The Only Wall In The House

Our small Cape Cod is full of windows, built-ins, and wood panelling (painted white, thankfully). Since we moved in we opened up the first floor by knocking out a wall in our kitchen. The upstairs is a classic small Cape Cod configuration of sloped ceilings and dormers. This is a round about way of explaining that basically, we have no place to hang anything on our walls. I was pretty sad about this until I realized that all our family photos could adorn our stairwell! It's such a non-space that I had been neglecting it. 

A few months ago I went to Ikea and bought a ton of frames, mostly white ones in various sizes but also a few small unfinished wood ones that I painted grey with left over test samples from Benjamin Moore. (I had to resist the temptation to use only white frames. So many people do that -- understandably, it looks like a million bucks -- that I feel like I had to add my own (messier) personality and use some of my existing frames from our old apartment.) They were sitting around for a long time before I filled them with photos (it's so much harder now that everything is digital). Then they sat a little longer until Mr. SevPrez and his SevParents embarked on the upstairs painting extravaganza. 

This Sunday, after a Stolen Goods pop up the day before and an action packed Mother's Day Brunch at my brother's, I came home intending to take a nap, but somehow found myself hanging frames up the stairs. It must be the nesting instinct.

I followed the ingenious tips from the guys over at Young House Love, namely to use scrap paper and tape to map out where everything will go on the wall before making holes everywhere. Next you mark where all the nails go on the scrap paper, hammer them in, remove the paper, hang the frame, and just like magic, everything looks perfect the first time. No cursing required.

The only thing bad about this project is that it's a tough space to photograph, so I can't share any good pictures with you. But I assure you that walking up and down the stairs has become a totally different experience. I look forward to being reminded of our great friends and family and the highlights of our lives. 

Next time we go to Ikea we'll pick up some more frames. We have more space on the wall I started and there is a small empty wall at the top of the landing that will probably get filled up as well. This is good, since I think once our little one gets here we'll have lots more photos to add.