Memory walls

October 27, 5:49 PMHouston Interior Decorating ExaminerKerry Fletcher, ASID

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photo courtesy of ontzy www.sxc.hu/photo/1154982

If you have a large blank wall in your home, consider decorating it as a memory wall.  Memory walls are almost like a scrapbook and photo album.  It is a wall that tells a story about your life and what is important to you.  The memory wall will remind you of good times, friends, and family.  Memory walls are a great conversation starter when you have guests to your home. 

You can decorate your large blank wall with most any type of item to turn it into a memory wall.  You can fill your memory wall with photos, postcards, movie tickets, antique treasures, fortune cookie fortunes, poetry, old keys, playbills, pressed flowers, religious artifacts, hand written notes, souvenirs, shadow boxes from your childhood, your favorite sayings, or most anything that can be put in a frame or is large enough to hang by itself.  Here are some tips to making your memory wall look cohesive and pulled together. 

1)  When selecting items for your memory wall, you can use frames or shadow boxes that are similar or the exact same for a more traditional look.  For a more contemporary look, use whatever medium sized frames or shadow boxes you wish, but try not to get any really big ones or really small ones. 
2)  When using photos in your memory wall, the photos usually look best in black and white instead of color. 
3)  If you frame photos for your memory wall, use a white matte around the photos to give them more emphasis and make them look more important.
4)  The memory wall should encompass all of the wall.  If you currently do not have enough items to put on the wall and would like a more traditional looking memory wall, consider filling the wall with empty frames or shadow boxes to be filled with future memories.  For a more contemporary look, start putting memories in the center of your wall and work your way to the outside of your wall in a spiral pattern as you collect them.
5)  Make sure the items on your memory wall are equally spaced apart.  A traditional arranged memory wall should be perfectly spaced apart while a contemporary wall should be spaced somewhat equally. 
6)  Don't use too many small items on your memory wall, else it may look cluttered.  If you wish to use small items, frame them in a medium sized frame or group several small items and frame them together.

For more ideas on what to put on a memory wall, see the slideshow below.