My grand photo wall

I created a wall of photos in our "parlor room," which is a fancy name for the front living room that is hardly used, hah! I'm calling it the GRAND photo wall, because it's filled with pictures of the past; grandparents, parents, pictures of me and my husband as kids, as well as pictures of our kids. And it's grand. It's awesome. I can't get over how completely awesome it turned out!

The parlor room is right off the main foyer. The photo wall takes up one wall. I plan to add more furniture in the room, too. I want to buy a coffee table and two accent chairs. 

With the exception of one, all of the photos are black and white. My mom had a ton of old photos of family and she graciously gave them to me. I printed out newer photos in black and white. You'll notice there's some fun stuff up there too - I included five embroidered pieces, two wooden buttons and two doilies in embroidery hoops. I know this wall will change over the years as I change out pieces and add new photos. I didn't want it to be rigid so I staggered everything and meticulously made sure all of the frames were level.

The wall has more photos from my side of the family for now, until I find some from my husband's side of the family. The two biggest frames are of the girls - photos from when they were one. I imagine as they get older I may swap out those pictures, but I don't know, I really love those pictures from when they were bitty babies. 

This embroidery is one of my favorites - Arlene drew it about two years ago. It's a button-eyed girl!

I framed the architectural drawing of the front of our house. 

This is the only colored photo on the wall - it's a hand colored black and white photo of my dad's parents on their wedding day.

The bright sunny Mr. Sun drawing is from Lydia. It's so cheery! 

The doilies I framed are ones that my grandmother made. The wooden buttons were purchased on Etsy! The flowers are one of the first things the girls ever drew. 

This is me at 7 years old. I'm awesome. I have a feather headband. And a Mickey Mouse pin. The girls think this photo is hilarious.

A photo of us at our wedding hangs between the photos of the girls. I found a more formal photo from our wedding after I completed the wall, but I like this candid shot a lot, too. I may eventually add the other one.

On the right side of the photo wall I hung a photo of me (in the center) and a painting my dad did years ago. The photo of me was hanging in my grandparent's house, along with photos of all of my cousins. The lamp is from a grandma and that's my grandma's sewing cabinet. I have the lamp set on a timer so it comes on in the evenings and casts quite a lovely glow. 

I updated the shelf above the couch too, adding some items that I've made and a couple other personal touches. I think once I add in a coffee table and some chairs the room will be completely put together and who knows, we may actually use it!