DIY Gallery Wall

Gallery walls stress me out.  Especially the random 50 pictures in all those different frames.  Scattered.  Without a reason.  Or a purpose.  Yikes!  Somehow, my sister's eclectic style makes it all work, but I would rather paint my walls Home Depot orange.  However, this Phoebe Howard room is a lovely balance of neatness and calm.  My two favorites. 

Since our living room's long and narrow 1950's layout was not made for a TV, we struggled with the layout (Part I and Part II).  The best part of changing moving the cable outlet is the open space.  The worst part is the giant 17 foot long wall behind the sofa.  In a perfect world, my husband and I would agree on an oversize abstract painting of blues, grays, and taupe.  Yeah right.  He thinks a blown up print of the New York City skyline would be just right.  Umm, do we even live in the same house?

Lately I've been eying some different arrangements and thinking about prints.  At first I though I would use some of our photos from Europe, but then I saw a set of bridge etchings or a set of botanical prints.  Wait.  I am not going to use botanical prints in my living room.  I do love all things traditional, and that is standard traditional artwork, but I am 27 years old and do not live at or near the beach.  Good thing Pinterest has a bazillion awesomely styled homes to brows.

Last fall, my friend Jayne kindly gave me an early preview to her moving sale, and I immediately found a set of six Pimpernel place mats straight out of 1980.  Her mother-in-law had given them to her as a Christmas gift, and she never even used them.  As soon as I saw the blues, grays, and greens of the Scottish castles, I knew they would match my home.

Where would I find frames for these odd size place mats?  No way would I pay for custom frames and mats, so I figured Hobby Lobby  may have their 50% off sale.  No luck, but they did have 11x14 mats that looked great.  While I was shopping for a planter for my deck at Garden Ridge, I randomly stopped to look at the frames.  I found six 11x14 frames for $7.99 each!  The only problem was two were pale gold, two were antique gold, and two were brown.  There really was no way I would find cheaper frames with the glass and the backing, so I brought them home and started my weekend project.

 Mismatched colors.

 Equal parts Glorious Gold and Rich Espresso metallic paint. 

 Antique frames using dry brush technique.

Wax paper templates.

All done!!

The Change Up: Part II

Our Christmas gift to each other was our rearranged living room.  This is what it was... and THIS is how it turned out!

 

I cannot believe Philip was the one who wanted to downsize TVs, but it is the perfect size!! Philip ran the cable under the house and behind the wall so we didn't need a new cable outlet.  The Power Bridge connector from Amazon made sure there were no wires showing.  Thanks, Jayne, for my beautiful orchid!!!

The Change Up

We've now been homeowners for nearly a year!  Thankfully, we are finished with all of the renovations, but now it's time to decorate and settle in.  Our living room was designed for a family in the early 1950s (read: no television or cable).  Since we are the second owners, we had to install the cable in 2011!!!  How is that even possible?!  Anyway, we decided on a location based on our big TV, of course.  Here's how it's happening now...

It's easy to see that the front door opens directly into the chair!!  The TV sits on a 2' high pine stand and is usually tilted so I can see from my spot on the couch--nearest the wall.  The long, narrow room doesn't allow for the TV to go on the wall behind the couch because it is just too far away from everything.  Hence the reason it is now the "hallway" to the real hallway.

Even though we aren't exchanging gifts this year, we opted for a new living room instead.  Ok, that may be my plan... In reality, we are downsizing our TV--could it be?!  It won't be the center of the universe?!  Here is the plan for the new layout...

We have a narrow stretch of wall between the front door and the dining room.  The TV will go above the small cabinet, which may or may not stick around.  :)  And maybe the couch, too!  Now I'm crossing my fingers the wall mount and the Power Bridge are easy enough for Philip to figure out...  More to come later on that.

PS, http://mydeco.com/3d-planner/ is perfect for room layouts!!!