Let's Talk Gallery Walls...
Gallery walls, gallery walls...everyone wants one but no one knows where to start! We get questions about gallery walls all the time, so we are excited to share a few of our personal tips.
1. Pick a cohesive style.
This could be a certain color, material or texture. For ours, I knew I wanted to go with a mix of new and old. I had picked out a few pieces we already had in the house but they didn't coordinate very well so I had some painting to do! I went with a classic white to match our trim work and to contrast our gray walls. TIP: Chalk paint is ideal for painting most surfaces. Yes, even those brass frames that you grew up with! Once you have applied a couple coats, distressed it (or not), it would be a good idea to protect all that hard work with a top coat.
“Rome wasn’t built in a day...your gallery wall doesn’t have to be either!”
2. Collect over time.
You don't have to have the wall complete in a day. Collect pieces that you love over time. We collected for two years before putting our wall up! Go out to antique stores and flea markets to find those one of kind shapes and details you can't find in a department store. (Remember anything can be painted!) See those two narrow, architectural pieces pictured? Those came from the exterior of a historic home and I scored them from a local antique store. Our wall has a good mix of new and old. Here's a rundown of our wall to give you an idea of what to look for:
Picture frames of varying sizes. Most of the picture frames came from TJMaxx and Homegoods (our favorite go to for frames!).
Framed crochet art. This sentimental piece was a handmade wedding gift from a dear sweet lady.
Mirror. You can find neat mirrors in any antique store or thrift store.
Oval frame with wooden letter. Even though our wall is mostly rectangle shapes, we tried to throw in a few other shapes to offset all the straight lines.
3. Layout
Before you start putting holes in the wall, lay all your pieces out on the floor and move them around until it looks right to you. Sounds easy, right? It's not, really! It may take some time and a lot of tweaking. After you move them around a few times everything starts to just feel like a mess, so here are few simple tips:
Take a picture of your layout. I know, what?! No really, it helps. It's almost like zooming out on a picture to see it all in one frame (pun intended!).
Try to balance out larger pieces with smaller ones.
Mix up the orientation of picture frames
Try to keep a consistent space between each piece. We went with about an inch and half around each piece for our gallery wall.
Now it's your turn! Go ahead and be brave. Start your very own gallery wall. We know you can do it! If you have any questions, feel free to comment below! We'd be glad to help. AND please don't hesitate to share your work, we'd love to see it!
Happy collecting----