We’re back with pics of our hallway that we “wallpapered with frames” for lack of a better description. We think it created some pretty quick dimension and interest that’s sure to be fun for the whole family. Literally. We love that we can work in drawings by Clara, class pictures, and photos of favorite vacations for the whole family to enjoy.
As for how we did it, you saw how I cut out little newspaper templates for all of the frames that we already owned (we actually had a lot of them from various arrangements in our first house, seen here, and even had a few unused ones snagged on sale a while back that were begging for some action). So we just taped up all of our pre-cut templates with a few of the larger ones staggered in the middle (to ground things) and built things out from there, placing most of the smaller frames around the perimeter for some subtle balance. We shifted things around a little, stepped back, went back in and moved stuff around, and stepped back to look at everything again. This happened about ten times with smaller and smaller tweaks until we decided we liked it. But we still wanted to sleep on it and study it one more time the next morning before breaking out the hammer (hence this post about that first phase of the project).
Yesterday we mentioned that The Washington Post scooped us by sharing this shot of our frame-riddled hallway here:
We try to stay as real-time as possible, but we also like to take a ton of after pics and write a big wordy post for ya, so it can take a few days from project completion to post publishing. If only we had a live camera feed going 24/7. Just kidding, my nightmare is to get caught picking a wedgie on camera. It’s why I never auditioned for the Real World (side tangent: John actually sent in an audition tape once when he was 19).
Anyway, so when we woke up the next day and agreed that we still liked the proposed frame placement, it was time to lay out all of our frames on the floor of the dining room in the same arrangement, just to check if some of the actual frames conflicted (since all we were looking at on the wall were their outlines and not their actual styles). Of course we ignored the art since most of it would be switched out anyway.
The frames all looked just fine together, so we decided to bite the bullet and grab the hammer. It was hangin’ time (here’s where a lot of MC Hammer was sung). Since our newspaper templates were still up on the wall, it was actually really easy to hang stuff. We just measured how far down from the edge of the frame that our wire, hook, or other hanging device was and just marked a centered “x” right on each template (the horizontal line is the measured center of the template, and the x below it is the spot where the nail should actually go to catch the wire or hook so the frame hangs in the right place).
Then we just hammered directly into the “x” in the template…
… and pulled the template off the wall to reveal a lone nail waiting for a frame (even though it looks like a jacked up hole, that’s just a tiny bit of paper caught above the nail that we easily removed with a finger flick).
We slowly worked our way around the wall using this method. It probably took an hour or so.
Sadly our old plaster walls don’t work with 3M Command hooks or velcro alone (since that’s always an easy way to create a frame collage without making any holes) but we do plan to add heavy duty Command velcro to the lower frames that may be within Clara’s reach when she starts toddling around. She’s a pretty docile girl who definitely seems to listen when we ask her to be gentle (when petting Burger for example) so our plan is to sweetly request that she be nice to the frames and “look with her eyes” and we might even try the “you can only touch them with one finger” technique that an awesome varsity mom shared with us a few days ago (she said it actually works!). But of course if we think those few low frames ever start to pose a safety hazard, or even just become too high maintenance for the way we live, we’ll definitely just get rid of them until the bean is a little older. Clara first!
But back to our process. After following our templates and hanging every frame we stepped back for a little look-see and frowned. Somehow they seemed a little tighter in the top right corner (which we actually really liked) and a bit too loosey goosey everywhere else…
… so we adjusted some of the frames on the left and added in a few little “filler” items to get the same full look that we had on the top right corner going on everywhere else.
So yes, there are probably ten extra holes in the walls hiding behind those frames from fine tuning them an inch one way or the other. Our bad. But they’re all out of sight so we’re at peace with it. They can just be our little secret. Oops, I just told The Interweb.
Once everything was hung we scavenger hunted the house to find things to display (since many of the existing items in the frames were horizontal images that were now hanging vertically or the frames were completely empty to begin with since we hadn’t used a few of them yet). Which puts the cost of the entire frame wall plus all of the “art” that you see (since that was also already owned) at 100% f-r-e-e. Except for this cool $16 frame from Target that we splurged on because we adored it’s “special capabilities” to store and easily showcase lots of kid art. We love that we don’t have to take it off the walls to change things out. Come on Clara, don’t you feel like drawing mommy a picture or two?
So this is our current arrangement with all of the just-for-now stuff that we found around the house. First here’s the view from the kitchen (which is why we placed the console table there, so it looks centered through the doorway:
And here are a bunch of other angles:
From an old Banana Republic ad with a llama (or is it an alpaca?) carrying sweaters…
… to a vintage milk cap that we found at our first house glued to a small square canvas…
….and a white paper key that I cut out of card stock (which I hope to replace with a DIYed ceramic-looking one)…
… it’s definitely a smorgasbord. And there are probably way too many photostrips, but they’ll do for now.
We’re actually planning a post later with more detailed shots of various items and directions for making your own stuff, like an arrowhead shadowbox for example. Or a long skinny wooden pinboard (still have to make that, for now we have a placeholder piece of card stock with a photostrip taped to it). We also thought it would be fun to take a picture of the wall every few months just to see what comes and goes (new Clara art? updated family pics?) and what always stays (the sketch of our first house’s lot? a favorite photobooth strip of the whole fam?).
We anticipate that at least 25% of the wall will be changing pretty regularly as new things steal our hearts – like a particularly good (or bad) fortune cookie fortune and Will Bower’s first birthday invitation. You know, the important stuff. We definitely feel like this gallery will be the most personal, eclectic, and fun display spot in the house. So while I’ve already asked for some awesome art prints for my birthday (which is this Saturday- woot!) we also want to frame everyday objects that hold meaning to us. From Clara scribbles to little love notes and even particularly funny greeting cards with chihuahuas on the front.
In short: We are so in love with the whole hallway frame gallery. It took a spot that was just a way to get from A to B and made it feel like a bonafide destination. We both keep finding ourselves being drawn to that wall like magnets, just standing there gazing at all the frames. Even Clara loves to stare at it. Ah gallery wall. How can you make us so happy? We’re nerds.
And surprise. We’re so enamored that we’re planning to “wallpaper” the other two walls on the other side of the hallway with frames too.
Here’s the pile that we grabbed from Ikea (feast your eyes on that pretty shattered fireplace tile).
Should be good times.
Psst- We announced this week’s giveaway winners. Click here to see if you’re one of them.
Pam Heggie says
Hi Young House Love!
I’m an avid follower from Canada…I love everything you do!! I can’t wait to sell my almost brand-new house and buy an older one and dig in and make it really mine! (And my family’s too I guess…ha ha). Anyways, just wanted to say you guys are great!
Pam
Samantha @ Mama Notes says
I am doing a gallery wall in my family room right now! I am now deciding how big to make it and if I want just family pictures or other and art pieces in there as well. I am REALLY bad at making decisions like this. My family room is sort of small so I don’t want a wall full of frames to feel overwhelming, if that makes sense.
Gallery walls are SO 2011. ha :) I wish I had an Ikea here!!
Megan L says
Seriously LOVE IT!
Katie says
I love it! My favorite item is the hanging paint chips. It’s so you. I’m inspired by your photo strips. I have an old photo strip of my husband when he was about 8 years old. And I think that I’m going to get my two boys take the same photos and frame them together!
april's craft nest says
wow! stupendous! i love the little “artifacts” you added: the paper key, the alpaca, the bottle cap…i am inspired!
Tina says
Hi there! I have been reading your amazing blog for a few months now…I’m HOOKED! When I saw your wall-of -frames…it made me jump up and down!! I know exactly what you need on there! For your sweet bundle of joy, Clara, a Piggies and Paws print! CHeck us out on facebook and our website :) Love you guys!
katy says
First of all I love it! What a great wall.
Second of all, I would love to know your ideas on how to best display a special fortune. I have one from when I was pregnant that reads, “something special is coming your way.” A few hours after receiving that fortune, I went into labor and had my baby girl the next day! I love it and it’s so special to me! I currently have it in a shadow box of items saved from her first few days (hospital wristband, little knit cap), but I’d like to highlight it better. would love to know how you would do it!! thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s the best story ever! Wow. I think I might get a $5 shadow box from Ikea (or somewhere else like Michael’s) and get some pretty bright paper (maybe patterned, but maybe just rich and deeply toned but solid) and then just glue the fortune in the middle of the paper and pop it into the shadow box. We also framed Clara’s wristband from the hospital in a chunky square Ikea frame with no glass (just rolled it up and glued it to pretty bright paper and hung it up without glass so it was sort of 3D within the frame). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
katy says
thank you Sherry : )
I am going to tackle this tonight!
