I know I can’t be alone in feeling like home projects are major life choices. It always seems so daunting to start even the most basic of projects for me. Maybe it has to do with having to look at your home every single day or maybe it is because it always ends up being way more money than you expect. Either way, this gallery wall in our bedroom has taken way more mental space than necessary.
As renters, I don’t really want to add more holes than necessary. Also, my fickle self knows that I will want to move things around and holes are a big commitment. I used command strips for everything hanging on the wall, including the shelf! Just make sure you follow the directions for the command strips, including waiting long enough for the adhesive to fully stick to the wall. And in our case, waiting for paint to fully dry!
After agonizing over this gallery wall for way too long, my biggest advice would be to just go for it. Don’t overthink what you are going to put in which frame. Choose to either use all the same frame and matting situation, or go diverse and use all different ones, as I did. I knew I wanted to keep it minimal, but not too matchy matchy. So, I went with different wood tones, and simple, bright prints in the grames.
When I went to Target to browse, I bought way more frames than I was going to need. I didn’t want to feel stuck or have to go back. And it is so hard to visualize your space without actually seeing the things in your home. If you are going with a varied frame look, keep texture, width, and finish in mind when choosing your frames.
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TIPS
- PICK A COLOR PALETTE – I knew I wanted my prints pretty neutral, but also not completely black and white. We have a very subtle green wallpaper behind our bed, so I used that as the base of my color palette.
- PRINT YOUR PHOTOS IN MULTIPLE SIZES – I printed multiples of each print so that I could play around once I was ready to finalize things.
- LESS IS MORE – It is tempting to put all the things on the wall. Go slow. Too much happening will take away from the sophistication and turn your gallery wall cheesy.
- ADD DEPTH – I am so glad I added in this little shelf. I know that adding in a drapey little plan at the corner will add so much character.
- YOU CAN ALWAYS START OVER – Or fix things. The command strips make that super easy, but if you don’t like how things are sitting in a few days, try mixing it up. swap frames or a photo. But don’t let the fear of getting it perfect hold you back from just going for it.
