Photo Gallery Wall – Finished!

In blog days this project only took 2-3 days from inspiration board to planning stage to finished project.  In reality, it actually took about 2-3 weeks minus the years I had dreamed of creating a white frame wall.  But it is done now and I am head over heels in love with it.  The white frames pop off the zinc wall color.  It showcases our favorite recent family photos.

Hanging the frames was very easy.  I left the paper templates on the wall to help with frame placement.  The higher up, larger frames were hung with a good old fashioned nail and picture hanger.  The lower and smaller frames were hung with 3M picture hanging strips.  I love those things.  The lowest frames are well within reach of my 2 boys.  I used the picture hanging strips all around the frames to make sure they could not pull them away from the wall.  To my surprise, apparently the allure of kids touching picture frames disappears when it is impossible to knock them crooked.  The boys have been very respectful of the gallery wall (even with their lego table right beneath it).

I love the depth of some of the pieces on the wall.  The letter H monogram is about 1.5″ thick, as are the oval frames, and the bamboo frames.  The variety in shape and depth helps keep the frame wall interesting.  I decided not to paint the bamboo frames white.  I liked the contrast and thought the wood tone worked well with the veneer on the letter H and the adjacent built-ins.  To further tie in the wood tones, I used matching veneer behind the keys in the oval frame.

Speaking of the boys, they are obviously showcased individually in the pictures.  But I also made sure to throw in a few brother and family shots.  I read somewhere that it is healthy and important for kids to be surrounded by pictures depicting important relationships in their lives.  If this makes them the best brothers in the world, I am all for it.

This photo gallery wall has me grinning from ear to ear.  It just makes the family room.  The white frames provide good balance for all the white curtains on the opposite side of the room.  The gallery also plays nicely with the decor on the adjacent built ins, including the newly-white ceramic owl.  Now this once bare wall, with the distracting collection of legos and toys at it’s feet, has become a focal wall and conversation starter.  Of course the toys are still there, but they definitely are not the attention grabber anymore.

I linked to this post from these great blogs: