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RE discussion on Garden Web board -seems family photos on walls in "public rooms" is mostly regarded as a no no. Now here is my take on this--my home is not public--there are no public rooms--my LR is not a hotel lobby-only people in my home are family and friends-or workmen to do a job. So if this is so for most people-I am assuming others like my family and friends like seeing us and themselves -and photos of grandkids, etc. displayed and enjoyed by us all..
Just wondering if you all on this board feel that way too..



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I agree with you up to a point. Well totally about it being your home and doing what you want with it.

However in my own case we have limited wall space and lots of art and things to hang. But looking back to when we had less I would not have hung photographs of my family on any walls private or public (not a hard and fast rule). I do have one of those many opening large framed things with lots of photographs in it. Everyone does enjoy looking at that which hangs in our upstairs hall.

I have lots of framed table top photographs of family (so many right now that it is a problem to store them) I rotate these on table tops on the first floor.

My own personal opinion in seeing photographs of family on the walls of "public" rooms is that the people don't have anything else to hang.

This photograph shows one exception to my "rule" this is a corner of our guest room. These are hung because of the common thread of oval frames or openings. They are a photograph of DGD, a watercolor sketch of DGS and a photograph of DH's father as a baby.

Another way you could incorporate photos of your family is to hang a photograph in a grouping with other things.

This is a grouping from my bedroom. The piece at the top is a photo of my sister as a teenager.

Also check out the thread I just posted "a clever woman. . . she has a neat photo display over her sofa in her living room.

I don't mind family photographs in a public space if they are presented in an artful manner. Unfortunately, usually they are not.

I agree with Emily and Gracie. Have never been a fan of framed family photos on walls all over the place. That's what scrapbooks and photo books are for. I prefer art or art photography on my walls.

OTOH, one or two beautifully framed vintage or antique studio portraits on a tabletop or desktop is a lovely display. The key words being beautifully framed.

A good way to artfully display family photos is to carefully edit/crop them to select the most attractive poses. Next, copy them all in black and white, storing the originals. Then frame and mat them identically.

Even if the photos are different sizes, they will still look cohesive because the frames will all be same. Then arrange the collection all together on one long wall, let's say a hallway, to create a gallery effect. If selected properly, the photos can tell a story.

This is much more pleasing, IMO, than having itty bitty photos here, there and everywhere in a haphazard fashion.

First, it's YOUR home so do what pleases YOU.
Secondly, I agree restraint in featuring family photos on walls (or most things related to decor) is prefered. We've all seen where this can go overboard. Rotating photos, grouping others attractively and featuring the bulk in archival friendly albums is a way to keep them close by w/o being overdone.
Thirdly, featuring family photos in "public" spaces (those viewed by guests) is frowned upon when selling a home as realtors often recommend. It helps perspective buyers to envision themselves in your spaces if you remove said personal photos when showing your house for sale.

I agree with you, homebody4. It's a home not a public space and if anyone wants their family photos all over the walls in all the rooms, then great. And use whatever restraint you desire on your own terms.
It might be a nice way for friends to see family photos instead of sitting through a whole stack of photobook sharing.

It's funny to tell you now, but I put one of those carnival photos of myself and my daughter going over the edge at Splash Mountain in a very decorative picture frame in the living room and I actually felt guilty and a little daring to do it. Guilty because it's frowned upon by the professionals, daring because it was an unusual picture to see in the living room. I'm over the 'guilt' now tho.

Go to Lady of Shallott's post on a Clever Woman Decorates... her web link has a poster of small square photos, very cool and fun for friends to stand and look at for a while, i'd think.
http://boards.hgtv.com/eve/for...4079532/m/6993925167

I believe it's your home and you should decorate it as you like and what makes you feel good. Anyone who pooh-poohs your family photos anywhere you put them can just keep quiet or leave.
A "no-no" who says? Who cares?

I was like you in wondering where to put all of my family photos. I have lots of photo albums but I wanted something more. Since my parents have passed a long time ago I wanted to be reminded of them on a daily basis rather than having their images bound away in a book.

I know this idea isn't the norm and is unusual, but everyone who has come to our home loves looking at it.

When we added a room to our home 4 years ago, we intentionally left a space 12ft x 8ft. blank. DH stuccoed and painted the rest of the 30ft x 12ft wall and we put up two 5x8' mirrors. That 12x8ft space was paneled with smooth finished wood, stained and framed. We built a bench underneath.

Now comes the weird part. I am taking favorite family photos and scanning them into my computer. In Photoshop I make them all sepia tone to make them more cohesive and then reprint on regular thin paper. Spray the reprints with matte sealer and then using Modge Podge (basically white glue) I adhere them to the paneled area, then put two more coats of Modge Podge over them.

I have the photos placed by generation. My husband's and my parents in the top row, then my husband and I in the second row. My husband's children and my nieces and nephews go next and then grandbabies...which we don't have any yet, but as you can see, this will always be a work in progress. I'm still waiting on photos from DH's mom to fill in some gaps.

