73109katgeiger2.jpgIn the past, there's been a lot of discussion on Apartment Therapy about whether it's preferable to adorn the walls with art or with family photos. Many of you have argued that perhaps the two aren't at all mutually exclusive, and indeed, Oakland artist Kat Geiger has just finished a project that redefines the family portrait as art. Click through for a close-up and to learn how to try a similar treatment with your own photos...

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Kat was desperate to hang some group family photos, but had never been a fan of formal OlanMills-style portraits, with their often stiff smiles and poses. So she used an x-acto knife to cut her family out of some prints and chose a meaningful book, an old thesaurus that belonged to her grandmother, to complete the rest of the collage. In order to put it all together, she painted the backs of the pages with glue, arranged them on a canvas, and let them dry overnight. Then the next day she did the same with the cut-out photos. She calls the collage "Anti-OlanMills."

To check out more of Kat's work, including her gorgeous terrariums, visit her Etsy shop or her blog, Design Spunk.

Have you found a way to incorporate your family photos into larger art pieces to hang at home? Please share!

And if you're looking for other artful ways to display family photos in their original form, try these posts:

• Roundup: Stylish Ideas for Displaying Family Photos
• Inspiration: Victoria's Sepia-Toned Family Photo Display

(Images: Kat Geiger)