When my dad was stationed on an Army base in Stuttgart, Germany, my mom had access to a framing shop. She took some classes and started framing old family photos, eventually creating a huge gallery wall. It didn’t matter how many times I looked at those pictures…I would still lean in and study them. Who did I take after? Do I have her eyes? Does this one look like my brother? That rocking chair is in our living room, right? I love that expression, the bow in her hair, the delicate necklace, the dapper suit and slicked hair and the little kitten by her cheek. That gallery wall followed us through all of our moves when I was a kid and is still one of my favorite things in my parent’s home.
That gallery wall has inspired me to collect black and white and sepia toned family photos, letters, postcards and other documents. I have a couple of boxes of really amazing things to frame…like letters my Opa wrote to his mom when he was serving in Europe and the Pacific during WWII, beautiful pictures of family members from my side as well as my husband’s side and a letter written in the 1880’s referencing time spent together during the siege at Petersburg during the Civil War.
I’ve been picking up other odds and ends to frame like a deed that’s almost 200 years old and a beautiful ink drawing on fabric of a little bird.
I have a mat cutter and I’m ready to start turning this idea into a reality. It’s time to get those items out of a box and onto the wall. The big hang-up has been the frames.
I’m pretty picky about frames. I don’t really care for new frames. I really have tried to like them, but I just love the patina of antique wood frames and they are even better if they sport the original wavy glass. So, I’ve started collecting old wooden frames in all shapes and sizes. I don’t have a ton, but I have enough to get started. I’m hoping to score a large lot of them at an auction at some point, but for now, I’ve been picking them up one at a time in antique stores. I’ve been able to get them for about $12/each or less.
I need to hit Hobby Lobby when the mats are 50% off and stock up on some white and neutral mats to get the project off the ground.
Here are a few galleries that are close to the direction I’m heading…
The last one looks really cool, but it has a bit too many frame styles going on for my taste. I’m hoping to tie all of the pictures together with wood frames and neutral mats. I feel like that combination will be timeless.
So, let the mat cutting begin and the frame hunting continue!
38 Responses
I’m a big fan of gallery walls! I love it when frames in different sizes and finishes are mixed and grouped together. Looking forward to seeing your family memory wall!
When my grandma passed away, my mom made sure each of us had recipe cards written in grandma’s writing so we could frame them and hang them in our kitchens. I’m so glad she thought to do that. What a cherished keepsake!
I can’t wait to see what you come up with for your gallery wall!
Mimi,
My Mom did the same for my sister and myself. One of my favorites is a pound cake recipe written in my grandmothers handwriting with her monogram on the stationery.
Oh wow, how inspirational! This looks like fun. I have so much I would love to dig out and frame! Including an old baby gown worn by my mother, letters, photos … hmmm.
I’m working on gathering frames and pictures for a gallery wall, too. I love the look of old frames. New ones just don’t have the character and charm of old ones. My grandmothers on both sides of my family drew or painted pictures and we have a few. I want to get them out of boxes and onto our walls so we can enjoy them! Putting them in new frames just won’t look right! 🙂
I was looking through some genealogy records yesterday, and I was thinking that I needed to get the photos out and up on a wall. I want to organize them so that I can visually see who is related to whom.
I also have some old frames in the basement, and I was thinking last week that I should just get rid of them. They’ve all been in a box for years. I now know what to do, and I’m inspired. It’s like getting peanut butter on chocolate. 🙂
Many years back I fell in love with a handmade frame I saw in a Better Homes and Gardens article. I have since purchased a dozen or so of them and have my own little gallery in my family room. They are made by a small NY co. that is in the architectural salvage business. It’s called “Architiques” – All sorts of frames & mirrors using recycled, chippy old wood, wainscoting, tin ceiling tiles etc.
I just visited that website. Wow! Lots of interesting looking there. Who would ever think that
those old radiators would be worth anything!!! Thank you!
I have always found the cost of frames at antique malls such a joke! As for the family history in photos and words I love this and have done so with the photos we have available to date. My husband’s grandmother had a bunch of family photos which his father put on disk. I took about twenty favorites and changed them all to sepia to be consistent and used plain, clean lined wood frames from PB. Our dining area holds are smallish collection for now. Pictures of men (relatives) at work at the railroad station looking dapper, a man holding a large fish in gentlemen’s attire, great-grandma holding two raccoons (!), the wedding portrait of my husband’s grandma and grandpa. I love it all! We also have my husband’s grandfather in his original county clerk ad poster–youngest and longest term of anyone to date.