I figured, no constantly straightening frames, no dusting and no worry. It is permanent but I could always cover one photo with another if need be. LOL! Of course it IS something that would have to all come down if we ever decided to sell, but we are not ever planning to. I'm going to be adding photos probably until I die, hence all the spare room.

This idea could be done on a much smaller scale if you like it.

Like everyone says, it's your home and you do what pleases you. That said, I never bought into the idea of arranging all the kids school pics from K- 12- like little ducks in a row on the walls. Also applies to grands as well . A few well chosen pictures nicely framed , studio family portraits along with a variety tabletop pictures is all that's needed IMHO. As someone else said, you should also have on your walls a variety of art/hangings,etc. I feel that tells a story about the homeowner more just family pics. I have seen hallways in homes devoted to pictures making a gallery effect.

Do what makes you happy. My personal opinion is that most family photos are not professionally taken and are more mememto and less art.IMHO I think family photo walls belong in a hallway near the bedrooms and not out in the living room, family room, or dining area.

Charles, I couldn't agree more. I have gone round and round with one client in particular. She has family photos-mostly snapshots-on practically every horizontal surface in her home. I asked her once, if some of them were removed, would she miss them. She insisted she would, so her daughter and I conspired to have a few of them "disappear" for a while just to see. Naturally, she didn't notice and we all had a good laugh about it when her daughter and I finally confessed. She has pared the collection down considerably although not as much as I would have.

Another way to satisfy your desire to show family photos is to do in a theme or temporary way.

This is a temporary wall arrangement on our screened porch. These are old photos (from 70 years old to about 15 years old) with the theme of the beach or swimming. I just used magnetic tape to stick them to the back of the old metal tray. They are curling a/c rain & heat but I like that too! They will only be up a month or two.

You could maybe make a grouping of family brides or graduation, or babies on fur rugs etc.

Some how i'm convinced to buy the complete school packet of pictures every year, so i just put the new 8x10 in front of the older one in the same frame. I just have those in my bedroom or office so I can remember what that little kid looks like when I wake up.

I've done the picture gallery down the hall before but this house has narrow long hallway so i just keep it bare now, except for the various Monster High birthday posters or other thing the DD wants to tape up for a while.

As a professional designer, I feel that it is sad that any person would think it isn't OK to have pictures of your family displayed in your own home. Of course people want pictures of their family and loved ones displayed, and of course it is OK.

I think the problem comes when sometimes walls get to looking like a messy jumble of small framed, unmatted, unrelated little pictures plunked here and there on a wall with no rhyme or reason. If you want your home to look beautiful, then it pays to look at things with a critical eye, and choose the best solutions.

I would approach family pictures like any other art choice. Choose the photos purposefully. Have the best photos matted and framed so that they look professionally done. Arrange them so they make sense - for instance use an arrangement of photos as a focal point. Etc.

And then, the photos that don't "make the cut" should probably be kept in a photo album.

My life obeservation is this "rule" speaks more about the people who espouse it.

quote:

Originally posted by Indexlady:
My life obeservation is this "rule" speaks more about the people who espouse it.

Well, this is a design related message board, so getting "decorative" advice as opposed to a sentimental response seems pretty fair to me.

I think there are some great ideas here!

My 'bad' experience has been with school pictures done in 8X10 inexpensive metal frames and hung too high on the living room wall, and not lined up, just placed where-ever style as the years go by, and in different sizes as well.

I LOVE zone9alady's creative way of displaying the photos in the same Sepia tone. With all her family get-togethers, this becomes a conversation wall for sure! Nothing stirs up a family reunion better than visitors seeing their photo in your home! Awesome display! And the Modge Podge is a great way to preserve the photos from dust and moisture making them stay fresh looking.

I also love the temporary cork board type that LOS showed, and the special frames that photos are placed in such as wendek's.
I posted the photo for the Clever Woman Decorates poster of all photos as a collage type large print. I like this idea for posting Christmas past photos for family reunions, or for anniversary photos for a couple celebrating their long time marriage. What a nice way to show 'through the years' type photos.

Great thread and thanks for sharing, you got me thinking about how I can do something in my home to make my frequent family guests feel more at home in our guest room!

quote:

Clever Woman Decorates poster of all photos

I have done this to the top of an old Army trunk I have. It's packed away at the moment since we're in the middle of a gradual move, so I can't post a picture. But, folks have fun with it. Most of our friends seem to know each other.

A friend made a poster of pictures similar, and kept it on her refrigerator in lieu of kid's art or magnets until she moved out of state--not sure where it hangs now.

My stepson had a portrait of himself done in pastels about 30 years ago for both his dad and his mom. We now have both. We are going to change out the mats and frames to update/coordinate with each other, and are hanging them in our dining room when they are done.

The hallway will have the "grands" on an Ikea shelf. I forget what the shelf is called, but it's about 3 or 4 inches deep. We want the one that is 4 feet long. Ribba? It has a ledge on it to keep things on it. (Hallway isn't too long.)

