Skip to Content

#1 Best Way to Use Old Inherited Family Photos

Are you ready for some family photo ideas? When faced with boxes and boxes of old vintage family photos, the temptation to discard them can be overwhelming. So what can you do with Old Family Photos? This idea is a perfect solution.

Instead of throwing them away or storing them in the back of a closet, I devised a perfect solution to use them. They are the #1 Best Way to use Inherited Old Family Photos Creatively

Inherited Old Family Photo and what to do with them.  Creative Old Family Photo Ideas you can use.

(Posts on The Ponds Farmhouse may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. See the full disclosure details here.)

How to Use Inherited Old Family Photos?

I sort of accidentally discovered the Best Way to Use Inherited Family Photos.

After cleaning out my mom’s house, I came home with a few boxes of old photos I had no clue what to do with.

But I knew we should keep them, but where??? Then I came up with the perfect solution to use these old family photos.

One thing leads to another

It all began with a couple of panoramic photos of my dad, made during World War II.

I decided I’d enjoy displaying these two photos in our loft.

These military photos were unframed and had not been taken care of. Because we were currently in the middle of the Corona Virus, lock down; I couldn’t have them professionally framed.

So I found frames with a mat online. By using the mats, the panoramic photo’s would fit.

Once I had those two photos framed, a couple more of the old military photo’s caught my eye.

That’s when my idea began to take shape, and I realized the solution to using all these old photos.

How To frame old family photo's that you've inherited to create a gallery wall in your home.

We had several treasured black and white photos that hadn’t seen the light of day in many years. So I began to search the house for these almost forgotten treasures.

Find unique black and white photo's to use with your inherited old family photos.

Once I had a good stack of old photos, I then started looking for more frames. I wanted to frame some of the other old photos I inherited from my mom.

She had a couple of framed photos of The Ponds made before our ownership.

This photo was in color, so I quickly copied them in black and white and placed the original images behind the copies for safekeeping.

Note: If your vintage photos are exposed to light, I recommend photocopying them all. Light exposure can ruin your treasured images. I plan to hang this in a powder room with no window, so I have used several of my original photos

Photocopy color photos into black and white to add to your inherited family photos to create gallery wall.
Before we began restoring The Ponds to their former glory, a section of pines along the driveway was dead. This photo was taken just before they were cut and replanted.

What To Do If Your Frames Don’t Match?

There is a simple solution to making your gallery wall look cohesive. Paint!

Because many of my frames were different colors, I began painting some old frames black.

Paint old picture frames to create a cohesive look for your gallery wall.

About this time, I wished I’d saved some of my mother’s frames we had donated. I also had a few metal frames and a few mirrors that I chose to use for a little creative interest.

With the exception of the panoramic frames, everything I used to create my gallery wall was something I had on hand. Although my selection was limited, it made me think creatively; therefore, the wall was more unique.

Mix in a few different frame styles to keep the gallery wall interesting.
I could re-purpose many old frames by removing the easels from the back of the frames and adding some hangers.

I now had a collection of re-purposed frames, old photos, and other interesting pieces of family history I discovered along the way.

We framed a photo of my grandfather with his first car and the sales receipt.

Find unique items to frame to add to your inherited old family photos ideas.

In addition, we found an aerial view of the ponds from the early 1960s.

Frame maps and other family history memorabilia to add to your family photos.

Other Family Photo Ideas

I’m also sharing other family photo ideas to help you create an attractive gallery wall.

The original mat with the panoramic frame was pure white and didn’t work well with the aged photo.

Therefore, I customized the mat on the military photo to look like an aged mat.

Here is one of the mirrors I added because I had a limited number of frames to work with.

use mirrors and different shaped vintage frames to add character to a wall of images.

I found so many interesting things

There are unlimited areas to hang a gallery wall.

When using old family photos, you should avoid sunlight.

In addition, we are limited in wall space, so I decided to display my gallery wall in the loft powder room.

Family Photo Gallery wall in powder room with an antique door and glass door knob.

What do you think? Once our guest starts to visit again, more than one will become lost in this wall’s history.

How to Use Old Family Photos for a Gallery Wall with inherited images for a powder room wall.

Tips on Hanging Art

Thank you for stopping by.

I hope you enjoyed seeing these family photo ideas and some of my family’s history. Hopefully, you will be inspired to use your old family photos in more creative ways.

We are undoubtedly enjoying seeing these treasures regularly. Please feel free to ask any questions, and all comments are welcome.

Pin It To Remember It

Did you find some great ideas you’d like to save for future reference? Hover over the images you’d like to save and pin to your favorite Pinterest Boards when you see the PIN button.

#1 Way to Used Inherited Old Family Photos for a gallery wall in a powder room.
#1 Best Way to Use Old Inherited Family Photos.  My solutions for preserving and using old family photos.  Creative us of vintage photos.
Pin for future reference

Sue

Tuesday 31st of May 2022

Very inspiring-I am working on an old photo gallery wall also. :)

Rachel

Tuesday 31st of May 2022

Thanks Sue, I am sure it will turn out great!

9 Best Repurposed and Up cycling idea yet

Tuesday 12th of April 2022

[…] you have inherited family photo’s and don’t know what to do with them, check out this creative idea to display […]

diana

Thursday 20th of May 2021

Back again Rachel. I have many photos which are very old and so endearing. I copied them with a very high res and made a nice size box with a lid and decoupaged it with copies of the photos which included my great grandfather's obituary. Also the obituary of my grandfather and when he got cancer, it changed his short life to become a wonderful man. The box is colorful and is history I don't want to forget. My aunt was still living when I received these photos so I sat down with her to gain information and personalities of my family. We stayed up almost all night talking, laughing and crying. Memories making memories.

[email protected]

Thursday 20th of May 2021

Diana, What a great idea. These old photo's are such happy reminders of days gone by and no one even prints their photo's any more. it's sad.

Evelyn

Saturday 20th of February 2021

Love the collage look BTW, brush up on the use of plurals and possessives -- more than one photo is photos but if that photo owns something, e.g. a photo's color or age, then an apostrophe is used

[email protected]

Saturday 20th of February 2021

Evelyn Thanks so much for the advise.

Scarlett

Monday 18th of May 2020

I like the helpful info you provide in your articles. I will bookmark your weblog and check again here regularly. I'm quite sure I'll learn plenty of new stuff right here!

Best of luck for the next!

[email protected]

Tuesday 19th of May 2020

Scarlett, Thank you for your sweet compliments. I appreciate you for stopping by. Rachel