Picture Perfect

I have had these photos on my computer forever and it just keeps escaping me to remember to post about them...but finally, here we are. Last fall one of my BFFs took some amazing photographs of me and my family (I've bragged about her a million times- and showcased her work almost just as often. If you're new- check her out here, and here, and here), but it wasn't until just before Christmas that I actually got my hands on the finalized prints from the session she did for me.

As soon as I saw that photo, I couldn't WAIT to put it on my living room side table- because hello, I could not have picked out a more perfectly color coordinated piece of artwork for my living room if I had tried! I wanted to share this here because I think that choosing photos that pull colors from your room, and framing them appropriately, can be a great great way to add some style to your room on a fairly limited budget.

-{Frame it up}-

I'm a fan of displaying photos in general- and I often display TOO many, given the limited surface space that I have available- but I also wanted to show you what a difference thoughtful framing can make.

Here is the "before" picture of one of the shelves in my living room. I added a bit of visual interest earlier this year by taking the covers off of some of my books and mixing them in- but the frames were all just whatever random ones that I had on hand. They sort of matched each other, and sort of matched the other furniture in our room, so I called it good.

But then, once again, inspiration struck me in the clearance aisle of Target. (I really should rename this blog: How I redecorated my house with clearance items from Target, huh?) I spied these blue and green frames for $1.50 each, and proceeded to buy all 8 that they had in stock on the spot.

Does it not make the HUGEST difference?

Not only does the display itself look a million times more put together, but it goes with the rest of what I have going on in the room so well. Now I'm just on a mission to find some MORE great (cheap) frames so that I can make a little gallery wall somewhere with the rest of the family photos from my photo shoot. Is anyone else as obsessed with Target clearance as I am?