Everyone has their favorite vacation spot. Whether it’s OBX or Smith Mountain Lake, Atlantic City, Key West, or Myrtle Beach, you know that certain place that makes your soul happy every time you visit. That spot for me is New York City. As cliche’ as it is, I really do heart NYC. I love the architecture, the distinctly different feelings that each borough and neighborhood convey, the food – holy wow the food. I love spending time in the City, and want to remember those feelings, the tastes, sights, and smells (most of them) long after I’ve come home. Each time I go to New York, I take my camera, I shoot photos to my heart’s content, and then come home and forget about them in the hustle and bustle of getting back into the groove of non-vacation life.
It wasn’t until I was doing research for 5 Ways to Display Vacation Photos back in July that I realized that I should be doing something with all of those vacation photos.

That realization was the inspiration for a new series on my blog that starts this month. We’re going to go room by room throughout the house and determine the best methods for displaying photos at home. We’ll talk about the different factors that go into deciding what to hang where, and tips for planning and hanging for each room.

Starting us off will be the dining room, the new home of my NYC vacation gallery. There were some practical reasons why I chose the dining room, and why I chose the sizes of the photos I did. The dining room already had two big blank walls, which I had been struggling to do anything with (for the last five years). At some point after we moved in, I had hung a large 16×20″ print, framed and matted in a 20×24″ frame, of New York, New York, the theme hotel in Las Vegas. At the time, I hung it to make the dining room seem less empty, because I already had the print sitting around the house. So, it made sense to continue to fill this massive wall in the dining room with my New York photos. Because I wanted to add some variety to the gallery, I looked for some New York-inspired art prints by other artists. I went to Etsy and ordered a print called “The Big City” and a 1950’s Braniff Airways print, which add graphic elements and a pop of drama to my photo gallery.

In determining the sizes of the photos I wanted to print, I first went through the house and gathered up the frames I already had that weren’t in use, and that fit my decor (a crystal wedding-themed frame would not have fit my décor. I went for simple black frames). I had several 4×6″ and 5×7″ frames that would work, but I didn’t have enough for all of the photos I wanted to include, so I went to Michael’s and searched their frame department for sales and clearance items that would work. I found a handful of frames for a steal, including some unfinished frames for $4 a piece that I can easily paint the color I want with some glossy acrylic paint. Even if I don’t use them all in the dining room, there are lots of other rooms where I can use them – or I could even use them for Christmas presents in a couple of months.

I then ordered the photos I wanted to hang, in the right sizes, from an online photo lab. My favorite lab for prints is Richmond Camera, because the color and tone is nearly identical to what I see on my computer monitor, and I can count on the pictures to come back looking how I expect them to look. Plus, they’re a local small business, so I feel better giving them my dollars than a big chain store like Walmart or Walgreens.

Once I had my prints and my frames, I needed to determine the layout on the wall without knocking a ton of holes in my dining room wall. I pulled out a couple of paper bags I had saved from the grocery store, cut them down one seam so they laid flat, and then placed the frames flat-side-down on the bags. I traced around each frame, cut out the shapes and then started arranging them on the wall in the dining room around my focal point, which was the large print of New York, New York. I used blue painter’s tape with the cutouts so I could take them off the wall and rearrange them easily without damaging the wall paint.

Once I was happy with the layout, I added a very small amount of tape to the back of each photo and hung them on the cutouts so I could see how the pictures and prints all looked together on the wall.

Then all that was left was to add nails, put the pictures in the frames, and hang. Voila!

You might notice in the above photo that A) I switched the top and bottom frames on the left of the gallery – it felt more balanced with the landscape-oriented print on the bottom; and B) some of the frames are crooked. We’re going to address how to fix that in December’s post, when we move to the family room.

