9 Fun Ways to Display your Vacation Photos Back Home

If you’re anything like us, you probably have folder after folder of digital photos you never open on your laptop. With cameras and digital technologies evolving so quickly, it’s tempting to let our memories live in that digital space. Unfortunately, after you’ve been home for a while, photos from special moments like family vacations have a tendency to get buried in the never-ending gallery on our phone to be sought-out and admired rarely, if ever. Having been there ourselves, we know how important these memories are to you and how much you want to celebrate them. 

Especially with the reemergence of the polaroid camera, there’s been an increased sense of nostalgia for having tangible photos to look through and a returned appreciation for the photograph’s ability to evoke emotion. So you know you want to break these photos out of their digital prison, but what are some good ways to show them off?

Here, we’ve put together a list of 9 fun ways to display your vacation photos back home that are classy, modern, and heirloom-worthy. 

• Invest in Canvas Prints

If you want a classy, big-ticket way to showcase your holiday photos, consider investing in some large canvas prints. Especially if you’ve been travelling with a high-quality camera, these prints will quickly become the focal point of your living spaces and capture guests’ attention. You’ll get to relive your favourite memories every day, and you’ll have an easy topic of conversation when having new people over. For these prints, we recommend opting for artsy landscape or detail photos rather than your travel companions posing for the camera. If the canvas doesn’t quite suit your space, you should also look into acrylic or metal wall prints. 

• Learn the art of Scrapbooking

As is true for the old-fashioned photo album, scrapbooking has practically fallen of the face of the earth. But this hobby is ready for a comeback. Plan a relaxing afternoon, gather some pretty papers and embellishments, and create a tactical tribute to your favourite family holidays. You’ll enjoy learning a new art form, and you’ll always have a physical album to flip through when you start feeling nostalgic. Scrapbooks become such valuable family heirlooms, why not start creating something that your children, and your children’s children, can look back on for years to come. 

• Make Post-Cards

Making use of online printing services, why not turn a few staple images from your vacations into postcards. You could order singles of each image to keep as souvenirs (whether you display them on your fridge with a magnet or tuck them into a memory box) or you can order in bulk and send them to family/friends towards the end of your trip. Just remember to address one to yourself so you’ll have one to hang on to forever. 

• Create a Calendar

A personalized calendar is a great way to display some of your favourite vacation photos. Whether you choose a wall calendar, miniature for your cubicle at work, or a daily tear-away calendar (after all, there are just way too many photos to choose from) you’ll be able to rotate your images and look at them often. This is a great choice for frequent flyers as you’ll be able to swap out your vacation photos year after year (a perfect reminder for you to print them on an annual basis) in the same place you keep track of the countdown to your next vacation.

• Curate a Travel-Themed Gallery Wall

If you liked the idea of a canvas print but can’t choose just one vacation photo to display, consider dedicating a wall in your house to create a travel gallery. Here, you’ll create a collage or grid of photo frames showcasing a mismatch of landscape shots, details, and family photos, or one common theme showcasing several different destinations. If you want uniformity, you can choose images with similar colour tones (or black and white for an easy match-up) and purchase duplicates of the same frame. For a more eclectic and genuine feel, search for a collection of antique frames at the local thrift shop. This way, you’ll end up with a series of frames in different shapes, sizes, and wood stains that still feel like they belong together. 

• Order a Modern PhotoBook

Replacing the old-faithful, self-fill photo album is the modern photo book. Depending on the company you choose to order from, you’ll be able to choose from various formats (i.e. lay flat, hardcover, or softcover), various cover textiles (i.e. leather, linen, matte, gloss), and various levels of time/monetary investment. Most companies will auto-fill a book for you with a simple upload of your photos, or you can choose the layouts and placements yourself. If you choose to support local and truly invest in your albums, you’ll likely find services that will curate your images for you and design an artisan album. These make great coffee table books, and you can always rotate them out if you prefer to keep your decor minimal. This way, there is always a new set of memories to look through and reminisce about. 

• Start an Heirloom Print Box

If you love being able to hold onto an old photograph (making a photobook less desirable), but don’t want to go the route of the traditional album, consider this alternative presentation for your holiday prints. Ordering a wooden heirloom photo box from an independent artisan is a great way to display your images. These can be found locally, or through sites like Etsy, and can be personalized with your family name, important dates, or destination names- whatever tickles your fancy. You can even order larger boxes with dividers to help keep images from multiple trips organized. This box will provide safe and artful storage of your most precious memories, and is a compact way to pass these on to future generations. 

• Sync an Album of Your Vacation Photos to Your TV’s Screensaver

You know those random stock photos plastered across your big screen when your tv is waiting for you to decide what to stream? Maybe it’s a little icon that bounces back and forth? Instead of looking at someone else photos of the Grand Canyon, create a little slideshow and you can swap them for some you took yourself. While you’re at it, you can change over your laptop and mobile phone wallpapers as well. 

• Put Them on This Year’s Christmas Card

We get it, you might not want your great aunt Susan to see you sipping margaritas in a tiny bikini. But if you happened to snap a great family photo on your last vacation, put it to good use! There’s no rule that says you need to be wearing a sweater and standing outside in the freezing snow to take your holiday card picture. This is a great way to let your loved ones know where you’ve been and what you’ve been up to and it’s a great conversation starter for those awkward extended family dinners you are sure to be invited to.