Lisa says
Ok, can you guys give us artistically challenged people some sort of mathematical equation for figuring out the right proportion of color pix vs. black and white pix vs. things with writing?! Your collection just seems to have the perfect mix: nothing jumps out, like, “ack! I’m a colored picture!Look at me!” but nothing is overlooked because they’re each so interesting!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, maybe just count what we have and go with that? I think ours will always be rotating (more pics and color sometimes, more words and graphic black & white other times) but it looks roughly like we have slightly more black and white things than colored things but not that many more. And just four things with writing & blueprint-ish sketches. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Ashley says
Can I tell you how big of a nerd I am about your blog? I just finished reading this post and at the end got all goofy as I jumped a little telling my husband “She has the same birthday as me!!!”
YoungHouseLove says
Wahooo! Happy birthday Ashley. I love how many March 19th chicks there are. Go Pisces!
xo,
s
Jen says
Hey my birthday is Saturday too! Happy Birthday!!
YoungHouseLove says
Woot! Happy birthday Jen!
xo,
s
Jennifer says
I just came across your blog for the first time! omg..I am completely in awe…you guys are amazing!! (and so cute :)) I LOVE this idea of “wallpapering” a wall with frames. I am a huge scrapbooker, picture taker,etc.. and LOVE to have frames on the wall.. you have inspired me to do something like this! amazing..can’t wait to look at some of your other posts! Take care! p.s your little girl is a cutie patootie!
Brooke says
Here’s a key idea I just stumbled across… http://www.potterybarn.com/products/vintage-keys-set/?pkey=cframes-wall-art-objects
I can totally see you spray painting these!
YoungHouseLove says
SO PRETTY! Love it.
xo,
s
tiffany says
love the post today.. what a great collage of
photos & mementos.. and congrats on the
washington post piece, wonderful!
Cecelia says
A truly stunningly beautiful way to turn a new house into home.
Megan D says
This looks gorgeous! I love the view down the hall with a glimpse of the full tableau.
Quick tip on possibly reducing ginormous nail holes that my parents learned from a gallery owner. Long, straight steel pins (sewing pins) instead of nails are surprisingly strong, easy to hammer in, and leave teeny, tiny, easy to fill holes. We used them all over our house growing up, and I use them now in our own house for everything but the very largest, heaviest pictures. Our walls were/are gyproc (sheetrock) but I don’t see why they wouldn’t be just as great in plaster!
Looking forward to seeing the other side of the hall.
YoungHouseLove says
Interesting! We’ll have to check them out!
xo,
s
Shannon says
Looks great!!!! I’m curious how far down you’ll hang frames on the other side of the hall? I’m thinking about putting a gallery wall back up in our hallway but wonder how low is too low, in general.
YoungHouseLove says
We’re not really sure how low we’ll go, but we’ll just play around with our templates til we like it enough to get the hammer. Details when we get through it!
xo,
s
Heather says
LOVE how you pulled this off while avoiding the “clutter” look and also the “matchy-matchy” look. very nice :)
Beth@Just{Heart}It says
One more question: how many is too many? I recently discovered that within seven of my rooms (two bedrooms, a bathroom, the hallway, the entry, the kitchen, and the living room) I had 62 frames up. I was a little mortified. That seemed like SO many to me. How many do you have up, and how do you determine “too many”?
