Gone are the days, thank goodness, of the multi-photo frame hanging on the hallway wall between the foyer and the kitchen–or at least gone are the boring metal frames with ocher-colored mats and predictable arrangements.  Now it’s easy to recreate that concept, only with more attractive frames.

Better yet, creating a photo wall with several frames of two or three pictures, or even single-photo frames of different sizes and shapes arranged creatively yields a contemporary and dramatic effect.  We’ve done this in our apartment, in a more or less clock-like arrangement, with our wedding photo at the center, our individual photos at noon and six o’clock, and each of our families filling in the sides.

I’ve been thinking of some of the ways I’ve seen art created and used as a feature.  One way to add an edgy twist to a black-and-white photo is to add paint, outlining key shapes, and adding depth and dimension.

Alternating other mediums with photographs is another way to liven up a feature wall.  For instance, if you’re a nature lover, simply take cuttings of  some favorite flowers or plants, and make color photocopies of them, with white paper as background.  It’s almost like pressing flowers without the mess, and it lets you have fresh flowers, in a sense, every day, without the expense–you’ll always have your favorites to look at.

You can always maintain freshness in your featured art or photo wall by creating a rotating gallery of your own choosing.  Rotate photos and art with the seasons, or switch them out when you have new photos to show and share.  This also makes your best memories available to visitors without having to drag out cumbersome photo albums and scrapbooks.

One way to create a big effect is to have a family portrait painted professionally based on a favorite family photograph.  Our relatives did this by having a large portrait painted of a studio photograph.  It hangs over the mantle and the effect is stunning.

Another type of frame that has always intrigued me is a video frame that displays what looks like a still photograph, but actually plays a video, or at least scrolls through several digital photos like a slide show.  I saw this concept once on Star Trek and it seemed like something in the distant future.  I guess the future is now.

Art has even become a way to hide electronic media, in effect, with “paintings“, the canvases of which retract to reveal a flat screen TV.  A less inexpensive way to achieve this might be an artistic screen saver, which may allow you to even choose your own photography to display.

A much pricier, more dramatic, and more difficult feature to implement, is a custom wall mural, which is essentially made of several panels of wall paper that is printed with a photograph or large mural.

With so many choices, it’s easy to put our best photo forward.

Author: Kelly Thacher

Kelly has been a writer since she was in grade school where she received early recognition for her Young Author's project. Magazines like Home Entertainment, Luxury Consumer Electronics, Vertical Living, Luxury Home and the Robb Report were happy to have Kelly's editing talents on various projects. A series of career twists and turns has offered her invaluable experience in journalism, magazine and book publishing, and fiction writing.

Kelly Thacher has written 30 articles for us.