In case you don’t recognize this beauty, it’s Lisa Bearnson. She is the Founding Editor of Creating Keepsakes magazine, the premier publication dedicated to memory-keeping. I’ve known her for as long as I’ve been working in this industry – 15 years. She was the one that gave me my “big break” and took a leap of faith in hiring me way-back-when. We worked side-by-side on many projects, wrote a book together, traveled together, developed products together, and … more important than any of that, she is a dear friend to me. The Bearnsons are dear friends to our family.

Flash back: If you’re new-ish to my blog/brand, you might be interested in reading the blog post announcement from nearly 3 years ago when I announced that I was resigning from Creating Keepsakes. It’s a bit of a historical moment in my personal career, and of course Lisa has been an important part of the journey.

When our family was road-tripping a couple weeks ago, we were able to spend a little time with the Bearnsons. So thankful for that. While we were in their beautiful home, I snapped 3 pictures of 3 different home decor ideas that I wanted to share with you – and Lisa is happy to share a little insight on each of these.

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{ chairs }

I don’t know anyone else with chairs hanging on the wall. It’s quirky and original, but it’s more than that to Lisa’s family. She shares: “The chairs are a constant reminder of a talk a promiment leader (Ezra Taft Benson) of our church gave several years ago called “No Empty Chairs”. He said: God intended the family to be eternal. With all my soul, I testify to the truth of that declaration. May He bless us to strengthen our homes and lives of each family member so that in due time we can report to our Hevenly Father in His celestial home that we are all there – father, mother, sister, brother. Each chair is filled. We are all back home.“

The chairs hang high on a wall and can be seen from both floors of our home. They represent each member of our family and remind us of two things: 1) A righteous home is within a “whispering distance of heaven”. We all want to be together in the next life having a grand feast together. We want “no empty chairs”. And 2) Dinner starts promptly at 6:00 pm in the Bearnson home and we want “no empty chairs”. If the kids are late, they have to eat sitting on their chair on the wall! (Just kidding.)”

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{ clock }

This DIY project is so much fun, isn’t it!?The 12 frames are just old frames Lisa collected from around the house, but a thrift shop is another great way to collect some for a very small cost.

Lisa’s friend makes photo clocks and yes – she is willing to sell the hands to anyone interested. Why do I have the feeling a few of you are interested? It sounds like they’re hard to find. And yes, they work. Her company is ForAllTimeClocks.com and the hands are around 10″ – 17″ in length and come in cream, black, gold, dark brown, and white. Contact angie@foralltimeclocks.com for more information.

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{ photo crate }

Lisa found this antique mail holder at a local antique shop. It’s a fun way to showcase current photos and easy to rotate and update.

Many thanks to Lisa for letting me share a few snippets from her home with my readers. She continues to inspire.