YoungHouseLove says
Hmm, I think “how many is too many?” is a tough question because it depends how big your house is and how tall your ceilings are and all that stuff. Even ratio of wall to window or door space makes a difference. If you were surprised that you had 62 frames it probably means you don’t have too many because it was something you only discovered by counting and not just by looking and feeling like there were too many frames. We have 31 frames on that wall and 8 on the wall in the living room and about 15 in Clara’s room and we plan to bring in a lot more art, so 62 doesn’t sound like too many at all!
xo,
s
Beth@Just{Heart}It says
LOVE that reply, that I had to count them to figure that out instead of feeling like there were too many. Great point! Still, I’m paring down just a little. :-)
Adam says
Bravo on a great hallway wall. The console table looks great from both views, centered in the doorway and not centered on the wall. Not everyone would actually think to bring the artwork down past the height of the table, but it works so well! And I won’t go on and on about how I love the smaller trinkets among the frames. And is that a color deck hanging from a white ceramic cat face? What a happenin’ hallway!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, yes that’s a paint deck I DIYed with some swatch cards, a hole punch, and a binder ring. And that “white ceramic cat face” is actually a ceramic pig. Haha. But the idea of a white ceramic cat face does get me excited. Haha.
xo,
s
Sarah R. says
Is it weird that my favorite part in all this is that the light switch just sort of blends into the collage?
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I was geeky excited about that too.
xo,
s
Caity says
SUCH a cute wall!! So meaningful with all of the possibilities! I was so excited to see more when I saw the sneak peek from the Post!
Neverwouldcallmyselfavarsitymom says
So…what is a “varsity” mom? Obiously, from the way you wrote the phrase, it is something with GREAT significance? Just wondering since I went to university and am a mom but have NEVER called myself a “varsity” mom….since I am not that stuck up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Pullllllleeease!!!!! Seriously??????????????
YoungHouseLove says
It’s just a funny little nickname so it definitely doesn’t have great significance (almost nothing we ever say does, we don’t take things too seriously over here, haha) but in my book, any awesome mom with 3+ kids = a varsity mom. It has nothing to do with going to school or not, haha. I’m definitely not one (I’m still happy to be on the JV team), but I just love to “honor” awesome moms with multiple kiddos who do a fabulous job juggling it all for their “years of service.” Haha. Nothin’ serious though. No worries!
xo,
s
BethanyB says
love the out come. Best part… the paper key. I kinda like it. Its says “homemade love”. I know, I’m a sap like that. :P
Jess says
Hi Lovers!
I love the wall, and your home in general! I was thinning about your kitchen with the wood paneling conundrum and so I was looking at painting wood paneling. When I googled it, it brought me to a link of your blog about painting wood paneling! So I suppose you have already thought of that…. But I thought I would share that I really think white wood paneling would look beautiful in your house. I love your blog!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yeah we can’t wait to paint that paneling and tackle the rest of the kitchen! Just thinking everything through since we just moved here 3 months ago and want to make sure we’re certain about big changes like those that we wanna tackle for the kitch! Should be fun…
xo,
s
Natalie says
This is my first time commenting but I’ve been reading your blog for over a year and it’s one of the highlights of my day! I love the collage wall and just took a trip to Target to buy black frames to do one in my basement. Thanks for all the inspiration!
beth says
love the wall! also, we share a birthday! happy birthday to you!
YoungHouseLove says
I can’t believe how many March 19th gals are out there! Wahoo. Happy birthday Beth!
xo,
s
Amber says
How wide is your hallway? The main hall in my house is only 3 and a half ft. wide (which made for moving in quite interesting at times…). I would LOVE to do a photo frame collage like you guys did, but I think it might feel too closed in, in a narrow hall like that :( Suggestions?
YoungHouseLove says
Ours is 5′ wide, but I’ve seen frames on standard or even smaller than stardard hallways. Just see if paper templates can create an airy and not too chaotic layout that works for ya. Good luck!
xo,
s
tiffany says
Ha! I have the same Banana Republic llama ad framed in my bathroom! So funny, LOVE it :) Nothin’ better than finding “art” you love in a magazine! Great job y’all :)
YoungHouseLove says
Love it! We should start Club Llama now that we know there are a few of us.
xo,
s
kalibrooke says
amaaaazing! i realize that i wrote in the comments on another post how this tip (that i learned from mizz martha stewart) has saved me from nailing a bunch of crazy holes in the wall, and DUH, of course you guys already knew that trick. should have known! :)
love, love, love seeing what you are doing with the new pad. and the bolder uses of color — fab!!
