When one of my clients moved into her new home, it was important to her to have photos of her kids around. She’s pretty found of them to begin with, and happens to be newly splitting custody of said offspring. Having pictures of their faces around would, we hoped, make being apart from them about a centimeter more bearable. Plus, their presence would instantly make what was a brand new place feel like a familial haven.

Since we needed photos on the fly, I hit up the Dual-Strawed hotline. Luckily, his majesty the Emperor of Adventure was stateside, and happy to oblige the request. He showed up at the appointed time, headed down to the park with the whole related-crew, and returned not thirty minutes later, mission complete.

We printed those photos out, hung them on those ledges in the living room, and let me just tell you: it’s a completely fantastic situation.

So, naturally, my thoughts have since turned to family photos and how one might go about displaying them.

At present, given the success of the project, my fondness rests with ledges. There’s an effortlessness that leaning and layering photos, rather than hanging them, achieves, if you ask me.

Image credit: Annika Von Holdt

You can keep it an exclusively family photo arrangement, or implant some art pieces for variety. And, as photo ledges may be most easily assembled over time, you can entertain a little mis-matched frame action without the whole thing looking crazy.

Image credit: A Beautiful Mess

If hanging and clean lines are where your heart lies, you cannot go wrong with a family gallery wall.

Image credit: Photography by Tracey Ayton, Home of Monika Hibbs via Style Me Pretty

There’s something so satisfying about the appearance of matching frames, whether hung in a gallery wall collage style, or symmetrically.

Image credit: Studio McGee, Photography by Travis J Photography

Image credit: Unknown

The middle ground might be this:

Image credit: Photography by Cynthia Chung Photography, Interior Design by Jennifer Markowitz via Style Me Pretty

Frames hung resolutely but casually, a display that is neither overly thought out or sloppy.

But let me ask you this: have you ever considered going bigger?

Image credits: Jeltje Janmaat via We Love Beautiful Things

If your family is your work of art, why not? And, when framed at this size, the photos seem to become more valid art pieces, wouldn’t you agree?

Image credit: Interiors Magazine

Image credit: Domino Magazine via Splendid Willow

And, lastly, one of the cooler ideas I’ve seen: family photo cum wall mural.

Image credit: unknown

I imagine this technique would not be for the faint of heart, but for the person who values family above much else, and, who desires a non-replicable wallpapering.

Where do you stand on the family photo matter? More important: why?