Isn’t this birdie a cutie-pie? He’s my little mail-opener helper! Today I will show you my photo placement guide that saves time and avoids hammering 1,200,524 holes in your wall. First, I had to get my paint on!!! …. I chose a serene blue wall paint color knowing that most of the photos would have the aqua blues from water and sky.
Of course, detaaaaiiil are important, like taking the light switch cover off before I start painting (prep first = saves time). Do you like my mirror-like light switch cover?
Then, I got my supplies:
1. kraft paper
2. pencil + tape
3. photos frames
4. drill + screws
5. measuring tape
I did some yoga stretches before starting (seriously!!!!!), then took measurements of the wall, placed the kraft paper on the floor, then arranged the photo frames ON the paper (visualizing the wall). When happy with the placement, I grabbed my pencil and marked the outline of each frame……..
Then I taped the kraft paper onto the wall (see the outline on the paper?) ….
… Grabbed my drill, and drilled the placement hole (through the paper) for mounting each frames (yep, this gal wears her SAFETY glasses!!!):
The fuuun part, destroy gently remove the kraft paper revealing the holes where I would be adding the screws:
By the way, even large packing boxes/ cardboards work well in place of Kraft paper – like the ones we used for one of my client projects). Here’s our wall below (see my wedding pics?) with a cascading photo frame arrangement ….. (sorry for the photo quality, wall color is sooo off in this picture):
As you see I have different frames sizes, styles, and thicknesses (I even have a shadow box frame), but the arrangement still maintains a serene feel.
Below is one of my FAVORITE decorative (and functional) features of our wall. Since this wall is our foyer (home entrance) I added a clear brochure holder (aka: mail holder!) next to the photo frames to hold our mail when we come in. So the mail doesn’t look overwhelmingly UGLY (for a lack of a better word), we place pretty catalogs + magazines in front.
Here’s another pic of the space, sorry again for the photo quality; though I think it still gives you a sense of the design (I hope!!!!):
(photo credits: Ada’s Interior Design ) Every comment is read, appreciated, and loved. To leave a comment please scroll down!
Hi, it’s Ada here - an interior decorator {specializing in economical solutions} with clients throughout the USA, a team of wonderful assistants, accountants who keep telling me that I can’t write off Starbucks as a company expense (darn!), + contractors that help me bring my designs to life! I dabble in photography, love being married, and I am totally addicted to ice-cream - seriously a d d i c t e d!
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So pretty. I love it!!! I tried this technique and it would have worked great except that I kept changing my mind about placement once everything was up. I ended up spackling the holes and repainting. Oh well. If you’ve seen my gallery wall next to my TV would you recommend using all the same color frames? Right now they are teal, green and yellow-orange.
Hi Lisa, yikes (that’s no fun) Hmmm, I suggest next time that u leave the frames on the sheet for at least a day, until the look settles in AND NOTE .. sometimes it’s not the actual frame location, but the photo/art that you may not like in the frame. Send me a link to your post and I will be happy to look at it (sorry too busy today to search for it through your blogsite). Have a GREAT day!!!
Thanks for the help. The link to my post is http://www.cozycondoliving.com/2012/05/to-do-list-mostly-done.html. If you go to the middle of the page you will see the gallery wall. The color of my wall is not the green in the pic, but I can never get it to look right in my dark room.
Hi Lisa, I suggest 1 color if you want a more subdued/serene looks for the space, also perhaps place them on another wall …. the wall you have them is already busy with TV (electronic) + fireplace bricks + wall color seems bright too. Funny … the wall does look green! One of my services provides email consult where I provide 5 things you can do to a room to make it have more of a cohesive look, feel free to check it out at: http://www.adasinteriordesign.com/services | HAVE FUN DECORATING!!!!!
Thanks Ada. That’s really helpful advice.
Ada you look so cute in your protective goggles! The wall looks great and I think I definitely have to try this idea out in my own home.
Hey safety first
to make beauty ! Glad that u will create a frame guide in ur home! Let me know how it turns out.
This takes the guessing out of the placement of pictures which can be stressful and double the work. Thanks for the guide.
You are very welcome Amanda! I’m here to make decorating FUN!!!
Hi Ada, I am loving all of your room layouts on Wednesdays!! Could you share with me what type of program that you use to design your rooms? Thanks, Helen
Hi Helen, glad to hear that you like the room layouts I design
I studied to use CAD program for my furniture placement layouts. I hope you continue stopping by and commenting 
hi ada – very helpful to know how you do this! have a relaxing weekend, n
I love this trick! Too bad I always forget to use it every time I hang something. Next time I WILL remember to avoid a million holes. You make me laugh out loud! *Destroy the kraft paper
I’ve always loved photo walls and still haven’t done one. You’ve got some great ideas here. Thanks for linking up at Making Space Mondays. I hope we see you there next week! -Tabitha
Hi Tabitha, glad u like the guide! Don’tcha love when walls tell a beautiful story
Glad to link up .. courtesy of my assistant Emily finding you and linking us up. Happy decorating!!!