She had done her homework:  all the photography was ready for me and in gorgeous frames, no less.  Framing them in the same frame finish makes the grouping cohesive, but it’s great to vary the actual frame design like she did here.  I worked on the design on the floor before I started swinging my hammer.

Here’s the hallway that was just waiting for a reason to be noticed . . .

Now this hall has a reason for living – showing off the beautiful family that lives here!

Now the Hall of Shame is the Hall of Fame.  What do you think?

If you need help creating a Hall of Fame for your family photos, contact The Decorologist for a design intervention (kristie@thedecorologist.com).

I took pics with my cell phone, which takes crappy pictures.  I apologize upfront for the quality of the pictures, but the ideas are worth the sometimes-fuzzy photography.

The funnest home on the tour is a kid-friendly wonderland of color and artistic expression.   The lady of the house is NOT afraid of color, and NOT afraid of taking chances.  And that pays off bigtime – what an original and confident family home.  I am reminded of artist Carl Larsson’s Swedish home, a kind of creative rustic colorama.

The living room walls have randomly-spaced vertical stripes in two tones of warm yellow paint.  The homeowners mounted an old painted kitchen cabinet on the wall right inside the front door.  Reminds me of a check-in desk in an old country bed and breakfast.  Love that old-timey screen door!

It takes creativity and confidence to line the wall going up your stairs with these colorfully-painted frames.  What a fun family photo gallery.  I dare you to walk up the stairs without smiling.  It can’t be done!

I love this fabulous girly bedroom.  The huge tufted headboard is gorgeous.  And I’m impressed with anyone who is confident enough to install hot pink shag carpet!

Here’s another view of that room.  What a darling tufted chair and ottoman.  Love the bold fabric combinations.

Here’s a lovely child’s room.  Bright blue walls and forest green shag carpet!  Isn’t that old reclaimed door delightful?  It had been sanded to reveal multiple layers of different paint colors, just adding to its charm.

Why not paint your bunkbeds dark pink?  And check out the birdhouse chandelier.

See how momma hung pretty dresses on the wall?  What a great way to stretch the use of those “wear them once” portrait dresses.  Similar dollhouse bookcases are available at Pottery Barn Kids and Target.  The Capiz pink disc non-light chandelier is from Pottery Barn Teen.

Even the dining room is colorful and fun.  A distressed dresser fills in as a sideboard, topped with a fancy silver tea set.  Love the artwork, don’t you?

This is the master bedroom.  Very inviting and cozy.  I bet those kids pile up on this bed with their parents on Saturday mornings.   Such an interesting green glass-front cabinet filled with a colorful quilt and blanket collection.  There’s obvious glare on the artwork, but it’s a painting of orange koi in a pond.  Very fun and unexpected.

We should move on to rooms in other houses!  Here’s a vibrant green dining room.  I just loved the symmetrical grouping on and above the sideboard.  The pair of lamps add such a nice glow.  You just can’t get that with an overhead light.

I know this is terribly blurry, but I had to show you this photo gallery in a den.  All black and white, with a mix of gold and black frames.  This homeowner started with the large oval piece in the middle, then worked out from there.  Nicely done.

I really liked how this homeowner used a padded folded screen to extend the headboard on this lovely bed.  It really helps make this bed the focal point of the room and feel more elegant.  The symmetry of the pairs of side tables and matching lamps help, too.

This bathroom has such a elegance to it.  Pale green walls, marble countertops, classic chrome fixtures.  But it’s those two sconces with the rectangular shades that take this bathroom to another level.   Feels like a fancy hotel.

Even a small master bedroom can feel rich and sophisticated using classic color combination like browns and blues.  A dresser acts as a bedside table.  The bedding looks luxurious with the puffy comforter folded down at the end of the bed.

I was blown away by this home – a meticulously restored and improved Craftsman-Style masterpiece.  Lots of lustrous wood trim, coffered ceilings, elaborate built-ins, and the beautiful fireplace.  Art pottery graces the mantel.  That furniture piece on the right is a large and luscious divan/daybed for afternoon naps by the fire.  Can I move in?

