Around The Room | Living With Your Photos + Color Inc Giveaway

I'm a huge fan of living with your photos. Out of albums, off your computer and onto your walls.

Over the years I've amassed quite a collection of family images - many of the recent ones being mounted rather than framed as you'll see below (and above). When I first starting hanging up photos I wanted them to be all black frames with white mats. Now I'm really enjoying the variety of both the framed and simply mounted images.

Around our house I've got quite a few gatherings happening on the walls. Some are consistent collections (meaning all mounted or all framed) and others are a mixture of the two.

The first ones I want to talk about line the hall from our entry into the kitchen.

The images are 12x12 photos are "standout mounted" from Color Inc. (Color Inc is a sponsor of my blog and has been generous with samples for me in the past and as you'll see below. This set I purchased on my own. They are excellent quality and have wonderful customer service.) When we moved into this house I ordered eight or nine of these with the intent that they would be grouped together and I love them.

They are mounted onto the wall using Miller Studio Magic Mounts removable mounting tabs. I tried a couple of other brands and these have worked the best.

You might have seen this image a couple weeks ago. This is in our dining area, between the kitchen and living room. This wall has a combination of framed and mounted images. The one of Simon and Anna in the blue shirts is from Persnickety Prints.

Upstairs I've got a few other collections starting. In the room you enter before coming into my office I've got a large standout mount from Color Inc (photo taken by Tracey Clark). That one is 3o inches x 20 inches.

In my office I've included two Ikea frames with 12x12 photos of me and Chris as kids. I enlarged these 1970's photos on my scanner and they were printed at Scrapbookpictures.com. These hung in Anna's room in our last house.

A little collage in Simon's room that includes photos, Star Wars stamps, and a signed photo of Yoda from Frank Oz.

And this one was in Anna's room in our last house. I didn't recreate it here yet, but it was a favorite in the old place.

In our bedroom I'm just beginning to build a photo wall.

The newest addition is a Framed Gallery Wrap Canvas from ColorInc. As one of my sponsors they kindly sent me this new product to review and want me to give one away as well (with your own photo of course).

Here's what they have to say about this new product:

Love the sleek modern style of a Gallery Wrapped Canvas? Now you can add a frame! Our Gallery Wrapped Canvas Frames will give you that same modern and edgy look you've wanted but with a touch of traditional style to give you a unique shadow box feel to add to any home, work, or studio wall space!

These ready to hang Gallery Wrapped Canvases come with a 2 1/8'' deep smooth black laminate frame. With a 1/2'' floating space between your canvas and frame, each of our hand wrapped canvas prints will be permanently attached with the finest attention to detail. Each piece will arrive properly finished with a wire hanger, bumpers and Tyvek® backing. A true first class upgrade to your studio or home!

These Framed Gallery Wrapped Canvases are really, really nice. I didn't realize when I was ordering it that there's a space between the frame and the wrapped canvas but when I opened the package here at home I was really pleasantly surprised. I'd definitely consider ordering another one.

GIVEAWAY | One Framed Gallery Wrapped Canvas (20 x 14 or smaller) from ColorInc.

TO BE ENTERED into this giveaway please leave a comment below sharing how you live with your photos (if you are reading this post on Facebook please come to my blog to leave a comment). Comments will be closed at noon Pacific on Friday and the winners posted shortly after. Please be sure to check back or subscribe (click here to get posts delivered to your email box) to see if you are receiving one of the items this week.

Sign in or sign up to comment.

1128 thoughts

  1. Annette says…
    03/30/2011

    Love this post! My girl is just a little more than 1 and just beginning to really see the photos and art in our home, and I am severely lacking in photos of my wall!! Thanks for the inspiration, and I plan to tackle this soon!

    Reply 0 Replies
  2. Julie says…
    03/30/2011

    I have a photo wall with just black frames, never tried a canvas, but would love to! Also I would like to incorporate more areas for photos around my house. Thank you for the inspiration.

    Reply 0 Replies
  3. Michelle L says…
    03/30/2011

    I am in the process of filling my living room wall with photos. So far I have just two and I'm trying to go through old photos to see what else I'd like to add. I love the mixture of black and white with color photos and mounted and framed together! I'm excited about working on this!
    Thanks for the chance to win!

    Reply 0 Replies
  4. Cindy McDannold says…
    03/30/2011

    I have chosen my dining room as a place to dedicate my family pictures. Grandparents, parents, sister, nieces and nephews side by side with husband etc. I have a narrow wall between doorways that has a small table with a mix of framed pics...a sign above that says "I will always love You" and the newest members of my family placed there. People always stop, look and comment when they pass by.

    Reply 0 Replies
  5. Dianne says…
    03/30/2011

    I have a few portraits of the family here and there, but I love framed snapshots sprinkled around the house. Just switched out 8 pictures this weekend. Love having moments of our life all around.

    Reply 0 Replies
  6. Christy Miller says…
    03/30/2011

    Most of our photos are in a frames scattered about on surfaces. I have yet to commit to hanging a lot on the walls. I know this will come with time as we've only been in our house a little over a year. Thanks for sharing your family pictures displayed in your home! I hope to get some inspiration and live with my photos over the summer!

    Reply 0 Replies
  7. pj says…
    03/30/2011

    i've been working to get my photos arranged on the walls since we moved. thanks for the great inspiration!

