How to Display Family Photos: 3 Stylish and Tasteful Ways

I think the opinion that you can’t have a stylish home AND display family photos is outdated and inaccurate.  Today, I’m going to show you 3 tasteful ways how to display family photos in your home!

I don’t remember where I heard this but when we were selling our old home, I was told/advised by multiple people (and the internet) to not display personal items or family photos.

Buyers don’t want to see you.  They want to see your house.

Now of course I am not a realtor or real estate expert BUT I couldn’t imagine not having family photos displayed in my home!

When we were house hunting years before that, I loved seeing how each family lived in the space.  You see pictures of weddings, birthdays, vacations, and professional pictures.  It’s like you got a little glimpse into their lives (not in a creepy way). 

The space wasn’t just some random, super clean, and decluttered living room void of character and personality.

I love using our family pictures wherever I can in our home.  The notion or opinion that a stylish home doesn’t have personal photos displayed is outdated.

Stylish and tasteful ways to display family photos

There isn’t a right or wrong way to display photos.  But, there are probably stylish ways versus not-so-stylish (but still okay if that’s what you like!) ways.

You don’t need to have pictures plastered on every square inch of available wall space.  You don’t need to use those giant multiple-frames-fused-together things that became popular 10 years ago.  Please don’t use those.

My SIL recently told me she liked how I had pictures of the kids from years ago, not just what they look like now.  She said she didn’t have pictures of her kids when they were younger on display and she kinda wanted to!  And I say, GO FOR IT! 

Use whatever pictures you want from whatever time period.  Mix black and white photos from your grandparents with your kids’ baby pictures.  More pictures = more eclectic (one of the stylish ways to display photos below 😉 )

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3 ways to display family photos

So, bust out your family photos, and let’s see 3 different tasteful ways to display them in your home!

1.  Grid-Style Gallery Wall

When you search Pinterest for “gallery wall ideas” or “how to make a gallery wall”, you’re likely to be bombarded with pictures of walls containing tons of frames, typography, and some clocks or random trinket things.  All of this is displayed in a way that cannot be recreated.  It’s personal.

While I’ll get into that sort of not put together but secretly actually put together look below, I understand how that can be hard to replicate for yourself.

I would consider that to look more eclectic.  And while there’s nothing wrong with it, it can be so frustrating to try and gather the perfect frames that all go together but look like they weren’t bought together but all match and look complimentary.  Do you know what I mean?

Enter the grid-style gallery wall.

This is such a popular choice right now with the trend of more modern, sleek, simple decor.  Nearly every store sells big frames with oversized or regular-sized mats. 

A simple black frame or (my personal favorite) brass frame or even white frame arranged in a uniform grid fills up that empty wall space and is stylish in the process.

I have two of these types of gallery walls in my house right now.  The first is to use oversized black matted frames with black and white pictures of our wedding. 

The second is in our hallway using the prettiest brass frames displaying pictures of our family and children. 

My favorite tasteful grid-style gallery walls: examples

I love the black-and-white frames in combination with black-and-white photos!  Don’t you just love this gallery wall from Studio Mcgee??

Such a pretty way to decorate around a TV!  I love how Driven by Decor used a mix of abstracts, photographs, and sketches on her uniform gallery wall. 

For our purposes, I think it would look just as amazing with all the family photos!

Chris Loves Julia DIYed some amazing acrylic frames to display personal photos in their dining room!  I can’t get enough of this gallery wall.

Making Home Base is my last example with another beautiful grid-style gallery wall!

Here’s a great grid-style gallery wall from making manzanita. I love the frames and spacing she uses to create this tasteful family photo wall.

You could totally make your own frames like this.

Or Here are some of my favorite frames to use on grid-style gallery walls!

2.  Display oversized family photo(s) in a tasteful fashion

The second stylish way to display family photos is to just use oversized photos!  No need to worry about coordinating frames and different styles.  One or two large photos are all you need.

You might think that sounds weird and how could that possibly look stylish??  Well, check out these examples and you mayyyyy just change your mind 🙂

Oversized family photos: examples

Elisabeth Mcknight spent $14 (including frames) to make the cutest engineer print photos of her kiddos!

This could kinda fit in the previous “grid style gallery wall”  category, too.  But, since the frames and mats are so oversized, I liked it better in this category. 

Wouldn’t these oversized frames take the stress out of decorating a giant wall?!  LOVE this look from Studio Mcgee!

I love that City Farmhouse didn’t use a traditional frame here.  This is such a fun and unique look!

Chris Loves Julia also made engineer prints of their kids and isn’t it the perfect decor for their family room?!

3.  Tasteful and Eclectic Style Gallery Walls

The last stylish way to display family photos is on an eclectic-style gallery wall.

The eclectic look is really in style right now.  I like it because it adds character to a space.  I plan on adding an eclectic family photo gallery wall into our master bedroom as part of a room refresh this January!

But, the hardest part of how to make an eclectic style gallery wall is making it look cohesive without being matchy-matchy. 

This is why two gallery walls never look alike and why you shouldn’t try to replicate a gallery wall like this you see on Pinterest.

The key to the eclectic look is making everything look cohesive while having that gathered look and looking like you didn’t make it on purpose.  Sounds confusing, huh?

A more modern and tasteful eclectic gallery wall is one of my favorite looks right now.  I would mix black frames, wood frames, and a pop of brass or gold frames.  Use black and white photos AND color photos. 

Maybe throw in some abstract art with your family photos.  Mix larger frames with small frames, rectangular frames with square ones, and old and new photos.

The key with eclectic gallery walls

The key with eclectic gallery walls is create a MIX.

Remember, there’s no right or wrong way to make an eclectic-style gallery wall.  And, that perfect gallery wall you see on Pinterest is probably not exactly replicable.

Eclectic style photo walls: examples

Design Mom really knocked it out of the park with this gallery wall.  It draws you in without being too in your face.  The perfect way to display those family photos! 

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE (and soooo many more LOVES) this eclectic gallery wall by Emily Henderson.  The mixed frames, mixed sizes, mixed color, black and white, mixed matted and not.  Just, all of it.  LOVE!

Another gallery wall from Emily Henderson except this one is a bit more simple (but still beautiful!).  It looks like it all belongs together while still giving that curated look.

Erin Gates Design is my last eclectic gallery wall example.  The mix of different styles and colored frames is perfect!

Are you inspired to display family photos in your home?!

As you can see, there are so many ways to display family photos. Hopefully, you feel inspired by these examples and know how to make your own grid-style tasteful gallery wall.

Wishing you a joyful day!