Tuesday, July 30, 2013

the gallery wall : inspirations

(For those of you that think ALL I have on my mind is babies...this one is for you.)

Gallery walls.

It's "the thing" right now in home decor, and has been for a while.  I have wanted a gallery wall for ages, and have been pinning quite a few that I absolutely love.  

But the task seems so daunting.  Who has that many pieces of art just lying around?  Who has the money to print off a ton of pictures and buy cool frames?  

Plus, since we are in the middle of a very slow-going home renovation, the wall that I want to put this gallery wall on is not even painted the color I want as the backdrop for said display.  I don't even know what color that will be!  

But you have to start somewhere with a project - or it will never happen.

So I started with getting inspirations, and deciding what type of gallery wall I actually want.

There are all kinds - eclectic, uber-organized, frames instead of actual pictures, etc, etc.

The style I have always envisioned in our home is a large-scale, dramatic, mostly black and white version...with a pop of color here and there. 

I want it to be paintings, personal photography, and just things that I love and are meaningful.  I even want to throw a few chalkboards in there.

Here are some of my inspirations...

source

source

source

We are going to put this gallery wall in our foyer, with the frames hung from floor to ceiling to create that dramatic effect.

They will be arranged around that white bench I purchases a few months back.

The wall will be painted eventually, when I decide on a color.

But - I think I will start on the gallery wall before that happens.

No time like the present, right?

Here are some items I have collected so far, which sit in our front entryway until I can convince Hubby to start hanging things...
l-r: le paris painting I've had forever, dancing couple print we got as a wedding gift, map of cincy I got at an antique mall, paris quote print from etsy, photo of my dad's canoe,  subway sign I made of street names meaningful to our marriage, typewriter key print from ikea, and a homemade chalkboard.  I have a couple more not shown, but - I need more!!!!

the paris print has a frame now, and I reframed the photo of my dad's canoe

I might do pops of red here and there...but I'm not sure.

So I know lots of you out there have a gallery wall in your home -- how did you get started?  What type is it?  What inspired you?
g