Gallery Wall In the Mix

Via Emily Henderson

Feel like I have lots of little decor projects in the mix right now, but none at the complete stage.  So it goes.  We have a graduation (HELL YES!) party planned for Dave coming up in the next couple of weeks, so feel like it's a great excuse to ready the house and make it look purdy, even though I know in reality no one's really gonna care.  Right guys??

One of the things I've been working on is a gallery wall over the dining table.  For the past almost 2 years it's just been another blank slate, but it's a wall I look at frequently since you see it from the kitchen and the livingroom.  And for the past 2 years, I've known that I've wanted a bunch of family pics on this wall, but never pulled the trigger because well, even though I just bought Ikea frames, the prices add up + choosing the right pictures takes a boat load of time + I thought choosing the right frames was gonna be tricky + a billion other little things.  But, I decided to just go with the wild hair I have right now.  I was randomly at Ikea, and just started throwing frames in my cart. 

First go 'round, I picked a mix of frames, but after consultation with the sis & my pinterest account, I went back to Ikea (dang it!), and traded them for all white.  I'm just a sucker for how the white pops against our calm gray walls. Much like my inspiration image above.

Then, one night, after the kiddos were asleep, I put on some 30Rock, grabbed my tape measure, and came up with a lay-out on my living room floor.  I'm real technical.  And I made this step 10,000 steps harder in my mind than it had to be.  Loose-goosey is the way I like things, and I should just trust that.  Anyway, I snapped a few pics of the layout, then Dave and I hung them up another night while referring to my phone pics.  Easy enough, about a 30 minute project. 

That was a few weeks ago, and that is where we are at to this night.  But, I'm proud to say that all photos are picked out, and waiting in my cart at mpix.com.  So I'm just waiting for a good coupon to pop up!  Come on mpix, annnnny day now!

 *Guess what.  Think I'm headed back to Ikea for a larger frame, bottom left.  Yeah?  To even it out.  Damn.  And damn again. 

**At Rachel's suggestion, I've been ordering my prints from mpix because the quality is soooo good compared to Costco or Walmart.  Colors are rich and dynamic, and worth the extra money.