Family photo overload: Is there such a thing?
With moving plans in the works, decorating is on my mind. I’ve never been a natural at decorating. At all.
I think I inherited my lack of skills from my mother: The queen of “hire help.”
When I was 15, she handed me a stack of magazines to browse through for inspiration for my new bedroom decor.
I saw a picture in one of them, of a bright yellow room, with orange trim, pink doors, a neon clock and bright polka dots all over the ceiling.
“This is it!” I thought.
My mom hired painters, I spray painted my canopy day bed, stereo, and end table, then cut out an assortment of neon-colored polka dots to tape to my ceiling.
Now looking back, I’m not sure what drew me to a room that was nearly impossible to sleep in, but it was a cute idea, and it worked for me at the time.
I’m a firm believer in making a home your own. It’s something that’s been hard for me to fully commit to for the last eight and a half years because we’ve been renting. And even when we weren’t, we didn’t paint a single room.
Now that we are finally buying a house, I’m excited to make it our own, yet still nervous to paint.
I’m thinking until we settle on colors I’ll compensate with photo walls. I’m obsessed with photo walls, and I’ve been pinning all sorts of styles and displays I’d love to attempt to create. 
Currently I have a small photo wall in our livingroom with three 16×20 canvas prints. I printed two at CafePress during one of their sales (I’m always on the lookout for more!).
I love canvases because it takes out the hassle of finding the perfect frame. But I am not a fan of the bulky-not-easy-to-store factor. With frames, you can easily switch the photo out, and store the old photo behind, or away flat.
I’m loving these glass clip frames allegedly from Ikea, but I’m not seeing them on their website anywhere. I’ve seen standard-frame sizes on Amazon but I’d love to find some in square dimensions.
My question is, with all of my dreams for immense photo walls… Will a couple-dozen photos of my kids all around my house seem ridiculous? I mean, I can include some of Snoop too, and they won’t all be face-shots.
Something to consider. Either way, I’ll probably order some more canvas prints. I’d love to do a wall like this one from Robinwood Photography.
I’m always on the lookout for discount codes and deals from CafePress because their canvas prints are actually a nice quality. They also sell cool baby clothes, and baby hats. And if you want something custom-made you can design your own iPad case, mug, magnet, design your own t-shirt or whatever.
For now, I’ve got my eye set on anything home-decor related.
Is there such a thing as having too many family photos hanging around the house? What do you think? Any other decorating advice for me? Leave a comment and let me know! One random comment will be chosen next week for a $20 gift certificate to CafePress. Kudos to them for sponsoring this giveaway.
Tags: cafepress, Decor, decorating, giveaway
Trading Phrases prints canvas at really affordable prices! You can find sizes and prices here 🙂 http://tradingphrases.com/gallery-wrapped-canvas.html I love that they are a family company and they do really great work!!
-Samantha
Don’t be afraid of bold colors when you paint, if that’s what you love. Remember, if you hate it, you can always paint over it! That said, we’ve owned our house for nearly 7 years now, and have only painted two rooms: an accent wall in our living room (bright blue though!) and the nursery for my son. Also, do NOT get flat paint!!! It’s a mess! We went with satin finish in the living room and the kiddo’s room, and the walls are FAR more wipeable than the flat builders-grade paint in the rest of the place.
It sounds like y’all will be in your house for a while so I say paint! And if you want bold, paint bold. And if you hate it, buy different paint and try it again. Also, don’t be afraid of doing neutral paint and then accenting with bold. You’ve seen my house, I have a lot of pillows that are bolder colors on my neutral couch. I also think you can’t have too many pictures of people/things you love. And you have one stinkin’ cute family so put lots of pics of them up! And don’t forget Snoop;)
I’ve pinned so many photo wall ideas it’s ridiculous! Every room basically is going to have a photo/ canvas somewhere!!!
Instead of just hanging up random photos you should think about themes for your photos. Simple example: the kids have photos of just them in their room, the living room could be all 4 of you, a family room could include family outside of the 4 of you and so on (of course the 4 of you may be in some of these shots though). Then it wouldn’t seem so overwhelming for a visitor to keep seeing random family photos.
I really like the idea of gallery walls that include art, pictures, randoms things like skeleton keys, and maybe even some frames wallpaper or wrapping paper in a cool design. I also vote for painting the house. Maybe not right away, so you can see how the sun hits the walls. But definitely do it.
Do what makes you happy! Your tastes will change over the years and one day you will wonder what you were thinking when you decorated your current home. But love it for now. If that means tons of family pics in your house, then put them everywhere. You do not need to please anyone except your sweet little family, so have fun!
I haven’t tried CafePress before, but I wanted to find a good place to buy canvas photos, so I’m gonna have to check them out. I am totally FOR family photos all over the place. Lol. Yours look really nice!
Homes are supposed to be your happy place, so decorate in a way that makes you happy!
I’ll definitely check out Cafe Press because I just had my daughter’s newborn pictures taken and I’m wanting to develop several of those. You should take a look at Shutterfly, too. You can subscribe to their emails and they send out great deals all the time. I just designed a 20 page scrapbook and only had to pay $8 for the shipping. =]
I just got sucked into your pin boards. There went an hour, but it was worth it. 🙂 I hope it’s okay to plaster houses with family pictures, because that’s all I have. I’d rather look at people that I love over ‘art’ that means nothing to me. Just my opinion, though.
Cool! We just did our first family shoot ever, and I’m looking to finally get them framed. Just wondering how big I should make it. I’m a bit hesitant on hanging photos because I want out of our house, and don’t want to get too comfy.
