I wonder if there are different rules according to culture perhaps, because I do not hang pics in public spaces, or on FB for that matter, more for private reasons not because of rules, but have often been asked by visiting friends where my wedding and family portraits are. Many people I have met seem to expect them in public rooms and are surprised when they encounter none.
Even though I do not have pics on walls in public rooms I have never judged poorly someone who might. It is more about pride and respecting family and the past than narcissism I believe. Judgements, not placement of personal pictures, are unwelcoming.
IRT realtors, they want future buyers to see themselves in a space that is why they dislike personal items on display, not because it is unwelcoming but because it marks the house as someone else's.

My mother, daughter of humble rural farmers, was raised to believe that family photos on public walls are tacky unless they are oil paintings.

My partner's mother, daughter of wealthy urban socialites, has the walls of her living room, and dining room and hallway plastered with a few dozen photos of each of her children in every single sports team and musical group iteration known to man, at every single age they participated.

So. It's all in the eye of the beholder.

(We've compromised and have a cluster of family photos on the staircase to our bedrooms, but they are all vintage black-and-white photos of parents and grandparents in old frames we've rehabbed.)

If you are going to hang them, I do think they shouldn't be those HUGE 36"x24" color photo montages in thin gold frames we all know from the 1980's.

Pick a frame color or style that will unify them. Mat them in the same mat color. And hang them closer together than you initially think. It will work.

Wow! This has been . . . interesting. I did not expect to get so many responses. Thank you to those of you (most of you) who were able to give your opinions politely. To those who weren't, I will say that (a) my family photos were done by a professional photographer who is an instructor at an art school, so our pix are definitely artistic. In fact, she does many more fine art pix than regular family portraits. And (b) I do not buy gold frames at Walmart. In fact, I do not buy gold frames anywhere (maybe b/c I just dislike yellow gold), and I don't buy frames at Walmart. Rest assured, neither the photos nor the frames are tacky. As to their placement, I guess that *is* in the eye of the beholder. I have not made a final decision, but reading your responses has helped. I also asked a designer friend, who sent me the link below, which is also food for thought. Decisions, decisions.

Here is a link that might be useful: [family photo galleries[(https://www.houzz.com/magazine/20-great-ways-to-display-family-photos-stsetivw-vs~293242)

What's narcissistic about decorating your house in a way that pleases you and makes you feel comfortable? It is your home and that means a lot to most people. Family photos are removed during a staging so that potential buyers can project their own narcissism onto the house, not because being forced to view someone's baby pictures is "unwelcoming".

I don't think I've ever had a thread that continued to niggle at me, so although this isn't helpful to the OP (my sincere apologies) I wanted to respond. I found the 'narcissism' reference far-reaching. I would be worried about someone that didn't decorate their home in a way that pleased them. I suppose we view/use our homes in different ways, and that some entertain more than others and for some their visitors are primarily their extended families, etc. But it is our home. One that most of us live in 7 days/week. I don't have a budget for decorating the way I would like, but if I did I would want the opinions/feedback of others, but I would not be decorating in a way that didn't feel right to me. Despite this so called 'narcissism', I am an altruistic/giving person who looks out for others, including trying to make them feel at home when they are here. I also don't think decorating to make yourself happy is an absolute point, but exists on a continuum. Others that live in the home may influence decision making and you may be considering how visitors might enjoy your home. Many of us here ask for input because we lack various degrees of confidence or skills to pull something together, but then will take the various responses to make a decision that is right for them (and make them happy).

I also started thinking about the concept of decorating 'rules'. Perhaps I'm simply being rebellious with the concept of rules, but I see them more as opinions, or perhaps more flexible like guidelines. Of course I recognize that in the world of design, they exist, but from my limited experience in this foray they appear to be related to a multitude of factors including regional, socio-economic, sometimes random and ultimately variable. And....rules are meant to be broken. LOL

pitpat, I know none of that was helpful to your original post, but just had to throw out my musings! Your last link on the family photo galleries is great and I'm keeping it as a reference. Thanks!

Unless people read for comprehension, rational adult conversation is impossible.

I did not say anybody who has a family photo on a livingroom wall is a narcissist. What I said was, we frequently see comments on this forum that say (including the capital letters for emphasis): "It is MY house and *I* will do whatever *I* want for ME and I don't care what ANYBODY else thinks because it's for ME." That precise sentiment has not been expressed explicitly on this thread, but it is easy to find on many similar discussions. The statement is not about decorating a house to please oneself, but rather, about pleasing oneself alone while dismissing the importance of others. If anyone wishes to argue that this viewpoint is not narcissistic, well then they are simply making up their own language.

It's also often the case that people are unable to read any question without immediately deciding that it's all about them. A poster asks a simple question, someone answers, and then somebody else fires back in high dudgeon, "I have this in MY house and WE think it's fanatastic." As the saying goes, it's not always all about you, and if you think it is, you may be a .... well, you know.

Circus peanut, you seem to be equating money with taste. Surely you have seen enough in your life to convince you that this is not so?

I think one thing that is difficult in these threads (and I know I rarely post here but I do participate in many kinds of online forums) is that the conversation can veer in different directions, and it's hard to know sometimes to whom a poster is responding. I don't know if people were specifically telling *me* not to buy cheap gold frames at Walmart or if they were expressing a general wish that no one would do that, but since I'm the OP, it does feel personal. Maybe that makes me a narcissist. Lol.

I have to say that I am more concerned about whether I like the inside of my house than whether others do. I am the one looking at it 99% of the time. Most of our "guests" are my parents and mil. We occasionally have dinner guests and rarely have guests stay overnight. Our dinner guests are usu families with other young children and often involve playing "see-food" and finding multiple excuses to leave the table and run rings around the (scratched) coffee table in the LR. Our overnight guests are also family, usually my sister. I just don't see any of these people being affronted by family pictures in public spaces. And we are definitely not staging our house. I never want to move again!!!! Our house is almost 100 years old and is considered "functionally obsolete" b/c of its quirks, but I don't care. Moving is such a pain. And everyone I know in our neighborhood (suburban/urban Chicago, FLW country) has an equally weird, old house, so we're all in the same boat.

One other thing to clarify: I wasn't so much asking if you can hang family pictures in public spaces, although I realize my OP could be read that way. I was wondering more if certain family pictures would be inappropriate. Like, should we hang pictures of just the kids, or pictures of the 4 of us. We did get a few shots of just my husband and myself, but those won't even get printed (I can't imagine where I would hang those - even our bedroom would seem weird). So this whole "rule" about any family photos in public spaces has taken me by surprise. It has been educational, to say the least.

For the record, playing see-food and dashing away from the table *are* considered fouls in our household, and they are always corrected. That doesn't mean they don't recur, but we do always address it. Just so you know we are not complete savages :)

Circus peanut, you seem to be equating money with taste.

Um. No.

Circus peanut, you seem to be equating money with taste.

Hmm, I got the opposite impression.

I personally don't have a ton of family photos on display, and am not fond of decor that is centered around them, but have seen very well done displays in other's homes. I think the key is to be purposeful, not to just randomly hang them up willy nilly. Actually, that would go for anything that you hang on the wall or use to decorate your home.

pitpat - there are some great pictures of family photos mixed with different types of art on walls on Houzz, and no doubt if you search google. I just saw one today in an email from FreshHome.com actually, that is one option too. I just realised that I have a small photo of my daughter in my LR on a shelf with various other objects, including books and sculptures, etc. Mixing it up a bit can really work well I think.

Otherwise, I think the big take away I'm getting from this (interesting) thread is to be sure to pay attention to the coordination of form, frames, lighting, etc. Those of us with some hesitation in loving family photos in public areas in the home seem to be mostly bothered by displays that are overdone, ancient and unkept and dusty, or where insufficient attention was paid to lighting, composition, coordination, framing, etc. I think the reason the fairly large pics of my kids in my kitchen are admired by most is because we did pay close attention these things, so the pictures look more like an art exhibit than a typical wall of family photos. At least that is what I was trying to do. (Full disclosure - one visitor to my home did remark that he didn't like the pictures of the children. He is an interior designer. That is fair enough and he is certainly entitled to his view. I do understand where he is coming from, but like the photos and DH won't let me take them down anyway :).

Ok maybe this is something we can all agree on. Perhaps some of those EXTRA LARGE photos that were done in the late seventies through mid eighties should be put in a dark corner at the end of a long little used hall. Look what they did to that poor kid. However, I have a strange sense of humor so I would get a kick out of seeing this picture in a living area.

I love that picture. Imagine the extra fun at Thanksgiving at your sister's or niece's expense.

I think the notion of "art exhibit" is interesting. If you do hang family photos, you really should think about the pictures as both art and mementos, and see how well they work in each category.

Here is the photo I saw this morning on Freshome.com that I was referring to earlier. I'm head over heels in love with the house they featured, but this little wall inside the home stood out as well. While I really like this wall of photos and art, I bet it is pretty difficult to execute well:

Here is my kitchen, where I attempted to do an art exhibit type display. Each photo has dedicated lighting, identical (IKEA) frames, and similar composition. I'm most bothered by the one photo of both the kids - the rest are portraits (head shots), so all five should be single head shots in my view. Of course I love the picture of both kids, but it should be switched out for another head shot I think. Also - that painting on its own at the end of the run didn't work, it has been moved. And yes, I still need a backsplash. sigh. Again, just my two cents, I'm by no means an expert.

A better shot of the lighting:

I really enjoy family photos and I have displayed my pics in antique gold frames (luckily not from walmart). After my renovations, I am planning to display family photos over the music chair in my living room, in the stair well, and another small hallway leading to the kitchen. I think the key to a nice display of photos is a well planned space and IMO coordinating frames make it look cohesive.

I have found it difficult to space and arrange frames, so I buy a roll of brown wrapping paper (the kind used to mail packages) and I trace the frames, cut out the sizes and play around with the arrangement. Once I have it set the way I want it, holes are drilled.

They do sell kits where you can hang up a big poster that shows you how to arrange frames, but they are pricey.

Sochi, those are both examples of getting it "right".

Full disclosure - one visitor to my home did remark that he didn't like the pictures of the children. He is an interior designer. That is fair enough and he is certainly entitled to his view.

I don't care what his profession is, that was just plain rude to share his opinion (which he is entitled to have) with you, unless you asked for it.

Kswl -- actually, I've often seen these threads devolve into snarky class-based taste battles, so I was attempting to proactively illustrate an opposite example, but the humor didn't quite gell. There may some truth in the stereotype of 'cluttered' working-class kitsch vs 'sterile' upper-class restraint, but one could equally argue that poorer people often feel more rule-bound whilst the rich flagrantly jettison tradition.

People with children do seem to love to see pictures of kids, even other people's kids. Ditto people with cats, dogs, boats, and drooly old uncles. For what that's worth.

One of my absolute favorites.

Here is a link that might be useful: a related joke

I have a kid but I only have pics of her up at work. I have many many pics, but they're on my screensaver in my office. :)

I've never been a fan of displaying family photos. I'm not even sure I could articulate why. And when I go to someone else's house, it always stands out of they have family pics (as in, I'm just a bit uncomfortable).

A good friend of mine has a gallery wall of her pregnancy pics in her living room. All of her pregnancy pics are her & her DH and/or kids in the nude. They aren't elicit or anything, but - just not what I want to look at when I'm eating dinner or playing Bunko.

I don't really CARE what they do. It's just not my personal preference.

Actually I was just reading a survey about how much most people hate other people's children. I'll have to look for it again.

I was wondering more if certain family pictures would be inappropriate. Like, should we hang pictures of just the kids, or pictures of the 4 of us

Many years ago, my brother had his own business and needed a formal glossy shot of himself. The photographer sent over an extra gigantic print as a giveaway or favor. It must've been 4 or 5 feet tall. We were all standing around wondering what the **** he should do with it, when he jokingly suggested hanging it directly behind him at his desk with a brass plaque stating, "Founder." I held it up so we could see the effect of walking into the room and seeing a gargantuan portrait of him levitating directly over the real thing, complete with nameplate. I don't know why the visual struck me as so funny, but we laughed so hard I barely made it to the bathroom in time.

So, avoid that kind of situation, I'm thinking.

Many families here in Appalachia have to scrimp and save to be able to be able to pay a wedding photographer, have professional children and family pictures taken, even pay for their kids $20.00 package of school pictures with the missing teeth and cow-licks and big ears. They just can't nor should they grasp the concept that, if they pay their hard earned money for photography, they should hide them away in a drawer or box.

I will admit, many of them get carried away with their photo displays, but it makes them happy.

I'm actually struggling with how to display a few family photos because I am "frowned upon" by the family. I think my DS and DIL are hurt because I don't have my GD's pictures scattered throughout the house. I'm working on trying to do this to "tastefully please me".

Tuesday

"Actually I was just reading a survey about how much most people hate other people's children. I'll have to look for it again."

Is this supposed to be part of the rationale for not having photos of one's kids on display at home? Because if there is a group of people I don't care about accomodating in my home decor, that group would be people who hate my kids. Why would such people even BE in my home?

I'm not in love with everybody's children, but it would never occur to me that someone should refrain from displaying photos of their family members because I hate them.

Goodness, I would think that the very root of polite behavior would be not visiting the homes of people you hate.

On the most prominent wall in the living room of their home, my ex-MIL and FIL had a 38" x 58" formal portrait photograph of my ex-husband at the age of 18, fully dressed in his Eagle Scout uniform. This portrait held a place of honor in their home throughout the years until they died, and I personally cringed every time someone entered that room and saw that photo. It hung there still when my ex was well into middle age! There were no other photographs or even artwork, on display anywhere else in their home, even though my ex had a sister and his parents were active photo bugs.

After seeing that, I vowed to be more conservative with family photos in my own home, especially in "public" areas. I confess to having a few nicely framed 3x5 or 5x 7 clusters of family members on a bookshelf in our family room, and an entire WALL of framed photos of everyone, at varying ages, on the "family wall" in my private office. I enjoy these photos and look at them every day, but they are not where others would see them unless they were invited into the room. That office is my refuge, in my home, and I take pleasure in seeing these pictures that show the life of my family in photos.

I've been thinking about this post a lot, and wondering why its a sensitive topic. I admit that I sometimes feel a little awkward when I see large photo displays of family and friends in other people's homes. My MIL, for example, has photos of her children - my husband and his sister - throughout the house. Now that my SIL is married and has a baby, there are also lots of pictures of her and her son - but none of my SIL's husband. There are none of me, either. It's become a family joke; my BIL and I are the Invisible Spouses. (We say this out of earshot of my MIL, of course).

I'm not offended by the absence of my picture on the wall, and I don't think my BIL is either. I wouldn't expect my MIL to feel the same joy looking at photos of her children's spouses as she would of her children. But I do think it's odd that she doesn't have any pictures of her grandchild with both his parents.

Maybe it means nothing, and I'm reading too much into it. I suppose that's the danger in having large family displays: there is the risk of offending people that you don't include, or suggesting they aren't as important as those you do, which isn't a welcoming feeling.

That's my two cents. Now I just hope my MIL isn't on this forum, or else there will be something a lot more awkward than photos to discuss at the next family gathering :)

Is this supposed to be part of the rationale for not having photos of one's kids on display at home? Because if there is a group of people I don't care about

Did you read the post before mine, or were you too focused on finding an excuse to take umbrage?

I suppose that's the danger in having large family displays: there is the risk of offending people that you don't include,

Sometimes you risk offending people when you do include them. I have a photo of my sister upstairs dating from the days when hairstyles were quite a bit, um, different than they are now. She also happened to be carrying a couple of extra pounds when the photo was taken, though she could certainly not be described as fat in it. I love the picture because I remember it from my childhood. However, when she visits I have to physically restrain her from making off with it.

