Living Room Decoration: Pictures Gallery

Picture Rail

• Line up a chic collection of black-and-white photographs on a picture rail in the living room. Mix your own shots from vacations or family gatherings, images by famous photographers known for black-and-white, such as Ansel Adams, and even cuttings from magazines you find attractive. Choose frames in all one color (either black or white), and use the other for the mat. To vary the look, combine the two in an alternating pattern, such as a white frame with a black mat, then a black frame with a white mat.

Chair Rail Border

• A border of family photographs creates an unusual picture gallery. Print pictures in a 4-by-6-inch, horizontal format. Attach them to a hard backing, such as a piece of foam core or luan wood, with hot glue. Apply varnish to impart a glossy shine to the front of the pictures and to protect them from damage. Place the pictures at chair rail height around a room, so that they are at eye level when seated.

Accent Wall

• Make an accent wall do double duty as a picture gallery. Have one special photo enlarged to mural size printed as wallpaper that you can apply to your wall. Try a cityscape, such as a scene from San Francisco. Or hang three rows of matted and framed, 8-by-10 inch photographs of you and the family in one location to give a room a focal point. Use similar frames and mats for all the pictures to give it an art gallery look. Accent it with uplights.

Mantel

• Mat and frame a collection of postcards and place them above a fireplace mantle. Or frame a collection of any other items you collect, such as pictures of flowers, automobiles, autographs or celebrity photos. Anchor the collection with a real oil painting lit with a spotlight angled to accentuate the picture. Or create a set of three large Japanese wood-print panels, with 2 inch spacing between them, to take center stage above the mantle.