Hello! I shared the updated gallery wall last week but didn't get to share some of my favorite frame options (with commentary, of course!) if you are on the hunt to create a memory wall of your own. To break down the cost of ours:

Frames from Walmart for about $7 each = $105
Gallery Mats from Blick Art $107 (but in all fairness, I had 3 extra mats since they came in pack of 6)
Total: around $200



Our wall was inspired by these frames that Studio McGee hung in their Modern Mountain home. I loved the sleek frames with the larger mat!



































Another option for great mats is a wedding signature mat that gives more white surround for a sleek, museum like look.


Let's look at some other options:

The $14.99 Ribba frames from IKEA are hard to beat but listen to this: they discontinued the square ones pictured here!! So, so sad about that.  The only square ones I now see are the Hovsta 9".  I also love this grid gallery wall is from Toria Erskine  Total of the frames for this wall would be $135 if they still offered the square but you could use other frames they now have to create a different size. 



























Here is another classic Ribba collection from @marissa.lindsey on Instagram. 



























This wall from Shay Cochrane is perfection but the price is steep -- these are the Mercer Slim from Framebridge and at $85 a pop, this wall would set you back $1,360 *gulp* But to be fair, this does include the print and they do have coupon codes.

Hello there! I hope you are staying warm wherever you are, I can't believe the frigid temperatures across the nation. In the fall after the kids went back to school something about the family room was making it feel too cluttered and busy to me. I identified one of the culprits as the gallery wall and decided to re-vamp it! I pictured something more modern, simple and sleek.



-- and the focus to be more on the pictures than the frames.  I wasn't willing to drop over $500 for a gallery wall so this is what I came up with:  the 16X20 frames are actually from Hobby Lobby and I got them when frames were 50% off, so they were only $5 each. The sale didn't show up online but it did in store when all the other frames go on sale.  I also noticed Wal-mart had some almost identical ones for $7.99 so you may want to check those out. I think they look like black matte metal unless you get really close and touch them you can tell they are plastic.





The mats are my favorite though -- they are the 16X20 portrait museum mat with an 8X10 opening. They are not centered and have more white at the bottom, thus giving them the "museum" look? Anyway, I loved them. There always seem to be a sale going on with free shipping at Blick.






























To hang them, we have had this hanging laser level that they don't sell anymore (here it is on Ebay) that shoots a laser across the whole wall. Here is the new version on Amazon and I think you can hang it with command strips if you don't any holes in the wall from it.

































First, we calculated how wide and how tall we wanted the gallery to be. Where do you want the bottom of the bottom row of pictures to be and where to you want the top of the top row of pictures to be? Then, we measured the size of the frames and then decided how far we wanted them to be apart. Next, painter's tape was used to measure the distance from the hook on the back of one frame to the hook on the back of the next and put that on the laser and hung the nails on each end. Does that make any sense?? If you can see in the above pic, we also used painters tape to measure vertically how far from the hook at the back to where the next row started. Painter's tape is your friend when hanging a gallery wall! See that fiddle leaf fig? It is out of control -- getting so big!! Which is good but I'm not sure exactly where to put it. I hope this helps give you ideas for your gallery wall goals.

Happy Wednesday!

Hello! Since I have had frames and walls on my mind lately -- I figured I was hanging stuff anyway so I might as well knock it out downstairs too! You will recognize most of these from our basement playroom in our Virginia home.

The “order here” sign was a quickie that I painted from some scrap wood and craft paint. I was totally going to try to DIY a lighted arrow but my sister Kerri did one and said NO! it takes forever! So I was thrilled to find this one on clearance at Bed, Bath & Beyond for $10.

You know I’m working on the front entryway (I guess proper folk call it the foyer), and I saw an idea on Pinterest that I had to run with.