Earlier this year I was accepted as a Wayfair Home Expert, which believe me made my day. And this month I was set my first challenge – create a gallery wall in collaboration with the Art Group. I was very kindly allowed to pick out three prints and I could also use anything else I wanted – prints, photos and decorations to create my gallery wall.
I knew straight away which wall I was going to use. And because I don’t do things by half (I never learn) I picked the biggest one in the house! Our hallway wall is sparse with only one print. And it’s been there for the last 7 years, it was shouting out for a change.
I have also wanted to start a gallery wall for such a long time. I really wanted a space where we could show things that are special to us, things that have created special family memories.
The three prints I picked were these gorgeous old style GWR posters (Devon, Dartmoor and Woolacombe).
We live in South Devon and love spending our quality family time travelling around exploring this gorgeous area, from the seaside to the moors. My sister lives in North Devon just outside Woolacombe, and we visit a lot. It is also a happy place for me, as soon as I arrive I just seem to chill out.
I also purchased this print with beach huts as this reminded me so much of the beach where our beach hut is.
Over the years I have collected some large letter wall decorations, one for each of us. I also had some gorgeous black and white photos of the girls when they were younger and I wanted to incorporate all of this on the wall.
To help me decide how I was going to lay out the prints I took over the lounge and layed them all down. After a bit of reshuffling I came up with this layout. What I liked about the hallway wall is that we can grow our collection and this layout felt the best fit for when we wanted to add new things.
I next made templates of all the prints, pictures and initials out of brown paper and newspaper. I then stuck them to the wall in my favourite layout, working out the distance between each one. The original print was the same size as the new one so I left this one up while doing this. When happy I marked the corners of the templates on the wall with a pencil.
I decided not to use nails when hanging but used Command Strips instead. These are great if you want to move pictures around and not have to refill holes in every time.
So to the big reveal, here’s the before:
And now the after:
I am so happy with how this turned out. It makes me smile every time I walk onto our landing and see the girls and all our favourite places. I really can’t wait to find new things, new memories, to add to it
My top tips for creating a gallery wall
1. Pick out a theme – whether it’s a certain colour frame, just photos or a mixtute.
2. Gather everything you want to include and try different layouts.
3. When you find the layout you like take a picture of it so you don’t forget when it comes to hanging everything.
4. Make templates of everything and stick to the wall. This helps to check if your layout is right. It also helps to work out the measurements between the pictures.
5. Mark where you want the pictures to be before removing the templates.
5. Hang your pictures, either with nails or Command strips, then stand back and admire your fab new gallery wall.
Have you got a gallery wall in your house? How did you decide what to hang?
Jo
X
*This post is sponsored by Wayfair, but as always all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Great choices! The Devon prints are my fave!
Maflingo not maflingoja!!
Thanks Jane. There were so many to choose from it was hard to just pick these. X
Love the transformation! I really enjoyed the tips section as well x
Thank you Pia. X
I love what you’ve done here, such great choices and close to your heart. This is such a huge space to be working with two and I can imagine it’s going to grow lots more! I always enjoy looking and people’s gallery walls when I visit their houses too 🙂 x
Thanks Hannah. I do too, I am so nosey. I’m already thinking about what I could add to it. X
Oh Jo I love it! I love the prints, the layout and the theme you’ve gone for, it makes such a difference. It’s things like this that really make a house a home isn’t it? x
Thanks for your lovely comment Jade. It certainly has helped make the house feel more homely. X
This looks lovely!! Xx
I love those GWR prints, they’re just fab. And great job Jo. I’ve been thinking about a gallery wall for a while (landing too – go big or go home eh?) thanks for the nudge, seems like a good bank holiday weekend job.
Michelle x
Definitely go big, there is no other way! Thanks for your lovely words. X
I saw this on Instagram this morning – so great. We moved house recently and I have yet to put any pictures up. waiting until we got properly settled in. Now I just need to find time to get this together.
