Vicki - how about buying a simple photo album with sleeves you can just insert pictures into. As you get new photos to display in frames, remove the old ones and immediately place them in these simple albums. Then, when you are ready, you can remove them to use in a scrapbook. As much as I love pictures, too many picture frames around the house feels like clutter to me. (Maybe I'm lazy and hate dusting them, I don't know.) They also have cute photo storage boxes that you can place older pictures in. Another option is to rotate picture frames so that different ones are displayed each month.

Sheryl

I think if you analyze clutter, it's all the same.

Just because you own the pictures, it doesn't mean you have to display them as the display is not causing you any pleasure or enriching your life -- in fact, it appears to be doing exactly the opposite.

With clutter, you don't see anything anyway because it's lost in the clutter. An exercise flylady does periodically is have people walk in their house as if they were a real estate agent appraising it -- at the very least, stop and take a look around at all the stuff that has been there for years.

With regard to your specific question -- decide how many frames you actually want to display and pick the nicest frames -- donate the rest to charity and they will bless someone else. Rotate the pictures periodically if a new one comes in that you prefer to an old one -- it's no different than making choices about other types of possessions.

You are not defined as a loving grandmother by having 300 pictures on display that you never really see anymore.

Either place the pictures in a simple album -- I prefer the photo boxes as they store neatly on shelves. Before placing them away, make sure you actually want to keep the picture -- is it a duplicate or not such a good photo?

I have, for several years, simply slid the new pic on top of the old one in the same frame; then the old pic is safe, and the new one is on display. And only the NEW one is on display--last year's pic is history, not a fresh reminder.

However, it only works for several years, bcs then the frame gets too full. So I'm going to get an album that holds 8x10s, so i can put their pics in there.

I know my grandma papered her house w/ pics of us, in their little cardboard frames. We used to like seeing ourselves at all the different ages, but it was sort of cluttered. We might have been disappointed the first time we saw she had taken them down (though she never did), but we'd have gotten over it.

Get them off display now, before the grandkids get all attached to the idea.

(oh, and i'm personally not a fan of scrapbooking--I think it just create's tomorrow's guilt-inducing clutter. "someone worked so hard, and put so much creativity and effort and money into decorating this scrapbook, I have to keep it"--plus I just think all the doo-dads steer us AWAY from the things that are IMPORTANt--the people IN the pics, and the events that took place. Instead, when the scrapbook page is done, the paper and shapes, and glue-ons, and creativity is the star, and the pics or memorabilia are just sorta beside the point. So, don't struggle too hard to "get into scrapbooking"--just get a scrapbook and stick stuff in it securely, so you can look at it later)

Hi All! I usually don't post here, but always enjoy reading all of your good advice. I am especially glad to hear that someone else thinks scrapbooking creates tomorrow's clutter. I voiced this concern last week to my DH as we finally got down to the business of culling the photo heap. And while I think there are some beautiful scrapbooks being created, I won't be jumping on the bandwagon. I still love the simplicity of traditional photo albums, and there are many that provide space next to the sleeves for including photo info. But my favorite method of storage is on the computer. I use iPhoto, super simple to load/scan pics into, and they're always available for everyone to see without the hassle of dragging out albums, boxes. etc.

Diana

Diana, I want to share w/ you some info we received ina press kit at work. People are discovering that if photos are taken digitally, and stored on the computer, they are SELDOM LOOKED AT.

Folks are not printing their pictures, and then, how often are they going to fire up the computer to share the pics? And you can't pass them around, either.

Since the point of taking the pictures is to LOOK at them, and to share them, it's important that we make that easy.

Also, I think people are bit too complacent about technology standardization. Remember when everyone had Super8 film? You can't look at those pics anymore.

and now we may all be savings JPEGS, etc., in Windows format. But someday that'll be harder to access. (of course, old photos fade, too--but they are at least visible)

What I like about the digital-camera concept is that it's easier to throw away the pics youdon't want. W/ reg. film, once you've paid to get them developed & printed, it seems like you should keep them--"I paid good money for that," LOL!

Actually it's much easier to access photos stored digitally on the computer as you can network your television set and display the photos on it.

