Monday, October 15, 2007

Showing Off My Favorites...No Holes in the Wall Necessary!


Lara, the Lazy Organizer, is hosting Talk About Tuesday. This is a blog carnival were you can share just about anything! It is a great way to meet other bloggers. And Lara has a really great blog, so be sure to check it out!

This week, I am going to share my way of displaying my seasonal favorite photos. I love to take pictures of the kids, and I love to show them off. But I have two problems trying to accomplish this.
One, I am not a huge fan of small picture frames scattered about the house. I have a couple of them here and there and I am always seeing frames that I like. I just feel like my pictures never look that great in them. I almost never take posed pictures of my kids, I am more inclined to snap away while they are going about their business. Anyway, what I am trying to say is that my "action" shots never seem to look right in the smaller, table top style picture frames.


Second, I have a phobia of putting holes in the walls. I can't do it. Maybe this is because my husband, K is horrible at hanging things level, and I have a thing for LEVEL. If something is off even .000000001 of a cm, it will drive me nuts. And he does not believe in going back and patching the holes he makes while trying to get the object in question, level. Yes, he just leaves all of the mistake holes behind the pictures. It makes me a bit twitchy just thinking about it. I do have some large paintings and prints around my house, that the painter hung for me. They are level, with no random holes behind them. They make me happy. Anything that K has hung, gives me anxiety.

So given these two dilemmas I am faced with, it is a bit of a challenge to display my current favorite photos.


This is the solution I came up with.




It is my very own photo gallery that I did myself. It makes me happy.




It is a collection of my current favorite photos from whatever season we happen to be in.


Some of the photos are color shots, some I've changed to black and white. I don't worry about them all being the same. I also include more than just photos of my kids. This picture above of the Moku Lua's reminds me of happy times spent in Hawaii. The sandy feet are a reminder of our families love for the beach.



These pictures are all ones I have taken over the summer. I will take them down soon, because for the Holidays I decorate the mantel with garlands and lights, but after the Holiday stuff is put away I will run off some prints more reminiscent of wintertime, like sledding or a snowman, or maybe I will frame a photo of a grey winter sky. Whatever photos are my current favorites, will make it in the frames.




So this is what I do to display photos around here. It works out well for me because I don't need my husband to put any holes in the walls. I just lean the frames in an overlapping fashion and I have room for eight frames. No level needed!

I realize not everyone may have a mantel to display large frames like these, but I've used this idea on a counter top, a ledge style shelf and a dresser. Any size or number of frames would work. And the pictures don't need to match!


It doesn't get any easier, give it a try!

24 comments:

Lara said...

Very nice! I worry about arranging frames on the wall. I'm not great at that sort of thing. Something like that would look great in my entry hall. Now I just need to build a long shelf!

chrissy said...

Great idea, thanks for sharing! I love the way it looks and that you change them with the seasons

Mrs. O said...

It looks amazing (and professional). What a great idea!

Family Adventure said...

Lisa, they look BEAUTIFUL. That is a great idea. I am going to try to remember that for when I return to Canada. I also take lots and lots of "action shots", and I love that they are just that - unposed moments of truth. I think putting several of them on display together like that really allows the personality of the children and even the family as a whole to shine. Brilliant idea. Thanks for sharing!
- Heidi

Disney for Boys said...

Yes, they do look beautiful displayed like that! What a great idea! I get sick of waiting for hubby to hang pics too :-)

We have a hallway similar to this full of different black frames and black and white pics!

Christy said...

I have a room length ledge in our family room that this would work really well on! What a great idea.

orneryswife said...

What a fun idea. I love the look of the big white mats.

Since I am not quite so particular about the holes, and am always willing to patch if I make a mistake, I hang mine on the wall. However, I just purchased a nifty little gadget at WalMart that was only $20.00 and makes hanging things in a straight line EZ! It is a laser level, and always before when I had seen them they were $99.00. So I was excited to find this so cheap, and now maybe I won't have so many extra holes to patch!TM

Annie-Savor This Moment said...

Beautiful with the black frames! Great idea!

Christie said...

Oh, I love that idea. Your photos are gorgeous, too. What a smart way to change things up a bit. May have to steal that one.

Jennifer @ Fruit of My Hands said...

I really like this, its so stylish, and people could spend hours browsing your pictures!

tammi said...

What an awesome idea!! I'm actually planning a photo collage on my piano wall in the office that's going to serve sort of the same purpose. And because all the frames are different sizes, shapes, and colours, I won't need to worry about holes either because once I bang in a nail, that's where the frame's goin' and because it'll be huge and take up the whole wall, it'll look like it's supposed to even if the pictures aren't necessarily spaced perfectly!

Ice Cream said...

I love the picture of the sandy feet. So lovely.

Montserrat said...

What a great idea! And it came just in time. I'm in the midst of redoing a picture display and was wondering how to go about it so I can change pictures periodically. Thanks for the idea!

Darcy said...

I love this! Your photos are beautiful! I like that you change them out seasonally. Neat idea.

Anonymous said...

That is a great display. I love the diversity of the photos. By the way, if you ever do break down and decide to hang something, Jenny's husband, King George, (Chased by Children) is a world renowned spakler!

Cindy-Still His Girl said...

Love it!! I'm going to have to steal the idea. Where did you get the frames and mats?

Mary@notbefore7 said...

First of all - I HATE things that are unlevel. Ihave been known to straighten things in a doctors office or anywhere. It drives me batty!

I love this idea. You are an awesome photographer. I love the sandy feet. Where did ya get the frames? They are great.

Kassie said...

Love that look. I like the artsy look of them leaning against the wall. I may have to see if I can find a place to do that. Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

That looks great! I love the idea of it changing with the seasons, it keeps things fresh and new!

Jennifer said...

I love this! I think I need to go get some matching frames to put in my new picture spot now. Thanks for sharing!

Christine - Tutorial Addict :) said...

O.M.Goodness - I'm starting to wonder if I have a split personality out there writing a blog! I have the same, um OCD issues ;-) and this is a BEAUTIFUL solution! I have also looked for a way to display pictures that only relavent PART of the year, and there are SO DARN MANY of them! So thanks a lot for this great TAT post! ;-)

Melissa Stover said...

i'm loving this idea!

Rebecca said...

I LOVE it! I've just hung a picture collage and some other artwork in our new house. There are unpatched holes - some even showing - because hubby isn't here to fix them. I want to try the gallery idea on my TV unit because I have no mantel or shelf. And I think mixing color photos with b&w and/or sepia is great - all of your frames match (love the large matting) so it works really well. I think my favorite is the sandy feet photo.

Pedaling said...

i love it and may just have to steal that idea from you -great blog, by the way, i just found you today and i think i'll be checking back in, if you don't mind.