What to do with Personal Photos

Who doesn’t like displaying memories with photos in your home?   As designers, we are all about making your home have a warm feeling and honoring the people you love most in a beautiful picture frame.  However,  I often  get the question, “ How do I group or display photos so that they look really good?”

So let’s start with what NOT  to do.  One of the most common mistakes I find when coming into a client’s home is that they have every inch of space on a table, nightstand, or dresser littered with photos in frames that usually don’t even coordinate.  Not only does it lose the functionality of the furniture piece but even worse is that the mismatched frames often look crowded, unbalanced, and poorly spaced.  It becomes so clustered that you can’t even focus on any of the photos.  It makes the area look confusing and does not feature the interior design or distracts on other beautiful things you may want to highlight in the room.

         Rule of Three

So if you want to create a space to highlight an area or display a grouping of photos,  keep the arrangement to a minimum of three.  A few frames together are okay.  Try to match either the color and textures of the frames so that they coordinate together.  Also,  the frames should not be the same height.

Remember the Triangle Principle we discussed in Creating a Focal Point that Makes a Statement.    Too many photos just end up looking junky and not purposeful.

Gallery Wall

There are tons of visual interest when you use a wall to highlight personal photos.  By grouping these photos with matching color frames and creating a vertical space for these photos it makes the area more interesting and personalized.  Black and white photos look great too for gallery walls as the monotone colors coordinate well with each other.

So I know that some of you wonder what to do with that photograph that someone gave you and you might feel obligated to display it in your home but just lack the furniture space or place to display it.

Here is where  I recommend digital frames.

Digital Frames

One of the latest innovations and a perfect way to display photos is a digital frame.   What is so unique about these frames is that you can share by easily uploading your photos straight from your phone, computer, memory cards, etc. The digital frame can be set to automatically rotate your pictures automatically so you don’t walk into the room and see the same photo twice in a short time period.    You can even share the access code with your family or friends.  It is a fun way to connect and surprise the receiver.  Funny pictures from that clown in your family could be limited to a certain area of your home for instance.     I love to walk into a room and be surprised by a memory that I shared with a loved one and it totally gets me into positive a mindset.

And when that one family member who always is analyzing and counting how many photos you are displaying of them,  a digital frame can easily be set on the settings to rotate only pictures of them in the frame.  They will leave happily leave your home thinking they are your favorite family member since your home is filled with photos of them.

Since most of the digital frames on the market are limited in style,  so we solved that problem by custom designing our digital frame for our customer..   Thus, we can be assured that our client’s frames coordinate with the style of their home.

The other benefit of using a digital frame is that you can eliminate some of your current photos and add them to the rotating digital frame. This could clear the space for a beautiful flower arrangement  for instance that will add more appeal and give your home a more well designed look.

So there you have it.  Three different ways to add personal photos to your home without overwhelming the space.  Remembering the rule of three,  creating a Gallary wall, or investing in a digital frame can be all excellent ways to create the look of well designed home while displaying pictures of your loved ones and friends.