Why waste photos by keeping them hidden in albums when you can turn them into art for your rooms? Julie Savill, author of 101 Finishing Touches, believes it's easy to enhance photos.
She suggests using a glass-fronted box frame to show off a special holiday shot, and including a small souvenir from the place where the picture was taken. For instance, pop in a few shells or pebbles collected on the beach, or maybe a couple of travel tickets or a tiny memento," she says.
"Make sure the occasion it was taken is never forgotten by writing a small label noting the time, place and people in the photo and stick it underneath the image."
1. Group images, framed or otherwise, to give them more impact. Around 15 to 20 photos is a good number for a wall display.
2. Ideally, use only black and white photos to give the arrangement unity - colour photos can simply be copied on a black-and-white photocopier. Fast photo shops offer this service.
3. Arrange the photos on the floor before hanging to help you decide the order in which you want to display them. To give it extra impact, frame the collection using lengths of dado rail.4. Theme the photos by using perhaps only beach scenes, or shots taken on one particular outing. Alternatively, pick out the most atmospheric photo, enlarge it and give it a frame to itself, then have around eight other similar photos divided between two other frames.
5. Simple, plain black or white frames are ideal so there's no visual distraction from the photos. If you're hanging several pictures together make sure each is the same size and keep the wall spaces between them even. The trick is to use a tape measure. As the experts say - measure twice to be sure, then hang once!
6. Don't hang canvasses too high up the wall - when standing a short distance away from them you shouldn't need to tilt you head up to look at them.
7. You can get enlarged photos on canvas from £40 each at Snappy Snaps - and they can also create a themed montage including photos and holiday memorabilia.
101 Finishing Touches (BBC Books £4.99), by Julie Savill.
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