Gallery photo wall.

We have officially completed our first decor project for our new home! We are pretty proud of ourselves :) In fact, I was so excited to post about it that I haven't even put all the pictures in the frames yet. Whoops.

I've been dreaming up this project since before we even moved in. I LOVE photos and feel like they should be displayed. I have seen different gallery walls all over pinterest but wasn't sold on any particular "template." So, with a little pinterest inspiration, we went to work on designing our own gallery wall.

Read on to find out how to build your own gallery wall! If you're just in it for the photos, please look at your leisure and skip all the nonsense :)

Cost:

Depending on how many tools and frames you already own, this project could cost anywhere from $10-$70. I ended up spending around $60 (for 9 frames, nails and hanger clips and the letter).

Tools:

1. Hammer
2. Pencil
3. Level
4. Nails and hanger clips
5. Paper
6. Frames (and photos to go in them, of course!)

Time commitment:

This took us a total of 4-5 hours over the span of a few days.

First, decide on what "theme" you want. Gallery walls are a great way to make a house a home and it can say a lot about you. Take the time to consider photos, color, art and other wall decor that you want to include.
I started with a trip to Hobby Lobby who had their frames for 50% off that week. We already had a few black frames and I felt like black always looks classy, so we went with all black frames, some with mats, some without. I also picked up that fun letter at Hobby Lobby for $3.

 Next, I arranged all the frames on the ground the way that I wanted them to be on the wall.

After I got everything exactly where I wanted it, I measured the distances between each piece and sketched it out. I'm a perfectionist and needed to be sure that everything was going to hang the way I had planned.

This is when I recruited my husband to help me with the actual hanging. We started in the center and worked our way out. The first thing that went up was the K and then the frames around it.

Our "frame hanging" check list:

1. Place the frame on the wall and measure distances to the closest frames to make sure it is where you want it in relation to the other frames.
2. Check to make sure it is level.
3. Lightly trace the corners of the frame with a pencil.
4. Check to make sure the markings are level.
5. Measure how far down and inside the hanger is from the corners of the frame. (I found a hint on pinterest that says to put a dab of toothpaste on the hanger and then place the frame where it should go in order to get the nail in the right spot! Too bad I read that two days after we had hung all the frames.)
6. Measure this same distance on the wall where the corners have been penciled in. Mark that spot with a pencil.
7. Nail the hanger into the wall.
8. Hang the frame.
9. Check to make sure it is level.
10. Erase any pencil marks that are visible.

After the second night of working on the gallery wall, this is what we had up.

A few tips:

1. The level part is EXTREMELY important. Don't skip those steps or you will end up having to start over. Trust me on this :)
2. Make sure you stand back and check the look of your wall after each frame is hung. This way you can avoid having to move multiple frames if you decide you don't like the look.
3. Laying out the frames AND taking a photo of the configuration while it was on the floor helped us tons! Not having to think about where to hang the next frame was a huge plus, especially for the extremely indecisive :)
4. Don't hang frames while a baby is sleeping in the next room...whoops.

We LOVE our new photo wall. It is hung on the hallway from the entry way to the great room, which is a perfect way to welcome guests and make them feel at home. Let us know what you think of our first of many home decorating projects!

Next on the list is a lovely little crate bookshelf to go under the gallery wall : )