Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Displaying your Art

I have been thinking back to my first post here at Focusing on Life about sharing your images with others (you can read that here).  That and Susan's post last week about creating artwork from your images got me thinking about finding ways to display my images around my home for my family and me to enjoy.  Wow!  I never would have believed there was so much inspiration out there!  Just Google "photography displays" and you will find so many wonderful ideas.  I want to share some ideas and inspirations with you because often people love their photographs and have a lot of them but have no idea how to display them in their home. 

First thing!!!  Never underestimate the power of one large single image displayed in your home.  The most common problem people have with single images is that they don't get them printed big enough to add drama to the room.  I suggest getting images printed on canvases.  It's a great investment and ready to hang art (no frame required).  For a room that's large, I wouldn't print anything smaller than 20x30.  That's a perfect size for displaying images over fireplaces, above a bed, and behind a couch.  Here's a canvas wrap of our family Christmas card photo printed at 20x30 that is hanging in our entry hall:


It never ceases to elicit comments from all who enter our home and, even more than that, we get to enjoy it every time we pass by.

I know many of you know Barbara Carroll and have been inspired by her work.  She is someone who really knows how to display her images.  I loved this old window that she used as a frame for a photo of her children that she has hanging in her entry hall of her home.  She told me that she printed out her photo in six different pieces, one for each section of the window.  That way she was able to print this out on her home printer.  I think finding a wonderful window like this would be the hard part!


This is a canvas that she has above her mantel.  She converted her image to black and white, added a texture and word art and uploaded it to have it printed on a 20x30 canvas.  It is simply stunning!



I found another canvas idea on Erin Cobb's website.  She created a 36x36 document on her computer, filled it with nine 12x12 images and  then  uploaded it to be printed on canvas.  There are two canvases hanging side by side.  You can imagine the impact of something this big hanging on your wall.


A couple of years ago, I was inspired by this photo grouping by Tara Whitney that she posted on her blog:


She printed out individual 12x12 images and framed them with frames from Ikea.  You can read her post about them here.

And I just LOVE this idea shared the wonderful Ali Edwards on her blog for using a type drawer to display small photos in a big way:


Of course, there are other ways to display your photos besides hanging them on your walls.  I loved this idea  from Marie Claire magazine:

 

I plan on copying this idea, using plain cardboard magazine holders from the office supply store, printing out one large photo and dividing it into fourths and then attaching it to the ends of the magazine holders.  Such a fun idea for your home office!

So there's no excuse for keeping your wonderful images hidden away on your computer.  Print them, frame them, display them any way you want to but get them out of hiding so they can be enjoyed by not only your friends and family but by you as well.  Please share some of your display ideas in our Flickr pool.


And don't forget to keep shooting your images of spring to share in Claudia's Linky party tomorrow.  You just might want to frame some of them for your walls!


28 comments:

A Creative Grace said...

These are wonderful ideas, thank you so much for sharing them :)

Carol said...

Wow Terri - You outdid yourself on this one! What a great grouping of terrific ideas!. Just before Christmas, I took all of my photos down to repaint and rethink my few little walls in my old colonial house. I'm still thinking! I'm stuck!
I have a lovely family grouping, and I have treasured ancestor photos - but if I use two of my three clear walls for them, it leaves no room for my current creativity! And, I'd like to have some kind of a work in progress hanging (like the SHutter Sisters' clothesline) to stare at photos that I'm deciding about. Then I have the pics I have spent money framing for shows, and I have photos and art that I've purchased over the years! Really - not enough walls!!
Your ideas here are really helpful because they use multiple images - you've sent me in a new direction!
And I WILL be googling!
Thanks Terri!

Deanna said...

Oh I do love this post. I have been gathering photo display ideas on Pinterest for awhile now, and I just had my first pic printed on canvas...still anxiously awaiting to receive it. Thank you for this very inspiring post. And your family canvas is wonderful!!!

stephmull said...

What an awesome post, Terri! I love all the ideas! I actually have lots of big walls in my house and some of them have my photos, but others I just seem to be stuck at how to fill it up. So thanks for all the inspiration!

Jeanine LeRoy aka Pamela Shaw said...

Oh my! this was inspirational. thank you for all these ideas.

Deanna...if you read this...I'm leroy1965 on Pinterest. I would love to follow you...

Cathy H. said...

Terri, wonderful post!! I'm one of those that doesn't display my photos! How sad is that!! I'm not very good at decorating, so I ignore it!! You've given me some wonderful ideas! Maybe I'll challenge myself to find an area and display my photos!

