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Top 11 Ways to Display Family Photos
| October 13, 2011 | Posted by Darcy Pattison under Photography |
Read the winner of “The Help” children’s story contest.
From Beautiful to Awkward: Display those Family Photos
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Mix it up! Sure, “ground” the walls with some selections of frames the same color and size, but otherwise, a mix of frame colors and sizes will give your home a warmer, more interesting look. Most homes contain many colors, so frames different colors tie in with décor. Black and brown or gold and silver complement each other, so don’t worry when frames don’t all match. Use rectangular, square, and oval frames. 
Add in other meaningful or beautiful or unexpected objects with the photos: framed kids’ artwork, mementos (like concert or movie tickets or your great-grandmother’s monogrammed handkerchief), baby shoes or your daughter’s ballet slippers or husband’s old ice skates (tie the laces together in a triple-knot to form a safe “hanger”), a favorite old purse or hat, a hand-me-down clock, wreaths, decorative wall décor (like tin or wooden stars or sconces), antique plates (buy a stretchable wire/bracket hanger). Ask your youngest one to draw a family portrait. Frame that beside an actual family photo.
Do use similar frames for certain circumstances—for siblings’ photos that you want to hang together, for a collection of family “pairs” (your parents, twins in the family, you and your favorite aunt), old photos of you and your spouse at the same age (with the same mischievous smiles?), the kids in the pool, siblings looking eerily alike at the same age, photos of your child’s favorite sport shots. Create a black and white photo wall or room. On one wall or in one room (like a bathroom), hang your travel and vacation photos. You might even frame a U.S. or world map, adding a stick-on star or colorful pen-point marking places you’ve visited.
Hang miscellaneous photos and memorabilia (like wedding, graduation, and birth announcements) on a ribbon memo-board. Use one for a huge collection of similar photos, like senior picture proofs. If you’ve put off adding photos into albums and you have many you love, but aren’t sure what to do with, hang multiple ribbon boards together, forming a “solid” board, onto a door and create an easy “wall” to stick photos.
Honor those special times. Group together graduation photos or wedding photos. Group together all your children’s hospital photos and a mural of each one as new baby. Frame photos from first days of school. For your baby’s first year, take a photo every first of the month (with siblings, if applicable), then frame these together or in several mural frames hanging side-by-side.
Add an album or scrapbook of special family photos and wedding album(s) onto your living room coffee table. Guests love flipping through these.
If you prefer a more sparse look, load favorite family photos onto a digital frame. This works great for your limited office space at work. Watch for sales on digital frames and buy a few extra for great birthday, wedding, anniversary, or holiday gifts.
Use unusual frames. Find a frame with multiple openings and place in a favorite photo of each child or family member. Use a mural frame to show off photos of several generations. Hang siblings together in double or mural frames. Frame special anniversary photos in special frames, with a “Then” and “Now” picture. Frame a tiny photo of each family member and hang on a family tree.
Don’t forget “dead space” in your house. Hang photos above doorways and closets. Hang some photos that make you smile by your washer and dryer or by your sit-down make-up area or by your husband’s bathroom mirror. You (and guests) spend a lot of time in bathrooms. Hang funny photos here, like your husband’s face-on-the-copier shot or the time your toddler dumped his sippy-cup of milk over his head or when your tot thought she was hiding, but her legs showed or when you forced your kids to pretend they liked each other and pose for a Christmas photo, but it turned out looking about as happy as American Gothic. Frame funny cartoons or greeting cards. Frame interesting nature photos, like the cool spiderweb last fall. Use staircases or long hallway walls to hang school pictures through the years. Add some frames to doo-dad shelves and on bookcases. Use easels for some photos. If you have a room with low ceilings or odd angles, like an attic bedroom, use a drill and screws to hang wooden frames right onto that ceiling.
Don’t forget your friends. Don’t forget your pets. You might gather multiple photos of one family all together on a wall or shelf.
Get through the teen years by hanging your child’s most adorable picture where you will see it every single day and remind you of the sweeter times. Maybe it was time when she found your lipstick and used the whole stick, then put on your high heels. Maybe it was your son’s second birthday party, wearing a bow tie, a crooked birthday hat, and biting into a cupcake. If you have to, just go stand and stare at that picture!
-By Lorri Cardwell-Casey (after 22 moves and living in eight states, she covers every wall with photos of family/friends to surround her family with love and make every house “home”)
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