Did your grandma have a hallway where she hung all the family photos? Mine did. I used to love looking at all the holiday and school pictures that were up there, laughing at my mom's and aunts' old hairstyles. I want something like that, but maybe a slightly updated version.
I found this idea on Martha's site. Of course.
Source: marthastewart.com via Ginger on Pinterest
She used all matching frames, which would be great, but I really didn't want to spend any money on this. I shopped the house for some frames that would work, found some others in the garage, and bought a few of the super-cheap kind from Walmart so I'd have some extras to play around with. (I spent about $20 on frames, but I'm taking several of them back.)
Using 1.5" painter's tape, mask off a horizontal line, making sure it's level. (This was way harder than it sounded, since this particular wall is slightly warbley.)
Starting at one end, hang your frames so that they line up with the taped line, above and below. Use more tape in between for even spacing. Don't worry about what pictures are already in the frames. Concentrate on the size, orientation, and styles for now. Try not to put two frames the same height next to each other.
Tip: MEASURE! This is not one that you can eyeball. Measure from the side of the frame to the center of the picture hook. Mark that on the wall with a pencil. Then, if it is a top-row frame, measure from the bottom edge to the picture hook. If it is a bottom row frame, measure from the top of the frame. Line this measurement up with the first pencil dot, and hammer in your nail.
Tip: Do not use angled picture hangers. This is the time to use skinny nails or brads. The angle of the picture hanger messes up the measurements.
Tip: Have a few extra frames on hand. Arrange the top and bottom at the same time so you can see how it's looking as you go. When you get to the end, try a variety of different options to see which frames get the closest to ending at the same spot. If it's only off by a little bit, line the last two frames up together, so they end at the same point. That will be more obvious than slightly incorrect spacing between two frames.
Next step, spray paint the frames a glossy black, find photos to go in all of them (the sideways pictures are driving Emma crazy!), and maybe even paint that wall, because that brown is driving me crazy. Stay tuned!