A couple of tips for making your own mixed-print gallery:

1. Choose how formal or casual you want the gallery to be. We’re not super formal in my house, and our decor matches our attitude. Galleries with frames that are exactly the same in every way feel very formal, and wouldn’t go with the rest of my house very well. By choosing some frames that are a little different, I added some texture and visual interest for a more casual, “found” feel. Because the frames are the same color, the gallery still feels cohesive.
2. Larger walls typically call for larger prints. While I could have filled all of these spaces on the wall with 4×6″ or 5×7″ prints, because the wall is so wide, the gallery would have looked busy and cluttered, with your eyes trying to find a focal point. By having one print that is larger than all the others, your eye is drawn to that first, and then move out to the other photos, which allows you take in the gallery in smaller chunks. When we do a kitchen gallery next week, we’ll talk about the exception to the “one huge photo to rule them all” rule.
3. Stay grounded. Remember your audience when you’re placing your gallery on the wall. If you’re hanging your gallery in the dining room (like me), where most people will be sitting, you don’t want your gallery to go so high that viewers can’t see it without having to uncomfortably lean their heads back and look towards the ceiling. (Plus, then you have to continuously watch out for cobwebs along your ceiling line, because they’ll be really easy to see by people looking up.) Go eye level or just slightly above for rooms where the viewer will be sitting, or in small rooms where you can’t see the art from farther away.

I hope my rundown and tips are helpful if you are looking to update your dining room or add a photo gallery to your home. It doesn’t have to be hard, and if it means bringing a little more personality into your space, then I call that a win-win.

Now, go forth and create your own special-place gallery. Where is your favorite happy-soul vacation spot that is worthy of a gallery of memories in your home?

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Allison Patel is a lifestyle family and maternity photographer, and loves using Allison Patel Photography to meet new people and explore new places around Richmond. When she’s not working or taking pictures, she enjoys cheering for the Rams and the Hokies, and blogs weekly at allisonpatelphoto.com.

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Website: www.allisonpatelphoto.com

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Thankfully some creative moms have come up with some small or portable ways to create a homework station wherever you have the space:

DIY Seat Sacks
Scissors & Spatulas

These easy to make cute little sacks hang on the back of a chair to keep papers from cluttering up the table.

Over the Door Organizer
A Bowl Full Of Lemons

Put those doors to work & keep homework and craft supplies in over the door organizers.

Portable Homework StationFirst Home Love Life

Create one of these homework stations for each child and stack them up!

Rustic Wood Homework Station
Love Grows Wild

This cute little homework station is sturdy and easy to move from place to place and fits in nicely with a rustic decor.

DIY Mail/Homework OrganizerNoodlehead

This was originally made to be a mail organizer but we love it for storing school forms, homework and other important school related stuff.

Flip Down Desk
Found on Ana White

Chalkboard by day, desk by homework time.  This chalkboard cleverly conceals a flip down desk.

Vintage Library Cart Homework Station
4 Men 1 Lady

This clever little work station now has me scouring the interwebs for a metal library cart.  This cute vintage inspired work station is color coded for each kid.

Homework Study Station
Mom Advice

I could have used this growing up! For the easily distracted kid (or ones who just can’t resist reaching over and poking their brother in the face) this study station keeps the focus on homework and can be folded up and put away when the work is done.

Lazy Susan Work Station
Home Stories A to Z

I’ve seen lazy susans used to store school and craft supplies before but what’s kinda genius about this one is the clever use of magnets so you can still take your jar without having to worry about the buckets flying off. Smart move, mom!

Laundry Room / Homework Station
Teal and Lime

Who says homework or crafts should be done on in a bedroom or an office?
Borrow some space from an unlikely place, like an over sized laundry room for example.

Have any great ideas on how to maximize a small space during homework time?
Any great organization tips? Tell us in the comments below!

Want more?
Check out our
Back to School Survival Guide for Students

Sherry, John, Clara and Burger

If you fancy yourself a DIY-er, or even if you just enjoy reading about the highs and lows of home improvement and decorating on a budget as told by an adorably charming couple, then you need to add Young House Love to your favorites list.

