7.01.2012

Gallery Wall

I knew that I wouldn't be posting as often through the summer, but oh boy, I never intended to drag this project out for as long as I have!  I'm finally ready to show you my dining room/kitchen gallery wall.  When I started this project, my goals were to fill the empty space, add some color,  a little whimsy, and make it different and fun.


I tried and tried to get better pictures of this wall, but with poor natural lighting, glares on the glass, and the contrasts of darks and lights, I haven't been able to take a photo that really shows how bright this grouping is.  Oh well.


There were two things that I needed to work around, the clock and the thermostat. I decided to just pretend that the thermostat wasn't there and fit the frames around it as best I could. I tried to mimic the round shape of the clock with the monogram and the nest.

I pulled the colors from the fabric that I used to make my kitchen curtains.  I love this fabric and discovered it thanks to a post at I am Momma Hear Me Roar.  As soon as I saw it I knew it was just what I was looking for!


This shows where I'll add all of our personal photos...


...and this is a collage of how my wall would look if I had hung the frames up as they looked when I bought them.  In some crazy coincidence, all of the dollar store and thrift frames that I used were originally gold or purple.   I bought the tan frame on the bottom row on clearance a few years ago for $3.


I have very little experience with grouping frames, so I tried a lot of different combinations before I found one that I thought would work and in the process gave up on the whole thing--twice.



Click on the links for the tutorials of each project.






Key Holder
Rather than hang the key directly on the wall, I used a scrap piece of mdf and made a holder for it.  I painted it just like I painted the frame with the birds and branches and added a couple of hooks.  It's hung on the wall with Command strips.  I've been thinking about adding a stencil to it.


I could have just gone to the store and bought frames and hung them on the wall, but I'm glad that I didn't.  It took a lot longer to redo all of the dollar store and thrift frames, but for someone who loves to craft, that's the fun part!


Today's Fabulous Find...Thrifty Gallery Wall