You’ve invested in professional photographs – now how do you display them??

One of the main reasons I encourage my clients to print their photos (my full session clients get a print credit!) is because we don’t want your photos to go to die on your computer. Studies show that children that have family photos in their home have higher self-esteem and self-confidence. You’ve also invested time and money into family photos – you should proudly display those works of art!

But, are you not sure how to display them? Do you think its going to be too expensive? I’ve put together 3 affordable and beautiful ways to display your professional photos.

Pinterest-Worthy Engineering Prints

Engineering prints are probably the cheapest way to blow up simple black and white portraits. They are simple and make a big impact on a big wall and the whole project costs about the same as a tank of gas!

To create this look, my kids’ Personality Portraits and printed them at Staples. These huge prints cost me only $8! Keep in mind, this is for black and white portraiture and really shouldn’t be used for images that have a lot of black on them or color. Simple is best! And these are engineering prints, not photograph paper, so the paper is delicate!

The size of the engineering prints is 24×36, so I headed to Target and found these frames for $25 each. They have other colors including black or brass, so choose whichever fits with your decor.

You guys – total for this project was $58. Small price, big impact!

Oversized Matted Frames

We understand that printing professional pictures can get pricey, especially as the size of the picture increases. And sometimes you have a huge empty wall you need to fill. This is an easy, cost-efficient option if you’d like to display several photos from the same session.

For this project, I printed 4 photos size 11×14. I knew I wanted to use my favorite large frames from Target, but the included mat was not the correct size for the 11×14 images. I ordered 4 mats from Frame It Easy  (I also had the picture offset to the top half of the mat) that were shipped to me within a week or two. Lastly, for an extra bougie-ness, I ordered these art lights from Amazon.

Total cost for this was about $300, but you could make it cheaper without the lights.

Acrylic Frame Gallery Wall

Another options to display your professional photographs is with a gallery wall. This is the most expensive of the projects, but I think it also has the biggest impact. I made this acrylic gallery wall in my office, displaying portraits of my children that I had taken. I had a big wall to fill, so I knew I needed to have 11×14 size images. Based on my measurements, I needed the acrylic frames to be 19×19….which is not a common size. Enter Art to Frame which will cut acrylic frames to any size you want. You can also choose which color mounting brackets you’d like. I love that these are mounted directly to the wall and I can easily change out the photos by just unscrewing the front piece of the mount and removing the front of the acrylic.

Total cost of this project was about $600, but still less than taking these to the framing store and getting them framed professionally. You could also cut the cost way down by using regular square frames instead of acrylic. (Note – you need to have a lot of patience and a “measure twice, drill once mentality for this project!)

Which is your favorite look? I’d love to hear if you try any of these projects out!