There are so many ways to display family photos. There are homes that you walk into and photographs line the walls, fill every available display space they can. Then there are other homes that display none. Even though I know they love their family and we have photographed them a bunch but they haven’t taken the time to print their photos.
Sadly, I fall into the later category. We have so many incredible photos of our children taken over the years, a ton of family adventures as well as the day to day captured forever. A snapshot of childhood. A look into who we are as a family.
I have wanted a photo wall forever. It has been on my list of things to do for a very long time. Quite honestly I really want one larger than this but I had to start somewhere. My thought process was to have a mix of frames, materials, etc and to incorporate a few of my favorite photos, some travel, each of the kids, a family photo and some items that have special meaning.
Fortunately, I had on hand a canvas of each of the kids (from ages ago), lots of empty frames (that needed to be filled), an already framed art project of Gabby’s from I think 1st grade (the Picasso like photo), an original map of Rhode Island (when we owned a beach house in RI our bathroom I had a bunch of framed maps from this tiny little state where I was born). The top right photo is one of Keith’s earliest portraits, it has been in a frame since I met him and I absolutely love it – in fact this is the anchor of the wall.
Basically I had a lot of stuff laying around that needed a home. That portrait of Gabby with the mask, one of my all time favorites! The summer photo of the girls jumping through a sprinkler was taken at Keith’s grandmother’s house – the perfect childhood photo, already framed. Maybe the one and only time we have used a metallic print, but it actually works. To fill the empty frames I just had to think back to some of our family travel and really decide on my favorite photos. I knew from the time we spent in Paris (when the kids were about 6 and 9) that I absolutely loved the photo that Keith took from our kitchen window overlooking the rooftops, a trip to Sicily, my favorite photo from a beach in Cefalu and this past summer I adored this photo Keith took in Lisbon on an escalator in the subway – I just love the composition and love it even more because it’s me and the girls!
Keith may not be in any of the photos but he is responsible for the beauty of almost all of them. What I love most about this wall is that everything has meaning, a story behind it, a glimpse into our life together as a family. And that makes me smile!
The Photo Wall – something that I have wanted in my home for a really long time.