Over the weekend I decided it was time to update the photo wall in my dining room.
When we moved in two years ago and I used black plastic
frames from the dollar store to hang our photos. I never really liked the
frames but I wanted the pictures up so I settle with it. (never settle ha)
Needless to say I was never crazy about the wall. Over the
two years our townhouse has evolved from the miscellaneous pieces that I brought
from my old apartment (which were mostly made up of items that were given to me
by people trying to get rid things) into semi grown up items that my husband and
I purchased and found at different stores and vintage shops.
The layout and décor has finally come together and we couldn’t
be happier or more comfortable in our little home….except for the photo wall!
I scoured through thrift stores for a variety of frames in
gold and brown, I then went to Ikea for a mix of all white frames (so much more affordable then other stores I had found). I wanted
to have the vintage, shabby chic element without being too girly (this has been the
main theme throughout the house). (I should also mentioned originally I tried to save a few dollars by spraying the old black frames with white spray paint...I often find vintage items and spray or paint them white but because the frames were plastic it was a huge waste of time but now I know better).
Getting started:
Have your nails, hammer and steps tool nearby.
Fill the frames with the photos.
I Decided to keep the majority
of photos that were already on the wall. I like
keeping a variety of our favourites from over the years along with recent ones.
I laid all of the frames on the floor and arranged them in a
way that I felt was eclectic yet organized. Chris must have thought I was crazy
for standing over them and moving them around and around. I wanted to make sure
there was a balance to who was in the photo to which frames looked good beside each other.
When I was set on the layout I took a photo of the collogue to reference while I was nailing frames into the wall.
I started with one central photo and made my way through them
all. I took my time to make sure the spacing around each of them were roughly
the same (I knew not to obsessed over having it perfect especially with a such
a variety of frames). I recommend stopping and taking a step back every once
and a while to make sure it’s what you had in mind. I’d also suggest not fixating
on having them all exactly straight until you have them all up.
Once I had hung all of the photos I noticed I had a little extra
space between two photos, I decided to hang one of my many vintage keys (I have
a bit of a key thing). I was really happy with the little extra touch, reminder you can add anything you want to your wall!
Here is a before and after photo of the wall… When deciding
on how many frames to do, how high or how low to have them I think it’s best to
do what you think looks good since you're the one who has to live with it.
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| BEFORE |
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| AFTER |
We had friends over for dinner last night and after staring at it all night I decided I was happy with the new wall. The height of the bottom row looked good with people sitting at the table and the high of the top row was nice since they weren't too high. I think if anything were to change it would be adding frames on either side.
Another tip I learnt the hard way was that not all frames are for hanging. I noticed most of the ones I found at thrift stores were for table top. In that case I broke off the stand and wrapped a
piece of wire around the backing. You just have to get a little creative.
I think a good reminder is that even if it’s not perfect no
one is going to notice, they’re looking at the fun arrangement of photos.
I’m really happy with how it turned out, I think I'll
start gathering more frames do another collogue going up the staircase.
