How to install a photo wall

There’s nothing better than gazing at photos of your favorite people or places as you walk through your house. I’ll show you how to install a photo wall the super simple way. It looks hard, but it’s really not.

First, choose what wall you want to use. It’s best to have the wall relatively free of switches, thermostats, etc., so you don’t need to work around too many obstacles.

Next, determine what kind of frames you want to use. For instance, all black, all white, all wood, all gold, or a mix. For a more traditional look, you could use old wooden frames that look different. For a more modern look, choose the same color frames. If you want the attention more on the photos, the same color frames will be cleaner looking with emphasis going on the photos themselves.

Once you know what you want for frames, gather them together or go purchase them. HomeGoods is a great resource for frames (all the frames from the project in this post came from HomeGoods). Buy different size frames and different photo sizes in the frames. Do not buy frames that have more than 3 photo areas (collages – those look dated) and make sure they all have the same color mat (the cardboard looking “frame” within the frame). Frames with mats are more expensive looking than ones without. Purchase frames that are meant to hang on the wall versus ones meant to sit on a table. These frames typically have mats. Always over-buy and have too many because you can always return what you don’t use. Having options will make designing the wall much easier.

So you know where you want to install your family photo wall and you have the frames, now let’s start designing!

Measure the width of your photo wall and get a piece of cardboard or kraft paper that goes from one end of your photo wall area to the other. It should be around 36″ tall as that is the typical area for organizing your frames.

Now the fun, and sometimes hardest part – placing the frames. Lay your cardboard or kraft paper on the floor and begin to lay out the frames the way that looks best. Some tips for this part …

• Place your largest frames first and work around them.
• Leave space on either side of the paper – you don’t want the frames too close to the edge of the wall. You should leave at least 4-6″ on each side.
• If you are unsure how to lay them out, an easy way is to stack them more methodically (see top photo). You can see that wall was organized in 5 “columns” with frames of different sizes and types in each “column”, but you don’t notice they are stacked.
• Try to not have frames that look alike next to each other.
• Fill in with smaller frames.
• Vary portrait versus landscape to give dimension.

Step back and look at your layout from a distance. This part can take a while and you may have to keep moving frames around until you like how it looks. If you bought extra frames, you’ll have plenty of options and different ways to make it look good. Be patient with this step – this is what your final product will look like.

Once you are happy with the layout, take a picture as you’ll want it for reference later. Then use a pencil to trace a line around each frame so you have the layout once you take the frames off the paper.

The next step is marking where the nail will go. Turn each frame over and mark on the paper where the nail should go (based on the frame hanger). Measure from the top down and from side to side (see photo below). If there are two nails being used horizontally, you will level it once the paper is on the wall, so write the word “level” so you don’t forget. If frames are getting leveled vertically, do the same as you will level that in a later step.

Take all the frames off the paper and set aside. You will now have the paper with the frames traced out and marks for where the nails should go.

Next you will hang the paper on the wall. When hanging art, the rule of thumb is the center of the picture should be eyelevel (for a regular height person). Because I am 5’2″ tall, I hang art a few inches higher than eye level since I am short. Most people hang art much too high – don’t be one of those people. 🙂 The middle of the paper should be about eye level. Get some painters tape and hang the paper on the wall using a level to get the top of the paper level. The paper may be quite heavy so use plenty of tape. Also be sure the paper is centered in the area – you may use a tape measure to make sure each side is roughly the same distance from the end of the wall.

Using picture hanging tacks, or small nails, hammer the nail into the mark on the paper. You just want to hammer it in enough to make a hole in the wall so you can see it. If you have marked “level” for any of the areas, make sure you level those now. The actual hole you place may be off slightly from what you had marked on the paper since you didn’t actually level it until now.

Once you have nail holes at each place that needs one, take the paper down. You’ll be left with lots of holes on the wall. Put tacks or nails in the holes so you can hang your frames.

Get out the photo you took earlier of the frames laid out on the paper as that will be your reference. Hang all the frames. Use a small level to level all the frames.

Now you can order your prints! You were probably wondering how to get the correct photo size and orientation. Now that the frames are installed, you will know what size photos to get and whether they should be portrait or landscape. You can edit your photos to make them all black and white, or all color. You can also edit them to zoom in on something, or put your artistic touch on them. If your photo has a lot of background showing but you want to focus on the people, crop out a lot of the background. This will make your photos look more professional. My family photo wall used to be all black and white and when I updated it with new photos, I changed them to all color. That is just personal preference – either way looks great.

Hopefully you found this to be easier than you thought! It is rewarding to see the people you love hanging on the wall, and those people will love it too. Our family photo wall is always a stop guests make as they walk through our house. Enjoy!!