Remember when we mentioned snagging these old iron keys for $8 in an antique store in West Virginia while visiting John’s grandma? Well I finally got around to painting them and hanging them in our hallway frame gallery (see how we made that here). Where did we squeeze them in? Well, see that card stock placeholder key? That was, well, just a placeholder.
I could have easily spray painted them for a quick makeover but since I love to use no-VOC paint whenever I can (especially since I have a huge gallon of white paint around at all times), I opted just to brush on a few coats by hand. It’s the same semi-gloss Olympic Premium No-VOC paint that I always use for trim and doors in off-the-shelf white if you’re wondering.
Then I decided that the spot on the wall with my card stock placeholder key might not accommodate that big ring of keys as well as three separate keys hung in a row, so I used some lady power and a hack saw to cut the iron ring and free each key to hang on its own.
After touching up some of the white paint for a pristine finish I waited for them to dry and used twine from our junk drawer to string up each one at varying heights for a balanced but not perfectly symmetrical result.
In the words of my imaginary BFF Bethenny Frankel (I know she’s not for everyone, but I love her), thar she blows:
I love glancing over at them through the wide doorway in the kitchen…
… and gazing at them as I walk from the front of the house to the back (or vice versa)…
So that’s the newest addition to the big hallway frame gallery. If only we could get our act together and start on the other side of the wall. You can see that in it’s planning stage – all covered in newspaper – here. And in this video, still covered with newspaper. Maybe tomorrow…
Wow, is this post really only 354 words? That might be a record for a chatty kathy like me. I kind of feel like a slacker. But what more can I say about the keys? Painted them, sawed them, twined them, hung them, took a bunch of photos, professed my love for said keys. The end. Wait, I know what this post needs. An on-the-subject haiku:
Little iron keys
I painted you white (surprise)
Wait, no one’s surprised.
Ok, now we’re over 400 words and there’s some poetry going on. Sherry out.
Adrienne says
I am imaginary BFF with you Sherry! Well you and Jonathan Adler…
Elisa says
I LOVE YOUR HAIKU! Made my morning. LoL
Ana Silva says
Lovely! Such an imagination. Sherry you crack me up btw.
Monica says
I love that! It’s funny how seemingly simple things like that will make a huge difference and pull the room together.
And I agree about Bethenny, she may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I love her! :]
Edie says
So, I knew that I liked you (not that I actually know you), but your haiku sealed the deal. And your love of Bethenny. I wish I loved the Skinny Girl Margarita, but I’m not a huge fan.
Lindsay says
I love this hallway – I will probably steal the idea when my husband and I actually own our own house. :)
The keys were a great find, it makes me want to check out the little antique stores up the road from us (in Chevy Chase, Maryland) and see what they’ve got!
PS: Bethenny Frankel is totally my imaginary BFF too ;) She’s awesomely crazy! Makes me feel better about being slightly neurotic…
liz says
When we moved into our place, jon’s grandad had left some old skeleton keys. What a great idea. I didn’t have the heart to toss em. Even though they don’t seem to go to anything.
Abby R says
Oh my gosh I’m so sorry to tell you this but Bethenny’s BFF seat is already taken — by me! But if you’d like, she’s still looking for a pen pal…
Leanne says
Um, you’re adorable! :) I love this post. And I love that wall!!!
Bella – your comment made me think of this: http://www.brooklynlimestone.com/2011/03/shore-files-gallery-wall-unveiled.html She hung them all with Command picture hanging tabs. Amazing!
Jessica Z. says
Great keys, great pithy post, great Bethenny reference, great haiku . . . just a great all-around post!
And I’ve been meaning to get around to saying that I love the photo of you, John and Clara you’ve got front and center. Makes me wish we had taken the time to do something creative when our bug was teeny-tiny. It’s definitely inspiration for a springtime shot while she’s in this cute baby on the verge of a toddler stage.
Sherry says
I love Bethanny too! Can I ask, do you paint all the trim in your house white? Do you have a mix, can you have a mix? I have dark trim but light wood floors.
YoungHouseLove says
We use Olympic Premium’s off-the-shelf white in semi-gloss. We use it everywhere but you can mix and match whites if you want by room (I don’t think anyone would notice).
xo,
s
Carrie says
Love it! I actually used your hallway frame collection as inspiration for one of my own projects: http://dreamgreendiy.com/2011/04/07/entryway-exhibition-now-open-to-the-public/
Thanks for being such great muses!!!
