Doc, I think it's Francophilia!

Hi!  :)

Now that the downstairs walls are all painted, I've been wracking my brain about how to decorate the otherwise bare walls.  I put up a metal giraffe family on a nail the old owner left for me... The best part of this picture is that Usain Bolt brought a little yellow-and-green cheer to the yellow-and-green great room.  As usual, this was not planned.  

When my dad was here a few weeks ago, I asked his advice about how to decorate around the television.  His reply was, "Well I'd at least hang some pictures."  And that's just what I did.  Over the years, I've collected a few Parisian calendars full of black and white photography (landmarks as well as other off-the-beaten-path scenes).  

I bought 18 frames at Dollar General for about $35.  I cleaned them out of their 11"x14", 8"x10" and even the weird 8.5"x 11" ones.  I wanted the clean lines of the skiiiiiiiiiinny black frames, although I may mix others in later.  The people at DG think I'm crazy because I always bring my own bags.  

Once I had everybody framed, I set the 11"x14"s in the dining room for hanging in there (more on that in a sec) and then trimmed computer paper to match each of the twelve other pictures.  With painter's tape to stick 'em to the wall, I plotted out where I wanted each picture...while I watched the Olympics...  Here was one idea:

Once I was satisfied with the placements, I laid out the pictures on the floor to decide exactly which would go where... and then went back to the wall!  I folded each piece of paper in half to find the exact center, then pounded a small nail in about 3/4" from the top of the paper (matching the nail hole location on the back of the frame).  

Then it was just a matter of tearing down the papers and hanging up the pictures!

I like that this is a random smattering to which I may add in the future, because I also have a boatload of pictures I took myself on two trips to Paris.  Soon I will be enlarging/b&w-ing/framing those, too! 

Next, I turned to the dining room, where I had the six 11"x14" framed photographs... I wanted something a bit more organized (I like to keep it neat in the dining room, manners and all).  I laid out the pictures on the table...

And put them on the wall!  Here's the cat's eye view.  They do look a bit small here and they are not.  Hmm.  However, I feel the photographs do a great job continuing the never-ending Francophilia right up to the walls!  Love it!!

What is/are your decorating themes?