I'm a Gallery-na!

I have a wall. It's big. It's white. It's bare. It's also a feature wall in my house. Sits right behind the dining room table. You can see it from the kitchen, you can see it from the couch, you can see it from the table, and you can see it from the door. You can even see it from outside.



Now, let it be known that I love a good gallery wall.

Photo courtesy of Elements of Style.

Photo courtesy of Alicia B. Designs.

And when I came across this inspirational picture, it hit me like a train. I knew what I wanted to do...

Photo courtesy of Knock Off Wood.

I'm pretty sure you see where this post is going. I wanted needed a gallery wall! It's perfect. I can display photos in a way that will look like one giant piece of art. I love it. And I can design it however I want. I can do whatever I want to do. And J can't say anything about it because he's in Colorado (love you LT!).

So I promptly stopped doing whatever I was doing at the time (which may or may not have been blog stalking) and grabbed a ruler, some graph paper, a tape measure, and a pencil. Because I'm a little nerdy and I get excited about things like this.

I came up with three different ideas and needed an extra opinion. To Facebook chat I went, and luck be a lady, my artistic and design savvy friend Amy came to my rescue.







I was starting to lean toward option #2, so when Amy said she "loved the simplicity of four," I knew option #2 was it. Now, how do I do this cheap?

12 frames is a lot of frames. I needed cheap frames. To Walmart, to Walmart to buy an 8x10 frame. Home again, home again, with 12 frames I came. Yep. 12 frames, $2.50 each. I can handle that.

(Remember this picture from the other day?? It was your hint of things to come.)



Once I got these beauties home, I dug out a calendar from 2 years ago (90% off after January 15) and started cutting. I decided I wanted black and white pictures. Of lighthouses. Good thing I had a calendar of black and white lighthouses laying around. I also filled in a few extra frames with some pictures my talented sister took, my aforementioned friend Amy took, and a few from my camera.

And then I had my gallery wall.



I love it! I love it so very much! I, of course, went with straight lines for my wall. What more do you expect from a girl who would marry stripes if she could? I find my eye being drawn to that wall. All the time. I'm loving the look. And what did I spend? Maybe $35? On the whole wall? All the art I need on one huge, white wall for under $40? Yes please.

And if you wanted a few close ups:









What do you think? I love it. Are you more of a random gallery than straight and orderly? Or maybe you love the order of a wall like mine? Have you ever thought about displaying art/photos in a artistic way? Maybe you have? Please share!