I have a love affair w/ photography and it shows on my walls as many of you know. At this time there are in excess of 50 some pictures hanging up and I'm still filling space. I will not bother to post a pic of my area which also serves as a gathering spot when people come over so it is a very public space. I don't slip slap any old picture up on the wall either. It has to be aesthetically pleasing to my eye. Hence - you will not find any school pictures on my walls. You will however find a myriad of black & white as well as sepia toned photos both old and new of family, pets, unknowns, postcards, cards you name it as long as it has a story. And it has to be JUST Right. I don't care if a spot remains empty for a year or more. What you won;t find on my wall is junk that I threw up there just because.

Visitor and guest reaction is always, always positive and wonderful. At parties you will always find people looking at the photos, discussing them, asking about them, wondering or reliving them. I love sitting in my leather reading chair and taking a second between chapters to look up and relive a moment. At one point I did have my pics lining the hallway but had to move them because of people pile ups blocking the flow of traffic.

Would I put any of this in the DR? No - it'd be too weird for me. But then I am also wanting to put a 46 x 46 sepia canvas close up of sheep in my DR so go figure! LOL!

C. - I love your armoire' filled w/ photos! It just draws me in!

Tuesday,
I was wondering about that too (the difference between socioeconomic groups). We have a good income, but we live in an area with a high cost of living, so we have a small house with no library/den/office/whatever. A socially acceptable oil portrait would look ridiculous in my house, plus I highly doubt we would spend the money on one if we did have the space. I don't think I have ever seen one in a house like ours. Maybe in the mansion where I was a docent for a recent kitchen walk, but not here on the other side of the (literal) train tracks. Our high quality, artistic photos will have to do.

jterrilynn,

That photo gave me such a laugh, and I needed that today.
Thanks, I really appreciate it!

MS

I know this topic has caused alot of different emotions and I'm sure no one meant to insult anyone....everyone is allowed to have different opinions on how to decorate their home.
I'm one that fully believes in decorating your house to please yourself and family.....I'm not decorating my house to worry what others think when they enter my doors. But at the same time, I do display our family pictures (pictures of my husband and I, our two children, as a family, with our friends, with extended family members, etc) for everyone to enjoy. When I take pictures, it is to capture precious moments in our lives....and for others to share those moments every time they look at the pictures. I don't understand what the purpose of taking pictures is if you don't share them with others to enjoy. I don't have a large house but my pictures are probably in every single room with the exception of the dining room and bathrooms (although I used to have a picture of the kids naked in the bathtub hung up on the upstairs bathroom wall)!
I do try to have all my picturs in similar picture frames (brown leather or brown wood) so they look like they somewhat belong together.

For those of you with family pictures around the house, why is it that I keep reading "except the dining room?"

If there are rules, I break them all, but it's my house. I recently made a gallery wall in the living room with pictures of my DH, my children, grandchildren, and even our new pup. I have 3 enlarged pictures above our bed of DH & I taken 30+ years ago when we took goofy photobooth pics. I have a small framed picture of my grand-daughter in the powder room wearing her great-grandmother's costume jewelry.

What I don't have is pictures of my parents in my bedroom. That makes more sense to me than no pics in a dining room. Please explain why some of you feel that's not a good idea in your homes.

>>What I don't have is pictures of my parents in my bedroom. That makes more sense to me than no pics in a dining room. Please explain why some of you feel that's not a good idea in your homes.

Because it would interfere with digestion?

The main reason why I don't have a lot of photos on my walls is because I find paintings or prints or etchings, etc., to be way more interesting to look at than my kids' school pictures (even though I love them!) or, worse, photos of my own self. But if that's what you want in your own home, then by all means, go for it. I have one limited "photo gallery" on the wall along the stairs in my home, which is pretty common, I think. I also have a huge pinboard/bulletin board covered in smaller photos, which visitors love to look at.

I do prefer a photo gallery wall over one or two giant photos hung on a wall, but that's just my opinion.

Love that pic you posted, Sochi.

Welcoming? To me a home is welcoming when the inhabitants are welcoming - not their walls. Hey, if you're a jerk - you're a jerk and you couldn't possibly make your home more welcoming unless you left it.

That's just my .02 though and would expect my post not to last too long before it gets yanked as it so often does.