Oh and LOVE Bethenny – No shame ;-D
CA Colleen says
Sherry, you are my imaginary BFF!
Callie says
I just noticed the photo of you guys looking down on a very little swaddled Clara. Awesome photo. I have to ask, was it a professional one? Or do you guys just have awesome family or friends who caught that shot. The perspective is amazing and now I want to shoot a picture of my friends with their baby just like that.
YoungHouseLove says
That was a professional one from an amazingly talented friend of ours! She took it when Clara was just 7 days old. So tiny.
xo,
s
Julie Ball says
Love the keys! Love your wit! And I LOVE Bethenny!!
Andrea@WhiteInspirations says
Very cute idea! :)
Snickrsnack Katie says
I love keys!
Ally (oatsandspice) says
Love the keys! That add such a perfect touch to your picture wall!
Rachel says
They look great!
I got a couple of similar keys only they are huge – about a foot long and super heavy – from Goodwill for $1.99 each. I spraypainted them ORB and was just looking for a good way to hang them (since they sorta stick out from the wall). I think I’ll try your method – with some twine or maybe some leather cording since they are so heavy.
Great work!
Manda says
After a long time reading but not actually trying my hand at projects, the last two days I’ve been working on creating a gallery wall similar to yours in my bedroom. I cut out catalog pages to the shape of the frames as you suggested and it really helped pull the layout together. I’m super happy with the finished product, and I learned one lesson for next time — don’t hammer the other nails in with cheap Ikea frames on the wall! It took two crashing down on my toes to learn that lesson!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh no! So sorry for the frame crashing, but so happy you’re hard at work on an amazing gallery wall! Good luck!
xo,
s
Lori @ Richmond, BABY! says
Looks great, Sherry!!!
dawn says
Love Bethenny and the keys!
heather says
This is very cute! I love them separated and hung on twine. Then again, I love anything antique, white and twine – hard for me not to love.
I have a completely separate question for you guys though – do you use the regular wordpress system to write your posts and clear comments, etc? Or do you use some other jacked up desktop version? With how many comments you get sometimes I imagine the wordpress system is insane to clear them all!
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, just the regular wordpress.org version (not wordpress.com since we have separate hosting site, yada yada).
xo,
s
heather says
Nice! I understand, I love having the separate host. I tried using the free blog for my website a while back, but given my company is a wordpress.com too I couldn’t get used to it, so sure enough, the blog got moved to a server and I did the wordpress.com too.
:) Thanks for sharing!
heather says
WordPress.org. Not wordpress.com.
Rosemary says
mission accomplished:
wall of memories and smiles
thanks, little white keys!
Maren says
Those look great! Oh, and I LOVE Bethenny! She is absolutely hilarious!
D says
They look fab! I love me some Bethenny!
Mich says
aww i love the keys. Keys have a special place in my heart as well.
Lisa T. says
Ok Sherry, I have to agree with several others, I can’t get enough of watching Bethenny, Bryn, and Jason. Just like I enjoy my daily updates of you, Clara, and John! Would love for you and Bethenny to be my imaginary BFFs!
margie says
SHERRY! I needed to take a moment to tell you how much I enjoy your writing. It has been different the last few months and I have been really getting a kick out of it. I hope what ever put you in this carefree, silly, say what you want kind of writing style sticks around! and no offence to john but I enjoy reading your post more than his.:/
btw I started to notice the change after that video you did with katie bower (I think it was the last one) where at the end you said something like, if you didnt like this video ohwell and katie said you wouldnt put it on the blog.. i was cracking up!
and yes I feel a little like a stalker now…
Lianna says
Bethenny is fully my imaginary BFF too, so glad you appreciate her as well!
Keep up the AMAZING work other imaginary BFF! (Hopefully that doesn’t come across as creepy, but as an extension of the… oh nevermind. Let me go dig this hole a little deeper…)
Joy says
Textural addition to wall display – love the rough texture of the junk drawer string. Happy ending to key display.
– Joy
Catherine M says
LOL! Sherry you are hilarious!
Kayla says
Anyone else thing that the tops of those look like white chocolate covered pretzels?
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, yes! You’re not the first to mention that. Haha. Makes me hungry.
xo,
s
Shannon says
Sherry I can’t believe you’re a Bethenny fan too!!! … the keys look great by the way, fantastic work!
Jenny says
I love Bethenney too!
