Gallery Wall Refresh

Do you ever get an idea for a refresh and it just seems to snowball from one thing into another and another? Well, that is certainly the case for me lately. First, there was the laundry/pantry update and, more recently, I've tackled another.

Years ago I created a gallery wall of family photos in the hallway that the guest bedrooms and guest bath open into. I added to it a bit as time went on and new family members were added. Then, it seemed to become full and cluttered. I didn't really know what I wanted to do about it and thus, ignored it for a while (a few years). It was so out of date that a couple or three of our family members were not even represented on it and the youngest grandchild is now three years old. 

I got a germ of an idea earlier in the spring and decided that it would be one of my 'summer projects' this year while I was out of school for the summer. I had tried to schedule a family photo session back in the spring and a friend who is a photographer and I could not work out a good time to coordinate things when I thought all four of our childrens' families could be there. My idea was sparked when I noticed that our youngest had recently been a participant in a family photo shoot with his wife, children, and in-laws. 

I knew that I could get group shots of each child and his/her family from photos they had posted online or that I had shot at various times within the past couple of years. So, I began checking to see where I could get those photos printed on canvas. My thinking was that I could take down the eighteen 8" x 10" frames and 16 5" x 7" frames and replace them with those canvas prints. My plan was to just have the canvas prints done with a black edge and not even frame them since that is all that would be on that wall. This would make a nice, clean update and have all of our family represented as well. My goal was to order the canvas prints and give them to Mike as a Father's Day gift. 

I selected photos of each family group that were somewhat similar. All of them are pictures with a casual feel where they are wearing jeans and the family members are just clustered close to one another facing the camera. I found that I could enlarge the digital shots I had to a size 12" x 16" canvas with very little distortion. So, I ordered them and patiently awaited shipping. As is often the case lately, the prints did not arrive prior to Father's Day. Yet, they did come a couple of days later and that was really alright for me as well as Mike, who is always humbled by a gift from me.

I was excited to show them to him and called him to come to the house as soon as I unboxed them. He was thrilled with them and the idea that we finally had family pictures of all of them even if we still don't have a huge photo of everybody together. I explained where I planned to hang them and he frowned. "Nobody will ever see them there unless they happen to go back there to the bathroom. Can't we put them somewhere so that anybody who visits us will see them and we can see them more often as well?"

So, my plan was foiled. I began thinking and a new idea crept upon me. In our den we have a wall where I hung high school portraits of Bridgette and Bryan alongside a beautiful portrait of a young Stephen and Laura. Both sets of photos were made at about the same time and captured our children at about the same age. So, it had worked together well when we blended our families.

Family Portraits in the Background

I decided that I could move those photos to the hallway and that would update and clean up the clutter there. Then, I could hang the new canvas prints in the space occupied by these formal portraits. As I stood there in the den, I realized that the canvas prints would be the only artwork that would not have a frame. In there we have some paintings and prints with antique frames that have gilding on them hanging above the the sofa. There are also some prints with antique frames. So, in my opinion, the casual vibe of the canvas prints needed to be dressed up a bit in order to fit.

Then, the search for reasonably priced frames of the correct size began. I found a place that made some standard frames that had a similar vibe to these prints I inherited from my Granny. I needed something that would not be too fancy but would still add a finished and polished look to the casual canvas prints. I decided the style shown below would do the job and ordered them.

Frame Style

Of course, these frames were designed for photos and came with glass. So, when they arrived, I realized that I would need to find some sort of clips or clamps to hold the canvas frame in the picture frame. Again, the search began. I measured the depth of the canvas when set inside the frame and found an appropriate clip. Then, ordered those.

Mike helped me attach the canvas prints to the frames. Then, I added the picture hanging hardware and finally hung the family portrait collection. While the entire project was a couple or three weeks in the making, we are really pleased with the finished product. Every time I catch a glimpse of the photos of the entire crew, I smile and have a little flutter of pride that we are so blessed to have such a wonderful family.