guest post: photo wall from she's crafty

 photo walls are everywhere... 
here is one take on a photo wall from one of my lovely lovely sponsors. enjoy!

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Hi there Rouge and Whimsy readers! I'm Laura Kate of {she's crafty} and I'm so excited that Erika invited me to do a guest post on her blog. As a girl who lives in a tiny (and when I say tiny, I mean ridiculously small) flat in London, I am always excited by decorating ideas that I can *do.* Especially as a renter. I can't paint. I'd love to knock half a wall down by my kitchen. And the carpet really is boring. But these things I can't do much about. Thankfully, my landlord has no problem with picture nails. My favorite decorating solution? Photo walls. There are a lot of ideas out there on the subject. Some good. Some less than good. Today I'm going to share with you my tips on creating a splendid one. I hope you enjoy!

the main photo wall in our living room
When it comes to creating your own photo wall I say this: learn to make choices. My home has 3 of these walls. 2 large and 1 small. The 2 in my living room share the same concept/theme and aesthetic (and use all the same type of frame), while the other (in my entry hallway) does its own thing. I feel that photo walls work when you either match like with like (as seen here) or completely mix and match (as seen here). Both those walls are vibrant, even though one is completely without color in both photos and frames. It's all about how you roll with it.

a small wall behind our couch has only a little frame cluster but sticks to the same aesthetic of frame type and non-people photos as the main living room wall  My 2nd tip is to go with a theme for your photos. My main squeeze (lovingly referred to as The Scot for those who might not follow my blog) and I decided that our living room would be home to our photography and mainly that from our life and times together. No people appear in our living room photos, save for an arty shot of our shadows in the snow. Do we dislike the people in our lives? No! Of course not. But we decided more to focus on places and the feelings and thoughts and memories they evoke. As I write this post, I'm sitting on my couch facing our main wall o'frames. At a glance I remember being kissed on top of Rockefeller Center, being rained upon as I first discovered Scotland, the seemingly endless sunny summer I first moved to London, and a funny incident in the gift shop of Windsor Castle. Photos take you back. I love this wall I found that both mixes everything up (with frame types/styles) and yet sticks to a theme (family photos). It works.

the photo wall in our entry hallway is all about friends, family and funky frames  If you decide to create a wall like this in your home, I give one big suggestion: PLAN. Plan out your photos. Plan out your frames. Plan out your space. I used the floor of my hallway to lay the frames on the floor in the same layout I planned on using before I hung them on the wall. And I measured. So I knew more or less what I was working with. In my living room I made sure to keep things equidistant from the edge of the wall on each end and have common top and bottom edges overall, even if it's not clear at first to the naked eye. Let it breathe. Give it space. I saw this wall plan and just wanted to give those frames some room to move. The eye gets overwhelmed when there's no white space (or blue space or yellow space or what have you) to process images.



Whatever you do, HAVE FUN! Remember, your photo wall is for you and your family or goldfish or boyfriend or girlfriend or cat. Simply for whoever lives in your space with you. Or simply for yourself. Sort it. Plan it. Love it. I hope you've enjoyed this guest post. Thanks again Erika for having me!

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thank you laura kate!

p.s. giveaway winners! simplysara you won the earl-leigh giveaway!
and Nay you won the polkadot pretties giveaway!
check your email! :)