Heather says
HUbster and I did a wall collage last night (between commercials of GLEE!) We used your idea of putting up a stencil first and slept on it a week(ish) before jumping in. Love the idea of something random in little places. I bought a ton of frames (The BIG One!) from Kohls-10 frames for around 8 bucks! So, with 2 of those, grand total for our photo wall (with some other stuff that was moved into the collage…less than $20! SCORE.
Hubster dreads every time I read your blog cause I come home and start brainstorming new things to do! Thank YOU for all the great ideas! :o) I love it…hubster just gets scared. :o)
Christa M says
I need to put a call into my dad for at least one of the skeleton keys of the Bungalow that I grew up in in North Jersey! Love this idea!
For the other gallery wall, will you be hanging the Subway wall art you guys DIYed for the bathroom reno? If not, have any plans for those? I’ve been thinking about some sort of 27th & 7th art for my space down here in Atlanta. It was always my dream to get into FIT, and I finally did (years back), so now I feel the need to showcase that accomplishment somehow in my home decor. Perhaps something along the lines of those signs you made. or some sort of abstract art of the street signs.
YoungHouseLove says
This might sound odd but I dream of hanging those in our closet with a cool chandelier and maybe even painted walls. For some reason I love them alone in a small room (like they used to be in our bathroom) since they’re such fun little meaningful things.
xo,
s
Christa M says
Not odd at all, it sounds like a lovely idea! I love the look of art and chandeliers in a closet, makes it less utilitarian and more of a room..we girls know how to hang out in a closet trying to figure out what to wear! why shouldn’t it have some design elements!?!?
Megan @ reFind says
John and Sherry P
You have the best blog ever!
Way to be awesome
(Okay – I thought I was going to be so funny by writing a haiku – but see that I was not the first)
PS- Love the Keys – I want one :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, still love it!
xo,
s
Sarah says
Serious key love right here!
Kelley says
I love Bethenny, too. Have no shame girlfriend!
Naomi says
Hi:) Love the keys white! Very cute. I keep noticing, though, the photo strip of you guys that’s also in the mix. I have one of my husband and I that I LOVE. I’ve been trying to find a frame for it for ages. I noticed yours is unframed as well… Just curious if you’ve looked for a frame for it and if so, have you had any luck anywhere? THANK YOU!
YoungHouseLove says
We have a plan for that! Project to come! Someday.
xo,
s
Kel says
Clara’s pic this week is priceless! THAT FACE! I don’t have kids but if/when I do, I WILL be stealing this idea!
Kay says
I’m sure it’s just the camera, but the white keys and the white frames do not look like the same white to me. Almost a little yellowed, which is still awesome, it looks like antique curves mixed in with the modern white lines. Lovely.
Jessica says
Loved the haiku. You better believe I counted off the syllables on my fingers to make sure you got it right. :)
Amanda says
I have nothing new to add other than I love the keys and I also love Bethenny.
Tata!
Karla @ {TheClassyWoman} says
Your wall looks amazing, those keys were the perfect final touch, love the twine!! It’s funny how one little grouping of keys can pull the whole photo wall together but it does.
I am also a huge Bethenny fan! I can relate to her type A personality, love of organization and everything orderly, dreaming big dreams and working hard to get what you want in life. She totally cracks me up but God bless Jason for being patient with all of her craziness!
Jenny says
Sherry, are all of your picture frames on that wall white, or are some of them off-white as well?
YoungHouseLove says
They’re various tones of white (some brighter than others).
xo,
s
Jacqueline says
I’m short on time today, so I apologize if this has already been asked. Would you mind sharing a little bit about that beautiful gray print on the wall below the keys?
YoungHouseLove says
That’s a hand written poem from a handyman we know (yes, he writes calligraphy!). It’s called Desiderata (I think you can google it to read it). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Jen O says
Sherry, you crack me up! I literally laughed out loud when I read your haiku, which I’m pretty sure was a dead giveaway to my coworkers that I wasn’t actually working, since my job is a total snoozefest…
But who cares! Your blog is my therapy. ;)
Christina says
I absolutely adore what you’ve done to your wall, and the keys are a great addition. One question, how do you keep your frames so level/straight?? I have tried this in our hallway, but the frames always look crooked. Drives me nuts and I’m constantly fixing them. Any tips?
YoungHouseLove says
I think the key might be to hammer the nail closer to the wall so they don’t dangle and sway. Ours haven’t been adjusted since we hung them! We just straightened them when we made the wall and they seem to stay put. You can also use things like 3M velcro tabs to keep them perfectly straight! Hope it helps.
xo,
s