I love to travel, but I hate bringing back lots of little trinkets because if I keep traveling at my current pace, I won’t have any space to put all those glasses with the name of the place on it or those sculptures and plates. And don’t get me started on the shirts…ugh! So what I do is I take photos! Not the standard images of me, the hubby and kids in front of a monument. I have those pics as well…there is nothing wrong with those. I take scenic photos of the water or a different angle of a building that’s a monument. And I have turned them into a vacation photo wall throughout my home.
Now I have fantastic vacation pics that have turned into wall art. And I can invite friends over as we all sit in the living room by the fireplace with my smoking jacket on (I don’t smoke) and my hair pulled back in a sophisticated bun, and I can say “Oh that picture is from when we explored the ancient ruins this past summer.” I don’t know why that detailed image always comes to mind, but turning your “scenic” photos into vacation photo wall art is a great way to share your travels without having a lot of trinkets that don’t match your décor lying around.
You don’t even need a professional camera, use your phone! Print and enlarge the photos and change the colors to Sepia tone or Black and White for a more dramatic effect.
Photo Ideas:
- A building or a mountain from down low looking up.
- Through another object like a fence, a window, bicycle spokes, a chair (trust me it looks cool).
- Picture of a busy street or market place during the day.
- A body of water at sunset especially if you can get the sun in the shot.
Examples of a Vacation Photo Wall
Sepia Tone for a Nostalgic Look
The photos were from a trip to Spain and Morocco. Please excuse the table being off-center. I have children, and they like to move things (ugh). Anyway, I took those pictures with a digital camera (it was 2009), and at the time, I used to tell people I was terrible at taking photos. So if I can do it so can you! Here is a closer look:
I changed the photos to a sepia tone to make them more interesting. By the way, I bought the frames from a department store in the clearance section for less than $10. My favorite thing is to shop department stores for clearance frames because you get a nice quality frame without the cost! To give you some more ideas, here are smoother photos around my house.
Black and White for a Classic/Clean Look
This was my honeymoon, and I did it in black and white. I also buy frames from Michael’s. They usually have some BOGO promotion on frames, and that’s when I grab a cart and go crazy. Well, not crazy, but I typically get as many frames as I need for my photos. Here is another wall in my house.
Color for a Bright and Cheery Art Gallery Look
I just realized that I must have a thing for six frames….or perhaps it had something to do with a BOGO sale lol! The majority of these photos were from a trip to Vegas. The one in the top center was taken from Liberty Park in my home state of New Jersey! This area is a hallway, so I kept it colorful because there isn’t any furniture, just a wall. I’ll be honest…I don’t know why I did color…perhaps the flowers needed color. I don’t know, but I like it, and that’s all that should matter when you hang your photos. If you like it, I love it and don’t be afraid to go against the standard occasionally.
A Closer Look Into The Vacation Photo Wall
I want to point out that my flower pics were from the Bellagio Gardens and all I did was just take a close up of all the flowers together.
These flowers don’t have a personal story of any significance. I just found some flowers and snapped my pic. You could do this with a rock, sand on a beach, a tree branch, anything with texture you name it, and guess what? I didn’t have a fancy high-end camera. I just stood near the flowers to capture the image. And if it makes you feel confident in being able to pull this off… I took over twenty photos of flowers, yet I only ended up with two on the wall. That should tell you something…if you take enough photos you’ll end up with a good one!
Now, this photo on the left was some art installment in the gardens, and I thought it looked interesting, so I took a picture of a section of it. It looks much better in person, but again it just caught my eye. Do you notice a pattern? If you are wondering what to photograph, trust your instinct. I do the second look test. If it makes me take a second look or if I find myself wondering if I should take a picture of it, then I take a picture of it.
Tips For Your Vacation Wall Art
Frame Mat
I wish I had a technical explanation, but I find that the photo frames with a mat look more expensive and bring sophistication to your design. “How thick does the mat have to be, Nikki?” It doesn’t matter, make sure your photo is the correct size for the mat. I like matching personally, but your wall gallery doesn’t have to match in mat size or frame size.
Hanging Your Photos
“So Nikki, how do I hang these photos?” Glad you asked friend because I don’t know, but I can tell you I was always told to hang your pictures at eye level. What does that mean? I don’t have a specific height measurement for eye level, make sure you don’t have to tilt your head to see your pictures or that toddlers can’t pull your photos of the wall because that’s too low.
There are some great resources on picture hanging on Pinterest. Just search “How to hang Pictures on Wall” and watch what pops up! Now get to searching through your vacation photos, you may have some you can print and hang right now!
