Gallery Galore!

September 23, 2009 · Posted in around the house, decor, kate, photography by kate

As I’ve lamented before on EADL, Evs and I have quite the blank space looming large right above one of our living room sofas. Finding a piece that’s affordable, fills the space, and is aesthetically pleasing to the both of us has been quite the challenge.

Then there’s my love of gallery walls. However, The Cottage has neither a staircase nor a deep enough hallway to boast the collection of images I’ve dreamed up in my head.

Enter the “Shelf Gallery!”

{all images via Pottery Barn}

I’m thinking two, four foot shelves hung perpendicular on opposite ends of the couch, with about one foot overlapping in the middle. These from West Elm (in chocolate) are a steal! With our leftover gift credits, I purchased $350 worth of archival-quality Pottery Barn frames for only $32 (remember: Williams-Sonoma and Pottery Barn gift cards can be used at either store). I decided to mix and match the Wood Gallery frames in black, espresso stain, and black lacquer for an eclectic look that is still polished. The plan is to overlap the frames, fill them with family photos and a few art prints, and scatter in some knick-knacks for a space-filler that scratches my gallery-itch as well!

Since this in-the-works project will be one of the first things guests see when they enter our home as well as the focal point of our main room, I didn’t want it to scream KATE IS OBSESSED WITH OUR WEDDING (even though, um, yeah, I kind of am). Thus, I’m going to attempt to relegate the majority of our wedding photos to two mini-galleries… here’s a sneak peek (more here) at the one I put up this weekend (also in the living room but not as “in your face”).

Have you jumped on the ever-popular Gallery Wall Bandwagon? Any tips for hanging shelves?

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Mojito Maven writes... {September 23, 2009 at 9:19 am}
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I HAVE! I HAVE!! You can see mine (with a crap ton of empty frames) on my post where I talked about the wedding shrine. I really need to get on that ASAP.

P.S. I am obsessed with your wedding so I think you should have an entire wall devoted to it!!!!!!

Allison aka Hasel writes... {September 23, 2009 at 10:01 am}

I am going to be. What newlywed isn’t?! ;) We have a huge wall in our dining room just calling out to be made into a gallery wall. I just have to decide what color frames I want to use (white or black) and if I want it to be more free or really gridded. Oh and then order prints and actually put the photos up. I’m sure I’ll be begging my husband to help in that step. I was planning a post on this soon. Too funny!
Allison aka Hasel’s most recent blog post: Our Fabulous Winter Wedding: Primping and Prepping

rachel writes... {September 23, 2009 at 11:17 am}

I’ll take a picture tonight from our bedroom - we have a shelf over our headboard where I did the overlapping and non-matching frames. I love it! I’ve had it for about 5 years now and still haven’t tired of it. I’ve swapped out some of the photos, but that’s to be expected.

We are in the process of putting up a gallery wall in our living room right now. Like Mojito Maven’s, mine is filled with lots of empty frames. And of course, after I hung them up, we were given 1 more. I also bought a collage of our last name that I’d like to hang up there now too. So, it’ll have to be re-worked.
I do wish, though, that I had gone with un-matching frames in the living room (like my bedroom) instead of all black. Maybe someday I’ll buy replacements to swap out.