Whether it’s professional photoshoots, maternity photos, kids artwork, or holiday celebrations, a home isn’t complete with the accompaniment of family photos decorating the walls.
Gone are the days of storing photos in photo albums; nowadays, everyone has their family photos stored on their smartphones. But instead of letting your cherished memories hideaway on a phone, print out your favourite ones and relive the moment as a family.
This guide will help you bring warmth and homeliness to your space with techniques for framing photos from your phone, how to make kids artwork sparkle in picture frames and arrangement ideas for any space.
How to frame family photos
Family picture frames can be a great way to show off your favourite memories. Each frame has an important purpose for displaying pictures that the family cherishes. Here are some of our tips on choosing the right photos and frames to honour your family.
Organise your camera roll
Because there’s no issue of running out of film, parents tend to take dozens of photos to encapsulate a single memory. If you’re someone who has 6,578 images in your camera, you’re not alone. On a cold and rainy Sunday, spend the afternoon organising your camera roll into folders. A single album named ‘family photos’ is good enough.
Opt for the highest quality photos, and be sparing – you can always add to your growing frame photo collection as the little one starts to grow up.
Consider the spot in your home
Before the exciting part of printing and hanging up your pieces, consider where you’d like to display them in the house. For example, if you’re looking to hang a photo above a bed, it would need to be enlarged to create a dramatic effect.
The quality of the frame matters
The photo frame is as important as your image. While frames can complement the design of a room and the image it’s holding, professional frames aren’t just designed for aesthetic purposes. Quality photo frames maintain the appearance of the photo by protecting it from dirt, moisture and light. This means that you’re able to preserve the lifespan of the photo, as well as have frames that’ll always be looking brand spanking new.
Kids artwork deserve their own frames
Instead of storing kids’ artwork away in the cupboard or scattered on the fridge, invest in some frames for children’s artwork. This is a wonderful way to inspire their creativity and embrace their artistic side, as their enchantingly colourful decorate bedrooms, living rooms and playrooms.
A fantastic aspect of kids frames is that the artwork can be changed regularly. So as new art projects arrive, you can swap out the old for the new, always keeping a space vibrant and exciting.
Pick your sizes & arrangement
This is when you’ll need to put your thinking cap on. Depending on the space you’re hanging your frames, consider sizes that’ll enhance the room. For example, portraits work especially well in a larger size so that they don’t get lost in the busyness of feature walls.
Once you’ve chosen your perfect photos, work out an arrangement of how you’d like them to feature on the wall. Pinterest is going to be your best friend here.
Pick a theme for certain rooms
An extra special touch is to have different spaces themed after vacations or holiday seasons. The wall surrounding the stairs can make for a magical feature wall for seaside holidays or snowy ski vacations.
As well as holidays, capture milestones by framing important memories, like your child’s first steps, or wedding photos, and have the milestones theme a room.
Themes also relate to the quality of photos and the imagery. If you’ve done a professional shoot, consider dedicating a wall to those special images. You can save another space for energetic family photos taken from your smartphone.
