Work on the deck is still underway (we should have an update for you on Monday unless an inspection throws a wrench in things), and since many of you asked, I wanted to share a belated Father’s Day recap — especially because the day included a few home-related moments and gifts.
The day began like many Father’s Days do: a favorite brunch spot (deLux) and some excellent french toast in their open-air back room. We even had an accidental early arrival and took an impromptu walk while waiting for the place to open.
Plans shifted when we learned the night before that a New York Times photographer would be coming by at noon to shoot our kitchen. We’d already done an interview a couple of weeks earlier about using online floor-planning software for home renovations, but the last-minute request to photograph the house left us scrambling to tidy up. The photographer showed up with some impressively large cameras and was very efficient.
The article ran last Thursday while we were at the Haven conference. Truthfully, we felt the final piece didn’t reflect the angle we expected — a portion of our conversation about kitchen designers was condensed into a quote that made it sound as if we were dismissive of architects. That’s not the case; we know architects and designers do a lot more than trends like onyx. Still, the photo of us turned out fine — no closed eyes or spinach in the teeth — so that was a relief.
Because of the photoshoot timeline, most of our afternoon was spent on the house and blog work rather than on planned Father’s Day activities. Despite the busy day, Sherry, Clara, and Burger surprised me with thoughtful gifts. One of them was a new kitchen towel that features a little bike — apparently I get excited about dishtowels, and this one is a winner.
Knowing I enjoy quirky art, Sherry also picked out a “Twenty Northern Friends” print that nods to our Alaskan honeymoon and includes interesting trivia about northern animals. For example, a Snowy Owl can eat nearly 2,000 lemmings in a year — a fact that feels both impressive and slightly horrifying.
We’re planning to hang the print in the living room once we find a suitable frame (Target has the right size, so framing shouldn’t be a problem). We think its colors will play nicely with the dark gray beams in that space.
Speaking of finishing things, we realized we’ve often shared photos of unframed prints and promised to show the finished result later — and then forgot. So here’s a roundup of a few of those completed frames for anyone who’s been curious.
Welcome to our frame hallway.
The map of Maui from our recent Hawaiian trip found a home in that hallway. Luckily it fit a standard frame we found at Target, and the mat opening matched the map perfectly.
We moved the old Richmond map onto our kitchen shelves, so that opened up space for the Maui map. Frames and pillows certainly make the rounds in our house.
Another piece we picked up on a trip out west — a wooden letterpress print from Portland — also ended up in the hallway, positioned on a different wall.
So that’s where these pieces ended up. We shuffled things around while shooting the book earlier this year, so some spots had been empty for a while and others got nudged into new positions. For example, one frame that had previously been in this area moved into the kitchen after we added shelves.
Who knew a Father’s Day recap would turn into an art update? I’m grateful to have spent the day with my two favorite girls and our little chihuahua, plus the unexpected but very nice photographer. How was your Father’s Day? Did you hang any new art or wrap up small projects you’ve been meaning to share? Those little updates sure can be easy to forget.