gallery wall

We’re lucky enough to live in a split level house that has an actual landing at the top of the stairs.  Not just a straight hallway.  And believe me, as soon as we moved in I knew exactly what was going there.  A gallery wall FILLED with frames that would enviably have dusted way too often, but that I would love enough to warrant the extra house work.

So we went to work.  Or I did for this part.  After spending hours reading other blogs doing some research about other’s trials and errors I formulated a plan for our wall and went to work.  One Saturday morning and three episodes of The Rachel Zoe Project later, I had traced around each frame for the wall and cut out an exact-sized template.

Using scotch tape (or you could use painters if you’re concerned about paint peeling off), I taped up all the templates and then proceeded to move them around about 3,659 times.  Little tweaks here and there until finally I realized the problem was that I needed three more frames in order to make this giant game of Tetris work.

But instead of running to Target to pick up three more, I went through our donate pile and found some white and silver frames that were just the right size to include in our gallery.  Got to love being able to use what you already have!  So Adam and I took them outside for some TLC, since the rest of the frames were already a glossy black.  I removed the glass and lightly sanded the outside of the frames to remove any dirt and paint since these frames were a few years old.

Three thin coats of Krylon Black Gloss spray paint and a few hours of drying time and they were ready to be included in the wall.

I tweaked the paper ONE last time, slept on it and then let Adam get to work for the heavy lifting.  Ya know, cause some of those frames weighed a hefty 5 lbs.  He measured how far down from the edge the hook or wire was on the back of the frame and marked an ‘x’ on the paper were the OOK picture hanger should be nailed.  Then he just hammered directly on the ‘x’ and then carefully removed the paper to reveal a picture hanger ready for use!

A lot of patience and 38 frames later, we had our gallery wall!  Well, mostly.  We’re still working on filling the frames, deciding what artwork and photos to put up and if we like having mats in each picture frame or just in some.

So as with all our projects, it’s still a work in progress.  But I love having a wall full of things we love: photographs, little notes, postcards from friends, amusing artwork.  Most of what’s in there will likely be changed out sooner or later, but that’s the best part of it.

And I absolutely love it.