I’ve always lined my hallway with family photographs. But… it never really made a design statement. The photos were mostly colored photos – some portraits and some are snapshots… but all were a colorful mish-mash.
The frames were never cohesive either… I had wood, plastic, ceramic and metal frames of various sizes and states of dis-repair. All in all – not pleasing to the eye. It just didn’t make anyone want to stop and look… which is really the purpose.
I’m not a huge fan of displaying family photos in every nook and cranny of my home. I have a few on display in the bookcases and of course we often have a collection plastered to the refrigerator… but I’m not a “put a group on the piano” type of decorator.
I’ve always loved the idea of grouping black and white photos into a larger “unit” to make an impact… but now I’m working on this idea for my own hallway.
I set out Decorating The Hallway With Black and White Photographs.
I have generations of old photographs that are very personal to our family – and now they will be shown in an organized manner instead of a hodge-podge. The idea is to group each generation together so that one can view the family line in order.
Plus – I’ll need to have a group for friends… and a group for more current snapshots that have captured a memorable moment. It’s sort of like scrapbooking for the walls.
I don’t want to have all the frames the same size… I like variety. Having all the pictures in black frames with a white mat will look stunning and by digitizing all the photos and printing them in black and white… well you get the idea of the huge impact this will have. I think this idea will make a huge difference in the decorative impact as well as the personal gratification of seeing visitors actually want to wall the hallway.
I just read a great tip about choosing the color of your walls to best show off your black and white photographs. The walls should have a deep (doesn’t have to be dark) wall color.
I’ve already painted my hallway with something close to Glidden’s Honey Beige… but shades lighter. I can see that I should have picked a color with more depth of color. The changing of hallway colors will have to wait.
I did purchase a slew of new Frames in a Box Set. To keep the costs down – I also purchased a few cans of black spray paint to revamp some of the old frames.
I scanned in the color images and used “remove color” or “gray scale”. This type of tool is available in almost all of the computer image refining programs.
It’s easy… but you will want to print in high quality and use photo paper to get the clearest sharpest images. You can also take a pile of photos to your local copy shop and have them do it for you.
This project is time consuming – so I’m doing it in stages. It’s fun to see the hallway looking more like a gallery instead of a disarray of bad decorating. I look so talented!
Brown Hallway Photo From MarthaStewart.com
Blue and White Hallway From style-files.com
Black And White Picture Wall With Old Frames
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Debra,
I have really enjoyed reading your tips and gathering information as I slowly start redecorating. I’ve been blessed with 100′s of old pictures from relatives and friends from the late 1880′s and early 1900′s thru the 50′ – 60′s. I’ve put some in photo albums (4 albums full!), but still have a lot left over (like a lrg plastic tub full!) I want to put some up and I’ve been collecting unusual frames at garage sales ect. But I haven’t seen frames specifically for the old tin pictures. Most of them are cut unevenly too. Are there frames specifically for them? Or would it be better to just “matt” them into a larger frame. Also any suggestions or pictures of ways people have displayed pictures like this? I have a few antiques I’d like to display with them ei: horse blanket (including mane), WW I saddle, army pictures, gpa’s tags, lots of dishes that are brightly painted! I’m just kinda overwhelmed with all of it. I don’t trust my judgement too on decorating! Just got remarried and living in his house. So I don’t want to come across like I’m taking over the house even though he’s welcomed me to decorate however I want.
Another thing I was thinking of doing like a guest room with them, but what colors look good with this type of decor. The room is in the basement so I’m worried about going to dark that it would look like a dungeon. Sorry this is so long I meant to just type a short little blurp but well, I always get carried away about things like this.
Thanks for your suggestions and info.
Take care Dee
nice, I particularly like the 1st hallway. I love photos but do not want all of them out individually so I covered a ball with them that sits in the living room on a stand and my kitchen table also is covered with photos. Everyone comes in looking for their photo on the kitchen table it definitely is a conversation piece.
Licia – I love the idea of an entire kitchen table filled with photos… I’m going to steal that idea and see what I can come up with. I especially love it
that everyone can spend time looking and talking about the pictures… but you didn’t have to drag out the scrapbook! Sometimes scrapbooks are
overwhelming!
Thanks for sharing.
debra
Hi Dee…
About using the photos in a guest room. I used to put lot’s of family memorabilia type things in my guest room. But… I found that it’s a bit intrusive. I want my guests to be welcomed but not overwhelmed with “my personal stuff”.
About framing old tin pictures. I would use an archival shadow box frame. These will protect the entire picture from further damage. Also – make sure you have gently scanned all your old photos and saved the digital scans in several safe places. It would be a shame to loose all your “loved ones”.
Have fun… I hear you about the “overwhelm”. This often happens when our parents pass away and we are left with a generation or (several) worth of keepsakes.
debra