5 Tips for Hanging Family Photos

Want to make your house homier? Display some of those family photos you've been meaning to sort through.

Maybe hanging a couple of your most recent photos will inspire you to stop procrastinating, and then maybe you'll start noticing spots in your house that could use a little family atmosphere.  

Here are some tips on selection and arrangement: 

1. Don't worry about a picture's compatibility with the rest of the room. If you like the picture, it's perfect for any room. You can create a sense of unity with mats and frames in the colors and styles that fit the decor. The frames don't have to be identical to each other, just compatible.
2. A single picture must be large enough for the wall on which it will be hung or you'll create a desolate look instead of a warm, inviting one. Groupings are usually better, and though having all your children's high school graduation pictures matted, framed and hung in a row will make you proud, adding a few other pictures of different sizes to the mix will make for a more creative look.
3. Don't hang pictures too close to each other or you'll end up with a cluttered look. Then again, don't hang them too far apart or you'll lose that unified look.
4. Related subjects usually work best in a group. Let's take the graduate theme again. Place two or three other pictures of the same person at different stages in his life around the graduation picture. Now you've created a picture story.
5. Measure the space you intend to use as a photo wall, and then tape newspapers to the floor in a configuration of the same dimensions. Arrange and rearrange your framed pictures on the newspaper until you're satisfied with the look. Trace each picture on the newspaper and mark where the hook will go. Now tape the newspaper to the wall. Use drafting tape so you don't peel the wall off when you remove the tape. Nail the hooks into place according to your markings on the newspaper. Finally, remove the paper and hang your pictures.