Lola said...

Wonderful post, Terri...so much inspiration! We have only a couple of photos in our home...unbelievable for having to photographers residing here! I love the idea of the magazine holders and printing LARGE!

Dotti said...

Such amazing ideas here, Terri! I want to try each one! :) I have a couple of large canvas prints in my home of travel photos as well as a couple of smaller ones and I've given a couple to my daughter. I just love canvas prints! I'm getting ready to do some for my husband's office and one or two more for home. But I love some of these other ideas as well. Now I'm ready to take down old wall hangings and put up a whole new look of my "art" rather than somebody else's. Thanks for pushing me over the edge!

xxoo
Dotti

Claudia said...

As a professional interior designer, I always was frustrated with clients who would always opt for the "tried and true" good ol 8x10. Not only is balance is important but critical to an over all feeling in a room.

I really enjoyed you sharing this great ideas. Especially the one about the desk magazine holders... something everyone could do and enjoy simply!

Unknown said...

What an inspiration! I have so many beautiful photos and most of them are sleeping on a disk somehwere, hiding in my computer or buried in a drawer. I will use some of your ideas!

Nancy said...

Thank you so much for all the wonderful display ideas...I am off to try some of your ideas...

terriporter said...

Oh, Cathy, I can think of several of your photos that would look amazing hanging on the wall! You will be surprised at how happy it makes you to see them every time you pass by. Costo does a great job at gallery wraps, if you're interested in doing that. So, no procrastinating!

terriporter said...

I have the opposite problem -- not enough walls for everything I want to do! I thought of you when I saw the nine-grid black & whites that Erin Cobb did. That would be so great with photos of your kids!

terriporter said...

You will love the canvas, Deanna! Take a picture of it to share when you receive it.

terriporter said...

Glad you found some inspiration here, Lola! I think living with your art is a way to reward yourself for all the hard work capturing just the perfect image. Deciding which one (or several) to use is the hard part!

terriporter said...

I agree with you, Claudia! Bigger is so much better! Glad you liked the magazine holder idea. It's definitely something I want to do also.

terriporter said...

So glad to hear you are "living with your art", Dotti! I love canvas prints too and my only problem is not enough wall space! I think I need a bigger house! Glad you found some inspiration here.

terriporter said...

Jeanine, I can think of several of your images I would definitely blow up reallllly big and do a canvas wrap! Whenever I pass by mine, it just makes me so happy. Small price to pay for the thrill of seeing something you've create4d hanging on your wall. Hope you found somethings here you want to try.

terriporter said...

Glad you found some inspiration here, Carol. I know what you mean about wall space. I think you need a bigger house!

terriporter said...

Glad you enjoyed them, Ruth, and I hope you found something you want to try. My problem is I want to try them all and I need a bigger house with more walls in order to do that! Thanks for visiting.

terriporter said...

Hi, Judy! So good to see you here! Yes, yes, yes! Get those photos off your computer and onto your walls -- you will be so happy that you did. Thanks for visiting.

terriporter said...

Glad you found some inspiration here, Nancy. Take a photo of the display idea you decide on to share with us in our Flickr group. Would love to see it!

Unknown said...

Terri, What a glorious post. Looks like it would make a wonderful magazine article. I love Marie Claire magazine too.

Your family is beautiful, and what a lovely keepsake. I love all of the ideas for displaying photographs, and my favorite has to be the dining room photo. Thank you for sharing this inspiration.

Karen

susan said...

Terri...what a fantastic post with some awesome ideas!!! Thank you, thank you! Will most likely be trying one of these super ideas out!

terriporter said...

Thanks so much, Karen, and I'm glad you found some inspiration here. With all the wonderful photos you take, I hope you have some on display for everyone (especially yourself!) to enjoy.

terriporter said...

Thanks so much, my friend! I know you were inspired at camp to make the clothesline display for your studio but I hope one of your amazing images is also blown up nice and large and hanging in your home somewhere. Glad to have provided some inspiration.

Barbara said...

I am sitting here with 4 Ikea frames on the wall with nothing in them, I have been trying to figure out which of my images I want in them, now that is sad. I can't seem to make up my mind what i want and how to crop to get the images just right. I hate cropping especially in a square or vertical, horz is so much easier at least for me. Rambleing here, guess it is the frustration of seeing frames without images. :)

Linda said...

I just recently saw the window frame idea on Pinterest and pinned it. Love that one! And I love canvases! Lots of great ideas here! I will be trying a few for sure! (I also love IKEA!)

xo,
Linda

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