It’s complete! Yay!
When we first moved into our house, I had the idea to put up a gallery wall somewhere in the house. I just couldn’t figure out where. And then one day, as I was looking around the living room/kitchen area, I had a vision for a gallery wall…and from that point on, I couldn’t get it out of my head.
For a couple of weeks, I took some time browsing around stores trying to find what I could put together. I originally came across these two signs at HomeGoods and used those as my starting point. Then shortly after obtaining those, I found myself in Hobby Lobby with my arms full of things I hoped would work together. I figured, okay, I’ll buy them all now, and then I’ll just go ahead and return whatever I think won’t work.
And wouldn’t you know…I didn’t return any of them.
*Tip: Look for their 40% off coupons! You can’t use more than one in a trip, but if you’re patient, you can always save up and keep going back!
So now I thought the hard part was over. I mean, once you’ve got everything you need to hang, you just put it all together and, well, hang it, right?
Wrong. Oh so wrong (at least for me).
I second/third/fourth guessed just about every arrangement that I put together. I’d think I had “the one,” and then something would throw me off and it just didn’t work. I had so many different iterations of it, I was honestly starting to lose track.
I texted my friends numerous times too, with a number of arrangements (oh, you girls are wonderful), and they were quite helpful with providing some tips and suggestions.
And, as you can see, we had some fun, too.
Eventually, I wound up trying to use all of their tips and finally came to an arrangement that I not only liked…I loved it.
So once I had my arrangement decided on, the next step was figuring out how to properly space them on the wall. To do so, I actually used the paper that all of the items came wrapped in from the store, traced them out, and used painters tape to place them approximately where I wanted them on the wall.
This made it nice and easy to move them around, as needed (which certainly happened, numerous times).
Once I figured out where I wanted them on the wall (centered, at the right height, all that jazz), it was time to hang. And this is where my wonderful husband really came in handy!
We decided to hang the center-most item first – that way, we could work from the middle outward. Whether or not that’s the “best” or “right” way to do it, I have no idea. But it worked for us.
Some of the items were harder to hang than others – specifically, that “hello” sign, because that really needed to be level. Eventually, we ended up using a crazy method of using another piece of paper on the back of the sign, poking through the holes where the nails would go, tracing around the edge, and then marking those holes out on the existing paper on the wall. Ya got all that? It was a bit tedious, but it seemed to do the trick (despite the fact that the holes in the sign weren’t level, which threw us for a bit of a loop).
I also discovered as we were midway through that about 3 of the frames I bought didn’t have any hardware on the back to hang them (go figure?!). Luckily, I had purchased a small box of them at Hobby Lobby for $1.99 for a different picture we needed to hang, so we were easily able to hammer them into the back. Those frames also needed to have the stands ripped off so they’d lay flush against the wall.
About an hour later, of measuring, leveling, and double checking everything, we eventually had our completed gallery wall…and I am in LOVE!
All of the items on the wall either came from HomeGoods, Hobby Lobby, or craft shows:
Mirror – Hobby Lobby (HERE)
Metal Arrow – Hobby Lobby (similar, similar)
Black Open Frame – Hobby Lobby (HERE, similar, similar)
‘H’ Bronze Polystone Letter – Hobby Lobby (HERE)
Rustic 5×7” frame – Hobby Lobby (HERE, similar, similar)
(3) White Assorted Frames – HomeGoods (similar, similar, similar)
(2) Chalkboard Signs – HomeGoods
“LOVE” frame – local craft show
After seeing how much love the picture got on Instagram, I knew I’d have to share it with you guys, so there you have it! I hope to be able to create some more of them around the house eventually now, too. I think I’m hooked!
How about you guys? Have you ever tried a gallery wall?
Christen says
Seriously impressed with all of that hard work!
Brynn says
Love how your friends helped out. So sweet. Your wall looks awesome, love all of the prices you selected!
Maggie says
WOW! That looks amazing! I can’t wait until I can do a wall gallery in my entryway- you’re giving me some ideas…
Linz @ Itz Linz says
I am so not artsy like that! My mom and my sister have the good eyes in my family! Yours looks great!
Britt@MyOwnBalance says
Looks great! I love the idea of a gallery wall but since we are still renters, I’m always hesitant about hanging photos!
Sarah @ Seriously Lovely says
Your wall looks great! I love how everything works together. I’ve done some smaller gallery-type groupings, but never a whole gallery wall. I like to use that trick of tracing out the frames on paper and placing them on the wall first too, though, I find that it really helps me make sure I’m getting things at the right height.
Stacie @ SimplySouthernStacie says
Those group messages are hilarious! What would we do without group texts? I love the end result!!
Marielle says
I love it!! We have a little gallery wall too, but now I want to add to it…and make a trip to Hobby Lobby!
Katrina says
This is gorgeous! I can’t wait to get my own house where I can hang pictures on my walls! My walls are completely white and empty. I hate the plain sterile look but hopefully I’ll have to survive it only a few more years ;)
Jamie says
So much fun. I love how this really makes the wall look like a “home”. Fabulous job putting it all together!
