WALL GALLERIES INSPIRATION

In these days of social distancing and isolation it appears many of us are being very productive by turning our hand to all those DIY projects around the house.  (Silver lining!)  We all know how these things snowball.  One minute you are freshening up the hallway, but pretty soon you are knocking down walls and choosing new flooring!  Just in case your plans include a new wall gallery, I thought I’d do what I can to help inspire.

Obviously you know I’m going to say your home needs big artwork of your family.  Not only do family portraits make your home feel warm and welcoming, they also give your children a sense of importance and belonging in the family unit, a boost to their self esteem.  

But how do you go about designing a portrait wall?  Arranging your collection can be intimidating when you’re confronted by a big, blank wall.  Here’s a few tips.

 TIP 1:  Your chosen wall does not have to be completely blank to start with.  You can design a collage including your tv, wall sconces, or existing wall art. 

TIP 2:  ​If you have young children, you may want to leave space to add to your wall as they grow.  It’s best to start with a large piece as an anchor, then add smaller portraits later on.  

TIP 3:  ​Go ahead and mix media.  You can include travel souvenirs, children’s artwork (which we all have an abundance of!), as well as photos.  At the same time, try to have some unifying thing to tie all the pieces together.  This could be using similar colours, or keep things monochrome.  Using black and white has the benefit of being easy to match to existing decor.  Frames don’t have to match!

TIP 4:  ​Hold the hammer!  Hanging several pieces will put holes in the wall, so be sure you know exactly where things go before you start hammering.  When you have your portraits printed with me I have software to help you with that.  If you are winging it on your own, outline all of your artwork on paper, cut them out, label them and stick the papers on the wall.

I hope these tips and photos have helped inspire you.  Please note they are not my photos, I found them online (via Pinterest) from these websites:  nytimes.com, decozilla.com, justthejensenfam.blogspot.com.  If you'd like to look at more pretty walls, check out my Pinterest board!