I built a pair of shelves to display photos a couple of weekends ago.  I first got the idea from a Martha Stewart newsletter I received in my email a year or two ago.   

I have searched desperately for the project and was unable to find the one with the photo display, but this project at MarthaStewart.com is basically the same thing  so I used memory to recreate what I had seen, replacing the mirrors with framed photos.

I have been living in my new (dream) home for three years now.  My walls are completely bare.  One thing going for me – they aren’t white!  I decided early on that I wanted to paint my walls bold colors.  I picked the colors pretty quickly. 

The painted walls make such a dramatic statement, I felt I could get away without anything decorating my walls because they were so beautiful in themselves.  Who was I kidding?         

I knew when I saw the photo in the newsletter that I wanted to use the idea in my family room.  I have a large wall in there painted a kind of mustard yellow and like ALL the other walls in my house, it is so BARE!          

Bare wall in Family Room

My church had a GIANT yard sale the week before and I picked up 23 picture frames for $26.  They were of varying size and shape, mostly wood and a few metal.         

Old Frames from Junkatique

I went to Home Depot on  Friday night to get my supplies.  My husband agreed to come along and help me out.         

 I couldn’t find the email or the picture of my project anywhere on the BHG website.  I tried to Google photo displays and shelves, but didn’t really find what I was looking for.         

BHG.com  gave me good info on shelf distance and suggested that I use Black and White photos and the same color border in all the photos to keep it from looking  cluttered.         

I had it in my head that I was just going to buy something like a chair rail or some trim to use as a ledge to rest the pictures on.  Once I looked around in Home Depot, I realized that neither of these ideas would really work.  I needed something deeper to allow the picture frames to lean against the wall without falling.         

My hubs and I decided to use boards, trim and crown molding to build my own floating shelves.  I cut each of the 16′ trim and molding down to 8′ at the store.  Actually, my husband did that for me!  Then we got two 8′ boards and some spray paint, nails, screws and liquid nails.        

Hubs Sawing trim and molding at Home Depot

 Total cost of supplies at Home Depot was around $90        

Early Saturday morning I got up and rolled out my last stretch of newsprint paper the kids use for coloring onto the back lawn. I laid out all my frames and the trim for the shelves.         

Just after spraying my first light coat of black paint, the sprinklers came on!  The kids started screaming and we all scrambled to get everything out of the water before it was ruined.  We managed to salvage the trim and frames, but the paper was soaked.         

I didn’t have any newspaper and really didn’t want to leave the house to go buy any, so I got the bright idea to use some of my old christmas wrapping paper to protect my grass as I sprayed everything with black paint.         

Painting Molding, Trim and Frames

Using some sort of paper under the stuff while I paint it might seem like a given to most of you, but my husband’s practice is to just lay the stuff in the grass and spray away!         

It really isn’t a big deal-the paint patterns on the lawn in various bright colors will disappear after a couple of mowings at the height of summer-but I wasn’t too keen on getting grass clippings on my beautiful newly painted picture frames and shelves!        

Once dried I used the wood and trim to build the floating shelves.  I used the laser level and studfinder to mark my studs along a straight line.          

Laser Level

I used the drill and put screwed the boards into the studs to make them sturdy.          

Boards screwed into studs.

Then I used penny nails and hammered the trim upside down onto the top of the board, making sure the edge of the trim was flush to the wall.    

Nailing Trim on Upside Down

           

Trim Upside down and flush with wall.

I had hoped the glue would dry clear, but unfortunately it didn’t.  I had to go along with black acrylic paint to touch up all the spots where the glue showed through the cracks once it was dry.       

    

Glue is drying on Molding

      

While the shelves were drying I started arranging the picture frames until I came up with the final arrangement that I LOVED!         

My husband and kids helped me arrange and rearrange using the various shapes and sizes of the frames I had painted.  It was obvious I wouldn’t have room for all of them, so I picked out the ones I loved and then added others to fill in the spaces.         

I tried to use various directions and shapes and sizes for interest.  I mostly stuck to the rule of threes or odd numbers in arrangements, but some of them are grouped in even numbers.  I think it works!         

Frames Arranged

Then I tried the samples of paper I had purchased from Michael’s in about 5 different colors to decide what to use for the matting on the photos.  After much deliberation we chose the mustard and black.  I only used the black in the copper frames to change things up a bit.  I like it!         

I will add that I have been considering changing the black to a shade of red that will match  my kitchen and front room to pull the whole house together, but I am undecided.  I think I will need to buy some paper and see what I think.        

I printed off black and white photos to fit into the frames I had chosen.  I knew I would divide them evenly between family members, so I just started going through photos until I found those I knew were perfect!         

I printed them in black and white on plain old copy paper and glue sticked them to the scrapbook paper cut to size for the frames.  Thanks Thrifty Decor Chick! I stole her idea here!   The pictures look matted but they really aren’t!         

Adding Photos

      

It was so easy and is so personal.  Iwill be able to change and update pictures simply with my printer and a pair of scissors and gluestick.         

At christmas, I am thinking I will put in pictures of my family through the years at the holidays and change the background paper to red and green.  I can just put it in front of the existing photos and switch it behind again once the season is over!       

 

I am in LOOOOVE with this wall now!  Every time I walk into the room, it takes my breath away!  It has completely changed the look of my home.