Dusting nightmare.

I think it looks right in that picture -- the scale and material of the frames are all very complementary.

YEARS ago I saw a designer on Oprah who recommended when grouping picture frames together like this, you should strive for similar-looking frames, otherwise it looks too cluttered and it's too hard to see any of the pictures. The frames just compete with each other and become too distracting.

Prob. is a dusting nightmare, but that's one chore I actually don't mind, so ... ;o)

Dusting nightmare. Plus my eye doesn't see any of the photos - just a jumbled mess. Cut the number down about 75% and you might be onto something.

yah, I'm not a fan either. There's too much going on.

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Dusting nightmare, and shades of Grandma. Danger, Jamie Meares, danger!

Love your blog.

I love the grouping. That said, I couldn't live with it just enjoy looking at it. They would all have to be similiar in reality.

I love the large painting or picture over the table.

in the september 08 instyle michael kors said, "everybody has a story and the most effective way to tell it is in a series of silver frames." his grouping was similar, but all of the frames were sleek, silver, modern ones. i'm trying to replicate this in my home. probably a dusting nightmare, but i need some family photos up!

My fancy-pants great grandmother did this. I will say, as a kid it was one of my favorite features in her house. Everything was at my eye level when I was young and loved looking at each picture individually.

I say embrace it.

no.

I say yes! I provides a "station" for guests in your home. I love to peer into the lives of others through bunches of photos displayed like this. As far as the frames go...I try to put complimenting frames next to each other. Be careful though not to go to matchy, matchy.

I like it the way it looks, all the different metal finishes appeal to me though, it's nice contrast and the size of the frames unifies the grouping.

Dusting nightmare? Perhaps. I have a similar collection and everytime I dust, I stop to think about the person, the time the photo was taken, what it means to be a part of this family. I view it has a form a meditation. A ritual of remembrance.

dusting-schmusting. top of my burled walnut chest is arranged like this and i wake up every day loving it.

Nada.

It seems too much to me. I have a similar grouping on a console table in my entry, but it's about half as many.

Just like "Living Large" - I have this kind of display and that's what I do!

I've thought about whether I should retire it before it becomes "shades of grandma" but can never bring myself to do it.

Also, the mismatch of the frames almost tells as much of a story as the photo itself!

As I do agree with the "dusting nightmare" group. I do this, and love it. I think it looks fabulous. While in the picture you can't make out each individual picture, who cares...in person you can. The only rule with this, I think, is that you are only allowed one area of the mass arrangement of framed photos in your home.

a clutter cluster. and i avoid dusting like the plague. so then it would be a dusty cluster.

I say, add a piece of fabric underneath, maybe burlap and the dusting problem will be virtually obsolete. Silver frames are fantastic about hiding dust.

Visually, I would not have quite so many pictures but overall, it's a nice look.

This is kind of scary. It would look better with less frames...way less...and possibly some other items/props.

no no no. It looks like they are trying just way too hard. And the sun-shaped-frame, its just wrong. Or they are 75 years old with a pack-rat problem. But the frames aren't nearly as offensive as the mahogany wood dresser. And the painting is the same egg color as the wall. And the lamp is too bulky.

I'd say the clustering can work, just really not in this situation.

i sort of love it, but wonder about the dusting and/or getting sick of it issues. that being said, it isn't a particularly permanent installation, so you could just scale back if you started to get annoyed. i have implemented the "silver picture frames only" rule in our living areas. lots of shapes, sizes, and textures, but all silver in tone. makes the groupings more cohesive and less like clutter. am a native north carolinian living in atlanta and linked through to your blog from nick olsen's - love it so far!

Fab -- if this grouping came with a housekeeper.