Three Wall Displays I Am Loving Right Now | by Mesa, AZ Newborn Photographer Sally Whetten

Human beings like to create things. Everyone has their way of expressing creation. We call these hobbies in a lot of cases. One of mine is interior decorating. Mesa, AZ Newborn Photographer Sally Whetten shares three great ways to decorate your home with family photos.

I know decorating our homes is one way a lot of women like to express their creativity. And when you combine this with the greatest loves of our life – our families – it only makes sense that we like to decorate our homes with pictures of those we love most.

Are you the type of person who likes to settle into a new space, live with their walls empty for a while, and then plan out what you want to hang?

Or are you like me – within the week after you move in your family pictures are up on the walls? As a Mesa, AZ Newborn Photographer pictures of my babies are the first things I put up!

There are probably countless ways to decorate your house with family pictures. I don’t want to discourage anyone from trying any number of them. I just want to share three that I am particularly fond of with you.

I feel like these three display ideas look great in any space. And honestly, I love combining all of them throughout my house.

Idea number one: one large statement piece.

Idea number two: a collage, whether that be symmetrical or asymmetrical.

Idea number three: picture ledges.

Let’s talk about each one of these display ideas.

First, the large statement piece.

The key to the success of this concept is proper sizing of the art piece. It needs to be proportional to the space you’re decorating. Let’s take above the mantle as an example. This is frequently a common place to do a statement piece of artwork. Here is a mantle with what some people consider a “large“ print above it, the 8 x 10.

You can see that a print of this size is quite lacking in wow factor. When we start bumping up the size, many people are surprised to hear the dimensions of what an appropriately sized piece of art is for the space, like a 20×30 or even bigger. If you are like me, it can be hard to visualize something just by hearing measurements. This is where I, as your photographer, come in. One of my roles is to help choose and design artwork specifically for your space. This will prevent you from wasting money buying prints that don’t appropriately fill your space, and ultimately leave you unhappy with the way the art looks.

As you can see when we have an appropriately sized piece in the space, it becomes a stunning conversation piece. Something that will make you smile every time you walk past it. As a Mesa, AZ Newborn Photographer I love seeing large prints above the crib. Just make sure it is very secure, and something light weight for safety. Check out this blog post if you want some inspo about photo displays above your bed.

Moving on to the next display idea.

Second, the collage.

There are so many ways to build a collage. Don’t be afraid to mix frames and canvases together! You can go the symmetrical route or the asymmetrical. I think it’s safe to say I love both equally, and most people probably feel the same way. Although there may be some who feel safer sticking with a symmetrical display. This is totally fine! It is your art, your home. But I find that an asymmetrical display sometimes feels even more balanced for some reason. Here are a few examples of collages:

As with one large statement piece, the size of your space will dictate the size of your collage. You’re still essentially creating one large statement piece, but this is made up of any number of smaller components that create the whole. What do you like best, symmetrical or asymmetrical?

Now last but not least.

Third, the picture ledge.

This has come into great popularity in recent years. There are many benefits to using picture ledges. One of the most obvious being that you can change your displays frequently without making multiple holes in the wall. This has come in really handy for me personally, because in my basement we display one family picture from every year that we’ve been together. So far we have 26 pictures in this display, because I’ve been married 25 years.

That would be a lot of nail holes, not to mention having to rearrange a wall display every year would drive me batty.

Thankfully, picture ledges have made my life more simple in this area. Something I really love to do with a picture ledge is combine art prints with family pictures. A key to pulling off a well-designed picture ledge is a variety of frame sizes.

My basic formula for designing a picture ledge is to start with the biggest pieces and add in the smaller ones as you go, layering some pieces slightly in front of others.

Here is an example of a simple but great picture ledge:

So, do you have a favorite way to display your photos? Leave a comment and tell me what your favorite display method is. And of course, I am here to help! My Pinterest board is full of great gallery wall inspiration. If you need any suggestions on what would look best in your space, send me a message on my website or social media. Happy designing!!

Sally Whetten is a Mesa, AZ Newborn Photographer that loves to decorate with family photos. We hope you enjoyed this post on Three Wall Displays I Am Loving Right Now. Follow SWP on Instagram and Facebook.