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Coffee Talk 11.11.18

Greetings on this frosty morning! It’s 27 degrees. Whaaaaat!?! I am DREADING my run this morning, but it must be done. I’ve missed the last few days for various reasons, and I’m starting to get twitchy.

I’ll have to keep this brief, as I’m running late. I’ve been sleeping in later since the time change, and it doesn’t leave me enough time to do all I want to do.

There hasn’t been much going on with the home decorating lately. I’m basically waiting on a large order of things that will pretty much finish up my office, the foyer, and the family room. Then I hope to have Alison over to shoot each room, and I’m planning to post room reveals over the next few weeks, although it may not be until January, as December is usually packed with holiday content.

I’m also trying to think ahead to how we will decorate the new house for Christmas. My girls are ALL about the holiday decorating this year. They’ve both already decked out their bedrooms, and they’re dying to help me with the rest of the house. I think their passion for the project has a lot to do with trying to make this house feel like home. They love it here, but often express that it doesn’t quite feel like home yet.

I’m trying to go along with it, and I want to make it a really special Christmas for them. I often get so busy with work that I put holiday decorating on the back burner, so to speak, but this year I’m trying to make time for it.

I already ordered a tall skinny tree for my kitchen — I just hope it’s not too big. I plan to put it behind the table, in the corner by the sliding doors.

I have a larger faux tree that I’ll put in our living room, and then we plan to cut down our family Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving, if the weather cooperates. That one always goes in the family room. We’ll have to rearrange the furniture in there for the holiday season, but I think it will fit. It’s weird, every room in this house is larger than the last, but there doesn’t seem to be a good spot for the Christmas trees in either room.

I guess everyone has to shift things around when they decorate for the holidays. It’s not like we all leave a big empty spot in the room for the one month of the year we need to place a Christmas tree.

I’m also getting wood floors put in that room the week after Thanksgiving, and I cannot WAIT for that. I just picked out an area rug, and I’m hoping we can get it ordered in time to put it in when the wood floors go in.

The girls have pilfered the basement for decorations for their rooms, so I may need to buy a few new things this year to fill out the rest of the house, but that should be fun. I just have to find the time!

In other house-related news, we finally hung the 5-year-old portraits of our kids in the living room. I have two sets of professional portraits — one set from when the kids were about 18 months old, and another from when they were five. The 18-month-old set is in the hallway by the front coat closet, and we hung those a while back, but the 5-year-old set was sitting on the floor of my living room while I decided what to do with them.

I was going to space them out throughout the room — one per wall, but my designer had another idea. She suggested I group them over the piano, and add a family picture we had done last year to fill the empty spot.

I liked that idea, so I sent my family picture away to Framebridge for professional framing, and I just got it back this week. Yesterday I had Paul hang them for me, and this is how it turned out.

I’m really pleased!!! I wish we didn’t have that air vent to contend with, but we made it work.

I still don’t love the framing on the family portrait. With the glass over it, it definitely doesn’t look as nice as the other three, but I don’t know that it’s worth getting a new one made that’s more in the style of the others. What do y’all think?

Maybe I’ll just wait until the next time we get a family picture taken, and have one of those done up on art board to match the rest.

Anyway, for now, I’m happy just to get them all off the floor!

And now we have officially hung everything we brought over from the last house that I plan to keep, and it’s starting to feel more like home to me. I love walking around and seeing familiar pieces on the walls.

So that’s the latest! I need to get my buns in gear here, and get out for a run before it’s time to get ready for church. I hope you all enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

Join The Conversation

37 Responses

  1. Hi Jo Lynne.  I’ve been following you for a few years and love your blog. I’ve never commented but since I’ll be 40 in a few days I think I finally qualify as your target reader ;).   Anyways I love fashion but home design is my passion.  I’ve noticed before in some of your other room reveals and since you mentioned it in today’s post I thought I’d offer a tip.  We paint all of our vents on our walls the same color of the walls.  They blend much better and it’s not much work for what it does visually to the wall.  We lay them out on old newspapers use the same paint we did on the wall and take a brush and paint them. It really does make a difference for those unsightly but necessary vents.      

