DIY Gallery Picture Wall

We live in our Family Room.  It's well loved, and well used. It's also the entryway to the house from the driveway.  So in addition to the loads-o-play that happens in there, it's also the place where we stomp off feet, leave muddy/wet shoes and generally unload of all personal belongings.

Couch | Rug | Ottomans | Pillows

Today, I'm sharing how I make the DIY Gallery Wall.  This is a GREAT project to tackle and takes minimal supplies to make it happen.

Supplies Needed:
-Wood (we used 1.5" wide by 1" deep)
-Nails/Hammer (or wood glue)
-Black paint
-Picture Frames
-Black craft paint (for words)
-Command Picture hanging strips



1. Find an inspiration photo.  Use mine or find one on Pinterest.  This was mine.

The link didn't take me to a site, so I just printed off the image and started to map out my own project.  I wanted to frame it in to make it feel more structured and make it less busy so I just picked out my favorite words to use.

2. Find your space and measure out the dimensions.  Mine is 48" high by 75" wide. Either nail in the wood frame or use wood glue (we did wood glue).

3. Divide up your space into quadrants and buy frames based on the amount of space you have.  I went to Hobby Lobby and loaded up on black frames.  (p.s. you can do multi-colored frames or alternate between 2 colors.  I stuck with black frames and changed up the shapes/designs on the frames)  Hobby Lobby usually has a buy 1, get 1 frame 50% off sale.

4. Lay out the frames on the floor and move them around.  I added in pieces of paper with the words "love, kind, joy, laughter, special, family is..." on them. I moved them all around until I liked how it felt.  I didn't want to put the biggest picture smack dab in the center, so I opted to put it up a bit higher to the right.  This is where you find what works for you.  I wanted it to feel balanced, but not too predictable.

5. Use Command picture hanging strips to put on the back of each picture frame.  Most of my frames just needed 2 strips.  Literally, no nails used in the making of this project.  And all the readers GASP!  We have plaster walls so the whole "put a nail in the wall" is much harder than it appears.  Thank you Command, thank you.  I actually traced the frames (with pencil) onto the wall so that after I take down and replace the picture, I can get it right back up where I want it to be.

6. Stencil the words.  I ended up free-handing the words and taking my time.  You could find the decal printables to use, but those don't work with the texture we have on our walls.  I used a fine tip paint brush with black craft paint (from Hobby Lobby) and went to town.  It probably took about 2 hours or so to pencil, paint and perfect the words.

7. Paint the wood black (or your preferred color).

8. Enjoy immensely!

Happy DIY'ing!