6.02.2014

Family Room Gallery Wall

It's been staring at me for awhile. You know- a blank wall. Well, not anymore. Our family room feels cozier with family faces and special prints on the wall.
I collected art and prints for awhile until I felt I was ready for a gallery wall. First, I drew out the space. Then on another paper I cut and taped the art I would use- this way it would be easier to move things around on paper. After I was happy with how it looked on paper, I hung up the art- without using any tracing paper or anything. I got this great idea from Lauren Liess who created the most gorgeous gallery wall above her bed using this method.

                                        Here's a BEFORE shot of what this space looked like.
Now, I'm thrilled to have some meaningful pieces up. I enlarged an image of our daughters by taking a CD to Staples and having them print a large 'engineer print'. Engineer prints are genius and it only cost me $3. I framed my print, but a lot of people who use engineer prints mount them (using double sided tape) on foam core. You can get large pieces of foam core at Home Depot and they can cut it to the size you need.  Before you print an enlarged image, make sure it's a quality photo.

Also, most of the engineer prints I've seen are black and white. I don't know how well they would turn out if they were color. The frame I used was given to me by a friend who didn't need it, so I painted it black and put the print of our girls. The sailboat painting was painted by my dear grandmother. The basket is my husband's grandparent's, they got in Africa when they served as Christian missionaries during WWII. The ferns and agates are art projects I've made and then I love the other pictures of our family on the side.

What I love about this space is there is room for a few other small things or art to go up. Gallery walls are a great way to tell stories about things you love and your interests. I'm happy with how this wall shaped out.





12 comments:

  1. Love it and especially since it has really meaningful things. What a fabulous way to display them.

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    1. Thanks Marty! I like it a lot better than the blank wall and it looks great to have family pieces up there.

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  2. Looks fantastic! I like the sizes of everything and how you put it together. I also love that side table with the chair.

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    1. Thanks Aubrey. I love how it's come together too.

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  3. I love this so much! Your method for planning it out was really great too. I love the engineering prints from Staples! Big photos and art are so expensive, but the engineering prints make it so affordable. I did get one in color one time and I didn't like it. The colors were a lot darker than they looked on my computer so I didn't end up using the print; I reordered it in black and white. That could have just been my Staples location though; their particular printer may not be the greatest. But I've been thrilled with the ones in black and white. I love how yours came out of your girls!

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    1. Thanks Brooke for your kind comment. I think I've heard the black and white images come out the best. Thank goodness for inexpensive options that give a similar look. Which image did you enlarge in your home?

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  4. The grouping looks perfect! I love that you threw in the woven object! Your desk is really pretty too!

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    1. Thanks Beth for your comment. I got my desk a few years ago at Lucketts- a great store close by where Miss Mustard Seed sells her furniture and they have some crazy good sales.

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  5. GORGEOUS...following through Bloglovin now! Christine from Little Brags

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  6. Tracy, you are so so good at pulling a space together. I love what a statement this gallery wall makes in that area over the table, it looks so finished and interesting, and I love the engineering print of your girls!! I used the engineering print trick for some Christmas printables that I blew up and framed - easy to change out over the course of the year. Thanks for sharing this on Best of the Nest!! Hope you are having a fun summer with your kiddos.

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    1. Lisa, thanks for your comments. Thank goodness for those engineer prints. I love how they make such a statement for such a low cost. Thanks for hosting the link party.

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  7. Wow Tracy, your gallery wall took that corner up a notch!! So pretty, and I love the idea for planning it out, I'm always winging it and ending up with a bunch of holes! :( I used one of the engineer prints in our bedroom, they're such a deal! The addition of your sweet sentimental pieces makes it all the better!

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