I am going to show you the little gallery wall I made in my studio. I will admit gallery walls seem very intimidating. Do you go for the same color frame? Do you have all different kinds of frames? Do you try and vary the color in your frames or stick with a scheme? How do you add personal pieces but still make it look cohesive? How do you space them just so? How do you make it look put together but eclectic?
1. I wanted my gallery wall to start with a clean look. Therefore, I purchased IKEA Ribba Frames in Silver. I did vary the sizes of the frames but they are all the same color which helps anchor it and give it some uniformity. Since I knew my art was going to be busy I wanted something to tie them all together. I also like that all of the frames come with mats. It just gives everything in the frame a more “art museum†type look when you mat it.
2. I wanted my gallery wall to be personal. Since this is going in my studio I didn’t necessarily want a bunch of family photos. While my family is insanely important to me, they grace the walls of nearly every other room in my home. I wanted this gallery wall to speak to me personally and creatively. So adding creative quotes, patterns and pictures was vital for me.
I got these three adorable craft room printables from Printable Décor. They are a knock-off from Z Gallerie so of course I love them!
I also framed fabric to tie in some of the pillows I am making for the room. The fabric is the new HGTV Collection available at Joann Fabrics.
3. I wanted my gallery wall to tell a story. If you are an avid reader of IC (GASP!!! What!?!? You just look at my pictures and don’t read? Shame on you 
) I had set a goal of creating with my children. The instagram photo collage are all pictures of creative adventures I have had with my kids. All of those pictures tell stories of all those adventures together. It also reminds me of my goal and is a constant reminder to build creativity into my children.
I got this free Photoshop Elements template from the Eighteen25 girls and adjusted it to an 11 1/2†x 11 1/2†to fit my IKEA frame.
4. I wanted my gallery wall to inspire me. I had Lara from Announced Designs tweak one of her free printables for me of a quote by George Bernard Shaw. It reads “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.â€Â I love it because I truly believe that we are creating what we want to be by the choices, decisions and steps we make in our life each day.
5. I wanted my gallery wall to showcase my kid’s creativity. My former studio was a place that my kids knew they were not allowed to go into without mom’s permission. It was small, cramped and there were too many ways for my kids to get hurt (scissors, rotary cutting blades, hot glue guns) or damage our home. I created this space for our family to enjoy – not just a place for mom to work. Therefore it was important to me to showcase my kids growing artistic abilities. They see their art on my studio walls and there is a sense of pride and also it encourages them to keep creating.
P.S. Believe it or not the art to the left is my 6 year old son and the one to the right is my 4 year old daughter. She has mad skills with some watercolor paints!
So in the end it looks like this.
I must talk about my obsession with 3M Command Picture Strips
(<–affiliate link). Holy crap those little guys make your job so much easier – especially when trying to align all the frames evenly spaced apart. I used the large ones and cut them in half (great money saving tip!). All you do is press them on the wall to secure your frame in place. No nailing and measuring. I just used a small level and then pushed them to the wall. Easy peasy. You can take them down with no problem or damage to your wall. LOVE THEM!
So have you overcome your fear of gallery walls? They are such a great way to tell a story in your home. Go for it!
I know I have shown you bits and pieces but tomorrow is the BIG STUDIO REVEAL {Squuueeeaalll!!}
I’m currently working on a new gallery wall in our dining room/office. I’m trying to collect meaningful pieces before I start adding the frames. I love what you did with yours and the special things that you hung. I’ll be honest, I CAN’T WAIT to see your big studio reveal tomorrow! You have done so many great things in there.
~Sarah
I love how you made it super personal to YOU. You’ve given me some ideas for my own sewing room. I’ve done a gallery wall in our entry hall, and have to agree about the Command Strips – they make it so much easier!
Your 4 year old is quite the talented artist! Amazing!
I’m looking forward to your big reveal!
First of all, WOW! Your 4-year-old is crazy talented! I have a four-year-old (who is mad talented in other ways) so I am really blown away by what your little can do. Can’t wait to see what she creates in the years ahead.
That said, I love your gallery wall! The silver frames are great. How have I never seen those at Ikea…I think I will be using those for my next galley. You can see our latest here: http://www.dejongdreamhouse.com/2013/03/chair-rail-family-gallery.html
Thanks Lisa. I can’t wait to show ya’ll. It has been my baby for the last 3 months.
ACK! Your four-year-old is a rock star- that is crazy good! Both of your kiddos art is wonderful!
I love the gallery wall and all the same frames. Looks awesome. I do agree about your 4 year olds art work, its adorable. However, your daughters watercolor art is just so awesome. That sunflower. so pretty. I love the squares of colors too! What a little artist. Can she paint something for me? How much does she charge? Enjoy your office. Looks amazing!!!
I love your gallery wall. I will have to check out the sewing machine print. Wow, your daughter does have talent! Her watercolor pictures are much better than I could do!
Holy cow, I can’t believe your little daughter painted those!! 4 years old and already so talented…I’m lucky if I can get stick people to look good, let alone fruit and flowers! Even your son can paint better than me. I have to say, those ones are my favourites.
I love your gallery wall. Ours is so outdated, mismatched frames, colours, old pictures…I really need to do something about it.
And yes, I read every word…you draw me in…I need to know all the details! lol
Debbie 🙂
love your thought process and the end result!
Great walk-thru of the process, Beckie. I love your choice. I’ve just recently discovered the command strips- AH-mazing! Also amazing is your daughter’s watercolor talent- incredible!
What a gorgeous gallery wall! It looks so clean and crisp. I love the way you pulled everything together. It looks amazing.
I also really like how you used different mediums to frame. And the colors! What a pop!
Love your wall. I guess I should have done one in my craft room that was not all pics of my girls. They are all over the rest of the house too! I used all black frames and did get a free download about creativity to add to the mix. I think I need to mix it up a bit more. Your daughter’s work is AMAZING! WOW! I hope she runs with that as one of her passions/focuses!
I always tell her she is going to take over my blog one day but she tells me she wants to be a hair dresser instead. HA!
Don’t you just love Ikea frames? (or Ikea in general for that matter!). We did the whole thrift shop picture frame thing and then spray painted them all for our four year old’s room. http://www.theladhouse.com/gallery-wall/. In hindsight we shoulda just bought frames from Ikea like you did. It would have looked just as good, AND been a lot easier!
I LOVE your gallery wall (and IKEA too)! 🙂 Thanks so much for reading.
what color is the wall color? I am having a hard time picking out a color for my walls and i love yours!
It’s Gobi Desert from Behr.