I have been wanting to do this for so long, it was nice to be nudged into sorting it out. X
This looks fabulous! Just one (silly?) question. Are you able to reach across that stairwell to adhere the command strips & pics to the wall? Or did you have to use a ladder? This has put me off doing anything with that wall in my house!
what wonderful choices it looks beautiful! what a great spot to personalise
Thank you Alisa. I could just reach across the stairs but I did ask the husband to give them a firm press for me as he’s 6ft 4 and I’m only 5ft 4!!! The ones on the right I could do by standing at the top. The main picture in the middle is hung in a hook though as this was already there. X
The wall looks great – and command strips sound a fab idea. #TheList
That looks so good! Love the pictures you chose too. We live in a rented house, and while I’ve always wanted to do a gallery wall I’ve not done it as I’ve not wanted to put holes in the walls to hang things. For some reason I’d not thought of using command strips! x #TheListLinky
The Command strips are fab, I’ve used them for quiet a few things around the house. Thanks for stopping by. X
A lovely arrangement, so stylish they way you hang them #MarvMondays
Thanks Fiona X
Looks really lovely, I love the beach huts so pretty. Popping over from #marvmondays
What a difference! It really makes the space look more ‘together’ doesn’t it. We have a picture wall in our living room and pulled the photos together by using the same coloured frames. Command strips are such a good idea too!
I really wasn’t expecting how much of a differrence it would make. I’m so happy with how it turned out. Thanks for popping by. X
We have a blank wall that I am wanting to fill. Such a good idea to make the templates first so you can get an idea of how it would look – I’ll definitely be truing that. The letters are a cute addition too.
The templates helped mor than I thought. I left them up for a couple of days and it really helped to see if I could live with the final version. X
Thats a great idea, I have never used command strips before, I love the prints you chose and the arrangement it looks great x
Thank you for your lovely comment Sarah. X
Oh I love your gallery wall and those Devon prints are just brilliant. I love old style posters. Your post has inspired me to give this a go! I will be using your tips 🙂
Thank you so much for your lovely comment Emma. Good luck with your gallery wall! X
Oh I just love your gallery wall! I need to do this in my house! I have been thinking about it for years but haven’t done it. I think everything needs to go together like yours with a theme to pull the look together. And I adore that beach hut painting – it brings back lovely memories. x
Thanks for your lovely comment Becky, I must admit I have been thinking about if for a good couple of years too, in fact the pictures of the girls are nearly 5 years old! X
I love this, it looks fantastic. The prints are stunning and I love how you have put the letters up as well. I am never sure what to do with that wall by the stairs and this would be absolutely perfect. A great idea to go with a theme as well, really pulls it all together x
Thanks for your lovely comment Yvonne. I am so happy with the prints, they look so good on the wall. X
This looks so great! I’ve been meaning to sort out a gallery wall in our lounge for ages but it feels a bit daunting and your tips are fab – I particularly love the template idea. I’m off to check out Command strips too as our walls are a nightmare to drill! #HomeEtc
Thank you for your lovely comment, The strips are fab. Our walls hate nails and these have worked so well. X
I am in love with the beach hut photo! I’ll have to buy those strips to hang my photos up, great way to hang them up. #MarvMondays
The beach hut print is gorgeous. I couldn’t recommend the strips enough, they really have worked well for this project. X
Such a lovely display, I love the mix of art prints with personal photos. I need to pop up some framed photos in my house!