When we first wrote about proud Richmonders Sherry and John Petersik, the DIY-savvy couple behind Young House Love, they were knee deep in renovating the fixer-upper they bought upon moving to Richmond from NYC. Feeling the need to document the insanity of a DIY renovation, they began a blog to keep family and friends in the loop. Little did they know their real-world, budget-friendly projects and down to earth writing style would soon begin to attract a huge audience of fellow DIYers.

Now over 4 years since launching Young House Love, Sherry and John have renovated, decorated and then sold their first Richmond home, and are now on to house #2, all while providing an honest, often humorous play-by-play of what worked and what didn’t. Today YHL has loyal readers from across the globe, and has garnered attention from The New York Times, The Washington post, Real Simple magazine, and CNN, to name just a few. The Petersiks have been guests on the Nate Berkus Show, and regularly contribute to Do-It-Yourself magazine and Babycenter.com. In the middle of all this, they became parents for the first time to their equally-charming little girl, Clara. (The Petersiks joke that she is their most important DIY project of all.)

And now 2012 will bring another level of success for the Petersiks with the debut of their first book, slated for a Fall release, which will be jam packed with over 200 never-before-seen design ideas. In true Petersik fashion, many of the projects boast budgets of less than $50, and all of them are sure to highlight the chic, modern style that is YHL’s hallmark.

What makes YHL a Blog We Dig is the Petersiks’ endless ability to create something new on a small budget by using creative materials and old fashioned blood, sweat and tears, their commitment to using eco-friendly and human-friendly materials, their love of RIchmond, and their easy-going, relatable personalities. They’re quick to poke fun at themselves and show that, even with the book deals and Nate Berkus shows, they’re just like you and me. Just a heck of a lot more creative.

We’re inviting all of our great Richmondmom readers to submit a photo of their holiday decorations to be included in our “2011 Holiday Decorating Tour” contest during the month of December. Whether you’re going all out for elaborate and elegant, or you’re opting for simple, or even a little tacky  — your decorations are sure to be uniquely you.

Our secret team of “elves” will select the coolest decorations submitted and the lucky winner will receive a free massage from Massage Envy. What better reason to get busy and take photos of your coolest decorative work?

Here’s how it works:

1. Submit a photo of your decorations to Kate at Richmondmom.com and we’ll upload them to our website as they are received. Submitting your photo gives us permission to post them on our site.
2. All photos will be available for our readers to view and we’re anticipating lots of great comments from our readers on the decorations too.
3. Photos must be submitted no later than December 18, 2011 at midnight to be entered into our contest.
4. We’ll post our winning entry on December 20 and a gift card for a free massage will be mailed to the winner.

Get busy decorating and let’s see what you’ve got.  Be sure and tell all of your friends too — we’d love to see how Richmond moms are decorating this year!

Sunny's makes me look like a decorating professional - I love it!

OMG!

If you haven’t been to Sunny’s Goodtime Paints, then you need to go soon! The number of creative supplies and inspiration for incredible projects will have you salivating for Springtime!

Since I am not the most creative person by nature when it comes to home decorating, I find it hard to get motivated at times. But Sunny’s is a place that transforms me from a beige walls and white woodwork person into someone who actually looks like they know how to decorate!

Grandmothers can be as young and vibrant as they want to be with Sunny’s help!

With Sunny’s Colour Wash in La-la Lilac, Bahama Blue, Apricot, Ashy Moss, French Gray, and more, the options for color are endless. As if that’s not enough, the glazes, stencils, and monograms have walls singing in no time.

But here’s what’s most inspiring for me.

Sunny’s has a complete “how to” section for most anything you need to know.  How to stencil walls, how to antique furniture, how to combine colors, how to paint a plaid wall, and how to horizontal stripe a room, are just some of the many “how-to’s” that are easy for even the most novice decorater.  If you can’t find it, just ask them – they’re so helpful!

Now, I’m heading off to figure out which room to tackle next with these incredible colors and decorative wall ideas! I can’t wait for Spring — so I’ll rush it along with Sunny’s!

Thanks Sunny — my house and life are a light brighter because of you!