I love photo walls. I think they are the most amazing decorating idea ever, for the following reasons:
- They display memories and family and happiness.
- You can arrange them in all shapes and sizes.
- They can be crazy cheap to put together.
- There is a style out there for everyone.
Last year, my photo project was getting this wall assembled:
Right now, I’m in the midst of getting a ton of other pictures up in our house.
Every time we get more pictures up, it increases my happiness and sense of accomplishment by indescribable amounts. It also gets easier to do each time, as Ben and I now have a system for getting our photos up.
A few weeks ago, we got pictures up in Kaylia’s new room, and I took a few pictures of the process (which is crazy – taking pictures of putting up pictures??!), just to share with you all, in case there’s anyone out there who’s secretly wanting to get pictures up, but never getting around to it because it feels like a big job.
Here’s how we do it:
Get Inspired.
I love Pinterest. There are millions of ideas for how to get photos up on your walls. Check out my board of photo wall inspiration if you need ideas!
Start Playing.
Once I find an idea of what I want, I collect every spare frame I can find in the house, and get to work. I lay them out in a number of different formations, taking pictures of each one.
For Kaylia’s room, this is the design I settled on:
Try it on for size.
This step is not mandatory, but I have found it to be so helpful every time. I’ve traced my design onto brown packing paper or wax paper, or made paper cut-outs of all the frames I intend to use, and put these up on the wall to see how it looks.
For many frames in one arrangement, I prefer packing paper, but for just two or three frames, I cut out the shapes. This time, I didn’t have any packing paper in the house.
Get your frames fastened to the wall.
As I mentioned in this post, velcro is THE BEST THING EVER!!! And no, our pictures do not fall off the wall. (Don’t tell Ben, cause he doesn’t know yet, but I accidentally ripped a chunk of drywall off the wall when I was testing to see how well the velcro stuck. I got the information I was seeking: the drywall will give sooner than the velcro! Yikes. Good thing the damage is hidden by picture frames!)
We use a level, a pencil to make markings, and our beloved velcro.
We start from the bottom corner, or from the center of the arrangement of frames, depending on what kind of design it is. Once we have a frame attached to the wall, we use the level to draw straight lines for placement, line up the frame, and stick it on. It is SO MUCH easier than hanging pictures from screws.
Once you have the whole thing up…
Stand back and enjoy the finished product!
It took us under an hour to get everything up. That might still sound kinda long, but it’s totally worth it!
What part of the picture-hanging process holds you back the most? Any tips for getting past it?
Ordinary Days 