Deck the walls and hang family photos in time for the holidays

For an extra special touch this year, why not create a memory wall that tells the story of your family through photos? The challenge is that you likely have frames of different sizes, shapes and colors. Some with mats, some without. And some black and white pictures mixed with full color. Not to worry! Here’s a creative and easy way to display all your photos without overwhelming yourself.

In just a few easy steps you can hang 2 horizontal rows to showcase your pictures. With this type of arrangement the bottoms of the frames are lined up in the upper row and in the lower row, the tops of the frames are lined up to create visual symmetry and cohesiveness to the display.

Hang your arrangement in places where you and your guests can easily enjoy them. Popular locations include hallways, staircases and family rooms. Here's how to do it:

• Use the floor to lay out the display. Start by choosing one picture in each row to serve as the focal point and build out from there. Be sure to balance out sizes and colors of frames on either side of the focal point frames so it’s even.
• When you think you have it, take a snapshot. It’s amazing how this will help you notice things that you didn’t see the first time.

• Determine the proper height for the display. Be sure not to hang the top row too high or it will be difficult to appreciate the pictures. In our example, the tops of the frames in the bottom row hang at 62” from the floor (Red line in the photo).
• Start by hanging the middle frame in the bottom row. Hang the top frame, centered above it leaving 1-2” (we used 2”) space between the two.

• Continue hanging the bottom row leaving the same amount of space between each frame. We used 2” to give the arrangement an organized and cohesive look.
• Using Hang & Level™, you can visually hang all the frames easily by lining up the top of each frame with the one next to it. Continue hanging, working out from the middle.

• Using Hang & Level, visually line up the bottom of the frame with the one already on the wall to find the correct location.
• Hang your pictures working out from the middle leaving the same amount of space between the frames.

• You may need to re-level each frame before hanging the next one as frames can shift when hammering.