Framing photographs and gallery walls

A couple of years ago I was referred to a new client through a painter that I had collaborated with on another home. What began as a simple paint color consultation quickly turned into a full house renovation. I posted a few before and after photos here and here but because the house was never completely finished I have not taken a complete set of final photographs.

Because the renovation was so much more than they had originally planned on and because of the extent of the work (and the disruption to their lives), we split the job into two phases. Last year we completed the downstairs. We painted and changed out hardware, put in new hardwood floors and carpet, changed the fireplaces and purchased new furniture and accessories throughout. 

Before

Almost finished

After the painting was completed, the furniture installed and the artwork re-hung, came the task of displaying the family's many photographs. The client is very sentimental and wants to see all her photographs displayed where she can see them. She had a quite a few of those sports plaques - you know the ones where they give you a small photo of your child, a larger team photo and a medal and mount it on wood behind a piece of plexiglass. Some were hung on walls in various rooms in her house and some were all lined up on ledges in her hallway. The photos were old and faded and we talked about what to do with them. I thought they could go in a scrapbook but she really wanted them out where she could see them, so I had my sister take those little faded photos and she restored and enlarged them. We framed them and hung them in one of the hallways.

Now, a year later, we are finishing up the upstairs part of the house renovation and she came across more photos that she wanted to display in the same way.

When I am framing photos for a gallery wall, I start by selecting frames that will compliment each individual photograph and also look well grouped together. Because this gallery wall was going in the master bedroom, I wanted it to be somewhat formal and to coordinate with the furnishings in the room. I selected a few frames that might not have been as "masculine" as I might have done if just framing an individual photo (of their son, for example) but that worked well in the group and gave the feel I was trying to achieve with the overall gallery wall. When I am selecting frames, I lay out the general surface area I will be working with and when I am happy with the way I have it laid out, I take a photograph of them. Because I often add or change the mats that come with the frames, taking a quick photo helps later to remember what went with what.

On install day, I lay the photos out on a large surface (usually the floor), check the outside measurement to make sure it will fit well on the wall where it is being hung and then write down a few of the inside measurements to get a roadmap for hanging them. Sometimes I start in the middle and work my way out and other times (like I did with this wall) I start  on one side and work my way to the other side. 

Normally I like photographs individually framed and am not a huge fan of grouping photos inside one frame. But on this wall, since space was limited and there were so many photographs, I needed to group a few and I think it came out quite nice actually. 

I knew when we hung this wall of family photographs last year, that it might be added to someday (weddings, grandchildren, etc.) and there was room for a "few" more frames. Last week, my client came across "quite a few" more family photos and was hoping to add them to the gallery wall above the piano. I was not sure if they would fit, but framed them all and figured we would make room for them somewhere. 

I re-framed one photograph to make it smaller, used that existing larger frame for one of the new larger photographs and only had to re-locate one photograph.

Family photo wall before:

The photograph on the far right was removed and will be relocated with two more new photographs that are currently being framed on another wall in the house. The large vertical black frame in the middle was used for a large horizontal photograph. The framed photograph on the piano was moved to the upstairs' bedroom gallery wall.

Family photo wall after:

I actually like the new wall better. I love when things turn out that way!

Framing memories & living room reveal

I have been working for months on a house that started out just being a "specify paint color" project (see previous post here). It quickly escalated into a full house renovation. We replaced all the wood flooring and carpet, replaced doors and windows, updated lighting and fireplaces, refinished cabinets, added new cabinets, put in new sinks and faucets, replaced counters and purchased a few rooms of new furniture. And that is just the first floor. It has been a long and somewhat slow process at times but last weekend we made great strides in seeing the fruits of our hard labor. Saturday was install day and my sister the photographer kindly came along to assist me in placing furniture, hanging artwork and most importantly restoring and framing family photographs. We still have a way to go and it is quite evident after studying the photos how much still needs to be done to bring the rooms into their full glory but we have come along way from where we started. I will be bringing in fabrics through window coverings and pillows to soften everything, placing lamps to add much needed lighting and also visual interest and of course incorporating some new accessories. But the 'bones' are there.

Before I blogged, I rarely took photographs of my work. I am learning through trial and error and also from reading wonderfully informative design blogs how to go about photographing rooms, especially before and after photos. You should take your before photos with the after photos in mind; taking both from the same angles. I didn't. You should also take your photographs during the daylight hours when you have plenty of natural light and you should never use a flash. 

We worked all day and finished around 8PM at night - whew! The sun had gone down and the room has no lighting yet. So hello flash. It was the best I could do. 

Here is the way the living room looked on my first visit:

The fireplace was large and too bulky for the room. It was also outdated and the client said she was never really all that happy with it. I wanted to get rid of the raised hearth to make more room for a conversation area. I did not like the way her sofa was so far away from the other chairs in the room. So we made a few changes. 

We took out the hearth and replaced it with 2x4" travertine 'tiles' and a limestone hearth and added a beautiful custom mantle. The newly painted walls, baseboards and carpet give the room a fresh new look.

The painted mantle set the stage for a few other changes ... We replaced the light oak entry doors (double doors) with a single door with a sidelight and painted the inside white and the outside a beautiful shade of dark blue. We also painted the previously all oak staircase. Although the client loved her oak, painting some of it white really brightened up the house. 

Updated staircase:

Here is the room before (to refresh your memory):

And here is the room now:

After we placed the furniture where we wanted it we went to work hanging artwork. In the downstairs hallway the client previously had some oak ledges that held her son's sports plaques. The kind that come with a small 2"x3" photo of your child and a group photo of the team put onto a wood plaque and covered with plexiglass. Her sons are grown now and the photos had faded. When we removed the ledges to paint she asked me about putting them back up. I suggested restoring the photos, enlarging them and putting them in nicer frames. She agreed. My sister worked her photoshop magic on the photos and enlarged them to fit in the frames that I had previously purchased. Then we placed the photos in the frames and arranged them the way I wanted them to be placed on the wall.

When I purchase frames to make an art wall, I place them the way I want while I am still at the store. I purposely select frames in different colors and styles to add interest. I try to buy more than I will need just in case. My preference is to put in black & white photos but for these photos the colors were important - they showed the team colors. 

Before I begin hanging the frames, I take a photo of them the way I want them to look. Then I take a few measurements; my width and height, and a how far apart they are in a few areas to give me direction. Then I find my center (both on the wall and the frame arrangement) and then start hanging. It is one of my favorite things to do!

© Prizler Photography

© Prizler Photography

While we were placing the client's things back into her living room we noticed that her family photos were framed in outdated frames and they were not up to the level of the new living room. So we went out and purchased some new frames and hung a beginning family wall over her piano and reframed a beautiful family group portrait.

Adding those personal touches is the most gratifying part of styling a room for me because it is what takes the room from "my vision" to "home" for the client.