Stef says
That gallery looks amazing! So much work goes into it. I’ve never tried making one before, but my new place is in dire need of something unique so this is something I am going to look into collecting pieces for! Thanks for the great idea :D
Heather @ Life In Leggings says
The gallery wall turned out so cute! I love that you turned to a group of girlfriends for design help. So fun!
Ashley @ My Food 'N' Fitness Diaries says
Very impressive, Court! I love how it turned out! This gallery wall would actually go perfectly in my house…want to come do one for me? ;)
Hannah @ CleanEatingVeggieGirl says
It turned out SO good! I love it!!
Gena @ orgenazation says
This looks amazing! I hung a large gallery wall of pictures in our master bedroom and a mini one in my kitchen. I’m restraining myself from doing one in the hallway to my kids room. How many gallery walls is too many???
Anna L. says
Love it!
Shawna says
looks so good! love the arrow. not sure we have a Hobby Lobby in NYC, but those are some nice finds. i’ve sort of started a gallery above my bed but it’s mainly random picture frames around one big print of a photograph of Paris. not very organized at all.
Claire @ Keeping Up With Claire says
That looks amazing! We’ve got a few huge empty spaces that I’ve been trying to decorate – I’d love to do something like this!
Grace @ Diary of a Running Snail says
Love the final product!
Jessica says
Yes! Here is a link to mine, what do you think? I created this in the spring. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/309270699386061465/
Courtney says
Jessica! I LOVE it!!!!
Fiona MacDonald says
Love love love the wall! We did the same idea for our wedding photos and I’m obsessed ..secretly because I love looking at myself so glammed up (yup said it)…I love the sayings you have….so great!!!! We took chalk board signs we made for our wedding and were able to incorporate it… :) Doing one again for our newborn baby..can’t wait!
Ellen @ My Uncommon Everyday says
LOVE it. The different neutrals and fonts look so great!
Bethany says
Cute! I use command strips for this types of projects! Super easy and it makes it easier to change if needed.
nadine says
I Love your Wall……………I have a similar wall in our Winter Home in Florida, a few days ago I was @ Hobby Lobby looking for a large Q, for my last name Quadracci…………think they make it NOPE the letters go from P to R NO Q………Go Figure haha !!
Kristy @ Southern In Law says
Your gallery wall looks SO good!
My OCD tendencies really show when it comes to things like this so I’d have to get Jesse to put them up – otherwise it would take me about thirty years before I commited to putting anything actually in the wall hahaha.
Tara | Treble in the Kitchen says
Love your gallery wall!!
Jill @ RunEatSnap says
Love it! I used to work at Hobby Lobby and it was dangerous because I wanted to buy everything in the store. I am impressed with your dedication and planning. I tend to get overly eager about something and want it completed RIGHT THEN. But I would love to make something like this in my apartment so I will start looking for items. Thanks for the inspiration.
Kitchen Cabinets says
I love how this wall turned out. Great idea to use stencils for moving things around too. I would have tried using the floor and still ended up with too many holes in the wall. Great inspiration though. I want to do this on a wall in my kitchen.
Abbie says
A major thank you for this post! I borrowed (aka stole) many of your ideas and finally put up a similar gallery wall. We just love it! Thanks so much!!
Courtney says
Awesome! So glad you liked it, Abbie! :)
Pam says
Could u please tell me what sizes are the white frames? I wanted to make this gallery and wanted to go to hobby lobby and maybe home goods this weekend and see if I can still get these items for my gallery and what size is the Love frame that you got at a local craft show I may find something that size? Do u think home goods will still have the chalkboard signs? It’s a long drive for me to go to the closest one to my house and I have no way to know if they still have them without me going there I think you did this gallery back in 2015 so that was 3 yrs ago hobby lobby has everything I need from there I did see them on line Thank You!
Courtney says
Hey Pam! I haven’t been to Hobby Lobby in quite some time, so I’m not sure what they’d still have at this point. The white frames are 8×10 (matted to a 5×7), 5×7, and 4×6. I’m ALWAYS seeing different types of chalkboard signs and fun frames around so I’m sure you’ll be able to find some awesome stuff! Good luck!
Pam says
I already found the stuff from hobby lobby on line so hopefully they will have it in the store if not I can order it on line so will check with home goods for the rest if not I can find something similar thank you for replying to my message
Pam says
I did this gallery but
Ran into some trouble the 8×10 matted down to a 5×7 it was way to
Big above the
Mirror and next to the picture so I had to
Go buy a 5×7 white frame instead of the one I already bought also the H will not fit in the black frame that u had in your article about what u bought at hobby lobby the frame is 9×12 which when I clicked on the link that is the one it shows also the H that u showed at hobby lobby which I bought is way to big for that frame the H is 10.75x12in. So I don’t know what to do know u may want to go back and check the stuff u posted for this gallery because the H is too big for the frame u showed and the white frame above the
Mirror is too big could u re check the sizes and let me know what the sizes really are because I have all this stuff that doesn’t fit in this gallery I have