Gallery Walls

Jonesing for some personalization in our home these days. The only photos that we’ve put up in frames are about 3 wedding shots and a couple of cute pics of our nephew. The other frames still display a bunch of those strangers in weird poses and I keep getting asked who those foreign family members are. It’s about time I fill those up with pics of real people we know!

Thankfully, I have a huge empty wall in the family room that would serve as the perfect gallery wall. I’ve been looking for ideas and there are so many ways to showcase a gallery wall to make it the main focus of a room. I can’t decide on the style I want to go for but one thing I do know is that I want the photos to be large in scale and consisting of our own pictures of the places we’ve visited together. Kinda sappy, I know…but this should be a conversation starter while also telling a story on its own. So clever. :)

So, I’ve categorized gallery walls into 3 different styles. Maybe if I walk through it on here with you, it will help me decide.

Neat & Orderly: Better option for the anal retentive who gets creeped out by lines that don’t match up and colors that aren’t exactly the same. Everything is aligned perfectly and photos also all have the same look.

Organized Chaos: Exact opposite of the Neat & Orderly. Frames don’t match up but colors and mats complement each other nicely. Usually mixing art and photos, and frames are different sizes and shapes but yet still fit like a puzzle.

Scattered but Consistent: A mix of the two styles. Frames can be different sizes and shapes but everything is aligned and even.

Ok, that worked! I think I got it! Since I like all of the looks so much, I will try out a couple of styles on two separate areas in my house! For the family room I will shoot for the Neat & Orderly in a large scale with black frames and white mats. For the wall by the stairs I will go with the Scattered but Consistent look using different frames in different sizes. I don’t want to go gallery-wall-overboard so I want to keep this as minimal, clean and neat as possible. Time to dig up the photos!

All photos via here, here, Domino, here, and here.