Want to make your house look more homey? You know, warm, inviting, personal? Try displaying those family photos.
This might sound like something you've considered doing but keep putting off because it is such a chore to go through all those pictures and sort them out.
One way to get you out of the procrastinating mode is to hang one or two pictures straight out of your next processed roll of film. That will at least get you started and, hopefully, in the right mood. Slowly but surely you will find locations in your home that could use a little family atmosphere, and that might be all you need to tempt you to go into that closet to start digging out more family portraits.
Where to begin:
First, you need not worry about the picture itself and its compatibility with the rest of the room. If you like the picture, it will be perfect for any room. What makes it all come together, creating the sense of unity you do want, is having the pictures matted and framed in the color and style that fits the decor of the room. The frames do not have to be identical to each other, so long as they are compatible with the decor of the room as well as with each other.
How to arrange on the wall:
A single picture must be large enough for the wall on which it will be hung or you will create a desolate look instead of a warm, inviting one. Groupings are usually better, and though all your children's high-school graduation pictures matted and framed and hung in a row will make you proud, a few other pictures of different sizes around them will offer a more creative look. Here's a little arranging advice: Don't hang the pictures too close to each other or you will end up with a cluttered look. Then again, don't hang them too far apart or you will lose that unified look.
Subject matter:
Related subjects usually work best in a group. Let's take your graduate again. Place two or three other pictures of the same person at different stages in her life and place those pictures around the graduation picture. Now you've created a picture story.
Hanging:
Measure the space you intend to use as a photo wall, then spread and tape newspapers on the floor to that same size. Now arrange and rearrange your framed pictures on the newspaper until you are satisfied with the finished look. Trace each picture on the newspaper and mark where the hook will go. Now, tape the newspaper to the wall, using drafting tape so you don't peel the wall off when you remove the tape. Nail the hooks into the place according to your markings on the newspaper. Then remove the paper and hang your pictures.
Simple.
Rosemary Sadez Friedmann, a member of the American Society of Interior Designers, is president of Rosemary Sadez Friedmann Inc. in Naples, Fla.