, and a million other things. 

At its core it’s about creating a place that is welcoming, while keeping in mind that it is a microcosm of the greater global community in which we live in and a just a piece of the larger natural world in which we call home. 

Here we’ll explore answers to this question through generational wisdom, shared perspectives, and from Mother Nature herself. 

Whether you’re here for something you learned from your mother (or father) or you’re a parent yourself or you’re just looking for that warm feeling from a guiding voice, we hope you’ll find it here. 

Fixing Up Old Buildings

Today I sit down with someone who shaped my creative vision and sense of place more than anyone else: my mother, Dee Bowyer.

Together, we trace the throughlines of our lives that have been built, sometimes quite literally, around the act of fixing up old buildings. From family farmhouses to historic main streets, and from old architectural gems of the south to New York City landmarks, this conversation is rooted in the kind of slow, intentional desire to preserve and make better what lies before us that has shaped both of our lives.

We explore how the act of touching and tending aging structures is about more than just aesthetics or preservation…it’s about respecting what came before, and leaving things a little better than you found them. 

Whether you’re a lover of historic homes, a DIY renovator, a mother-daughter duo with a shared vision, or someone who believes in the quiet revolution of place-making, there is something for you in this episode.

We’ll share stories of growing up in a multigenerational farmhouse and learning renovation lessons by trial and error, peeling back layers of newer construction and family heirlooms, community work that intersects with architecture, place, and dignity, the unspoken values passed from one generation to the next about care, craftsmanship, and resilience, and how we both learned, in our own ways, to trust our instincts.

We hope this episode ignites a passion toward the power in restoration, not just of places, but of relationships, rhythms, and our own sense of purpose.

Keywords for search & SEO:

historic home renovation, women fixing up old homes, mother-daughter renovation team, sustainable home restoration, farmhouse living, old house podcast, DIY restoration, historic preservation, Arcadian Revival podcast, Bethany Bowyer Khan, Dee Bowyer, Things I Learned from My Mother, creative home design, rural revival, fixing up farmhouses, old building restoration, community development and design, generational wisdom, multigenerational home

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Podcast Art Note

The cover image for this episode was inspired by the botanical illustrations of a 19th-century Tennyson book cover found in the attic of our family’s farmhouse inscribed by one of my ancestors, a worn but beautiful piece of our story that felt just right for our beginning.

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Produced by: Arcadian Revival in conjunction with Mary Laniewski @scout.ml

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