hand drawn picture frames...

2013-06-18T12:49:00.000-04:00

Hand drawn picture frames has been made possible by Shutterfly and Looksi Square.

My home is full of pictures of my children, my husband and myself, but not too many of our extended family and loved ones. I’d been looking for a while for a good way to bring some more photographs into our home. When Shutterfly and Looksi Square offered me some free prints and the challenge to come up with something interesting, I got to work.

There is one wall in my home that was undone. It is the new wall in our guest room which was put up when we created a bedroom, closet and hallway out of our family room. The wall was primed but not painted and I hadn’t gotten around to figuring out what it needed yet. That is when 60 photographs came in handy. I decided to “wallpaper” a small section of the wall with photographs and then draw frames around them with a Sharpie.

Here is my inspiration...

via design aglow

I loved the mix of photographs in various shapes and sizes. The simplicity of the black frames against the colored photos has such a clean look. Organized chaos. Since the wall had not been painted it was a fun solution to a bare wall. Even though Sharpie markers are permanent, a quick coat of paint would be all I need for a new wall. The photos would be stuck on with removable glue mounts. If I wanted to update my wall I could just change any photograph with one of the same size

Starting with a blank wall...

some photographs...

and some direction I got to work.

I began by placing my pictures straight on the wall, making sure they were evenly spaced out.

Since I was using removable glue mounts I was able to reposition the photographs until I was happy with the arrangement. They are a mix of older family photographs, such as grand parents and great grandparents, and newer ones of aunts, uncles, cousins, and family friends.

Once the photos were on and I was happy with the arrangement I started working on the frames. I began drawing them in pencil first and then tracing over the pencil with the Sharpie marker. As I got more comfortable I skipped the pencil step altogether. I love the hand drawn and imperfect look.

Having this wall of photographs in the guest room means our friends and family get to see pictures of themselves when they stay for a visit. The old family photographs are casually displayed with the more recent ones for a whole wall worth of history and memories.

Looksi and Shutterfly have invited me to participate in a creative brand collaboration.

I have been provided with product compensation for this post, but all opinions are my own.

the porch - not finished but still enjoyed...

2013-06-17T09:50:00.000-04:00

I’ve been a little quiet about my porch project for a couple reasons. Well no, basically one reason. It’s been put on hold for a bit. Between unusually hot weather, then loads of rain, then end of school year chaos, as well as some surprise projects, the poor porch had to take a back seat. The ceiling was painted, the furniture was rescued or purchased, the ceiling fan and light fixture were updated, and that is when I stopped.

My middle child turned seven and yesterday was the family party. Even though the porch was not finished I decided to pretend it was. I pulled a rug out of retirement, threw it over my children's graffiti on the floor and called it a party.

In the three years that we have lived in this home we have never enjoyed the porch as much as we did last night. Some guests chatted on the loveseat and chair. The younger girls claimed the bistro table for dinner and dessert. We played games, watched the kids in the yard and basically enjoyed our new room.

So what is left for this room? I still need to paint the walls and floors. I added some lighting already and will give some more information about that in another post. I’ll be painting some furniture, hanging some drapes, and then adding the finishing touches. Just in time for summer!

No. 29 design

hand drawn picture frames...

the porch - not finished but still enjoyed...