This topic first caught my attention because my sibling and I had just been wondering why our parents had so few family photos on display in their house.

So I asked my mother.

She said that she was taught (in home-ec class in the late 1940s!) to keep family photos in private areas of the house.
In frames on a bedroom dresser, fine.
In a hallway, fine.
In the living room or dining room, not fine.

She doesn't remember the reason given.
But she really took it to heart, lol.
She mostly avoided displaying them, period!

Hi pitpat,

to your question - "Are there any "rules" about what type of pictures are suitable for different rooms"? It looks like there are! I personally don't follow any rules, we have old ancestor photos on our mantle that look beautiful there next to an old wood stove. A new pretty pottery barn trinket would not look as nice. Some folks think that family photos should stay in the closet...with the family that we don't want visiting our home. I love to see our kids, our sibs, our folks and even their families so I put them all around, not big pics just nice ones. When the real people visit, they love seeing these.

I got what you were asking in your OP "if certain family pictures would be inappropriate". I think that picture that jterrilynn posted may need to go in the closet! I also think that photos should not be the center of the decor, but that's me.

I have seen that once a rule is established, the first thing many folks do (sas raises hand) is break it. I have enjoyed this thread, thanks for asking your question and I am entertained by your comment "this whole "rule" about any family photos in public spaces has taken me by surprise. It has been educational, to say the least". Me too! Lol - educational indeed :)

"I'm not even sure I could articulate why. And when I go to someone else's house, it always stands out of they have family pics (as in, I'm just a bit uncomfortable). "

avesmore I've always had the same reaction and I can't really explain why either so I'm glad I'm not alone. I just feel uncomfortable when I visit someone's house where family photos are in my face on living area walls etc and as someone said above, it's almost like you're expected to admire them or comment on them. It's a bit like someone has thrust their family photo album in front of you and made you look through it. I don't have the same reaction to small framed wedding photos on a mantel for example because they are just more discreet, and I think family photos in a hall give you the chance to look at them or ignore them as you pass through but I don't like the family photos hung where you just can't not notice them lol. Maybe it goes back to the big school photos people use to hang in their living rooms, those used to seriously make me feel weird for some reason.

each to their own, and no one is going to tell you they don't like your family photos hung all over the public places in your home, but I think it does make some people uncomfortable and I think family photos are perhaps better displayed in a modest way so that you can enjoy them but they aren't in your guests faces. I know some people will take offence to that but it's just the other side of the debate.

I am reminded of a house my son visited. He came back to report that there were many family pictures on the walls, including the family with two popes. "But not at the same time," he added.

What struck me about hanging your pictures is you wanted to put some of the same "batch" in your DR, and put more of the same batch, but different poses, in the LR. I wouldn't spread them out like that even if the photos are artistic.

I like family walls in LR's, only if it's a smallish wall area and not center stage. Adding a grouping of older pictures of extended family would make the wall more interesting. Similar to Trail's display.

I wouldn't spread them out in different rooms though.

suero,

LOL!

At least this is an interesting thread!
I do not like family photos and have very, very few in my house anywhere. I tend to live in the moment, and when those people are gone, seeing a picture would make me too sad. I have no visible pictures of my mother but I think of her daily and sometimes she visits me in my dreams.
I do have pics of my living dogs as my screen saver and that makes me smile every time I see them.

As far as how pics should be displayed, well, there are lots of tasteful ways to do so although not everyone will like them.
Overall, I tend to think whoever pays the mortgage gets to call the shots as far as how the home is decorated!
I decorate for me and my family and as we rarely entertain or have people over, why should I decorate for them?

And even if I did entertain all the time, it's still my house!
I need to go arrange my fake flowers now.....

Pitpat, I love that cartoon too!

Cindyloo, if that happened today, her friends would all be tweeting about it!

That reminds me of a line in an old Dominic Dunne novel, when an arriviste was showing her swanky Park Avenue apartment to a friend who had known her back in the chorus, before she married an unsuspecting Park Ave twit. The lady of the house had used a decorator to find suitable old portraits of forbears to lend a certain authenticity to her claims of breeding. As they walked by one she said offhandedly, "You remember Mother, don't you?"