I’m right there with you with canvases – I adore them but don’t know what I’m supposed to do with them if I update our family photo or want to display a newer photo of the kids. I’ve been thinking about a photo wall, but my husband thinks I already have too many photos scattered throughout the house. We’ll probably be moving in a few years, so I don’t feel very compelled to find a solution yet. 🙂
No way is it possible to have too many pictures of your family. You can probably have too many of one kid v.s. the other (I worry about that, my older one is obsessed with fairness, and the little one is much cuter and more fun to photograph, lol). My kids LOVE to look at themselves on the walls, and take pride in showing their friends and they discuss them with me frequently. Sometimes less is not more. 😀
I am a sucker for pictures of my family and my house is scattered with them. But I haven’t gotten any canvases yet, although I would love to some day! I think the photo wall ideas you’ve posted look great!
I need more pictures of my son printed. I did manage to print one I took of him and my daughter, but he’s sadly missing from the wall of newborn photos in our living room. I need to remedy that.
Um…canvas prints are amazing…and look grey no matter how they’re “presented” in your home. I never even thought of CafePress for canvas! How awesome! Also, all the pictures of your babies make me want a second…my little girl just turned 2….I say it’s time 😉
One idea is to have a gallery wall of your favorite older photos, especially special people who you want your kids to get to “know” because they have been important in your life (e.g., a grandparent).
For new photos, I do change them out every 6 months to keep them fresh.
My hobby is digital scrapbooking and my kids (ages 21 months, 35 months and 5.5 years) love looking at their scrapbooks.
I’m not sure if there is a such thing as too many family photos. I definitely have a LOT of my son around our house- so much so that now my collection is creeping into my work office, lol! I just love a beautiful shot to be framed (or canvased) and put on display!
I’ve been a fan of Cafepress for sometime and ordered a few maternity t-shirts from them back when I was pregnant_ i was a sucker for maternity T-shirts that drew attention to the fact that I was pregnant.
I’m a big believer in less is more! I my initial response to photo walls is to just throw up every picture I love, but I find that the effect is more dramatic if you have a plan and keep it simple. And throw in a pop of color, whether it be a accent wall, or a accent word thrown into the mix. Oh, and chevron. If I can find a way to work in subtle chevron, then I’m a happy girl 😉
I don’t think there can be too many, ever! I love your canvasses, I would love to get one myself but I’m way too indecisive about what picture I would turn in to a canvas, hah!
No way, no such thing as too many pictures of your family. I say it’s SUPER important to decorate with things that you love & things that make you happy. I wouldn’t blame you one bit for using pictures of your family as something you love or something that makes you happy.
I don’t know if you’ve ever seen this blog, but this photographer does a weekly segment called ‘wall art wednesday’, I thought you might like it 🙂
http://laurawinslowphotography.com/blog/category/products/wall-art-wednesday/
I think a home should be your most prized possession. I find it weird that some people have no photos of kids around there house… My first project was going to my local Rite aid and printing out pictures (seasonally )… Of my kids and putting them on magnets for my fridge.. Id have previous years Halloween pics for example in the fall or Christmas Pictures in the Winter… Either way I love being reminded of how they grow.. And they love seeing them as well… At the end of the day if you painted a room yellow with Polka Dots , YOU KNOW WHAT YOU LIKE…. Im a renter too.. I have always had white walls… Always hung pictures but lacked Boldness…. So this time around I focused on One … I painted my 13 year olds room… WOW HOW COLOR CAN MAKE IT POP>>>>>>> .. Sorry just rambled. Find your blogs interesting… But Pictures are fun.. Once I got a bunch of different paint and let the kids dip the hands and we did there bathroom….. .. HEy you can always paint it back white….
Let J do some artwork, too! The right colors, and it’ll break up the overload of faces, but still remind you of the kids. You could even do T’s hand and footprints!
You can never have too many photos! I love Cafepress and all the things you can make!
Gurl, I had taken over 900 photos of my daughter in just a little over 9 months! lol I would say “NO!” no such thing as too many. Of course, deciding what to mount or frame is always a fun challenge. I did several multi-media collages and rotated the groupings by season, so I could view all my favorites and still have a sensible decor.
In my opinion, if it’s pictures of family, there’s NO such thing as too many. I can’t get enough of gorgeous pictures of my babies or all of us together. That wall by Robinwood Phottography is absolutely gorgeous. If you paint your wall a gorgeous color that you love, it’s the perfect backdrop for canvas like that. Good luck and enjoy the decorating!
I just started putting more photos around my house
I love pictures of my family and extended family’s
It makes me happy to see them everyday .
Even though we live so far apart . 🙂
I think at some point you could have too many. You just don’t want it to look cluttered. I’d say pick a few walls where a display would look nice and stick to those locations, swapping out photos as needed.
I don’t think there can be too many photos. I know my little one loves to look at all of them every day.
I think a wall of photos is wonderful!
You can never have too many pictures. Also painting personalizes the space. Happy decorating!
I love picture walls – they always look great (even if you don’t know what you’re doing like me), making decorating SO much easier!
I love picture walls, too! And I think you can never have too many family pictures.
I definitely think there is such a thing as too many family photos on the walls, but if you confine the, a bit (i.e. not making EVERY wall a photo wall), your new place will look great! 🙂
You can never have to many pictures of your family! I’m a firm believer in that’s what makes a house a home.
I think family photos are great. Think about the things in your current home that make you simle and when you put them all together you’ll hit upon your design style. For me, it’s a repurposed dresser, dining table and glass vase. Looking at them together made me realize that I’m a vintage modern kind of girl.
I think not. It’s your family do what makes you happy. I love the glass clip frames.
I have also been looking for ideas foe photo walls. Thanks for the ideas.
When it comes to family photos I don’t think there can ever be too many if the hanging is tastefully done and there’s some organization or pattern going on.
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