Have you ever looked at the home decorating magazines and wondered,

"How in the heck did they make that look so beautiful?"

I can answer that... professional designers, professional lighting and Photoshop!

Still, some things from those magazines can be accomplished if you have a plan of action.

Today, I'm sharing my photo collage secrets....

It isn't easy... but it is worth it!

First of all, it is not a good idea to just start putting nails in your wall. It might seem like you can just pick a favorite picture to be the focal point and start placing other pictures around it.

I promise you will end up with a lot of holes in your wall and a mess of pictures.

What you need is a plan...

MATERIALS LIST:

Paper

Tape

Pencil

Tape measure

Level

Measure all of the frames that you want to hang and make a piece of paper that matches the measurements for each frame.

Take the paper and tape to the wall and hang the papers as if they were the frames.

Here is the first try I made at a client's house last week (pictures used with permission)...

It wasn't quite right, so I moved a few of the papers around until I found a good balance...

I used my cell phone to take several pictures as I rearranged things and flipped through them until I found the best one.

Next, you pick a paper rectangle and put in your first nail.

Nail? Yes. Nail. What about those nifty Velcro strips they make these days?

In this case, they would have been a disaster.

Apparently, standing on the stairs while arranging pieces of paper on the wall, confuses your sense of balance and direction a bit.

Those papers were actually hung at an angle...

Thankfully, once I put a nail in the wall and hung the first picture, gravity straightened things out for me... and the rest came together quite nicely.

I was so happy with the finished product that I took this picture before I cleaned all the tools and papers off of the steps!

*TIP: Take a look at the bottom, right-hand corner of the five bottom photos. Using a ruler and level,

I measured 14" up from the hand rail and drew a line in pencil all the way up the wall.

Making the angle of the bottom of the collage match the angle of the staircase really

enhances the overall look of the finished product.

"And now, O Lord God, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord God, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.” 2 Samuel 7:28-29 ESV

Special thanks to the client who let me use these pictures for my blog post!