|
Use family photos to brighten a space in your
house
Family photos give a wonderful, personal touch to
a home, evoking fond memories of childhood, special
vacations and favorite people. A photo display can
be attractive and effective when you are selective
and creative about which photos to use and where they
are placed.
I love to see photo galleries in hallways. All of
your favorites are in a place you walk through everyday.
Having matching frames, such as all black or all metal,
gives a pulled together look. Always try your arrangement
on the floor first. Start with the photo you'd like
in the center and work outward.
Multi-opening frames are great for telling a story
with your photos. In one house I visited, the homeowner
had photographed the feet, hands and face of her newborn
baby. The arrangement of the three black-and-white
photos in a simple black frame with white mats was
strikingly beautiful.
Display ledges also work very well for collections
of photos. An advantage of the ledges is that your
collection can be changed easily as you acquire new
photos. It looks nice to tuck in a few accessories
with the photographs, if the theme is appropriate.
If you have a lot of travel photos, for example, display
them on the ledges with a few souvenirs from the trip.
I often see loose snapshots stuck to refrigerators
with magnets. The refrigerator is a great central place
in the home, and it makes sense to have photos there.
Too often, though, the look is cluttered and disorganized.
To neaten things up, purchase a magnetic photo collage
frame, available at most craft stores. Select your
favorites, arrange in the frame, and stick it to the
fridge.
My own new refrigerator is stainless steel-- no magnets
will stick to it! To solve this problem, I put a few
photos of my kids, in magnetic frames, on my washer
and dryer instead. Laundry rooms are great for brightening
up with photos. Seeing pictures of your kids as babies
will bring a smile to your face as you do laundry.
A table or desktop can become a great photo display
area. Have a piece of glass cut to fit the tabletop
and arrange your loose snapshots underneath. This can
be a great conversation piece in a family room or den,
especially if you use old, antique photos.
Photos can also be displayed on specially designed
serving trays, coasters, paperweights, pencil cups,
even pillows and tote bags. One of my favorite sources
for display items is the Exposures catalog. See them
online at www.exposuresonline.com.
In these days of digital photos, it may be easy for
you to delete the unattractive shots. Many of us, however,
probably have an assortment of unflattering pictures
that, for some reason, we can't bring ourselves to
throw away. Years ago, as a joke, I created a photo
album filled with all of these comical, unwanted photos
and gave it to my parents for Christmas. We laughed
a lot that day, and many times since then, looking
at this funny album.
This article first appeared in Alameda Newspaper
Group papers on Sept. 17, 2005.
Go
back to the list of decorating columns.
All articles copyright 2003-2008 Anna
Jacoby.
|
