gallery wall process: take 1

If anyone tells you putting a gallery wall is easy as pie and takes hardly any time, DON’T believe them! This is definitely not a Under $10, Under 1 Hour Project, but we love that wall of memories so much, it was worth it. Here’s how it came together:

Over  year ago, I began gathering for a gallery wall for our entryway.

I had some criteria as I gathered:

1. it had to have an identical frame if it was smaller so I could group them.

2. it had to have a mat

3. the lines of the frame and mat had to be simple and timeless, with a few different shapes like circles and ovals in there.

4. and of course, the price had to be right.

That’s it! It could be ugly, it could have ducks and skulls and dusty mauve mats, but if it had these 4 things, I snatched it up because I knew that the rest could be remedied with spray paint.

These were my most expensive frames, but most I got for $1 or less.

When I thought I had enough (I went a little overboard on my gathering…I had a plethera of frames and had to throw a bunch out edit a bit) I placed them on my floor to get an idea of how I was going to lay them out on the wall.

 

I removed the mats and spray painted them with heirloom white (Rustoleum at the Home Depot) spray paint:

 

For the frames, I decided to let there be 4 different colors: black, antique white, the antique gold that was already on the vintage frames, and then I sprayed the rest with Krylon’s caramel latte spray paint.

 

This part took forever. Trace each of your frames/shapes onto paper, then put them up with painters tape. Of course I changed my mind a dozen times and re-arranged and re-re-arranged, but I was sure glad it was *before* I started hammering

 

Then, I hung the frames in their proper place. I didn’t have my pictures picked out, so I made a list of all the sizes of frames to fill, and went through my pictures and decided which ones would make the cut. It was hard narrowing it down! I taped them up to see how it all fit together before I actually put them in the frames, but that was STUPID to tape right on top of the picture, because some of the picture came off with the tape! If you do this, stick the piece of tape on the back!

On the other side of the wall, I spray painted a clearance shelf from target with heirloom white:

Oh goodness, this post is already a novel…I will talk chairs, the dresser, and a final awesome tip I used tomorrow!! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments~