Calling all photographers and mums who simply love taking and displaying their pics. We have uncovered the coolest (and cheapest)Â way to make a DIY photo wall without having to break out the toolbox (or the bottles of wine to drink in frustration when it doesn’t go to plan)!
And it’s all thanks to clever Victorian mum-of-two Kylie and her black and white DIY photo wall masterpiece.
How awesome does it look?! And, she assures us, it’s actually really easy to do. All you need? A bit of double-sided tape, measuring tape and a little bit of maths skills.
A great isolation project!
Kylie lives in Melbourne with her two kids so there has been a lot of downtime lately, what with the restrictions and all. She decided to make the most of it all by printing out some of her favourite family photos to display on the pillars in her home.
How did she make it look so good?
I don’t know about you but I’ve tackled taping photos to the wall before and it never goes to plan.
Trying to get the right amount of space in between each photo and making them actually go on straight? That goes straight into the too hard basket.
Plus, my maths skills are on par with a 7-year-old (true story) so anything that requires algebra? I’m out!
The genius with this project is that you don’t need to worry about photo spacing. After a few easy calculations of the size and space of the wall (we’re talking length and width and that’s it), Kylie figured out the 6″ squared pics fit perfectly in the space.
Instead of leaving a bit of white in between each photo, she printed the pictures with a white border so she could place them right next to each other and avoid the need to solve for X to uncover how many millimetres to leave in between.
Take that, maths.
DIY photo wall in two hoursÂ
Kylie tells Mum Central that the project only took a couple of hours per wall and the double-sided tape made it easy to keep the photos straight.
I just started in the top left corner and did the top row, then worked my way down and across from there. About an inch or so of double-sided-tape in each corner (horizontally across the top and bottom corners) and having the tape go right to the edge of the photos has worked to ensure I don’t get any edges bending.
The hardest/most time-consuming part is choosing which photos to print!”Â
She also opted for a matte finish which is easier to clean.
“I just give them a bit of a wipe with a microfibre cloth every now and then to dust them,” Kylie tells Mum Central.Â
What about cost?Â
Peanuts! At 60 cents per photo, Kylie spent just $36 for one wall (4 photos across x 15 photos down @ 60 cents each) and $43.80 for the other wall (5 photos across plus 15 photos down minus two at the top because of the bulkhead @ 60 cents each).
Plus the cost of a roll of double-sided tape.
To make your own, you’ll need:
- A tape measure to measure the length and width of the space. Some minor calculations will determine which size photos will fit. I guess maths is kind of useful in real life after all… 😛
- Matte photos printed with a white border
- Double-sided tape
Well, we love it. And all the mums on Kmart Inspired Homes, where Kylie shared her DIY photo wall, love it too. Kylie admits her kids love it too. She’s thinking about doing one more photo wall before the lockdown ends.
My 1 year old daughter LOVES looking at them. They’re too hard for her to rip off because of the double sided tape in each corner. And my 5 year old son knows better than to mess with my photos.”Â
Plus, Kylie shares that there isn’t any residue or paint damage from the tap either.
I actually moved a couple from my original photo wall to the newer one when I made that and they came off fine- it’s been easy to take individual prints off and update with new ones as I take new photos/print/swap them.”Â
We love a good DIY project, especially one that involves next to nothing and costs less than $50! Now, to decide which photos to print out!
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