    Reply 0 Replies
  8. Stephanie says…
    03/30/2011

    I was so excited when we renovated two years ago and gained wall space. I decided that I would never hang something on the wall that didn't mean something special or important to me. In fact, I now only have two prints hanging on my walls and the rest are photos! I created a full wall collage of framed black & whites. I framed, matted & hung my kids' school pictures. I hung a grouping of scenic photos I have taken around our property. I have an old door hanging on the wall that I've hung pictures of my niece & nephews. Last of all I have a replica (mini) garden gate in my kitchen area that holds all of our fun and goofy photos - it is everyone's favorite! All of our friends & family check it out to see if they've made it up there! I am SO happy that I made the choice to decorate with our photos - it makes our home feel even more like our own!!

    Reply 0 Replies
  9. Susan Anderson says…
    03/30/2011

    Wow, big question. I live with my photos in a library tray which gets added to each month (or when the mood strikes), so small quick change out type frames. Photo books are displayed on the mantel and treasured photos of family and friends are always on the wall. I'm learning as I go what I like and what is meaningful for me in what I want to see daily.

    Reply 0 Replies
  10. Tiffani says…
    03/30/2011

    Thanks for sharing this part of your life/home. It's inspiring. We have quite a few old photos of relatives that I like displaying around our home.

    Reply 0 Replies
  11. Jeni A says…
    03/30/2011

    I can't believe there's another "Jeni" spelled like me in the comments already! (Hi Jeni!) Anyhow, I live with my pictures everywhere - but not as high quality or as organized as Ali's. I have a photo wall going up my steps - love using that wall space as a photo gallery. My classroom has a photo shelf in my desk area with eclectic mismatched frames with family photos - love that. I have photos everywhere, but nothing canvas or fancy. I'd love to try something more classy. :) Thanks for the opportunity.

    Reply 0 Replies
  12. Tobie says…
    03/30/2011

    For 2 years my husband and I have been trying to create a picture wall in our basement, but we can never agree on the frames! So they still sit in a tub or two in the storage room. Very upsetting!
    I love how your walls are a combination of framed and mounted! I am going to start on mine ASAP now!

    Reply 0 Replies
  13. Vicki says…
    03/30/2011

    I am currently in the process ofcreating photo collages in my home. It seems recently that a little spot turns up around every corner that deserves a photo or two or three...:)

    Reply 0 Replies
  14. Katie says…
    03/30/2011

    I've got some frames on a console table, and a few pictures hanging on the walls, too! Am in the process of updating some ... which takes time!

    I may have missed this somewhere - but I am wondering what the "requirements" are to printing a canvas print. I have some family pictures I have been wanting to do this with, but am nervous they are going to end up blurry? I do use a Canon XS - but haven't done a lot of manual shooting. If you've addressed this somewhere, can you point me to where? If you haven't, would you consider it? THANKS, ALI!

    Reply 0 Replies
  15. Casie says…
    03/30/2011

    I need to hang more phones. I was beginning to work on updating the pictures we have hung up already and this has inspired to come up with new ways to go about this process. Thanks for your never ending inspiration.

    Reply 0 Replies
  16. Wendy says…
    03/30/2011

    Honestly photo walls scare me...i'm always afraid I won't get it right! i know that's silly but I just don't have an eye for it! I would love to win just so that I could get out of my comfort zone. thanks again for a wonderful opportunity!

    Reply 0 Replies
  17. Katherine Wall says…
    03/30/2011

    I have photo collections everywhere with themes. For instance, I am doing a pool fun collection of the white standouts from Color Inc, in my laundry room hall. Lots of fun photos from summers at the pool with my nieces and nephews that would never see outside the photo album otherwise. It makes me smile everytime I pass it! Thank you.

    Reply 0 Replies
  18. {vicki} says…
    03/30/2011

    I love photos----they are the decor throughtout my whole house

    Reply 0 Replies
  19. Samantha L says…
    03/30/2011

    Most of my photos are on my shelves in frames. I have been meaning to do a photo wall, I just don't know where to start!

    Reply 0 Replies
  20. Jade says…
    03/30/2011

    Well, right now I am living with all of my photos in boxes as we are moving in 16 days but I hope to really cover the new place with photos. This would be a perfect house warming gift ;)

    Reply 0 Replies
  21. Leora Henkin says…
    03/30/2011

    Hi Ali! Thanks for the chance to win. Love all your photo displays. We have a favorite photos scattered around, but they are mostly ancient ones. It is hard for me to rotate. And our fridge is FILLED with photos.

    Reply 0 Replies
  22. christy a says…
    03/30/2011

    We don't have a lot of wall space for photos, but have taken one long wall in our living room and made a collage using different size frames together (taking out the mats and printing the photos the exact size of the frame) with a combination of pictures we taken of our girls and pictures we have had professionally taken (once a year) of our girls. I love the idea of adding in canvas photos as well!

    Reply 0 Replies
  23. Janelle says…
    03/30/2011

    We moved into a new house 6 months ago, and I'm working on getting some photos printed. I LOVE large canvases, but like the idea of grouping several images together. I am going to find a wall to try this. Thanks!

    Reply 0 Replies
  24. kris says…
    03/30/2011

    I'm a big fan of photos as well. They are the most personalized art that you can decorate with! We have a moroccan red wall in our family room that displays (12) 8 1/2 x 10 frames (landscape style). In each frame is a section of a family photo that we had blown up that comes together as one large picture. To better explain, imagine one of your cherished photos cut into 12 equal pieces and each piece is framed individually & then put on the wall to create the photo (only much larger scale).
    It's cool, & it makes a great statement. Great for a larger empty wall. Ali, your walls inspire me to try additional ideas!! Thanks so much!

    Reply 0 Replies
  25. jill says…
    03/30/2011

    We have been living with some bare walls for awhile, so I finally just taped up some pictures with blue painters tape! A canvas would look so much nicer. :) Thanks for the giveaway!

    Reply 0 Replies

Sign in or sign up to comment.