HOW TO CREATE A BADA** GALLERY WALL
Seriously, who isn’t obsessed with a good gallery wall? When we built our house way back in 2019, I knew that I HAD to do a gallery wall somewhere in the house. It was always my goal to finally hang up our wedding pictures in the house. As we were building our house I was scoping out where to put one. Low and behold there was the perfect blank space that was just ASKING to be a gallery wall (at least in my opinion!).
Our kitchen had a large wall that was completely blank. boring. blah. I needed something that would cover the whole wall without looking cheesy. I don’t know about you, but I am so over the “my kitchen” or “kitchen, eat, yum!” signs that are everywhere. Instead, I thought this would be the right spot for a gallery wall that featured our wedding photos. It is one of the first things people comment on when they come into our kitchen and it serves as an awesome conversation starter. The best part is, is that I can totally switch out the photos (eventually) when I get sick of them. Weddings, babies, families, and holiday photos are just some thoughts I have in mind…
So really, what is the best way to make a gallery wall?
DON’T OVER THINK IT. Simplicity is the key! If you’re anything like me, I am psychotic and need symmetry and order. I decided that I would do a 3 by 3 with a total of 9 framed photos. I knew I wanted black frames to balance my kitchen cabinet handles. This is where the search began!
Determine what size frames you would want in the space. How big is the space you are working with? Will an 8x10 do the trick or would that look WAY too small on your wall? I personally went with the 12x16 size from Ikea. I wanted it to take up the majority of the wall while not looking overwhelming. More on the frames below!
DO NOT hang anything until you are completely sure it will fit and capture the look you are going for! I suggest using paper/tape to do a mock up of your gallery wall (especially if you will off set any of the frames). Before I put anything on the wall, including tape, I literally laid out all the pictures on the ground! It helped me visualize what I wanted on the wall. It sounds kinda odd, but it totally helps.
Pick your pictures! Once you have an idea of what you want with your gallery wall, I suggest looking through which pictures you will want to use. I knew I wanted to use my wedding photos so I filtered through the ones that I was obsessed with and began narrowing down to 9 photos (which was WAY harder than you think!!). Etsy has some fantastic pre-determined gallery wall sets, so if you are at a loss I highly suggest hopping over there to check out some ideas! As I filtered through my personal photos I went with a variety of solo, family, couple, and venue photos to use. I made sure there wasn't anything TOO similar to one another!
Frames. are. expensive. Like dumb expensive sometimes… why??? Ugh, well I was #broke because you know… building a house. I ended up landing on Ikea, because all great things are found there. No, like, seriously though. Y’all. These frames are legit $5. LITERALLY $5. I was hooked!! I ended up going to our local Ikea to just be sure that they weren't absolute junk and I was honestly so surprised about their quality! They are light weight, not glass (#kids), and easy to swap out pictures. Just like that 2 years later, they are still hanging. They have fallen I don’t know how many times from the kids, the dog, or adults under some influences…. and they have still managed to look like new!
I highly, highly recommend these frames, you will NOT regret it!
Check out my gallery wall found in my kitchen!
At the center I knew I wanted a photo of the fam. From there I tried to use a variety of photos that were solo shots, with our first born son, and of our venue. This has been up for several years and I still LOVE it.
I went with the black and white design since my kitchen has black/white accents. It continues to be timeless and an awesome conversation piece!
For real, go buy this frame. It’s light weight, comes in a variety of colors and sizes, and who can go wrong really??? My gallery wall features the 12x16 frames, but I do have the other sizes around my house in several other rooms. Seriously, the best!