Gallery Wall

There is this wall in my dining room that has been bothering me fifteen months. Fifteen months also happens to be how long we have owned our home. Do you see the correlation?

It is this weirdly (in my opinion) sized blank space that has eluded my decorative talents. Throughout our time in this house, many things have been propped up, taped to, or leaned against this wall...but nothing made me happy. 

Until now!

Last weekend, with the help of Emily, I finally hung up a gorgeous (again, in my opinion) gallery wall. It is filled with memories and mementos from our life, and the best part is...it cost ZERO dollars!  

Painting over an old frame with chalkboard paint!

More re-purposing! A fresh coat of paint make this F like new again!

Please excuse my awesome hair and clothes :-)

If you ever decide to tackle your own gallery wall, here are a few tips. 

1. Search your storage. Everything on this wall of joy was in a closet or displayed somewhere else in the house! There is no reason to go out and buy something new when chances are, you have something awesome stored away that you can re-purpose.
2. Play with the design on the floor first. We went through several versions before settling on the final design. It is good to visualize what items will look good together and give yourself room for error before making unnecessary holes in the walls. 
3. Speaking of unnecessary holes, trace out your final design onto a large piece of paper. Then tape said paper to the wall. This way you can level it all out first. Simply nail through the paper and remove later!
4. Choose things that mean something. Included on our wall is a calendar holder made by Adam's grandpa, a picture of my grandma in her 20's, our wedding invitation, and several other pieces that make me smile every time I walk in the house. 

And there you have it. Only fifteen months later, and that once annoying wall is now one of my favorite things to gaze at. 

warms my heart