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Photo gallery wall using ledges

13 years ago

I have a wall that's about 70" wide and 7 ft tall that I want to make into a photo wall for our family pictures. I've gotten a bunch of pictures printed out in black and white, have some black frames and am ready to start creating. A lot of the ideas that I've seen and liked have either a piece of furniture or chair rail as sort of the starting point for the pictures. I tried a photo wall on this same wall once before, and I just felt like the pictures were floating on the wall and didn't have anything to sort of anchor them. I don't have the space for a table to put on this wall and I don't have a chair rail or wainscoating that would act as a starting point, so I was thinking about putting the pictures on photo ledges. I saw a picture on someone's blog of 4 ledges set up in 2 rows staggered like this:

________......_________

......._________....._________

Does anyone use photo ledges to display pictures? Any tricks or tips to help me get it to look right? If I use 2 rows, what should the height of each row be? I also saw a picture that I liked that had 3 rows, but the ceilings in the room were much higher than mine and I'm thinking they would end up going too low on my wall.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Comments (2)

User
13 years ago
After seeing Lindybarts photo ledges I've been planning on doing this in my hall for over a year now. My hall isn't as wide as hers and my ceilings are only 8' so I'm actually making ledges so they don't stick out far.
Lindybart's hallway. If I could redo I would've just bought the ledges from Crate and Barrel for $14 but I already have the wood.
{{!gwi}}

I suggest taking posterboard (tape together if you have to) and cut out mock ups of where I wanted them on the wall.

I've seen photos in blogs where the shelves are real low. I wouldn't worry about not having anything below them. I think the display should read as a whole item so I'd probably aim to keep the middle about eye level. Start at 60" from the floor and adjust from there.

I think this is a great idea not only because I never see it done around here but it will keep me from getting too wild/cluttered with photos in my hall.
anrol
13 years ago
I just have this (very simple) and the ledges are painted the same color as the walls.
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wendy - Great points. Since the original layouts posted above, I've been trying different things with a lot more frames. I'm getting the hang of it, I think. I won't be sticking with anything like the original layouts I posted. pammy - I will watch the height placement of the smaller frames. shee - I know what you mean about the symmetry thing. I did purchase many more frames, so that is helping, but I actually need more yet! Well, this little project has turned into a bigger project. juddgirl - Thanks for the links. Some of the frames came with matting already, which is nice, and I got a lot of the frames at 50% off (after Christmas sales). So, right now I have 17 frames, some matted, and I've spent less than $200. While I agree that having identical frames and matting makes it easier to pull everything together, I'm attracted to the more casual look of a variety of frame styles. I am sticking to the same color for them, though. I know I'm making it harder in doing it this way, but I'll figure it out somehow.
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