Black and White Photo Art Made Easy

Several years ago I was a huge fan of the home decorating show “Trading Spaces.” This was pre-kids, when it was cool to say you watched “Trading Spaces.” I learned so much from this show — especially, how to decorate on a budget. I’ll share one of my favorite tips from the show. I got it from designer Genevieve Gorder.

I have two black and white photographs of my cats on hanging in our home and they are two of the most talked about pieces of art in my house. Even though I have a few really nice pieces hanging on my walls, it’s these fake-out black and whites that get mentioned the most. All I did was take two of my favorite photos of my pets, copy them and frame. Here’s the details and the final products:

I started with a 3-1/2 x 5 color photo.
Went to my local copy shop and started enlarging it on a color copier. This is important. It must be a color copier. It’s how you’ll get all the deep tones of black. I recommend that you get assistance with this part to save money. I wasted several “copies” trying to find the right percentage to blow up the image to.
Before you print, choose the black and white option. Again, it seems silly to pay extra for a black and white copy from a color copier, but the end result will be worth the extra pennies.
Place in a nice frame. If doing more than one, consider choosing frames that match or are similar in color to unify the prints.