We are a family who celebrates everything. The first time using the potty. The first time sleeping in your own bed all night. The first time sleeping in your own bed consistently at night. Your first art project. Fatima and I want our kids to be proud of themselves; to find that inner motivation to keep going. When Liam brought home his first art project from school, we hung it up. They did so much artwork, I ran out of space. So I threw up some fishline and we created this little gallery wall of his artwork.
He loved it. Liam would bring a new piece of art home and he’d pick out where it would hang. When both lines filled up, we started to rotate out artwork. I’d leave up the ones I really liked, but that since has become more of an eye sore.
As much as we’d love to keep it up, we needed to find a better way to display his artwork without it feeling like a kindergarten classroom. How do we merge his artwork into our space without the space being defined by his artwork? Frame it.
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Framing the Gallery Wall
When I put something in a frame, I can’t help but think I’ve turned into my father. Growing up, everything was framed before it went on the wall. My bedroom was a shrine of me. Most of the wall space was dedicated to all the playbills and picture collages of the musicals and plays I starred in. My dad did an excellent job finding the right frame and even how some of this was displayed. Everything in our house was in a frame.
My favorite
One of my favorites
I never thought I’d put so many holes in our walls. Most of the holes belong to our gallery wall in the living room. It’s a similar setup to the one we created in our apartment in the city, but I think I like this one better.
Fatima wanted at least six frames for Liam’s gallery wall. I didn’t want more than six and she didn’t want less. So that’s how we got six. She found these frames on WayFair. They are great quality and I love the satin/matte finish. I did an incredible job hanging these up. My trusty frame hanger tool is the best. I also got a laser leveler a while back, and that makes everything so much easier. I love the wall and I love the artwork. We’ll be theming this going forward. I can’t wait for Halloween crafts!
Two Tips for Hanging a Gallery Wall
- Center with the furniture. The way our wall sits is mostly on its own, but extends over our peninsula in the kitchen. Our furniture can’t be centered on the wall because it encroaches on the space we use for the stools at the counter. The dilemma we had to work through is do we center for the wall and not centered over the furniture, or do we center over the furniture and it’s not centered on the wall. The design experts on the internet agree it should be centered over the furniture. It still looks off to me, but it would look off center if not over the furniture, too.
- Middle of your artwork/gallery wall should be eye level or around 65″ high. We did this for all of the gallery walls and frames around the house. I will say it is a great rule to follow because the artwork looks like it’s hung at an appropriate level.
