Interior Details: Tiny Frames

I majored in interior design in college and even though in my career my focus has been on Corporate Interior Design, friends often ask me for advice on decorating their home.  Giving friends (or anyone really!) decorating advice is SO tricky.  The most beautiful homes are homes that reflect the owner's taste, not their decorator's taste, Pottery Barn or West Elm's taste, or really any new Shelter magazine's taste.  I think details are what make a home special, just as the right accessories and jewelry make jeans and white t-shirt interesting. 

One detail that works well in any home, regardless of the home owner's style, budget or taste are TINY picture frames.  When I poured through old saved images to illustrate how much life tiny picture frames add to a room, examples were surprisingly hard to find.  Mostly because I noticed that in almost all of my saved design images, most were void of picture frames all together.

The image above is of Kate Spade's Manhattan apartment, and in that apartment, Kate Spade does no wrong!  She beautifully pulls off a mass collection of frames, including lots of tiny versions.  But, my favorite way to use tiny picture frames is not necessarily in a grouping like shown above.  I think they add so much charm when tucked in bookshelves between books, tucked on a tiny shelf in a bathroom, or alone on a side table with accessories.  It's difficult to see the tiny frames tucked in places in the examples below, but that's kind of the point.  Tiny frames don't jump in your face when you see a space, you gradually experience them as you spend time in someone's home, which I think makes them that much more interesting.

A few small picture frames with one larger frame.  The look would not be the same if all of the frames were larger is size.  Image of Hanna Seabrook's home on Glitter Guide.



Another lovely corner of Hanna Seabook's home with one singular frame.

A few tiny frames, combined with some larger frames, tucked in a bookcase.

VERY tiny frames on the bedside table, in one of my favorite bedrooms

A handful of small frames on a chest.

 

~ Mary Keller





Top image of Kate Spade's apartment via The Selby; second image via Glitter Guide; third image via Glitter Guide; fourth image via Lonny Magazine; fifth image via Lonny Magazine; bottom image unknown - if you know the source please let me know and I will happily give credit.