While visiting my mother this summer we sat down and went over the photos from her side. My great grandpa used to “tinker” with Henry Ford in his garage and later supplied metals from his refinary to Henry for use in the making of the first cars! A beautiful, regal looking photo of our family in a garden, an invitation to the coronation of –still not clear on who! And a 25th wedding anniversary invitation on metal from 1889. The pictures will stay with my mother for now. I LOVE the idea of understanding our history and displaying photos from our past. Stylish too! 🙂
Lovely thoughts as always! I treasure my family wall with silly notes, letters and photos from previous generations. As a Genealogist and daughter of an Historian… I cannot emphasize enough the importance of encouraging your readers to 1) use archival mat/framing/adhesives and 2) enjoy the beauty of antique glass on something that isn’t a valuable piece of family history and 3) remember NOT to hang valuable pieces where they will be pelted with sunlight! It is so frustrating to come across a lovely piece of history that was damaged because someone wanted to save a buck and didn’t think about preservation along with presentation!
KB,
Do you have any suggestions for what to do about old photographs that are stuck to old photo albums? I have lots of pictures I received after my mom and grandmother died. They are stuck, old photo album that is double sided. Some of them I’d like to send to my aunt, but they are on the back of some that I’d like to keep. Maybe I need to take them to a place that restores old photos?
How about a hair dryer to loosen up the glue carefully. Or put in the freezer. I would try these methods out on something not important first.
I have been planning a gallery wall in my guest bedroom for about a year now. I have many black and whites of my family that are just so charming and bring me such happiness. Some are already around the house, but I can’t wait to do the gallery. I collect frames from yard sales and thrift stores. I will do my paint finish to make a nice patina on all of them. I’ve been debating whether to use the glass or do something creative without glass. Anyway, you have inspired me to get to work on this project!
Thanks for the inspiration! I’ve been planning to do a gallery wall (or two!) with old black & white and sepia family photos for a couple of years. I’m trying to assemble a collection of frames and I’m almost ready to start. Looking forward to seeing yours!
Thank you for your daily dose of inspiration. So many projects and so many possibilities! I love a gallery wall that reminds us daily of who we really are and what our family has given to us. Your family must be very proud of who you have become. To God and thine own self be true!
Blessings
I love gallery walls. Displaying old photos, love letters, recipes, deeds, etc. is a wonderful way to share family history; however, I would never display the originals. Have a color photocopy made, and display that instead. Antique photos, papers, and inks are fragile, and once they fade they’re gone forever. Keep the originals in an archive quality box in a dark, cool place like a shelf in a closet inside your home (not in a basement or attic).
My dad is a Certified Picture Framer and has been for years. When I was 18, he sent me to framing school.
I worked for my parents for years, laying out framing jobs. I laid out the framing for a gallery wall of ancestors for a customer that I still remember.
I prefer new frames. My favorite manufacturer is Larson-Juhl. Omega frames are making some really similar frames to my favorites from Larson-Juhl, for a fraction of the price.
My uncle loved family history and had a wall that looked almost exactly like the one you featured last. I love checking out that wall.
We have had a gallery wall of ancestors for years (in my last house, our apartment, and also my current house), mixed with pictures of our children. Now that we have 7 children, only 4 ancestor photos remain on that wall. I’ve been thinking about doing a new ancestor wall somewhere in the house.
We recently took some new family photos, which I’m hanging on my family wall this week.
I too have a gallery wall and with missmatched frames but mostly painted black. Reminds me of my ancestors everytime I walk by……………….
Anyway quite by accident I discovered a picture of a family bride sitting on a very interesting victorian chair in 1860 and discovered that I now have that chair from the family. I also have pictures of me sitting on that chair wearing a dress that my mother made when I was four or five years old. I was also wearing patten leather Mary Jane’s. I remember the dress so well
as she made me the dress in a aqual/teal pinwale courdory. So I went on- line and believe it or
not I found the exact vintage pattern. So now I have three young granddaughters to make a new tradition sitting on that chair complete with dress and mary jane’s!
