“How do you display family photos in your home?”
This is a question I get quite often by new followers. Second only to –
“How did you make your gallery wall!?!?”
So, I decided I’d finally answer BOTH questions in this blog post. A black and white family photo wall is a chic, impactful way to display meaningful photos in your home. But I know if can be intimidating. Read on for some of my tried and true tips to create the perfect family photo wall, including links and dimensions for my exact frames.
Before you commit to buying a dozen or more custom frames, you’re going to want to mock up exactly what you want your gallery wall to look like. Canva is a great app to help you with mock-ups – You can easily import a picture of your blank wall and layer in potential frames. The most immediate solution for my non-tech-savvy friends? Open up instagram and take a photo of the blank wall. Save pictures of the frames you’re planning to incorporate on your phone and use the “sticker” function to drag them around to plan your photo wall.
Keep It Simple, Stupid
Streamline the look by using the same frame throughout your wall, in no more than 3 different sizes. I like to utilize frames with oversized mats that hold standard prints so they take up more space on the wall, but make it easy to swap photos down the line. I customized frames on Arttoframes.com for a solution that perfectly fits MY space, leveraging photos in three standard sizes: 12×12, 8×10 and 5×5. My exact frame sizes and dimensions are below – make sure and use the “Advanced” setting to adjust the mat size on desktop to get that high-end look with tons of negative space.
5×5 photo | 5″ mat | 16×16″ overall – 5 frames total
8×10 photo | 1″ mat | 11×13″ overall – 7 frames total (horizontal and vertical)
12×12 photo. |. 5″ mat. |. 23×23″ overall – 4 frames total
Measure – then measure again. And one more time (for good measure)
This part is so important. You’re going to want your frames evenly spaced – both from eachother and on the wall. I went with a 2″ gap in between frames and had the edge of my gallery wall run 4″ from the sides of the walls. This took a ton of measuring, planning and mocking up before ordering – but it is so possible and so worth it! For the most impactful execution, don’t be afraid to utilize the entire wall, Don’t going all the way from the floor to the ceiling with your frames! After each is hung, triple check with a level and secure with earthquake putty to hold everything firmly in place and nice and straight.
I usually get my photos printed inexpensively at Walmart or Costco (wherever i’m running errands!) and use a mix of professional photos and favorite candids, highlighting an array of family members and important events. I try my best to represent all of my kids evenly and spread out different types of shots throughout the wall. I truly love this personal touch to our home’s decor and hope you’ll try out one that works in your space! I love the mat customization tool on ArttoFrames, but if you’re looking for something more plug-and-play, i’m linking a handful of frames with oversized mat options below.
