Gallery Wall

 One of the projects I worked on last year was filling our stairwell with a gallery wall. I showed you a preview months ago of the first few frames hanging up. I just worked on the wall a few frames at a time as I came across pictures that I knew I wanted on the wall. It was a great opportunity to go through old prints, pictures I had saved for scrapbooking, and the myriad of other memorabilia I had squirreled away.

By working on the wall a little at a time, it forced me to take a much more organic, laid back approach to hanging everything. I didn’t plan the whole wall out in advance, I just worked on about 4-6 frames at a time. This helped spread out the cost (although I did catch a killer $1/frame sale at AC Moore) and ensured that things didn’t look too planned.

That’s why you see a few funny little holes and spaces throughout the wall. They don’t bother me though, some I’ve filled in with tiny little pieces, and others are just empty. And I am surprisingly okay with it!

I was able to include some postcards from our travels, original watercolors (some by me, some by pros) pictures of family and friends, cards we received when we bought the house, pictures I’ve taken, some of the pictures that used to be on the stairs themselves, cards Lover has given me or I’ve given him, quotes we love, information about the places we grew up, and most recently, some pictures from my pregnancy and a picture of little Javi’s feet.

The end result is a lot like us. Eclectic, a mishmash of our travels, a lot about our relationship, a little bit of our baby, all mixed in with our loved ones. The pictures have already evolved a bit since I finished hanging everything up, and there is still plenty of space to keep adding on to the wall.

All of the frames are those simple black plastic ones that the glass clips into. I hung the vast majority of them with command hooks and strips because they are so light. They’re actually really secure there on the wall, we’ve yet to lose any and only the ones hanging from screws get crooked. I may even switch those to strips so that everything stays in place. And it is really easy to just pop out the glass on any of the frames to put up a new picture.

I love the final look. I love that it is personal, doesn’t take itself too seriously, and it’s not overly planned out. It always makes me smile when we have guests over, and they stop on their way up the stairs to look at all the pictures and artwork. That’s the greatest compliment in my opinion!