Creative photo displays to transform any room

How to get creative with framed photos

Free up those digital pics trapped in your phone or computer and use them to personalise and add character to your home. Better than groups of frames cluttering up your surfaces, these ideas will turn a blank wall space into a focal point you love looking at every day.

1. The grid
Simple but impactful, this arrangement works most powerfully when identical frames are used to display black and white prints. Theme the subject of the pictures, too: all people or all landscapes, for example.

living room with green wall and grid photo frame

(Image credit: Unknown)

2. The lozenge
Again, the shape is the star, so keep the frames themselves identical in style. This time, though, there are two shapes used: eight rectangles and six squares.

living room with apricot colored wall and lozenge photo frame

(Image credit: TBC)

3. The triangle
The rules for this formation: Keep the perpendicular lines straight; use frames of one colour; loosen it up in the centre with different shapes and even a clock. This arrangement creates the perfect backdrop to ‘frame' a dining area in an open-plan space and a great dinner-party talking point, too.

grey dining room with pictures triangle format

(Image credit: TBC)

4. The line-up
Keep it simple. Matching frames, all in a perfect line. Great for making a narrow room feel wider and drawing the eye upwards.

living room with cream wall and line up photo frame

(Image credit: TBC)

5. The free-and-easy

Ah, the joy of picture ledges. Fix them up, and you've got a platform for an ever-changing display of photos, favourite pictures, prints and knickknacks to suit the season or just your mood.

living room with off white wall and free and easy format photo frame

(Image credit: TBC)

6. The hanging cluster
Fix a bunch of frames to lengths of rope or twine, tie ‘em together and hang ‘em from a peg. Easy as. Plus, you can move them around as the whim takes you.

office with white wall and hanging cluster photo frame

(Image credit: TBC)

7. The perfect square

Want to make real visual impact? Then think BIG. These oversized frames fill the space and draw attention to beautiful architectural features in this stairway.

stairway with white wall perfect square photo frame

(Image credit: TBC)

8. The stairway to heaven

Tell the story of your life going upstairs with an eclectic range of frame sizes and shapes that'll all work together if you stick to a monochrome mix.

landing with black and white photos

(Image credit: TBC)

9. The statement maker
Simple black and white frames really pop against a bold, monochrome wallpaper.

wallpaper with black and white frames and potted plant

(Image credit: TBC)

10. The colour wheel

This one's the perfect weekend upcycling project: Buy some cheap, fancy frames; spray paint them in bright, clashing shades. Hang the largest at your desired centre point, then hang the others around it in a circle to create a focal point and add colour to your room.

11. The ‘more is more'

Why stick at one or two pictures ledges, when you can have more? Corral smaller frames that would other clutter up surfaces and collect them all onto your ledges to make a bare hallway or landing feel warm and welcoming.

12. The '10 Green Bottles'
A cute way to display old photos - and keep them safe, too. Simply roll and push into vintage bottles and jars - they'll unfurl on their own to lay flat against the glass.

vintage bottles with photos

(Image credit: TBC)

13. The Christmas special

A quick and easy idea for the festive season: print out your favourite digital pics and peg them onto lengths of ribbon strung across the mantel or from corner to corner of the room. Be vigilant if you position lit tealights beneath them, though!

customise hang frame photos

(Image credit: TBC)

Want to have a go? Find out how to hang frames or customise a frame with washi tape.

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Heather Young
Editor

Heather Young has been Ideal Home’s Editor since late 2020, and Editor-In-Chief since 2023. She is an interiors journalist and editor who’s been working for some of the UK’s leading interiors magazines for over 20 years, both in-house and as a freelancer.