Frankly I don't think most people want to look at other people's pictures anyway :) I can't think of something I relish less than having to coo over somebody's pictures. I will email a photo to someone or use iphotos to create a slide show. I've also stored my photos on my .mac account which is fully integrated with iphotos. iPhotos enables me to create an infinite number of "smart" albums as well as being able to search by any criteria -- infinitely more accessible than paper photos.

Having lived with clutter for most of my life because I didn't realize there was any alternative -- I will continue to preach the gospel of the reformed sinner -- having to spend time and energy worrying about how to cram more things into your home is self defeating especially if there is an alternative that actually provides greater accessibility which after all is the point of photos (or music).

I don't post often (but read much) also. As the owner of a multitude of photo albums, I affirm the 'they don't get taken out & looked at often' view. While I still take mega pics, I now keep them digitally, only printing if someone wants specific pics.

I post all my photos on my own website in jpeg (not Windows Bitmap format), emailing the link to 'interested parties'. The photos can also be burned to CD or DVD and mailed to anyone wanting their own copy or simply to share. Even if they don't have a computer, they can display them on their TV . . . much easier than dragging out those heavy albums. AND much less *storage intensive*. :-)))

So my view, as the owner of thirty plus albums, I love digital and feel they photos get shared/viewed with waaay more folks because they are digitally available. Much easier to send the link to the photos to (for instance) the folks in NJ we met on our last trip than to print photos, print envelope, wrap photos so they don't get mutilated enroute, get & affix postage, mail photos . . . (IF that got done!). LOL!!

And me - I LOVE looking at other peeps pics!. But that's just MHO.

If you don't have a 'puter Vicki, I'd be selective in your display items & do the box thing that Blaze & Sheryl mentioned.

Holly

I'm awful - 90% of the time I just don't even take pictures (just don't think about it). LOL People get over it though...after they finish being annoyed that no, I can't show them pictures of that trip because I didn't take any, and no, there aren't any pictures from me of my hubby dressed up as a french maid this halloween. ;-)

My mom does the one on top the other in the frame thing. My sis and I bought her a few really nice frames, and she just puts the most recent pictures on top, with the others still in the frame below. Saves photo album space and shelf space.

I am the "keeper" of the family photo albums (ironically enough), so I have the photo albums (all 2 of them, the thin magnetic albums) that have my parent's wedding pictures and early family pictures from the 70's & before in them. They mostly sit languishing on a shelf, though I did get into one for a baby pic my sis needed of herself for work recently. Other than that, no one looks at them.

When I went to Paris, I took all my pictures digitally, and bought postcards everywhere I went. So my scrapbook from that trip is very simple - my postcards, and my favorite digital pics printed out and pasted in the scrapbook, along with brochures, etc. No fancy stuff, just the stuff I got in paris. The rest of the pictures were deleted, and I don't miss them at all. 5 of my favorite postcards are in a very nice frame that I have hanging on the wall (one frame for all 5).

It does me no good to post pics online for family - most of my relatives really aren't "online" as per se - they'd rather have a "real" copy sent in the christmas card or whatever. I did send a wedding pic with our announcements - our other wedding pictures were done by the parents, and my MIL got a small photo album and put prints of the digitals in there, I just added the "real" prints my dad took, and that's that - no fuss, no muss, and it's small (5x7 album), so it takes up very little room. :-)

For grandkids, my grandma has 22 (I think?). A couple years ago, all of the aunts & uncles got together and bought a huge frame, and had a mat cut that would fit pictures of all of them, plus all the grandkids. One frame, all those pictures. Now when Grandma gets new pictures, she just has to put the new one in that frame, and everything is in one place...no tons of pictures on the wall anymore. :-)

I have very few family photos actually framed and sitting out - a wedding pic from my sis (because thier expressions are hilarious, and it makes me laugh), a professional picture of my parents, and one from my grandparent's 50th anniversary. Anything else I get just gets tossed in a magnetic photo album - no fuss or anything else. That's where my wedding cards are headed too, very soon. :-)

I would suggest you just keep some magnetic photo albums on hand, and when you get those cute little photos, stick them right in the album, and don't worry about anything else. Or get one of those huge frames and a mat cut with room for each grandchild, so you can have them all in one place. That will be easiest for you, and much easier on your walls! ;-)

I had a friend pick up photo boxes at Wal-Mart on clearance for $1 apiece. Sturdy, pretty, and super easy. Slap those pictures in the box and I am done.