Where and How to Hang Family Photos
via Studio McGee
Raise your hand if you struggle to get your family photos off of your phone or computer and onto your walls! 🙋♀️
Photos and other special pieces are what help make your home yours, but it can be hard to know how to integrate some of those sweet, sentimental images into your home. Where should you hang them? What makes them look good all together?
I’ve got some “design friendly” ideas and some great examples that should get your wheels turning, so let’s jump in!
1. Let’s start with the “where” question.
There are SO many good spots for family photos, but there’s also a little bit of nuance about how to do it well. Let’s start just by listing out some natural places for them to live, and then as you go through this post, you’ll get a fuller picture (no pun intended) for what kinds of family photos might work best in those spots.
Down a hallway
Up the staircase
Over a piece of furniture like a sofa
In a bedroom
On a horizontal surface like a bookshelf, top of a credenza, on a mantel
The only places I probably wouldn’t generally hang family photos are in a guest room or bathroom. There are certainly exceptions to that, but hey, this is a general guide, right!?
via Emily Henderson
2. Single image or gallery wall?
In general, I think family photos look really great in groupings of two or more if you’re hanging them on a wall. If you’re displaying framed photos on a surface, then stick to between one and three. That keeps it from looking too cluttered or crowded.
If you decide you’d like to blow up a single photo to hang in a spot like over a sofa, choose an image that’s a little more abstract or scenic where the focus is more on the environment, but includes the people. A big image of your kids’ faces could be a little much, but an image of your family taken from a distance in a beautiful setting could definitely work! Take a look at the image above from Emily Henderson that shows a good example of how to do that well. Oversized photos like these are more about remembering a moment or a place rather than displaying the perfect family photo. Save those for another spot!
For a gallery wall, you have a great opportunity to mix things up - in fact, I recommend doing just that! Don’t stick to just those perfectly posed family photos where everyone looks pristine. Those are wonderful, but be sure to include some candid shots, closeups, wide shots, and vantage points. This makes that gallery wall feel like it’s full of life - just like your family.
via Cup of Jo
3. Black and white or color?
This is totally your preference! I will chime in on framing though depending on which direction you go.
For color photos, I like to unify a group by using the same color frame. You can create a symmetrical grid with all the same size frames or you can mix in different sizes depending on the look you want.
For black and white photos, you have a little more freedom if you want to create a more eclectic gallery wall with different frames. Because the photos are all monochromatic, you can play with different frame finishes to suit your style. You can never go wrong with a grid of the same size/style of frame though!
And one last thing - I generally think that family photos look best if they’re all color or all black and white.
4. Mats or no mats?
This is another one that comes down to which look you like best (and that may vary based on the spot you hang them!), but I’m really loving the look of a frame with an oversized mat. It makes a big impression, looks very sleek, and doesn’t force you to print giant photos of your family that are a little too “in your face” if you know what I mean 😉.
I shared a big post over on the Mix & Match Design Co. blog about frames like these along with some sources over here if you like the idea of this look. I wrote it in the context of framing art, but it certainly works for photos too!
