because truly, that decision should influence the photos you choose.  we have sillier photographs in our bedroom gallery that cause a smile each morning but for the front entry, a mix of family portraits, holidays & important moments felt right.

let the location make some decisions for you…

would black and whites be better than color?  or perhaps vice versa?  i’m a huge fan of b&w when i’m tying together images from multiple years because it lends consistency. 

and frankly, my favorite colors are white, charcoal and black. 

because my affection for colors shift from season to season, sticking to b&w keeps me super happy long-term with a collection of images.

my aesthetic leans sharply towards simple so this was the first time i’d done anything other than a museum style arrangement. 

i kept it calm by choosing the exact same frame in different sizes.

currently, my two favorite budget friendly wall frames are:

1 – specifically the modern white 25×25 frame that holds an 8×10

 2  – we used something close to these for our hallway – but really, anything with oversized mats appeals to me!

cut wrapping paper out in the sizes of your frames (or proposed frames!  i bought one of a few sizes to experiment with and then bought the additional ones after i’d determined how many i needed).

secure corners with washi/masking/painters tape!   sara from haven helped me land on the final configuration.

it’s not until this stage that i actually started playing with images – by waiting, i could make certain ones larger and arrange them so they all felt balanced.  (so, planning out your arrangement and then making your photo order might work best! you can even hunt for frames before the session)

the part i find indispensable about this step is having the flexibility to move the pieces around so i can see how the configuration looks when the frames will be closer or further apart.

and then, once it’s all locked down it’s all about command hooks…loooooots of them.   because of the amount of frames (aka a lot of holes) and because i wasn’t 100% sure how i’d enjoy the arrangement,  i wanted to tread lightly commitment-wise ;)