So my picture wall is finally complete, and I’m happy with it. Some things I love, some things I don’t, but it was a learning experience.
Here’s a list of things I learned along the way:
1. Live with your layout…for awhile.
You may remember the awful picture of paper bags on my walls that I posted last week. It seems silly, but it’s my #1 “must-do” piece of advice. I lived with the paper cut-outs of my picture frames for almost a week, and continuously tweaked them until I got them just how I liked them. I would literally walk by and just move one up an inch, and then twenty minutes later move the same one again down an inch, but I thought of them as a giant puzzle. I knew eventually I would get the pieces just right.
2. Don’t be afraid to mix frame sizes, shapes, and styles.
I say this for two reasons. The first being I like the look of it. But second, by mixing the frames together, this picture wall can easily grow with your family. If all of the frames are the same, in a few months when you’d like to add more pictures, you may have trouble finding those frames again. If you already have an eclectic mix, a different frame can easily fit in.
3. Consider the architecture surrounding your wall.
This picture wall is along a staircase, and I liked the look of the pictures moving up along the steps. I don’t think putting them in a straight line, or a box formation would have worked given the stairs. Plus, this “mosaic” formation will again make expanding the picture wall and adding more frames much easier.
*A Little Something Extra*
You may also notice these pictures are not in traditional mats. Most of these frames were grabbed out of my mother’s trash can, so I had to get creative with how I was going to show off the pictures. You can find a full how-to on how to mount the pictures to both the fabric “mat” and cork tile in my latest piece in the Berlin Patch: How To Turn A Simple Frame Into A Showcase For Family Photos.
Enjoy,
Nikki, In Stitches
Added Later: The picture wall made the move with us! Take a peek at how it looks now!
Nikki, this post is AWESOME, thank you!!! I have been wanting to attempt a picture wall for awhile! Your tips are just the push and advice I needed!
xoxo,
Kristen
Nikki, this post is great! I was going to show you a photo of my picture wall — but that technology thing is going crazy for me too — instead of importing just the few recent pictures I took my computer wants to import ALL 736!!! I do NOT need them repeated – soon as I figure it out I’ll send a pic 🙂
I have been meaning to do a picture wall for our staircase too, since we moved in (2007) and even more so since grace was born (2009). This is great motivation, and I LOVE the paper bag idea.