Underneath the Ribba-shelf "grands," I'm thinking of putting the generational pictures. As many people do, we have a total of 7 generations of pictures. I'd like to get some type of label so people can just read who it is. I've always tried to just buy one type of wood frame for all of them, but thinking I'll update those. I plan on keeping the pictures in the colors they came in. Some are sepia, some are hand-tinted, and others are full-color. It's just a sign of the period they were done in and how things have changed since the 1800's.

In the guest bath, I'm doing it in Primitive country, and have a couple older-looking family photos I'll be putting in there. This is the one place I don't put anyone who is still alive. While it doesn't bother me, it seems it does bother the guests. As long as the folks have passed on, they are ok. Just no living folks.

We've always been about family and friends. So, it's just natural for us to have them hanging or sitting around.

quote:

seems family photos on walls in "public rooms" is mostly regarded as a no no.

My own take on this is that in today's world, this is an easy "rule" to live by in many households.

Yesterday's kids from divorced homes who are now adults with their own homes and families....

Many of their parents were in bitter battles, bad-mouthing the other, when one parent comes to the home and sees a picture of the other parent, fights ensue even still.

Many don't like the in-laws, yet feel if one set of parents/family is on the wall, the other set has to have equal wall space.

And, I'm sure there are other very unpleasant scenarios that happen--making the No-No Rule appealing. It's the easy, peaceful way out of some very ugly situations--they can blame No-No Rule.

Sometimes, a photo that brings comfort to one person will bring depressing or perhaps horrifying thoughts to another (thinking about current news on this point). The No-No Rule is the salvation again.

I think there are both attractive/unattractive ways to display family photos. But, just to declare they are No-No in public spaces--well, I can only say, Not in our home.

But, we also don't have the situations as listed above.

Now, at 70, my mother did put away all the family photos. When I asked Why? she replied she'd looked at everyone long enough. She wanted to look at some pretty flowers for a while.

I wonder.. what do people think of the large electronic photo frames that switch pictures every few seconds like a screen saver?
(i forget the name)

quote:

Now, at 70, my mother did put away all the family photos. When I asked Why? she replied she'd looked at everyone long enough. She wanted to look at some pretty flowers for a while. Big Grin

LOL!!

This post got me thinking about my maternal and paternal grandmothers (both deceased a long time) who between them had 11 children and 33 grandchildren and who did not have much, if any, family pictures displayed, perhaps because they had run out of wall space in their homes or got tired of lookin' at em.

quote:

what do people think of the large electronic photo frames

I don't have a LARGE one, just about the size of an 8x10. I put vacation landscape pictures rather than people on mine. Beach, desert, mountains, flora and fauna, and the like of places we've visited. I'm missing it. Currently packed away in a box somewhere. Plans are to put in bathroom. It's a captive audience in there and they have "time" to watch them.... Ha!

I never take the original photo out of the frames I buy...when people ask me who the people are in the pictures I make up names and how they are related. )))

I only have about 7 framed photos that are in a grouping in a glass shelving unit. I do have 20 or so photo albums....I pull those out every now and again and I have my photo fix. But this thread has inspired me to change out the photos that are in the current frames! Thanks for this!

quote:

Originally posted by Indexlady:

quote:

what do people think of the large electronic photo frames

I don't have a LARGE one, just about the size of an 8x10. I put vacation landscape pictures rather than people on mine. Beach, desert, mountains, flora and fauna, and the like of places we've visited. I'm missing it. Currently packed away in a box somewhere. Plans are to put in bathroom. It's a captive audience in there and they have "time" to watch them.... Ha!

Captive audience....LOL!

I think your previous point (which makes perfect sense) of dysfunctional families not displaying photos is purely emotional and a little different than viewing it strictly from a decorating standpoint. That's why I believe displaying family photos does not fall under any decorating/design "rule". Family is emotion, either you want to see them or you don't, whether they are grouped all in one place or spread all over your home.

Anyone with a problem seeing family photos I have displayed, well, what can I say? They probably would not be invited over here anyway.

quote:

I wonder.. what do people think of the large electronic photo frames that switch pictures every few seconds like a screen saver?

I wrote about this on the other photo thread. My DD got me one for Xmas and at first I did not want it. Now I love it! It has a ton of pics but is placed unobtrusively and we can only see it entering the room from one other room. I like seeing the old pics.

This is the way the frame looks now.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: lady of shallot,

I do have a couple real old pictures downstairs in the LR - they go w/ my style of decorating. At the top of the stairs I have pictures of family- they are where I can see them every time I come up the steps.

I dont have anything larger than 8x10 & that is only 2 or 3. Most of my pictures are 3x5s or 5x7s. I also like the eclectic look of different kinds of frames - maybe trying to mimic a frame from the 1900s that holds my grandmother's high school graduation picture or a frame that has a sappy saying about family because it is a picture of the entire family....

Most people don't see those pictures unless they're going to the bathroom - only bath is on the 2nd floor.

Someone posted this on Facebook -- I think it's clever if you have a big enough wall!

Martha

I remember seeing this, clever and creative way to display family tree for those who love to live with their lineage! I know a few people into finding their Ancestry and they would love that.