Tips & Inspo From My Stairway Wall Photo Collage

Those of you who follow me on Facebook saw last week what became my weekend project ... finally tackling an idea I've had on my "Home Inspo Vision Board" for YEARS! Also saved in my phone photos for a LONG TIME! ;) Anyone else guilty of that?!?! Ha. You screen shot and save photos on your phone with good intentions of tackling it eventually and it stays on your phone for weeks, months and sometimes years... Yep! After 10 years of having the same photos and different framed patterned fabric on my wall for pops of color, I decided it was time for a change. Also painting my main living room and upstairs hallway a lighter shade of grey was the push that finally made me tackle it once and for all, which was a different task inspired by my new couch that came earlier this Fall. Good old house projects - the never-ending trickle effect!!! :) You truly do start with one purchase or one change and before you know it, the door is opened for 10 other projects to follow. STORY OF MY LIFE! Never-ending! But I love it and like transformation and it's therapeutic to me and keeps me busy, which I enjoy.

I thought I would share this recent House Project with the intent to share some of my inspo and tips that might inspire your own future project and help you with making future projects a bit easier. I hope at least!

I'm going to share with you guys the evolution of this space from the beginning, because I love knowing the story and history of spaces and seeing the transformation, growth and evolution throughout the years! That's what makes Transformation so fun and rewarding! I LOVE IT!

Here's what this room and stairway was when we first moved in 11 years ago.

Decals and all... God help me ;) No offense, but not my style and a bit dated.

One of my first projects I completed in this house was the stairway wall! So that's kind of neat and fitting at this time. A Full-Circle healing moment for this space to be changed. Here is the original grey we painted it when we moved in and the first project I put on this wall 11 years ago. A combo of photos in various frames and different colored fabric framed.

We also stained the steps that were raw wood that had replaced old steps and I painted the banister to match the darker wood.

My first tip to share is this - CUT OUT YOUR PHOTO SIZES WITH PAPER AND PLAY AROUND WITH THE LAYOUT ON THE FLOOR FIRST - THEN USING SAME SIZE PAPER, TAPE THE PAPER UP AND PLAY AROUND WITH PLACEMENT - LEAVING THE PAPER UP UNTIL YOU HANG THE FRAME.

Also start in the middle and then work your way up or down, just focusing on one side of the center piece photo you're building it out from.

Next Tip - I didn't take a photo of this - but IF YOU ARE USING DIFFERENT PAINT COLORS OF FRAMES ON ONE WALL - cut out some strips from a gift box or hard paper of some kind. Paint a few strips of each color you are planning on painting the frames - Then with your frames laid out in the way you want them, play around with the different colored swatches you made yourself. Save yourself some time and hassle of not painting them until you decide - you do change your mind once you start putting frames up. Yes you can swap out frames etc - but if you're dealing with different sizes and different frame types, like me, it helped to play around with colors before painting them.

Next Tip - TEXTURE TEXTURE TEXTURE! Just like I used different colored fabrics before on my photo wall, pops of something different within the wall of photos helps to visually break it up. I have wanted to use Fake Grass in frames for YEARS!!!! That is what the inspo photo was for me that I had saved on my phone for a LONG TIME! I saw it in a Decorating Magazine of mine years ago and was in love the moment I saw it and knew I wanted to do that somewhere eventually. Also - the textured frames for this of any kind make a big difference. I bought any frames that were not basic and were various sizes and then painted them each white. I took the glass out and cut the fake grass - not easy to cut - use a heavy duty cutting knife (be careful) - And then staple gun it to the frame on the back.

NEXT TIP - If it does not have a bracket on the back to hang the frame on a nail in wall - use your staple gun and staple into the back of the frame so it serves as a hook to hang it! Handy dandy!

2 days later and my project was complete!!!! Shout-out to my mom for helping me finally get this wall painted to match the lighter grey that we had painted the living room with earlier this year. We finished this wall and the upstairs hallway, which will also be getting an update later this summer after I finish my screen porch decorating soon ;) 1 project at a time.... ha.

Also shout out to her for helping me hang them!

Next Tip - Hanging multiple photos on a wall is a TWO PERSON JOB! DO NOT ATTEMPT ALONE! Trust me!

I also am a firm believer in 3 colors of painted frames on one wall. I wanted a mustard wood-like color to balance out the green grass color, so I found this color in paint and LOVE IT!!!! Also the photos being black and white make a difference! Thank you Walgreens in town! Their photo department is wonderful and they know me well! Especially after this past weekend. Made a few trips, but so helpful and so quick! I even re-printed Evan's school photo as Black & White and it turned out nice!

Hope this inspo and these tips are useful for your next project! Thanks for reading!

Live well & keep surrendering to the zest of life ... ;)

~ Jen

Really happy with how this turned out! Not gonna lie, I've sat on my couch and staired at it in awe a few times this week! :)

Also you will notice in the last photo below that I changed up my corner bench area as well. That was also part of the 1st project we ever did in this house 11 years ago - added that corner bench and the hooks on the window frame to make it an entry way and space for coats for guests since this 1918 house didn't have any closets in front of house. They didn't have "stuff" back then ;) Haven't changed the bench cushion or baskets or pillows since then! It was time for a little update and I love how it all came together!

FINAL PROJECT DONE: