Living With What You Love

The talented photographer, designer and author Monica Rich Kosann recently shared her newly published book with me. As with any house design book, I was ever so delighted to sit down for a thorough read.

Living With What You Love is beautiful and completely captures all that make a house a home. Whether it is a special collection of seashells, fine art or a menagerie of family photos, Monica expresses how these endearing items offer our homes warmth, character and most of all, soul.

The book's celebration of photographs especially inspired me. I was moved to dust off those antique photo frames I've been collecting through the years, and finally fill them with the people and family I love.

I needed a large space so I decided to display them on our bedroom dresser. Joan of Arc is surrounded by the generations of family that have known her (my Great Great Grandmother originally purchased her).

Older generations are mixed in with the new. Pictures of Hubby, as both a little boy and a man, stand next to a picture of my Grandmother on the patio of her California hills home.

The photographs span four generations...my brother and I, my parents, my Grandmother and Great Grandmother.

I've picked up these frames as bargains over the past several years, ranging from $5 to $40. The sweet old pearl frame is one I came across for $5.

This is one of my favorite photos of my mom holding me as a baby.

I love this sweet little miniature Rococo frame holding a picture of my Grandmother as a child.

Here are my brother and I as children in Sequoia National Park, California.

In order to fit the photographs in non-standard size frames, I scanned them onto my computer and then re-sized them to fit each frame.

I want to thank Monica for sharing her beautiful book with me. My framing project would not have come about if it weren't for the inspiration I found through her examples that celebrate those items which lend soul to home...in collections, in heirlooms, and in photographs. It's truly nurturing to see the faces of my life, past and present, standing close to each other in heart and home.

Go here to read Acanthus and Acorn's review. Also, visit Monica's website to learn more about her, her passionate work and her new book, Living With What You Love.