Gettin' Her Done

I've been slowly amassing picture frames from various thrift stores for months with one end in mind, a gallery wall. With the impending house guests looming over my shoulder (and the fact that I've been using the guest bed as a place to store my un-hung art) I finally bit the bullet and got her done. The only decent hallway I have is downstairs so I installed my gallery there. Some before and afters for you.

Looking down the hall:

Before 

After

Looking out from the Library
Before

After

Looking out of the Guest Bedroom

Before

After

 And one last look of the whole wall

As you can see there are still come empty frames and place holders but they are up and out of the way. Hopefully I can get some pictures printed and in them before next weekend but we'll see.

As to process: I took a page out of John and Sherry's book over at Young House Love and used their paper method. It's actually a great way to get a sense of what the wall will look like covered in frames. For each frame cut out a piece of paper to the size of the frame and number. I used post-it notes for numbering the frames. 

This way you can rearrange the "frames" without putting holes in your walls. I was worried that doing the floor to ceiling frames like Sherry and John did would be too overwhelming with my black frames so I stuck with a cluster across the center of the wall. 

Since I acquired most of my frames at thrift stores they weren't all black to begin with. Spray paint made that an easy fix (here they are all different colors).

Once everything was black I started hanging them up on the wall. This is where the numbering and the paper really shines. After checking the back of the frame to see where the hanging element is you can nail directly into the paper. Then you simply remove the paper and hang your frame. 

Here is the wall partially completed. You can see my post-its on the frames helping me remember where each picture goes. Here it is again fully complete. 

I have projects planned for some of the gaps and maybe i'll add some more frames as I go. There are still come spots that seem like they need something but I really like walking into the hall and seeing something interesting there on the wall. 

Cheers!