Another Gallery Wall Tutorial

I love gallery walls. They are not just for museums. They've been popular in decorating for a while. and there are as many versions as there are decorating styles. They all appeal to me depending on the applications. I my home I have a wall in my living room that incorporates many different items rather than just photos. You can find the instructional post on that here. And the shelf allows me to add seasonal changes.



Sometimes, you don't want a lot of things sticking out from the wall. I've used a series of prints to build a much more formal grouping. Below are the same set of prints framed differently but displayed in the same manner.

(Print Source)

In a series of posts from late 2018 til mid 2019 I documented a makeover of a friend's house. In my friend's family room there is a large stairway taking up one side of the room. The ceilings soar in beautiful room and opposite the stairway is a large Palladian window. The window accentuated the vast nakedness of the opposing wall and we wanted to do something about that.

I wanted this to be a less formal grouping as it is a part of the family room. Some grid paper and a pencil helped to form an idea of what I was trying to achieve.

We purchased three photo ledges (don't pay a lot) to anchor the space. I stair-stepped the ledges to mimic the stairs. Measure the space you want to fill and divide that number in half. (I use chalk to mark the walls, easy to clean off.)

To mount my ledges I found the center point of where I wanted to collection to hang. I measured the center of my middle ledge and marked it with chalk on the ledge. Line it up with your mark on the wall, check for level and screw into place. Next measure from that center mark to edge of your space and divide by 2 again. That will be the center point for the next ledge. I did that on both sides. My ledges were 48" long and that allowed them to overlap a bit. This is subjective and really up to you. Because it is a staircase wall I wanted to be able to see the photos from the floor so I made sure to hang them high enough to be seen over the railing.

Next, I had my friend gather all her photos, most were already framed. We decided to use colored photos vs. black and white because 1) this family has some beautiful red-haired members and 2) the cost to reproduce all the photos in black and white would have made the project expensive.

Now I could start hanging photos. There were a couple of larger photos that I wanted to use as anchors and because of that I worked those onto the wall first. From there it was a matter of sitting some on the ledge, hanging others both above and below the ledges. Finding the right sized frames was trial and error.

The first attempt still looked too stuffy to me and there were sooo.... many great photos. Just keep adding until you get the look you're after. Don't be afraid to move a photo if it doesn't fit right. Notice where the military photo, top right? It won't stay there. 

Once I got the photos and placement figured out I took down the frames that were different colors. I wanted one, cohesive color. Now, you can buy matching frames like in the previous photos but this is a big project and it would take a lot of money to do that. My solution was to set up my spray tent and spray paint all the frames that were different colors. Black allows the eye/mind a place to rest and allows the photos to tell the story. I like the idea of different finishes of the frames that were already black so I left them alone.

After I was happy with the placements I went back in with some poster tack and put a little behind the frames to keep them from shifting. This is a stairway and it will get much traffic. Trying to keep photos righted would be a full time job. This is what I use:



I found a large gold B, the families surname initial. I painted it black.

My friend found some words online that she wanted to incorporate into the mix. You can find similar metal cutouts from Hobby Lobby for a few dollars each.  If you don't want to spend money on that consider something like this from another friend's house a few years ago:

I used a piece of fabric and a Sharpie and framed it. Easy right? Handwriting isn't pretty? Print it out on the computer and put it under your fabric and copy or just frame the copy.

Paint was dry, photos were reinstalled and all that was left was to take final photos.

Again, my drawing...

And the final...

You could incorporate your children's artwork or family keepsakes like marriage licenses or diplomas. This project's will cost you less than $100 depending on where you get your picture ledges and how long they are. That price includes ledges, picture hangers, poster tack and spray paint. Additional costs would be the metal word signs.

 So, what do you think? Is there a wall in your house that could use a refresh? Why not try a gallery wall? Happy decorating.

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Finding Silver Pennies, Our Home Away From Home, B4 and Afters, The Dedicated House , My Uncommon Slice Of Suburbia, Create With Joy, Lou Lou Girls, April J Harris, Ducks N'A Row, Katherine's Corner, Gingersnap Crafts, Life Beyond The Kitchen, The Pin Junkie