Custom Photo Wall

Over the years I've seen umpteen examples of photo walls leading up staircases which always catch my eye. I'm not sure if it was the thought of purchasing multiple picture frames, or just not having a clear idea of what I wanted to frame, but I hadn't  been motivated to do this myself until recently.

While perusing Pinterest I recently saw the post-gone-viral about custom whimsical frames and I was officially inspired to create my photo wall. I had also recently seen a post about doing a family tree of photos so I had my theme - a family tree of wedding photos.

My first stop was Michaels to purchase the unfinished wooden plaques that would act as my frames. They have a good variety of shapes and sizes ranging from $1 - $3. I also picked up some Mod Podge (satin finish), hangers for the plaques, and black & white spray paint.

For the photographs I printed out pictures on photo paper at home. Since I was doing photos from years past, and because our walls are brown, I decided to go with a sepia tone finish.

(Note: The photo is not adhered to the plaque at this stage.
I simply taped it on to get a feel for the look)

I wanted to create a custom, vintagey feel so I first sprayed the plaques black with a couple coats of spray paint. Once they were dry to the touch (about 30 minutes) I used a bar of wax to coat the corners and edges of the frames. Then I sprayed them white with a couple more coats. After the white paint dried completely I took a swatch of sandpaper and gently sanded over the edges where I used the wax. This helped the white paint come off easily and created the distressed look I was going for.

I then mod podged my photos onto the plaques and adhered the wall mounts to the backs.

Then it was time for mounting these suckers on the wall. I think I was most intimidated by this step of the process. I already don't love putting holes in my walls, but the thought of 11 different frames with a specific layout in mind was a little scary. I started by laying my plaques out on the counter in my desired pattern. I then took a picture so when I hung them I could reference it easily.

Then my genius husband suggested I make cutouts of the plaques on paper so I could play with my layout on the wall before putting holes everywhere.  I'm so glad I did this step because it took a little tweaking to get it exactly how I wanted it.

And once I had the paper where I wanted it, it was as simple as 1-2-3 and my pictures were nailed, hung and mounted.

And I'm happy to say I finally have the photo wall I've been relishing in my own home!