I think I'll refer to this as the "I miss my husband" gallery wall. This is one of the many things on my DIY deployment list, but I decided to go ahead and finish this one because I realized that I always have to go to Facebook to look at pictures. Can you believe I literally had no family photos hanging up in our house? Zero, ziltch, nada. NONE! What kind of woman am I? lol (in hindsight there are a few in the guest room)
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| Look at my sweet doggies! |
I always knew I wanted a gallery wall in the stairway, and I talked a little about it here. Yes, that post is from a VERY long time ago! Procrastination 1 - Ansley 0. However, I did do my best collecting picture frames from Goodwill. I paid less than $2 each (probably less than $1 for most of them)! I determined the layout that I wanted on the floor.
Then I hung them on the wall. There was no special method that I used to hang them on the wall. Just followed the layout and, because the frames were touching, this wasn't too difficult.
I even painted them. Oil rubbed bronze.
They were hanging in the hallway for a while without any pictures in them. I didn't like it. First, every time I'd go up or down the stairs they scared me! Haha, I'm pretty much afraid of everything. I wasn't used to anything hanging in the hall, so I'd see the frames out of the corner of my eye and think it was something lurking! I finally got used to them and they didn't startle me anymore. Yet, I still didn't like them. It was the color.
So, I took them down with the idea that I'd paint them all white. In the mean time I placed them neatly in a pile on the floor in our bedroom. They sat there, for like 8 months. Procrastination 2 - Ansley 0. Just like this:
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| I know it's terrible!!! |
Finally, I picked up that pile, brought them downstairs and wiped them down with a wet rag. They were covered in dust and doggie hair. Then I placed them on my makeshift worktable (which is really a dresser that I have yet to redo topped with plywood from my snowman yard art), primed them, and painted them white. I did the same thing with the picture mats.
Then it was time for the fun part! I had to decide what to put in these babies! This should be the easy part, but since my husband has been deployed like for our entire relationship I don't have a lot of photos of him or us together. So, I decided to blend some of our photos with filler. Just sweet little random pictures that I like, plus photos of other family members.
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| I got that cute seahorse at Goodwill and painted him white. The little note is one my husband sent me with some flowers. It says: "I send a kiss inside the petals of every rose. You are the moon of my life. Each moment not spent with you seems like a wasted lifetime!" Totally frame-worthy! |
I decided I didn't like the frames actually touching one another. So, I had to rework the layout a little bit. It wasn't that difficult. I hung the large frame that was in the center of the layout; then I just hung each frame in their respective location...but over about 2 inches.
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| I literally hung over the banister at the top of the stairs to get this shot...so I hope you enjoy it! lol |
I love the view looking up the stairs. My staircase isn't so lonely anymore, and the white frames look fantastic with the peek of my laundry room doors!
Here's the view looking down the stairs.
I think the frames look excellent together. Even though they were thrifted and all completely different sizes and styles they work because they are united by color!
Here's a little view of behind the scenes. I'm photographing for my blog and kiddo and 1 friend are on a computer, and these 2 friends are like 6 inches away from the big screen playing Xbox. haha! Can't. get. close....enough!
I'm happy with it, and it's one more thing off of my DIY deployment list. Yes, I know there's a lot more projects to tackle on there before he gets home! Wish me luck!
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