Think Outside The Box — Angela St. Cyr

When it comes to displaying your favourite snap shots there are so many more options than just a regular old picture frame. The days of framing every picture and displaying them on a table or mantle are long gone! Think outside the box and try something new, like the creative art installation shown above in my youngest daughters room. She really wanted some air plants so I was searching high and low for some interesting way she could incorporate them into her room. There are many beautiful and simple air plant hangers available but my daughters room is small and she didn't have room to hang one away from the wall so those beauties were out of the question. Snooping around Homesense as I often do, I came across this simple network of black metal cubes that can be affixed to a wall and it was less than $60!!!! Perfect! I brought it home, hung it up and proceeded to sit the air plants in strategic locations. I stood back and thought damn I'm good...this looks amazing! As I looked at it a little longer I felt it was missing something so I grabbed one of the Polaroid photos she had sitting on her night-table and tucked it into one of the cubes. Well I'll be damned, not only did it fit perfectly but it looked amazing. Just a little piece of locker goop to keep the picture in place and Bob's your uncle. The best part is she can add pictures or change them very easily when ever she likes!

This web of loveliness is in my other daughters room. I'd like to take credit for it but I can't, it was all her idea. It's simply a few thumb tacs and some embroidery floss from the dollar store tacked onto the wall in a random web-like pattern with a few pictures tucked in behind the strings. BRILLIANT isn't it! I guess the creative apple doesn't fall far from the tree lol.

These are just regular old school picture frames but there is nothing old school about the way they're hung! Here I've used a mix of several different frames and a few other interesting elements like a mirror and the metal arrow that lights up. It was a great way to add interest and focus to an otherwise long and boring narrow hallway. Anyone who knows me, knows I'm too impatient to measure everything out before I hang things. So, I just lay out a pattern I like on the floor and then try to replicate it as best I can on the wall using 3M repositional velcro picture hanging strips. That way if I'm a bit off I can simply pull it off the wall and reposition it slightly. The days of hiding a million holes behind my pictures are long gone lol! Lets just say my husband is thrilled with 3M for inventing them.

Here is another fun idea! Why not take a favourite picture and have it blown up into wallpaper for a feature wall. You'll find tons of companies that are able to do this for you with just a quick google search.

I just love the simplicity of this idea. I envision this in a perfect little beach house. It's inexpensive, using just a piece of driftwood and some string or fishing line. How cute would this be in a little boys room if you attached a fishing lure to the end of each piece of fishing line.

This to me is perfection. Bold, dramatic and very simple to achieve for very little cost. Just paint some inexpensive floating shelves the same color as your wall and then lean various pictures and objects artfully on them. The key is to go floor to ceiling with them, it adds an unexpected bit of drama to a space.

I hope you found a few ideas to inspire you...you are only limited by your imagination.