A Themed Picture Wall in the Basement Stairwell... {Home}

I've been wanting to bring some life to this white wall leading down to the basement (please forgive the unpainted yellow wall.. ya'll know how I don't like painting stairs and stairwells).

So I did an inventory on frames I had stored in the basement and decided that these three would be a good fit for that boring wall. They all hail from Winner's here in London, Canada. Every so often I'll breeze through the frame aisle and pick up a few that fit our home's style.. not always knowing where exactly I'll use it. With my luck, when I'm looking for something specific I never find it, it's in the moments of spontaneity that I land on something I like.

But originally, it all started with this photo. That's me with the orange tube and scraped knee with my older sister in pink.

I wanted to frame this picture somewhere in the house. And when we were at a cottage in June (in Northern Ontario) we captured similar shots of the kids playing with a cheap $5 blow up tube from Walmart. I thought together these would make for a special themed beach/tube wall. I needed to develop one photo as a 4x6 and the other a 5x7 according to the sizes of my frames. I develop my photos at Black's often using their promotion (pay up front for a few hundred photos for however much). My card is often good for a year or so.

I came home with my two photos, framed them, and began to experiment with different arrangements - which I just do on the floor. (How wonderful is all that water!) 

I went with option two, just reversed. Then I double checked my placement on the wall leading down to the basement since I didn't have an extra pair of hands to hold the photos while I stood back to check it out. This is a great alternative.

Once I determined this I began to hang the photos using these command strips from Home Depot, which means no holes in the wall. However they are a more pricier alternative.

I followed the instructions which was easy just somewhat time consuming given the time to push 30 seconds here and 30 seconds there, and then wait one hour before hanging the photo.

But after all was done here was my result. Tip: I placed a level at the top of the frame while I hung the picture to make sure everything was straight. I also removed the backings on the frames (sometimes it's the piece that props up the frame or a hanger that protrudes slightly) so that they would sit flush to the wall.

It definitely brings life to an otherwise boring wall (with room to add more photos or art in the future). I love the old photograph mixed with the new and the kids get a kick out of seeing pictures of the handyman and I when we were kids. 

All this blue has me wanting to paint the ceiling of the stairwell a breezy blue... 

Have you ever created a theme wall? Have you ever put up photos in a stairwell? It's a relief there were no casualties..