Photographs: My favorite art

Well hello all! Can you believe it�s almost the weekend already? I swear this week has absolutely flown by.

I got one project completed this week that I�m really, really happy with. (GLEE!!) And I did most of it with what I had, which is always a bonus in my book. :)

When it comes to filling wall space, we don�t have much real art in our home. OK, let me rephrase�we have ZERO real art. :)

An outlet Ballard Designs piece is the closest we get to actual art. Instead I�ve fill our walls with a bunch of molding and lots and LOTS of pictures. Bunches. Gaggles. :)

Photographs are my very favorite art. They�re cheap (most of the time I print them out at home and almost all frames are from Goodwill), they�re easy, and they add a personal touch to our home that no art could.

I�ve grouped framed pictures in almost every room in our house. The playroom:

See that squishy face? That�s my baby:

The cowboy is my Dad as a boy. I could die. :)

That wall of photos is getting a redo soon. I may move the shelves around and am definitely adding new photos throughout.

I filled an empty wall on our stairwell with photos as well:

Don�t worry�the mice are gone. As much as I HEART them. :)

And I used photos in a wall in our bedroom as well:

You can see they�re usually hung willy nilly. I like the scattered look when it comes to framed photos, which is REALLY weird for me, since I�m the symmetrical queen.

When I started the impromptu redo of the living room, I knew exactly how I wanted to fill the space between the windows. I took at look at the colorway on the fabric I picked for the drapes for some color inspiration:

I big fat LOVE when they do that! It makes it so easy to work with. You�ll notice there�s 16 different colors in this beautiful fabric, which gave me plenty of options to choose from.

And it turns out, I already had exactly what I needed. :) About eight months ago, I started collecting frames at Goodwill for an idea I had for the living room. I even spray painted them months ago � I bet it�s been about six months.

But when I tried my idea in the room, I didn�t care for it (more about that later!) and left it sitting for months. And wouldn�t you know it � the colors I had already painted the frames worked perfectly for my new idea:

I love using what I have. And I love it even more when the spray painting is already done. ;)

I started finishing off this spot with a Goodwill lamp � it was blinding me with it�s brassiness at the store, but I knew it could be a beauty:

Doesn�t it have the loveliest curves? Oh, she�s so darn pretty. :) I sprayed it with a primer and then a couple coats of Rustoleum�s Heirloom White. I had the shade, and added a ribbon from my stash around the bottom. I love how the color in the ribbon is an exact match to the light brown in the drapes.

That is what I�m talkin� about! Totally by accident and it worked great. Whooeee!!

I kept the accessories in the HomeGoods tray simple. I didn�t want them to compete with the art:

The rattan ball was a couple bucks on clearance at Pottery Barn years ago. The books are those faux books, and I covered them with a linen fabric last year.

The art is my very favorite part! They�re all shots I took (with my point and shoot camera by the way) last year:

I used a few of the wildflower shots (from our neighborhood) and a leaf from a hike last fall. I was going for bright colors that worked with the drapes. LOVE.

I don�t even use mats most of the time � I just cut out white paper and use spray adhesive or double-sided tape to mount the photos right on top. You can�t even tell they�re not the real thing!

Like I mentioned, I usually print my photos out at home (and usually just on basic printer paper), but this time I splurged a little bit. I uploaded them to Walgreens.com and picked them up an hour later.

Uhh, hello?? How have I missed this fabulousness all these years? I knew about it, just never did it. And I�m now hooked. I think the five pictures were about $12.

The new art is the perfect finishing touch for that part of the room:

I�m so in love with it. I smile every time I walk in this space.

There�s still much I want to do � not sure that mirror is staying on the right (it�s a little small). You�ll see a peek of a Goodwill coffee table that�s waiting for a redo. And there�s pillows to make as well. (I am going to attempt to make a pillow with a zipper people.)  ;)

And if you look close enough, you�ll notice the drapes are different lengths, still aren�t hemmed (will they ever be? I don�t know, I don�t know!), and there�s a few holes in the wall I need to paint over.

I was able cover most of those with the frames though. YESSSS.

Because you know I�m a lovah of before and after pics, let�s check out the difference so far, shall we? The dark before:

And with new drapes and a little reworking, the now:

BOO.yah. LOVE it.

I know many of you are loving the fabric as much as I am � I got it from Calico Corners and it�s P. Kaufman fabric:

I�m trying to find it online and haven�t come up with anything yet. I�ll let you know if I find a link!

So, do you use photos as art in your home? I know one thing � if we ever sell our house, the realtor is going to have a heyday with us. Aren�t you supposed to depersonalize? We�ll have LOTS of empty walls! Or they�ll just have to deal.  :)

P.S. The lamp shade on the side table was a vintage find years ago. Isn�t is perfect?

P.P.S. The spray paints/colors I used on the frames were Rustoleum�s Heirloom White and Espresso and Valspar�s Everglade.