Common advice by a home stager when you are selling your house is to  remove all your personal photographs “so that the buyer can see themselves in your space”.  They want to look around and imagine themselves cooking in your kitchen, eating breakfast in your breakfast nook, having dinner parties in your dining room, playing Balderdash in your living room, and pooping in your powder room.  And when they are playing house in their minds, they do not want to see this:

I have seen poster sized framed  wedding photos above fireplaces, on mantlepieces, in hallways and staircases….for God’s sakes, the person reading the gas meter can see these things, COVER UP, PEOPLE!  Nobody wants to see or celebrate your love, not even your own spouse.  Chances are that if you have a photograph like that hung up in your living space, they are plotting their escape:  You know who you are, now take it down and put it in the attic and pretend your relationship is like The Picture of Dorian Gray….(no, I am not bitter)….I actually do like to come into people’s home and see photographs if they are displayed properly!!  Personal photographs should always be framed, of course, and they work best in clusters.  In my house, I like them in standing frames, not too large, amid the tchotkes….yes, tchotkes, am all for relevant clutter, I even have them in my car (more on that later)…personal photographs give your home personality and a sense of the people that live there which can be very charming.  Here’s how scatter mine around:

my two babies

dogs that I have had and one that I still have

…and nostalgic photos that tell a story just by looking at them:  here is me and my brother on vacay in Cape Cod some time during the LBJ administration….we’re at the beach, lookin’ at the waves, tappin’ on the cooler, drinkin’ our root beers…and there we are in front of The Tent….we still talk about that tent, the one that had a foyer, a living room, two bedrooms, and a walk-in closet….condos at Cityplace should take the blueprints from that architectural canvas wonder…oh, but they can’t because my mother sold it at a garage sale in 1972….ah well, this is why we frame these moments…

Another option is to take your photographs and have them made into real art.  One of my favourite local artists, Angelene Tulett does just that.   She will take your photos and make them into something worth hanging onto your walls. 

I’m going to be featuring more of Angelene’s work next month because she has a show coming up in May. If you are interested in seeing more of what she does, contact her at :  angelene_tulett@yahoo.ca

hideous wedding photos courtesy of Awkward Family Photos http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/