How I Made My Gallery Wall

I love the idea of having a frame wall. It was so fun to create and it’s been even more fun building onto it over time. While I’m by no means a minimalist, I like to keep things pretty simple without a lot of decorations scattered around. This frame wall lets me add a ton of personality condensed in one spot so my small place doesn’t look cluttered.

I  was originally inspired by Young House Love,

…and then explored even more ideas on Pinterest.

A lot of the frames I already owned were black, so even though I loved the all white frame collages I saw on Pinterest,  I had to work them in. I didn’t want my wall to look too busy (my biggest fear with this project was having it turn out like the inside of an Applebee’s), I stuck to only black and white frames. I started out with only a few frame and laid them into the design I wanted on the floor. Then, I measured and put up the end frames first, filling in after with the frames in the middle.

After it was up, I thought it looked a little sparse, so I stocked up on cheap frames at thrift and dollar stores. I was always on the lookout for a good frame. The best thing about this project is that whenever I find something cool, I can add it right on. I’ve added a few silver and gold frames into the mix, and some sweet trinkets like this little elephant hook and antique key.

Here’s what the wall looked like when I first started:

 

I want to continue switching out what’s in the frames and I’m thinking about incorporating even more of a Richmond/Virginia theme. What do you think about this “Carry Mr Back to Old Virginia” print from Etsy?

Update 9/11/16: Here’s what my wall looks like these days: