I LOVE my friend Sam's house. Everywhere you look you see signs of what's most important in her life.... her family. I've been blessed to be able to get to know her boys (
Mason &
Jack) and husband over the years. I asked Sam if she would write a post about how she's incorporated images of her family into the art of her home and she did an amazing job! I hope you are inspired by her tips and ideas to use your family as art in your home as well.
Home “Art”
Big walls used to scare me. I felt I either had to spend a fortune to buy a big enough
piece of art to fill the space or whatever smaller pieces I used would look too
small on that huge wall. Then I
had children. I no longer fear big
walls. My children are my artwork;
they fill the walls in our home.
Many people order family portraits in an 8X10 or 11X13 size
and that is about as large as they want to go. For some reason, it is outside
of many people’s comfort zone to hang very large portraits, not to mention that
they can be pretty expensive. The
first large print I bought and hung was our wedding portrait. I ordered an 18X24 canvas print, and I
admit that when I pulled it out of the box, I thought, wow, that is an
awfully big picture...of us. I was a little nervous to hang it on
the wall—hey, everybody, look at me and my new husband! But it
sure looked nice over the fireplace, and we still get so many compliments on
that picture. I love walking into
the living room and seeing a reminder of that beautiful day. And, it fills a big space!
I would encourage you to branch out and use big prints of
your family portraiture to decorate your home. I LOVE walking up our steps and seeing the smiling faces of
our sons hanging there. Here are
some ways to make using large prints easier on you (and your pocket book).
1. Using 16X20 prints fills that big wall
space! It takes far more 8X10
prints to fill large walls. I
don’t know about you, but I didn’t have THAT many 8X10s to appropriately fill
my walls.
2. If
using 16X20 prints or larger feels uncomfortable, use frames with mats. It will really make your photos look
polished AND it will take up more space on your walls.
3. Mix
and match larger frames with shelves for knick-knacks and smaller frames.
4. Think
simple! If you have two children, print a picture of each in a 16X20 and hang
them in a hallway or stairway.
Done.
5. If
you have book shelves on a way, use a larger print of your family or children
on the wall not covered by bookshelves.
6. Make
a collage wall using a variety of frames, but keep them all in the same
color. This works great in a
hallway.
7. I
LOVE the ideas on I have seen on Pinterest where you order several larger
canvas prints in either the same size or different sizes and make a collage
wall. It looks so sharp and
polished and really fills the space in a living or family room.
8. Another
idea I have seen on Pinterest is utilizing old windows or barn wood with family
photos.
9. Use
coupons and take advantage of big sales on frames. I especially like Michael’s and Kohl’s. You can end up getting large frames at
a reasonable price.
10.
Find a
photographer who will sell you the digital images and then order your own
prints.
You will save a TON OF
MONEY!
I use
www.mpix.com for my family portraits.
I pay .99 for a 5X7 and $16.99 for a
16X20.
At those prices, I don’t
mind buying the larger prints OR changing them out periodically.
My family is my greatest treasure, so it would make sense
that they would fill the spaces in our home. Sure, I have other pieces of artwork hanging as well, but
the art you will see predominately in our home, is our family. So, in conclusion, I encourage you to
print big and be bold!
~Samantha
