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.

Black and White Photos In HallwayI’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.

How To Hang Black and White PhotosI 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.

black and white picture wallI 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.

Decorate Hallway with black and white photosThis 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!

Vintage and New Photos Mixed in Hallway

Brown Hallway Photo From MarthaStewart.com

Blue and White Hallway From style-files.com

Black And White Picture Wall With Old Frames

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Decorative Paint Techniques and Ideas (Better Homes & Gardens Decorating)

Building on the success of the first Decorative Paint Techniques & Ideas book, this second edition adds information about the advancements and changes that have occurred in the decorative-finish trend.

Decorative painting continues to grow as manufacturers release new paints and products that make it easier, faster, and more reliable for homeowners to add personal style to the interior surfaces of their homes.

From tried-and-true basics to exciting new techniques, this book gives readers everything they need to add personalized color and texture to any wall.

Inspirational photos demonstrate the effects of various paint treatments on room character, while step-by-step photos accompany the instructions for each technique.

Color samples are provided for each technique, and tips from the pros show readers how to create color schemes, avoid problems, and improve results.

Complete lists of tools and materials ensure that projects (more…)

Decorative Paint Techniques and Ideas (Better Homes & Gardens Decorating)

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I’ve just started watching the new season of “Blog Cabin” and I remembered I have this great log cabin to show you:

Brenda has the cutest log cabin! I am so jealous – and her hubby built it!

They painted the kitchen cabinets red and Brenda loves the color. She sent pictures so we could all drool:

red kitchen cabinets

She has a question about color for some of the rest of the cabin:

Hi Debra,

A couple of weeks ago I asked you if I should paint, stain or leave natural the stairs that my husband built in our small cabin. I told you my kitchen cabinets were painted red, and you said if I loved the red, go for it.
I still haven’t’ done anything yet, for fear I won’t like anything I do.You also said you would like to see a picture, so here is a picture. What do you think? Still paint it red?
Thanks

log cabin stairs

decorate log cabin red colors

Brenda – Cute cute cute! I love your little cabin!

I really like the red on the kitchen cabinets. From the pictures it looks like painting the stairs red would balance things. It’s a bit heavy on the red cabinet side and the stair railing gets lost because it’s all the same wood.

The beam across the middle of the room looks interesting… but I can’t really tell if it’s hanging down at ceiling height. It might be interesting to stain a dark – dark color.

Debra

Thanks for your response………The ceiling is (don’t know technical term) an “A” pitch roof and the beams are the same height as the floor in the loft area.

Are you talking about staining the stairs a dark color or staining the beams? (Which has giving me another idea)

Actually, as far as the stairs go, what I have been dwelling about is staining the steps just a regular medium shade, paint the balusters red and paint the top railing black.

Hey Brenda

I was thinking of staining the beams a dark color which would set them apart from all the matchy wood.

The idea you have for the stairs sounds cool – but… it might be busy.

I might stick with the same dark stain as the beams for the hand rail and the stair steps… and then pop on the red for for the balusters.

BTW… the dark I’m thinking of is really really dark… like mahogany.

To balance this darkness you will end up having to use something dark in the room. Like a dark coffee table or???

_______

Do you have any words of wisdom for Brenda? Any ideas? Leave them below in the reply section!


Hey Brenda
I was thinking of staining the beams a dark color which would set them apart from all the matchy wood.
The idea you have for the stairs sounds cool – but… it might be busy.
I might stick with the same dark stain as the beams for the hand rail and the stair steps… and then pop on the red for for the balusters.
BTW… the dark I’m thinking of is really really dark… like mahogany.
To balance this darkness you will end up having to use something dark in the room. Like a dark coffee table or???
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