    1. Hey Mindy, thank you! We were debating that, actually. The painters asked us if we wanted them trim or wall color, and we went with trim, but now I wish we had done the wall color. This is definitely a weekend project we can take on to make them look more finished. 🙂

  2. Hi Sweetie,
    I actually like the family portrait framing, it’s just needs some kind a matting. Find one with some metallic or a bright color and put in there. You can do it!

  3. What a perfect spot for your piano and the portraits are wonderful on that wall. Do you play?? We still have a beautiful piano that no one plays anymore, but I just can’t give it away! Enjoy this frosty day….it’s a good day for my knee high boots and blanket scarf!

  4. Good morning, Jo-Lynne, may I suggest “museum glass” for your family portrait? It has a non-glare quality to it an will protect your sweet photo from light and fading. I use it on my special photos. It’s a bit pricier than regular glass, but always worth it. I love your display!!!

  5. Sounds like things are really coming together in your new home. I lived in ours for years before I got the feel of where I wanted certain things hung ( trying not to create nail holes that would have to be filled in later lol).. I just bought something for over our bed in the spring( 10 years later) but I’m now eyeing a larger farmhouse style pic with an inscription to put up instead.. lol oh well. In time it all comes together. I have decorated the inside for Christmas and just need the tree done next along with my decorating for out doors. It’s too cold today it’s 34 Celsius but with a -4 windchill. Remembering our veterans today for all they did for our freedom and sacrificed for us. 
    Have a great day

    1. Honouring Remembrance Day (Canada) or Veteran’s Day (USA). Lest we never forget the sacrifices made for our freedoms.

  6. I think the family picture looks just fine with the others. I think grouping them was a good idea. Painting the vent your wall color is an option too. Can’t wait to see your room reveals. It really is turning out great! 

  7. Such darling pictures of your children! This is a suggestion although it would be a bit costly I suppose. I would paint the air vent your wall color so it doesn’t stand out as much. I would take the children’s pictures to a photo shop and have them make smaller prints and framed all alike. Enlarge your family portrait so it’s the largest photo and the focal point. I would frame it different from the children’s but complimentary. As far as arranging, hang the children’s pictures on the top with the your blonde girl’s photo hung in the center and slightly higher then the other two kids. Center your family portrait (much larger) underneath the kids. I think it would balance out that wall and would make a nice grouping. I say make your family portrait much larger as it’s the most recent of who you all are today. And since there are five people in that portrait, enlarging it, the people won’t get lost amongst the three individual portraits. Hope this all makes sense.

      1. Oh Sweetie, I didn’t mean to say it doesn’t look nice the way it is. Because you asked for opinions/suggestions, I took it as you weren’t 100% sold on it.

        1. No worries, Nancy, I understand. 🙂 The kids portraits are staying as-is. We had them framed to work best with each picture, not as a set, because they were done one at a time over a period of years. My mom actually had them framed for me, so I wouldn’t want to mess with them.

          BUT the family picture — that, I’m not 100% sold on. It was sort of thrown in there just because I have it, and while I like the idea of it representing who we are now, I agree that it would be nice if it were larger. I’m also thinking it should be more of a close-up so you can see our faces better. And the dark frame, while it works well with the picture, isn’t great with the other frames. So yeah… knowing me, it will probably stay there for a while, but when we get another set of family pictures done, I’d like to get a close-up of the 5 of us — or maybe just the 3 kids, and have it done on art board, and framed in a lighter brown wood frame to blend better with the rest.

  8. Are you still following TFWTFL?  I’m asking because of all the running:). I love how the pictures look grouped above the piano & I didn’t even notice the vent or the frame on the family one.

    1. No, my session ended, and I never really got the hang of counting macros. And because of my running, I didn’t really do their exercise program as prescribed, so I think I set myself up for failure. I think it’s a great program if you’re willing to go all in, but I didn’t want to stop working with my trainer or stop my running regimen, so I didn’t really give it a fair chance.

      1. Jo-Lynne, have you tried intermittent fasting on your own without doing FWTFL?  I started fasting in March and have lost 37lbs. (Obviously I had a lot more to lose than you!) I see this as a new lifestyle, not a diet plan. I skip breakfast, I eat at lunchtime and dinner and no snacks in between. I don’t count calories, I eat normal portions and don’t feel like there is any food I can’t have in moderation. Life changing for me!  