Also I just fininshed plowing through my father in law’s WWII letters from Europe to my mother in law. Most are pretty simple but one really really touched me. He was talking about after the war and they would buy a house and have two children. He drew a little stick house and two
stick children; a boy and a girl. His dreams came true. So I was thinking of doing the above to it.
Also have a type written short letter from my father to his mother. My father had a very rag to riches story. He was saying things like how hard their mother had it and now lucky he was to
provide for his new family etc. This was in the 1930’s.
How fortunate you are that people before you saved these items. My parents are not savers and I have little from my childhood (military also). I do agree with you that the last picture is much too busy. I think the hanging of a gallery should look cohesive. Can’t wait to see yours!
The thing that ties all the photos together in the last shot is love.
I love that. 🙂
I have a gallery wall with pictures of my mom and dad from the 20’s and 30’s and plan to add my husbands family pictures as soon as I can sort and frame them. I kind of like the look of the same kind of frame so I will complete my gallery wall as soon as I come up with some more frames. I love the look of “my sweet Savannah”. Wish I had done my wall like that.
I was stationed at Kelly Barracks (outside of Stuttgart) from 1976-1979, that would be wild if your dad was there too! I loved Germany so really appreciate all your specials touches that remind me of my time there.
We were there a few years behind you. Our kids loved Germany. Marian’s Mom
I’m with you. No more Hobby Lobby for me, ever.
Same here. Cringe every time its listed as a source.
Hi Miriam! I too have been planning to do a fabulous gallery wall! But one question remains, do I include a few new black and whites of my children in the mix… or keep it all antique pictures. I cannot decide if it would take away from the look of it to mix old with new in this area. What is your preference? Thank you!
Hi Miriam! I am planning a gallery wall with all black and white photos, black frames, white mattes, and a large P for our last name. The one detail I simply cannot decide on is whether or not it would take away from the look to add a few black and white more recent pictures in the mix. Do you have a preference? Thanks. 😉
I’m with you about new frames. And they often aren’t made very well. I look for old frames in thrift shops, but if I have to use a newer frame I usually paint it and try to add some decorative interest in the matting with paint or ribbon. I have a stash of German embroidered ribbon from when my MIL worked in a German import store. My favorite thing to frame has been hand embroidered work. I have many pieces from my grandmother that are beautiful. Our lifestyle isn’t really friendly to having delicate doilies and piano scarves on furniture (I just know my husband would put his coffee cup on one or one of my kids would leave an uncapped marker on another). Framing allows me to enjoy their beauty without being worried about damaging them.
I have followed your blog for a long time and knew about the former Army connection. But to read that your Dad was stationed in Stuttgart, which is my hometown!!! Hot diggety dog. To think that your parents may have strolled down the Koenigstrasse or visited the Wilhelma, Stuttgart’s zoo. Hach!
We sure did and Marian and her brother were with us. We loved our time there. Marian’s Mom
Did u know u can use your IPad to take photos of your photos. Then u can crop and share and still keep the originals, I’ve done some and they look great! Love Hobby Lobby!
My mother was born in 1904 and went to a Catholic school and learned everyday practical sewing skills and they made darling samples of cuffs, button holes, hems etc. She was 12.
I had them matted and framed in a long narrow fashion. It is hanging in a narrow space in my sewing room. Can’t imagine a 12 year old today doing that fine work. Mary
My Mom has been wanting to create a Gallery Wall for some time now…however we don’t have enough family pictures to do one. 🙁 So, we get the fun joy of doing our family’s genealogy – we’ve recently received a picture of my great-grandmother. An excellent start, according to my Mom. As for frames, we haven’t really began thinking about those yet. 🙂
I love a gallery wall…the handwriting pieces are my favorite. I took a envelope that my Grandma had written on and added it to a canvas. I love how personal and intimate handwriting can be. Thanks for another great post!
Absolutely LOVE gallery walls! Thank you so much for sharing all these ideas with us! Such creativity!
What a fun project, and how special that you have all of those treasures from your family history.
I love gallery walls of family photos and mementos. My husband and I found a bunch of 16×16 frames with 5×7 mats on sale for $5 last year and bought 14 of them. We may have gone a little crazy. But our entry way is a super long hallway leading into our apartment, so we lined the hallway with frames and I’m going to print out black and white family photos.