Merchandising Display- Photo Board

While I was traveling to Oxford, England this spring, I took the below picture of a store window thinking that I could recreate the idea. I finally got around to it. Here was my idea- collect pictures of my work’s product in people’s homes and display them in our stores so that I could inspire customers on how beautiful the furniture looks in homes. Here’s how I executed it:

1.       I bought an $8 frame from a local thrift shop

2.       I bought spray paint (Catalina Mist in Satin by Krylon) from Michaels for $4

3.       I took out everything from inside the frame and spray painted the frame on my balcony. Since it was going from dark brown to a light blue it took the whole bottle and 5-6 coats

4.       I bought chicken wire from Home Depot for $7. FYI, they call it poultry netting. Here’s a tip, buy your wire first and then buy your frame. The wire wasn’t big enough to fill the opening on the big frame I bought, so I had to use the old mat for the chicken wire to fit (not exactly what I was envisioning, but it worked)

5.       Attach your chicken wire to your frame. I used packing tape to attach it to the back of the mat- the chicken wire was a bit of a pain to work with, but I finally got it work. Stapling the wire directly to the frame would be easiest.

6.       Print your pictures. I wanted my pictures to be Instagram photos. Here’s the easiest and cheapest way I have found to print Instagram photos- save them on a disk or jump drive, go to Walmart and use their HP kiosk, import your photos and de-select “auto crop” on each photo. I had 20 photos printed, it took 7 minutes and cost $5. I printed them in a 4”x6” format- the pictures print with two white bars on each side of the photo that you have to cut off. The photos end up being 4” square.

7.       Attach your photos onto your frame. I used mini clothes pins. I added a chalkboard that I already had behind the frame so I could write on the board my message. I used a chalk pen to write on the board- I bought it at a local display store but you can also get them from Hobby Lobby. I also added an occasional chair and pillow so it was more inviting right inside the door. Another thing I could have done is to invite customers to use a specific hashtag on Instagram to show how they used the furniture in their homes.

So there you have it! I am really happy with the way it turned out and have gotten lots of good feedback! What I like about this project is that the frame is totally reusable for other projects and you can easily add more photos to the board.