This Craftsman home is brimming with William Morris reproduction wallpaper.  This is not your ordinary wallpaper.  The walls in each of the rooms on the main floor are works of art.  Check out the old servants’ buzzer.

French country more your style?  Look at this lovely, Frenchy guest bedroom.  Perfectly symmetrical twin beds, fluffy coverlets folded at the end, padded headboards, and simple benches at the end of each.  Of course I love the dainty crystal chandelier, but the ornate crystal sconce hanging unexpectedly between the beds takes my breath away!

What a lovely indoor/outdoor space.  The iron furniture and concrete architectural fragments say “outside,” while the hanging light fixture, sideboard, and large window-pane mirror say “inside.”

I love this child’s bedroom.  The azure blue walls, the antique bed, the exposed brick chimney are charming.  I really like how they filled the space between the chimney and corner with a full-length cork board.  Functional and decorative, it adds reality to this almost perfect room.  There are similar ruffle pillows available at Pier 1.

Although not my own style, this piece of modern art really caught my eye in the last home we toured.   It’s a surrealistic painting with part of a French chair protruding from it.   Definitely a conversation piece.  The homeowners make it stand out by positioning it at the end of a hallway and lighting it so that it is a focal point that draws you down the hallway.

Hope you liked the tour.  I hope this encourages you to check out neighborhood home tours in your area!

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• Choose a hallway or one wall over a sofa or dining room buffet.  Gather various shapes and sizes of frames.  Choose all silver or gold, or spray paint them all the same color – black, cream, gray, light blue.  Or, choose 3 styles of frames that are similar in finish to give the arrangement more depth and interest. 
• Use black and white pictures for a clean, fresh look.  This works equally well for traditional, period, or  modern/contemporary homes.
• Use grid in rectangle or square shape, aligned on one axis (center, top, or bottom).  For ever-expanding photo galleries, I typically use a rectangle grid aligned on a center horizontal axis.  This kind of arrangement can easily be added onto over time.
• The key to making this look neat is to to keep the distances between pictures fairly constant.  A half-inch to an inch works nicely.
• Experiment with the layout on the floor or cut out craft paper patterns with tape to test on wall first.
• Draw an imaginary horizontal line a few inches below eye level on the wall and hang 5 pictures from it.  Make sure you vary the sizes of the pictures and hang at least one horizontally.  Next, hang 6 pictures where they hang a half-inch above that imaginary line.  Stagger the placement of those pictures with those hanging below the line.  Again, vary the sizes of the pictures.  Now, stack pictures above that row you just finished.  Make sure some are hung horizontally and are of different sizes.

Don’t be intimidated to try this yourself!  What’s a couple of nailholes, anyway?  You mess up, you try again.  And any misplaced holes will be covered by the whole photo grouping when it’s all said and done.  Your husband will be none the wiser.

Here they are.  All the secrets to hanging your artwork so that you will not be mocked for hanging it poorly:

Match frame shape to wall shape.  Hang a vertical piece of art when you have a vertical sliver of wall.  Hang a horizontal piece of art or a horizontal grouping on a wall that is a horizontal rectangle.

When hanging something over furniture, extend the shape of the furniture with how you hang it.  Follow the lines of the furniture, either vertical or horizontal.  Never hang a single vertical frame above the horizontal shape of a sofa.  Don’t allow frames to extend beyond the outside edges of the furniture.

 Group like shapes, frame to furniture.  For example, hang a horizontal piece of art or horizontal grouping of art above a horizontal sofa.   In general, hang items at eye level or in direct connection with furniture.  4-6 inches up from furniture is a good rule of thumb.

Don’t limit yourself to just pictures on the walls.  Try hanging trays, platters, dinner plates, architectural fragments, candle sconces, musical instruments, collections, etc.  Mirrors are great to reflect light and increase sense of space.  

There you go, all the secrets.  Oh, I almost forgot the most important one:  don’t be afraid to put some nailholes in your wall.  I don’t care what your husband says, you will cover up most of your mistakes when you finally hang some pictures!!!!   Stay tuned – I am working on a post about creating your own wall photo gallery.

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