JAXtutorial: DIY gallery wall

Originally posted at DTTD imagine.design.create and linked to The Pinterest Challenge.
I’m so excited that I finally have a project that I can link to the latest installment of The Pinterest Challenge! The gallery wall that I revealed on Monday was inspired by not one, not two, but FIVE of my Pinterest pins. If that doesn’t qualify for the Pinterest Challenge, I don’t know what does! ;-) So I thought I’d combine my tutorial with this fun challenge and show you how to create a gallery wall, and how mine was inspired by images I pinned to Pinterest.

1. Picture layout from Living La Vie 2. Picture layout from Martha Stewart 3. Layout template from ROOST Marissa Waddell Interiors 4. Homemade picture hanging tool from The Scrap Shoppe 5. Chelsea Gray wall colour from Restyling Home by Kelly

Before you start laying out your gallery wall, you need to choose your art. My wall is a collection of ocean-inspired photos, prints, shadowboxes, tile art, and a canvas. Using art that’s meaningful to you makes your gallery wall extra-special, so incorporate as many personal pieces as you can.
If you want all your frames to be the same, a great choice is the Ribba series from Ikea. They’re inexpensive, include the brackets and wire for hanging, and come in both regular frames and shadowbox frames. Combining the two depths of frames adds some dimension to your wall.

1. & 2.  { Picture layout } Inspired by Living La Vie and Martha Stewart
 
Now that you’ve chosen your art, you need to decide on a layout. There are all sorts of gallery walls – symmetrical, asymmetrical, structured, random… check out my Gallery Wall board on Pinterest for some ideas. I combined elements from two of my favourite gallery walls to create my layout. I like the shape of the layout on the left (it reminds me of a wave), and I like the straight line between the two rows of pictures in the layout on the right.
Find a big empty space on the ugly pink carpet in your uber-messy basement and lay your artwork out on the floor. Move things around until you have a layout that makes you say “Woot! YES!”. Take a picture to refer back to – this is REALLY handy! Combining elements from the two inspiration layouts, I came up with this layout {still hadn’t decided on a picture for the big frame in the bottom row at this point}:

OMG, the mess in my basement is horrible! Oh well, nobody ever said the creative process was pretty ;-)

3.  { Layout template } Inspired by ROOST Marissa Waddell Interiors

Once you have a layout that you like, it’s time to make your layout template. Instead of wax paper, I used brown kraft paper from the Dollar Store. Decide how much space you want between your pictures – I chose 1-1/2”. Lay out your pictures on the kraft paper in the same order you had them on the floor. Use a ruler or measuring tape to measure the distance between each piece of art. My gallery wall has three rows, so I laid out my artwork one row at a time. If you’re creating a straight line, line the frames up right against the edge of the paper to make your life a bit easier :-) Then trace around each frame – easy-peasy!

Tape your template onto your wall. Use painters tape so it’s easy to un-tape and move around. Some measuring and leveling are required here to ensure that your template is positioned correctly.

Now the fun starts! ;-)

4.  { Homemade hanging tool } Inspired by The Scrap Shoppe

Once you’ve attached the wire or other hanging mechanism to the back of each frame, it’s time to figure out where each nail or screw goes for each picture. A hanging tool makes this job a lot easier. Using the inspiration clothespin hanger as a guide, I made my hanging tool by hammering a small nail though one end of a stick of wood. I actually made two – one for smaller frames and one for bigger frames. You want both the head and the tip of the nail to protrude out from either side of the stick.

Hang a picture on the head of the nail on your hanging tool, and then hold the picture up against the correct position on the template.

When you have the picture lined up, push the top of picture against the wall. The tip of the nail will poke a small hole through the paper and into the wall. This is where the nail, screw, or hanger will go. {Hangers like the one in the picture below need to be positioned so that the bottom of the hanger is lined up with the small hole}

Can you believe all the frames are actually lined up properly with the edges of the paper!? I mean, see how easy it is to line up your frames perfectly when you use a template and a homemade hanging tool? :-)

Repeat for every picture. It takes some time and patience, but you can do it! I hung my pictures as I went along because I’m impatient and wanted instant gratification…

…so I had to take them down before the next step. Pull the paper off of the wall, and your nails & screws are all exactly where they need to be without any pencil marks on the wall.

Now hang your pictures! I recommend starting at the bottom and working your way up the wall. Check your pictures with a level to make sure they’re straight.

And voila, gallery wall!

But because I like to make my life difficult, I decided to paint the wall a darker colour so the white frames would really stand out. Or maybe I did it because I just really like painting ;-)
5. Chelsea Gray wall colour
Inspired by Restyling Home by Kelly
After agonizing over the right shade of gray, I finally decided on Benjamin Moore Chelsea Gray in the ulti-matte finish after I saw this bedroom painted Chelsea Gray.

It hurt to pay $60 for a gallon of paint – when did BM paint prices get up into the Farrow & Ball range? But a quart wouldn’t have been enough. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. And yes, I just painted right over the screws and nails {I taped over them first}.

And NOW the gallery wall is officially finished!


Thanks to everyone who inspired my gallery wall project. And thanks to the hosts of The Pinterest Challenge:

Be sure to stop by their blogs to see their projects, to link up your own Pinterest Challenge project, and to see what everyone else has linked up.

Erin at The Great Indoors { Mason jar chandelier } Katie at Bower Power { watercolour jellyfish art }
Sherry at Young House Love { homemade beanbag } Cassie at Hi Sugarplum! { DIY faux antlers }

If you’ve been thinking about creating a gallery wall in your house, I hope you’ll find my tutorial helpful. And when your wall is done, please let me know, I’d love to see it :-)
If you want to see more of what inspires me, click here to check out my boards on Pinterest.