Hayley says
Hey, mine was today! Happy March birthday!
YoungHouseLove says
Woot! Happy b-day Hayley!
xo,
s
Heather says
Beautiful wall gallery! I’ve used your paper template trick to hang pictures successfully several times recently, thank you! You may have already seen it, or been told about it, but your inspiration napkin from C&B was featured as a great fabric to make pillow covers on design dump – another very stylish blog, just like yours!
http://mydesigndump.blogspot.com/
YoungHouseLove says
Wahoo! Love it. And love that blog too.
xo,
s
Michelle says
Honestly, the “before” pic reminded me of one of our Chinese take-out place where they have all of the little things for sale pinned to the wall! Hard to get out of the brain now.
Sheralyn says
GORGEOUS and so meaningful – a hallway that says “welcome to our home, welcome to our family” LOVE IT. SO INSPIRING.
lisa says
thought of you guys when i saw this clock….matches your mirror in your bathroom.
nice.
http://www.seventhavenue.com/Architectural-Wall-Clock.pro?omSource=SLI
YoungHouseLove says
Oh my gosh that’s crazy! It’s exactly our mirror shape with a clock in it. Too funny!
xo,
s
Lori says
This is one of the best gallery walls I’ve ever seen. Just beautiful. Love your blog!
Alisa D. says
Looks fantastic! Love, love, love it.
Hilary says
Hey,
I follow your blog all the time, and we have just bought a new apartment and this is a super idea for placing frames!!!! my boyfriend has been on at me for ages to choose where i want all the pictures but i have been daunted UNTIL NOW!!!
Thanks Sherry, John, Clara and Buger!
Your new place is taking shape wonderfully, and i can’t wait to see what project comes next.
P.s I’m living on the other side of the pond.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Hilary! Good luck with your new apartment on the other side of the pond (love that expression- I’m such a nerd).
xo,
s
Wendy says
I love your picture gallery. We have very crumbly plaster also and I always use a bit of tape on the wall before I hammer a nail in. This seems to prevent most of the cracking. You can remove the tape after the nail is in and any tape seems to work.
YoungHouseLove says
Great tip! Love it.
xo,
s
Annika says
Looking brill, well done. And such a good tip about trying the layout with paper first. I will definitely do the same if I ever get around to hanging all my art and photos.
tracie says
oh it turned out perfect!! great job you two!!
Shelley says
Love how you mixed in other things with the photos..so inspirational!
Noel says
Happy Birthday, Sherry!!!
Ali says
Have a fantastic birthday! Mine was 10 days ago. Pisces power!
Chelsea @ Adorning Alabama says
I LOVE the funky hook holding a Pantone swatch book. So clever, and so out of reach for your little one. I’ve read your blog forever, and now we’re looking at buying a house here in the next few months! Thanks for all the inspiration.
jja says
I am from a group less is more. 4-5 of frames would work great for me.
But I do love your working method and the way you share it here. Thank you for this.
Jennifer says
i have the same banana republic llama framed for my 2 year old daughter’s room… she is fascinated by llamas [she calls them mammas]
YoungHouseLove says
Wahoo! I love it. We need to start a Banana Republic Llama Club.
xo,
s
Jess says
Beautiful! I always wondered how people got their framed collages to look so nice. Thanks for sharing!
Kele says
It looks like you guys got most of your frames at Ikea? Do you care about them matching or is part of the charm having slightly different frames? We don’t have an ikea nearby so I’m hoping maybe Hobby Lobby or Big Lots has something…
YoungHouseLove says
Some are from Ikea and some are actually from Target. The funny thing is that none of them really match (they’re all varied shades of white, even some of the same type from Ikea vary) but it still looks nice and layered and intentional since it’s not like they’re all soft white and one is bright white or anything. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
julie says
Okay, I’m hooked. You two + Clara have me checking your blog quite regularly. The wall of frame(s) looks amazing! Definitely going to consider this. I have to say I CANNOT wait until you tackle the kitchen. I know, all in due time, but I am sure it will be amazing! Keep up the great work!
Julie
renee says
Nate Berkus and I want to wish you a very stunning Saturday birthday, Ms Petersik :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, love it. Thanks!
xo,
s