We had an empty wall in our dining room that can be seen as you walk in the front door. There is a time and a place for empty spaces, but this is not one of them. It needed something! Instead of going to a store and picking out artwork that is probably in hundreds of other homes, I came up with the idea of using some of the photos I have taken over the years to create a one-of-a-kind photo gallery! Something to highlight the beautiful places Mike and I have been!
I found some AMAZING frames at Ikea that are very reasonably priced for how large and high end they look! The Ikea Ribba Frames provide a clean, white background that allows the photos inside to really pop. They also look great against the dark blue paint on our dining room walls. The mat and photo are set back in the frame (similar to a shadow box) which provides a classic and unique look.
For the wall space I had, I decided doing 6-20’x20’ frames (2 across and 3 down) would work best.
The next step was to figure out which photos I was going to use. We all have those photos of the landscape from trips we have taken: the beach, the sunset, pretty much any incredible view we see, we take pictures of. And what do we typically do with them: nothing! They sit on our computer and are never seen again. I decided to go through those photos and create my own photo gallery highlighting some of the incredible places Mike and I have been! Then, every time I look at them, it will take me back to those amazing moments!
When creating a photo gallery it is good to create a theme. The easy thing to do, would have been to have a black and white theme, but besides the dark blue walls, most of our dining room is neutral, so I decided adding a little pop of color would add some energy to the room!
I cropped each photo to bring attention to the section of the photo I wanted highlight and eliminate sections that weren’t as interesting. I saved each photo to a flash drive and headed out to the store!
There are a number of places you can print your photos. I chose Office Depot because I am a rewards member and receive coupons for printing every month. But any printing service will do! I printed each photo measuring 12’x12’ on a matte finished paper. Be sure to verify there is no border, you need the photo itself to be 12’x12’ or it won’t fill the opening in the mat.
Placing the photos into the frames was a pretty simple task. I taped them into place to make sure they don’t slide around when I put the back onto the frame.
When hanging the frames, it is very important to make sure you have an even amount of space between each frame. I live by the motto, measure twice drill once!
I couldn’t be more thrilled with how the photo gallery turned out! It only took a few minutes to turn personal photos into artwork to hang in our home!
Let’s see if anyone can guess when these photos were taken?! There are several that were taken on trips with friends and family! Let the guessing begin!
