Hearts on Paper: Picture Perfect

One of my most favorite things in the entire world are photographs. Old, new, people I know, people I don't, landscapes - doesn't matter - I love them. And I always have.

I've been in my home for a year now and realized too many of my walls are bare! I needed to change that pronto! Thanks to the camera I splurged on earlier this year and my recent trip home, I had some great shots that were frame worthy.

I don't like matchy-matchy things. In my house, the furniture compliments each other but isn't part of a set. The same goes for picture frames...mine rarely match! Most of the frames I have are from garage sales and salvation army and I don't spend more than about $4.00 per frame.

I decided the first wall I'd tackle was the "guest hallway" which leads to two guest rooms, a guest bathroom, and my laundry area. I walk by the hallway every day to get to my garage and it just looks so sad and neglected. The light fixture is the worst thing about it! See what I mean?

Time for a change!
I started by gathering picture frames I've accumulated, then went through photos on my computer matching photos with frames. I uploaded the prints to Costco's Photo Center which can have your prints ready in about an hour for great prices! I framed the photos and used my dining room table (also known as "The Last Supper Table" by my friends because of how huge it is--seats 12 people!) to lay them out. It's important to measure the length of the wall where you are hanging the frames first so you lay them out with the right amount of space.

Supplies Needed:
Framed photos - size, style, etc. up to you
2" 3M ScotchBlue Painters tape
Measuring tape
Picture hanging hooks or nails (I used these which I bought at my local hardware store)
Hammer

Because my frames are different sizes and shapes and being hung on a shorter wall, I decided to lay them out horizontally with a 2-inch space across the middle and just started building! Two things are important with this layout - one, the edge of all frames line along the 2-inch space should be level, and secondly, the edges along the left and right of the entire collage should line up exactly. This is what I came up with...

After my layout was complete, I ran a piece of 2-inch painters tape down the wall and made sure it was level. This acts as the "spacer" and point of reference when hanging the frames.

Then I just started nailing and hanging photos! I measured as much as possible but winged it for the most part. I decided to do the bottom row entirely before moving on to the top row. A few photos/frames were swapped as I started to hang the frames but the layout is the same.