To which her friend replied, "Of course I remember your mother. Who's the broad in the picture?"

I would have to agree with the posters who mentioned socioeconomic status making a difference. I think it's also probably a cultural/regional thing. I live in a modest, middle-class area, and most (if not all) of my friends and relatives have family photos displayed in their living rooms. It's certainly the norm around here.

I have to admit, I got a chuckle out of the oil portrait comments. (I've never seen an oil portrait in a home in my life. Now- I have seen plenty of charcoal portraits that were done in the French Quarter, but I don't think that's quite the same.) It just reminded me that so many people from quite different walks of life can have discussions on message boards like these, which is pretty cool. :)

I have looked at our photos and this is what we have--- baby pictures in my bedroom, and camp and grad pictures of the kids in their bedrooms. Pictures of our actor son in plays (or rather the advertising photos for them), pictures of our daughter at the beach or dancing, Christmas pix of the kids all together, photos of our parents in knee pants and sailor suits, pictures of me in a fencing match, pictures of my obviously loaded, handsome parents at a Washington cocktail party, of my parents in New Zealand, our family in Scotland, etc. The point is that these are all pictures of interest to us, happy moments in our lives and not studio portraits, school pictures or "sittings" outside that are obviously professional. The latter are much better quality, of course, but they don't show much more than the posed people, and to that end they aren't that interesting to look at. Our photos are for our memories and pleasure, and that's why they are almost all in private rooms.

Cindylou:

Interesting post!
I'd like to think that had I been one of this woman's peers, I would have loved her sense of humor -- among all those other serious, dour folks back then and now -- and would've preferred to spend more time with her than some others!

I had a grouping of old family photos in a hallway which I took down when we repainted a few years ago--I never got around to hanging them back up. My mother as a child, my mil as a child, my dh's grandparents wedding photo, my dad as a baby, etc. That hallway was a conversation starter! And frequent guests always ask when I will hang them again. I used to have them in antique looking frames, but our taste in decor has changed and they don't suit the space anymore. One photo of my grandfather from the 20's in his "muscle man" bathing suit always generated the most comments :)
And my 25 yr old son, who moved into his own place in the city a few months ago, asked me to make a collage of family photos for him. He said he feels like he has no family without pictures, LOL.
To each his own--I make no judgements. But I think the things that surround us that give us comfort, joy, or feelings of nostalgia are highly personal, and rarely offensive.

" One photo of my grandfather from the 20's in his "muscle man" bathing suit always generated the most comments :) "

That is so fun--- what a treasure! Now with that photo I would probably violate my own "rules" and enlarge that black and white photo as much as possible and use it in a pool dressing room or cabana if I had one. Context is everything!

"One photo of my grandfather from the 20's in his "muscle man" bathing suit always generated the most comments :) "

elle, I think very old photos are much more interesting than the standard family photos because they tend to carry a story about them, and a historical significance that your average family photo doesn't. I'm one in the camp of no family photos in public spaces but I also do really appreciate more historic photos for their interest value.

This is an interesting thread!

I tend to think everything in moderation. For me, fun family photographs mixed in with art is wonderfully personal and can look fantastic.

That being said, I do have friend with no art in her house and about 200 posed family photos hung everywhere. It does not offend me, it just seems repetitive.

We have a gallery of old B&W family photos in our dining room and it generates a lot of interest when we have people over. We have a "muscle man" shot too - it is of my dad (super skinny at 12) proudly lifting a set of dumbbells over his head - it is priceless.

If I have people over for dinner and they sit at the table with me and my family - that is already personal, so for me having photos there feels appropriate. But everyone is different!

I did a gallery in my living room/dining room combo. I wanted the room to feel more casual/homey and I couldn't think of anything else to put there. The center photo is of my husband and i, the rest are old photos - wedding/baby/military portraits of our grandparents & parents except for pics of our daughter which are in the corners and new. Its like a family tree. I love it and I think its interesting. I don't have many photos around the house even though I love photography and pictures.

i think the way photos are displayed makes it a hit or miss, if it looks good I'd put them up :-)