b&w photos room

We have been living in our house for about

two and a half years and we have never really gotten around

to decorating.  When my mom visited within the first

year we had the house she helped by adding some
of her SueB touches.  However, we never got

around to adding to what she did.

My mom has got the eye for this kind of stuff.  I do not. 

I am not crafty.  Never have been. 

TGFP (thank God for Pinterest) though.

When I was recently visiting my parents in STL last Spring 

and this past Christmas, I came across some of these

amazing black & white photos from my grandparents's 

weddings and life.  

At first, I had planned on buying cheap frames and brightly painting them

(reds, yellows, oranges) to make

a photo wall collage behind our couch in the living room.

But since I have ADD get easily distracted this project

was never finished.  Even though there is proof of my attempt

on the floor of our front porch.

My main excuse for never getting around to decorating was always,

"we don't have the money to spend on that right now."

Which is true.  But that will always be true.  I mean,

I would much rather spend my money on things like

clothes, nail polish, alcoholic beverages, etc anyway.

But since both husband and I have finally accepted that we will

be in this house for at least another 5 years, I

knew I wanted it to feel more homey.

So I decided to turn on my Pinterest inspired thinking cap on

and finally do something with these photos.

Both our living room and dining room have brown furniture.  We bought

the living room table, chairs, and buffet that is in the living room for $300

from a friend's parents.  Talk about a freakin' steal.

I would like to do something with the dining room chair cushions.

But, THAT, my friend is for a different day and time.

(any suggestions are welcome).

Anyway (see I told you I get easily distracted), I was hesitant to

hang up black & white photos in a room with brown

furniture, but since the black and brown combo doesn't seem

to be thought of as horrendous as it once was, I thought what better

room then the dining room.

In addition to the old photos of my grandparents I have a few

black & white photos of my own that I wanted to

display but felt they didn't really fit in the living room.

So, once I decided I wanted to hang up my grandparents

wedding photos in the dining room the idea came to me

make it the black & white photo room.

Like I mentioned above, I had no intention of spending loads

of money on picture frames, so I headed out to

Goodwill and the Dollar Store in search of cheap - but not too cheap looking -

frames.  The frames I did find that were not black

I just spray painted them black.

Needless to say, as if this would surprise you 

while looking at this mess, I was a bit overwhelmed by

this project at first.  But once I got started I was flying. 

These bare walls and bland paint color was starting to make me a little crazy. 

Since my brain is not crafty or organized, I used painter's tape
to line the walls before I hung up the photos.
Over the Summer when I was bored I decided
to finally hang up some photos and I ended up
hammering decent sized wholes in the wall because
I didn't have a plan before I started.
Lesson learned. 

These were the only photos I was able to get up
since I ran out of frames for the other photos.
I plan on hitting up the Dollar Store and Goodwill again
this week to find some more though.

What do you think?

In addition to hanging up all of the photos, I would like to add some
black curtains to make the room feel complete.
And yesterday, as I walked to the hardware store to get the
painters tape, I stopped in an antique store and fell in love
with vintage liquor beveled glass decanters
(this kinda style in case you aren't following me).
I am hoping to find a free standing shelf in black
(or at least one I can paint black) to display the liquor decanters to.o

Alright, now it is time to snuggle up with the husband
watch The Avengers for the 100th time.  Can't
get enough of Chris Hemsworth these days so I
am not complaining:)

Hope you had a nice weekend and a pleasant and relaxing Sunday!

What about you?  Do you have a project at home that 
you have been wanting to tackle?
Where do you go for home decorations on a budget?