I've always longed for having a photo gallery in my home. Those thoughtfully curated galleries found in books, restaurants, friends' houses are all so inspiring, and really says to who ever sees it who you are. I finally got the chance to work on my very first photo gallery, so excited!
The corner leading to the staircase is the best place to make this display. In order to get started, I brought back from Taiwan our first studio shot family portrait to North Vancouver, and found a frame that fit it. (Oddly it wasn't that easy! This studio printed photo was not a standard size, and I really didn't want to cut it.) And then I found this frame combo from Bed Bath&Beyond that had a good combination of 8 frames. This saved me a lot of trouble finding and deciding on different frames (and money of course!) The combo and the frame for our first family portrait were all in black and white, which will work well together and match our wall and floor color.
Before I started picking out photos and mounting those frames, I hung the family portrait up. Every time I walked by it, its loneliness reminded me to hurry up and get on with the project!
Then it came the fun part of actually selecting the photos for printing. I only had photos from our past year in Canada to choose from, as all the digital data was still in Taiwan. Even so it took me hours and hours to go through every folder, and get caught in mesmerising myself in the memories of each picture in the mean time.
Every photo gallery has its own message and style. For me, I wanted it to be about 'family' and 'people'. The photos had to be people-themed, included all the close ones in our family, and the faces had to be clear/fairly-exposed/well-focused. Also, since it's a selection from our past year in Canada, I wanted to pick pictures that showcased the seasons and natural beauty of the land. When it came to the final cut, I also had to consider being 'fair' to the twins and that they appear in equal number of pictures. And of course I wanted to include a picture of me and hubby to showcase everyone that even though we are not living together at the moment, we are very much together!
So, only 9 photos took me countless hours to select.
When picking out the photos, there was another important factor to consider, which was the frames' given sizes and their landscape/portrait orientation. In order to make my first photo gallery a success and avoid printing out the wrong pictures/spend unnecessary money, I even made a sketch of the gallery. This drawing may not mean a thing to anyone, but I am very much moved by it! Not saying that the gallery is a master piece, but it is made with my heart and soul. (Had a good laugh showing hubby the drawing over Skype and asking him which pictures are referred.)
Since I spent so much effort on selecting the photos, I thought I'd share the runner-ups that didn't make the final cut! Just looking at the sea of photos makes me want to pat myself on the back, I really worked hard on capturing every moment of our life here, with a little point and shoot camera too!
After a big round of hammering, we're done! I could have done a little better with the measurements, but the result is satisfactory. After all, I am much more competent at maneuvering a vacuum or pencil than a hammer!
To compliment the gallery, I added this Hoot Stool to make the look more complete.
I am a little hesitant at showing our entire living room at this point, but a picture taken at a wider angle will better showcase how the gallery plays in the space.
Happy twins and cheery photo gallery. Mission completed!
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