Random post today about a “project” I had no intention of ever mentioning, but it was such a positive experience that I wanted to quickly share: modern and minimal photo books!As a kid I loved flipping through our family photo albums and I always promised myself I would stay on top of managing that area of our lives so my kids could do the same. I did ok for a few years – until kid #2 arrived and “keeping up” in any area of life seemed impossible. Besides a cluttered assortment of prints on our fridge, I’m ashamed to admit that the last time I intentionally printed and organized our family photos was 2012. It has been on my yearly to-do list for SEVEN YEARS NOW, and catching up on those skipped years feels extra daunting. I think these days everyone has a problem getting their family photos out of their phones/computers and onto tangible paper. It can feel overwhelming, tedious and carries unavoidable decision fatigue, so it’s the to-do item that I always push off…even more so when facing a seven year backlog!

My past organization system consisted of a stack of neutral, matching photo albums that I chronologically filled with prints as life moved along. The downside is that photo albums (plus the cost of prints) adds up quickly, plus they are so physically bulky. Ten years of photo albums nearly takes up 25% of our very purged book shelf, while the amount of photos I take only seems to be increasing. It was time for actual printed photo books. I looked at a lot of options and decided to go with MPix because I loved their price and color selection. I gave our 2014 and 2015 family photos a go in their 10′ x 10′ economy cloth hardcover photo books and I’m really happy with the result.

The obvious plus is the orange fabric cover option, and it’s a goooood deep orange too (but so many great options are available)! The minimal footprint easily fits on a bookshelf while the pages are big enough to showcase photos. I could easily stack a decade onto a shelf. I apparently take a lot of pictures and want to remember the big days and the everyday moments too, and I was able to include hundreds of photos in each book. The only downside of this process was that it took hours upon hours for me to put together, but 2/3 of that was on my end: organizing and choosing which photos to include. The layout design, on the other hand, was straight forward and user friendly.

I’ve already ordered another and I’m hoping to find the motivation to catch up on the rest of our photos soon! I know photo books are nothing groundbreaking, but I wanted to share this semi-easy and pretty option if you are in the same backlogged situation as me :)