The Wall 'O Frames Continues to Evolve

On Monday this week, I took some time to prime and paint two more picture frames for the wall. These were particularly special picture frames because they were framed and matted photographs taken on safari in Africa. Sadly, I was not the one on safari, braving the wild to capture these incredible pictures of a family of lions, but the photographer is my great uncle. And since I love, love, love animals, I was so happy to receive these frames.

The dark wood frames and maroon mats, however, were not really my style. So I watched a few episodes of Futurama while I got to work priming and painting both the mats and the frames.

Ta da!

Adorable and frightening. lol Imagine being so close to these guys IN THE WILD!

This morning, after giving the frames and mats plenty of time to dry and cure, I did a little rearranging of the wall o' frames and I gotta say I'm so happy with the way it turned out. These guys are HUGE and take up lots of space. (Also, conveniently, they cover up LOTS of nail holes in the wall behind them).

The other new lion picture is up at the top, above the picture with the goldfish wrapping paper.

I hadn't been totally satisfied with all the little frames that I had down near the guest room doorway before. There was a lot of little ones clumped together and it looked pretty busy. So having two nice big frames as the focal point down here really calms things down.

Of course, swapping out the stock photos with real pictures, artwork and other items, should really help too. I think the key is to have a lot of white visible, whether it's just the mats or the framed item/art/photo itself. Simplicity seems to be the secret. I'm looking forward to getting to that point eventually. 

I also still need a few more frames up at the top. I have some more small ones, but I'm going to wait until I acquire a few more large frames to avoid the overly cluttered look I had at the bottom of the wall before.

All in all, though, I'm loving the look. And I also still just really love the paint color. Benjamin Moore's Moonshine. With the ceiling painted the same color as the wall, I've noticed that the hallway upstairs doesn't feel as small, which to quote Martha Stewart, "It's a good thing."

Oh, and for a much better/more precise way to hang a big ole wall of picture frames like this, check out Young House Love's tutorial here and my friend Kristen's tutorial here.