Wall of Frames

When we were building our house I spent lots of time gathering ideas for decorating and planning rooms. Over the years some of those plans have come to fruition, some plans have been forged, and yet others still remain filed away in hopes of being put to use one day. During this time of planning, Kris and I visited his aunt and uncle's new home. While touring their home, I found that she had decorated the focal wall of their upstairs landing in pictures. Big pictures, small pictures, old pictures, and new pictures adorned the big space. They were black and white photos of good times. I loved it! I made a mental note that I wanted a wall like that some day.

In recent years I have continued to see this "wall of frames" concept in magazines and blog land. Some fill their space with an array of random objects, others with photos, and others with categorical items. I really like them all. I can see tying in a big initial letter with a mirror and some photos. I can see a collection of just photographs. I can see a wall of all different size mirrors. But my dilemma comes with doing just one. Every wall in our house cannot be a "wall of frames"!

I came across a blog post a few months back that gave the best directions on hanging a "wall of frames". It got me to thinking back about the wall that drew me in. What was it about that wall? It was the pictures. From what I recall, it was filled with pictures of their family. Pictures like their toddler daughter wearing her mom's too-big sunglasses and high heels...their son playing his drum set...their middle school daughter and her friends hanging out...their teenager eagerly washing her first car. It was life. It simply told the story of their life.

I realize we are still in the process of building our photo library...soon the day will come that we will have a wide array of pictures of our family during many stages of life :( But I don't feel like we are there, yet.

I started thinking about what other collections I have that I might could make work-until that day comes. Then I realized what I would love best. The kids' art work! I went through their stuff and pulled out anything I thought was frame worthy - trying to keep the same count for each child. I looked for different textures, different sizes, different colors. And, before long I had a good selection.

The next step was getting them framed. Fortunately, I was able to find all the sizes I needed at good prices. I wanted all black frames, but in varying design and width to break it up a little.

After framing, I played around with the arrangement until it fit just right.


Following the awesome tutorial I mentioned above, I turned the frames over and used tissue paper to create a pattern. I made sure to put a dot where the nail should go and label each piece of tissue with where it was to hang.

Then I hung the tissue paper patterns (with painter's tape) where I wanted my "wall of frames". I hung the nails straight through the dots on the tissue paper. As I hung each frame, I tore away the tissue paper pattern.


Can I tell you how pleased I am at this project? Pretty easy for something that fulfills a dream and brings me joy!


It gets me excited thinking about adding it to it as Bankston Hays begins bringing home his own masterpieces!

I might just have to have two "walls of frames". I am just not sure I'll be able to part with this one :)