        1. No, but I want to. I kind of intended to keep up with that part of it, but my problem is, I get so busy mid-day, when you’re supposed to break your fast, and I’m hungry, so I end up eating junk or snacking, without really getting a nutritious meal. And then I’m STARVING by dinner. I know to really benefit, I need to eat regularly during that 8 hour eating window, and eat nutritious stuff. I prefer to have a good breakfast, and then I can grab a snack for lunch, and then eat dinner… but that doesn’t work with intermittent fasting so well. Sorry, too much info. All that to say, i wanted to keep that lifestyle going, but I need better lunch food.

  9. Good morning!  Your morning temp of 27 is a bit chilly.  I hope you had a good run!  I really like the family pictures display over the piano.  I don’t see a need to change the frame around the family picture because it ties in with the darker color that you and one of your daughters is wearing.  And all four frames look different to me, making each one more special.  Is letting your daughters take the lead on decorating your home for Christmas out of the question?  You could take on more of a supervisory role, which would benefit the three of you.  Have a blessed day!

    1. I definitely will let them help. They’re actually better at decorating than I am, ha! I want to do something pretty on the railing in the foyer, but I don’t want to mess up the newly painted spindles. Any ideas?? I love live greenery, but I don’t know that I want it in the house.

      1. To keep from scratching the paint on your stair railing, you could get a real wide wired ribbon to wrap around it and have a huge bow made to put at the bottom of the stairs.  Most of the things that come to mind could easily scratch the paint.  Good luck!

  10. Hey Jo-Lynne! I have pics of my 3 kids like this as well. Never thought about grouping them like that but I think it looks great. One thought- we have vent like that in one of our rooms that I had just left white as well. Someone suggested I paint it the wall color and it made a huge difference. Blends in so much more. Have a great sunday! K

  11. Your  house is coming along nicely. I would consider getting a different frame. That one seems out of place with those gold one. Going to Michael’s  and get a frame take that picture and put the empty frame up in that spot. They yoy can always return the frame or find a picture for it. Just an idea 

    1. I can’t return this. I sent it off to Framebridge, it’s done like a professional job with paper on the back. It cost more than I want to admit. I know it doesn’t look like it. Ugh. But I asked, and you’re right, the frame is out of place. I should probably put it somewhere else, and find a different picture to hang here.

  12. Love seeing updates on your home decorating! We’ve moved several times and it can be overwhelming to find a new place for everything. I really like your pictures above the piano and wonder if you’ve considered a canvas for your family photo? The colors in that picture would tie the golds, Browns and black from the other pictures together and because it’s frameless, set apart. You can usually get a canvas for less than a frame. 

  13. Amazed you went for run today. I usually skip Sunday.since church is at 9. Love pics over piano. I didn’t even notice vent til u pointed it out.

  14. I love your portrait wall! One thing you could do is simply remove the glass from your family portrait. If it’s just a print that isn’t mounted at all, it’s a pretty easy diy- just go somewhere like Hobby Lobby and get a piece of board and some adhesive spray (or they could probably do it for you for a small fee). I grew up in the photography business and watched my dad mount prints all the time, and as an adult I managed a portrait studio where we never framed prints behind glass unless the client specifically requested it (about 1-2% of the time). 

    1. It was professionally framed, so I’d have to take off the backing paper and all. It’s a shame to do that. I wish they hadn’t done the glass – or given an option for the non-glare, or something. I’m disappointed with it, but at this point, I’ll probably just wait until we get another picture done.

  15. Love the adorable family pics, just lovely! Also, appreciate you sharing your transition into your new home. We moved into a new home two years ago and find your design process and tips helpful.

  16. Let’s remember all the veterans and veterans’ families. We honor you, salute you and thank you. We will never forget! 

  17. Since you just had the family photo framed, move it to another spot where it fits in better.  Fill in above the piano with something that says “family.”  You could use a wooden plaque if you find one that isn’t too ”cheesy” but I would use wooden letters to spell out family, either something from Etsy or buy letters you like and paint them to work in your room.  You can change it later if you like with a new photo.  As for the register, my rule of thumb is if it is functional, paint it to blend in (wall color), if it is decorative, paint it to stand out (trim).

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