#HomeEct
http://www.hellonancy.co.uk/
What a fab gallery wall! I love a gallery wall and we are actually in the process of doing one in our lounge so this tips will come in really useful 🙂 I’ll definitely have to check out what prints they have at Wayfair, I love those old style GWR posters! Thanks for linking up to #MarvMondays. Emily
Thanks for your comment Emily. They had so many of the vintage prints to choose from, it was hard just choosing these three. Good luck with your wall. X
This looks really great! Gallery walls are so much harder to pull off than they look – I really struggled with ours for over a year before I finally had the courage to put it all up! In hindsight I think perhaps I faffed with it way too much. I used the newspaper template trick in the end and found it was the only way to visualise it all properly. I love the prints, and command strips are the perfect way to get a gallery wall going when you know you want to expand it later and probably switch everything up! Thanks for joining us at #SharingtheBlogLove
Thanks for your lovely comment Katy. I had been putting off doing ours too, but so glad this opportunity pushed me to get it done. X
Your gallery wall looks beautiful! My aunt has lived in Devon all my life so I’ve spent many happy holidays in and around Dartmoor, such a beautiful part of the country X #HomeEtc
Thanks for your lovely comment Lins. We love visiting Dartmoor, there is always something different to do. X
Some of our walls really hate nails and these strips have been such a fab alternative. C
Those prints are lovely, will have to see if they have ones of Bristol & Bath! (Actually I think I need to check out Wayfair in general, have heard lots of good things but as yet still haven’t taken a proper look!). We’ve been thinking about trying something similar over our landing – were you able to put everything up by standing on the stairs or leaning over the bannister? I’m probably being rather slow but in my head I can’t see how I would get the items on the walls without Stretch Armstrong arms! x #HomeEtc
Thanks for your lovely comment Lucy. I am pretty sure they would do prints for Bristol and Bath, they seem to have a lot of choice. I actually put up the pictures leaning over the banister and also stood on the stairs towards the top. When it came to the command strips, I managed to get them up but got the husband, who is about a foot taller than me, to give them a good press down. So far so good, they are still up on the wall! X
WOW looks amazing and so stylish – you have done a superb job. I adore gallery walls 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
Jess xx
#HomeEtc
Thank you Jess for your lovely comment. X
It looks fab Jo!! I bet you’re really chuffed with how it’s turned out!! Love the fact that you’re planning to add to it too — what a lovely way to capture memories of places you’ve been! 🙂 xx #HomeEtc
Thank you for your lovely comment Caro. It came out so much better than I expected. I can’t wait to find new stuff to put up. X
Thank you for your lovely comment Caro. It came out so much better than I expected. I can’t wait to find new stuff to put up. X
Thank you for your lovely comment Caro. It came out so much better than I expected. I can’t wait to find new stuff to put up. X
We moved house before Christmas and our stairs are crying out for a gallery wall, but I am so nervous about doing it. Seeing yours has made me want to really give it ago, as it looks fab. My cousin told me to use command strips, something I hadn’t considered before. I’m going to the brave and tackle it! Thank you for joining us at #SharingtheBlogLove
What a difference between before and after. Well done you. #homeetc (from last week! Oops)
i would say just jump in and do it! I must admit it took me nearly two years to get mine done and I’m so happy with it. The Command strips are so good too, so easy to use. X
Taking a photo of the layout is such a helpful tip, especially given that I have the memory of a goldfish xx
Thanks Kerry. I know I would have forgotten how I placed things as I get so easily distracted, especially the kids are around. X
This is a great idea! We have a long shelf that runs down one side of our staircase that has a collection of photo frames on it but once Kipper starts going up and down the stairs I know he will be attracted to them so I will need to do something. Maybe its a good excuse to revamp the frames and hang them on the wall! Thanks for sharing #Sharingthebloglove xx
I like the idea of a shelf, but I know what you mean about little hands wanting to play with things. X
Your wall looks really good. I take so many photos but never print them out, it is a good idea to put a gallery up on the stairs, so you can enjoy happy memories every day. #SharingtheBlogLove
Thank you Kate. I must admit it has spurred me on to find some other photos to use. X
Oh I love a gallery wall we used to have the whole stairs in photos in out old house and need to get around to doing the same here. I love the black x #sharingthebloglove
Thank you Laura. I’m glad I stuck to one theme. X
We are about to create one with all my travel photos! Our hallway is huge, a bit like a gallery, so we can’t wait. #sharingthebloglove
Oh good luck! It is so nice to see how it looks when it’s all up. Thanks for stopping by. X
I love old railway prints! I have a few myself. The planning tips for the gallery wall are really useful too – whenever I have more than one picture on a wall, they have been randomly hung rather than planned, so it’s good to see how it should be done! Visiting from #Sharingthebloglove
Thank you for the lovely comment. I am a bit of a control freak and had to plan it, but I bet yours looks fab, especially as you grow it. X
Wow Jo, this looks great! It’s inspired me to finally frame some photos!
#sharingthebloglove
Thank you for your lovely comment. X
I like the Devon picture. It is great to have in the house. It does make you remember things