Guest Room Picture Wall Tutorial

This wall looks ok…

But, read on to understand how awesome it really is!

I have a confession. For whatever reason, I am particularly fond of this wall – mainly because I somehow surprised myself. Surprised with how I came up with the idea – because I have no idea where it came from! This is a great project is for several reasons:

Cheap
Easy
Anything can be used
Ties the room together
Great for practicing photography skills
Anyone can do it!

Ready to know why I think this is so cool? If you toured the guest bedroom of one of the model homes, you might recall this little nook area:

See the table there? {See where I’m headed with this?} Yes, the images from the table are what you see on the wall.

In case you’re having a challenge making the connection between a few of the pictures and the table, I have numbered the correlating images.

Cost:

Between $176.64 – $200.88 {not including tax}.

As with any other project, this cost simply provides an idea of what dollar amount you’re lookin at.

Frames: 36 @ $4.99 each {Old Time Pottery, on sale} totalling $179.64
Pictures: Free {ish} using your printer, or 36 @ $.59 a page {office depot} totalling $21.24

Pretty cheap considering 36 8 x 10″ frames take up around 10 x 12″ of space each. Allowing for 1 inch of space between each frame, the amount of wall space this takes up is 65″ across x 77″ height. 5.41 x 6.41 feet. 34.67 square feet. That’s a lot of wall space!

Materials Needed:

Camera
Computer
Printer/Print Center
Frames
Paper Cutter
Nails
Hammer
Tape Measure
Pencil

How To:

Find something that you love the visual aesthetics of {like the table I used}.
Make necessary provisions to create a situation ideal for picture taking. {Take out of glass, find area with good light, know time of day lighting is beast, etc.}
Take pics! Lots and lots of pics so you will have plenty from which to choose. Not the best photographer? No worries! There are plenty of free resources on the internet providing lots of help with improving the quality of your photographs. And, the best way to improve your skills? Taking lots and lots of pictures!
Upload digital images onto your computer.
Select photos to use.
Use digital editing software to crop and size the pictures.
Print pictures using either a home printer or print center. A home printer is obviously immediately cheaper, the print center produces a better quality. Honestly, no one will no the difference but you and your wallet. Glossy paper is nice, but not necessary – again, as no one will no the difference once it’s placed behind glass.
Cut pictures down to size.
Place photographs in frames.
Hang. {This is where those nail, hammer, tape measure, and pencil will come in handy.} As far as the measurements are concerned, I tend to prefer to hang my pictures with one inch of space between the frame edges.
- Tip: The saying: “you get what you pay for,” holds true in this case. If you buy your frames from Old Time Pottery – the price is a deal, but paid for through small inconsistencies of the bracket placement on the back. You can do one of two things:
- Use math to make up for any discrepancies of bracket placement.
- Remove all the hanger brackets from the frames, and place new ones on. Why new ones? Because most likely the brackets currently on the frames use screws. With the miniscule adjustments required, the screws won’t be far enough away from their original location to have enough wood to grip to. There are brackets that can be hammered on, eliminating that as a problem. And, they are super cheap too!