We are going to be travelling over Father’s Day this year, so I wanted to do something special for Aron early. Last month, the kids and I went to visit him at the hospital—he’s a Urologist with Kaiser. Hudson ran into one of his partner’s offices, took one look at all of the pictures she had on her walls (and pillows) and wondered why there weren’t any of him. While he meant in her office, which made us all laugh, I took note: Aron’s office was seriously lacking in personality. It really needed a dose of TLC—and, as confirmed by Hudson, some family photos!
Shutterfly—a sponsor of Hither & Thither—has a wide selection of photo gifts, so it was easy to get started. The hard part was choosing which photos to use. (You might imagine I have a few.)
You can really feel the difference when you walk in the room. Here are some befores and afters…
Before: There’s nothing particularly awful about it—there’s only so much to expect from a hospital office—but it didn’t feel like a place you’d want to spend much time in. And considering he had to sleep there as recently as last week, I thought that it would be nice to do something about that.
After: New monitor boxes and paper trays, more use of the vertical space, and—of course—family photos!
The biggest impact came when I added a grid of Shutterfly Framed Art Prints to the wall. These are each 16″ x 16″ (but you can print 8 different sizes in this format, in frames up to 24″ x 36″), and I love the way they fill up the space with people who love him.
By contrast, the San Francisco print that had been there before was too small, and the dark frame only made it the imbalance more obvious.
The backs were already sealed with paper and wired, so it was easy to place them. I used a level, a tape measure, and post-its to figure out how to keep the grid consistent.
I chose a photo of Aron and I in Vegas; the four of us on a lazy Sunday morning; my favorite photo strip of the kids; and one from Skyler’s second-birthday-series.
I had a hard time narrowing the selection to just four images, so I actually printed a pictogram poster of all the favorites I’d considered and left it on his desk like a card. It got the most attention of his colleagues, who stopped by the room to see the changes.
Sidenote: I printed some of these images individually as large format prints while I was on the site, to see how some of my favorite images printed. You can make a 20″ x 30″ print for under $25, which is a great deal—and the quality was high.
I also made a 16″ x 20″ Calendar Poster for his desk using a photo of him with the kids looking at anemones on a beach in Malibu.
And I added a few accessories—like this prescription pad dish, to remind him of his time at NYU…
…and a personalized mousepad, with a favorite photo of PJ-clad Hudson loving the tile floor at Intelligentsia in Los Angeles so much that he just had to dance on it.
Finally, I also brought in a few new plants and gave a few of his better homes. I love the collection he has been tending—like a Kaffir Lime leaf tree, a few tiny succulents, and a Vanilla Bean orchid. I added a new cactus and a Eurphorbia (fire stick plant).
I thought about taking the pelvis away for the photo’s sake, but this is still a Urologist’s office, afterall. Just a much better looking one!
Happy Father’s Day, Aron!
What do you like to give (or get) on Father’s Day? I’ll have a full gift guide out soon, but personalized photo gifts are always a favorite: I know that when someone has taken the time to make me one (like when Aron assembled all of my maternity photos into an album), it becomes so treasured.
New Items featured in this post: Shutterfly Framed Art Prints | Shutterfly Calendar Poster | Blue and White Peruvian Planter | Wooden Boxes (for Monitors) | Wood and Brass Paper Trays | Desk Organizer | Prescription Pad Dish | Shutterfly Mouse Pad | Shutterfly Mason Jar (not pictured)
Thank you to Shutterfly for sponsoring this post. Celebrate dad this Father’s Day with the perfect customizable photo gift made with Shutterfly.
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