In the previous house I had a collage of old black-and-white family photos on the wall, but in this house my wall space is more limited, mainly because of the windows. However we do have the stairway wall leading to the attic, which for me is a perfect spot for these types of photos.
Several of the photos had a frameless style: just some wire clips around the edges of the glass. I thought it was time to frame them properly, so I headed to my favorite framing place, Good’s of Evanston. The staff there are always extremely helpful, have great suggestions for frame styles, and also take your budget into account — framing can get pretty pricey!
I kept with their pre-made, standard-size frames as much as possible to keep costs down, but I couldn’t resist this ultra-cool, burl-like frame for this circa 1910 photo of my grandmother (the tall girl in white), her siblings and my great-grandparents (far right), taken in front of their farmhouse in southern Illinois (the same house where my cast-iron stove came from).
But their pre-made silver frame worked great for my favorite wedding photo of my parents.
Now to figure out a good arrangement for the 8-10 photos I have. With this number of photos, I’m kind of glad the stairway wall is sheetrock instead of plaster — I can just pound in nails willy-nilly with no drilling involved.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi, Denise,
I think making use of the stairway is a perfect idea for the family photos. I share a duplex with my daughter and I am using my front stairway for the same purpose. Love that frame!
Bonnie
Thanks Bonnie! I’ve always loved a wall of photos in stairways, but previously living in a ranch I never had the opportunity. So even though the stairway leads to an unfinished attic at the moment, I’m looking forward to doing this.