The Family Room: Decorating with Pictures

The family room is a center in which the family migrates to and spends quality time together. Over the years, your family no doubt has collected numerous photos. And most of those photos are in boxes or in photo albums stacked on the table. What can you do to get the most out of your family's rich photographic history and show off your crew at the same time?

Let the Pictures Tell the Story
Yes, every picture has a story behind it. The easiest way of letting the pictures tell their stories for you is simply grouping them together and placing them on the walls. But of course planning and style is needed in order for your mural to work.

Organize your photos by the year and once you have them organized by the year, organize them by the occasion or the event. Ex: "Billy's first steps" or "Dad's Retirement." That way you will begin to remember and recollect all things that happened during that year.

Once your photos have been organized by year and occasion, now is the time to size them for framing. Keep in mind that if you have numerous photos, you can also group several small photos into one huge frame and have that represent a year, a month or a week. Most of your photos will be 5x7s so you may need to get creative and cut some to fit in the frames. Cutting if done correctly will preserve the moment that was captured on film.

Once you have chosen the important photos that you wish to display and have sized them for framing, your next step would be purchasing the frames for the pictures. Plan on purchasing different sized and different types of frames. Alternate metal frames with wooden frames. After you have selected your frames, start framing the photos according to what story they tell. Arranging your photos in chronological order is a great idea for a conversation piece.

When the photos a successfully group and arranged on the wall, your family will enjoy strolling down memory lane. The wall of photos will become a centerpiece for conversation for years to come. Be sure to add recent photos toward the end of the photo "timeline" as new photos become available. Your hard work and creativity will indeed pay off as family and friends too benefit from your wall of photos. Each photo and each group of photos will have a story to tell.

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Rhonda Morin, owner of http://myinteriordecorator.com and author of The Decorating Bible, enjoys writing and teaching others how to decorate their homes their way online.

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Copyright (R) Rhonda Morin, MyInteriorDecorator.com. Article may not be reprinted without permission and may not be reprinted without author byline including the active links.

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