A Plethora...

As promised, I am back with a look into my gallery wall.  I have been a little obsessed with them since I saw a little blog talk about one.  You may have heard of them.  www.younghouselove.com  They are only like the gurus of DIY.  They've got mad decorating skills and I am happy to be a stalker follower of their daily grind.  Anytime I start talking giddily about something I saw online, my husband immediately says "did it come from younghouselove.com, bowerpowerblog.com or jasminestarblog.com" in a jeering sort of way.  I still don't know know why he isn't as obsessed as me.  He will come around.  Oh yes.  He will come around.

But I digress.  Back to my gallery wall.  I started collecting pictures frames - some from IKEA, a couple from WalMart, a few from yard sales - but the bulk came from the Waterfront Rescue Mission (aka my favorite can'tfeelguiltycausemyshoppingisdoinggood store).  They kept piling up until one free Saturday when I took them out to spray paint them. 

See, in order to have the gallery wall of my dreams all of the frames had to be white.  That way everything looks unified even if they really aren't.  So I laid out an old tarp and lined up everything that needed painting.  (Note:  there are some non-frame items here but that will be for another time - when I have figured out what to do with them.) 



I wiped everything down with a damp cloth to make sure it was clean then got straight to priming everything with spray primer.  After a couple of coats each, I proceeded to spray a high white gloss paint over everything.  I sprayed to my hearts content.  Once my heart was content I found that I had two more coats to paint.  Not so fun, but it was worth it.

Once everything was dry (and several weeks passed since I am a procrastinator), I made a template from scrap paper and used painters tape to mark off the wall placement.  In retrospect, I probably didn't have to do this and I doubt I would do it again since I think eyeballing it would get the same result.

And, several weeks later (since I am the world's worst procrastinator), I actually hung the frames.  Only then did I put pictures in them.

So let's chat about what is in the frames.  All of the photos, save for the 8x10 of Canon on the far top left, the beach shot on the far top right (WRM), and the wedding picture of my man and me are our personal photos.  There is an oversized key and a carved cross (found at Waterfront Rescue Mission, heretofore mentioned as WRM).  The large awesome frame was found at WRM and will (hopefully) soon house a world map as soon as I find something to back it with.  Yes, I was stupid and got rid of the picture that was in it - it was a hard back painting!  For now, it is holding the Christmas cards we receive.  The letter 'd' and the small yellow garland ball both came from the Dollar Store.  The green botanical print came from the WRM.  It is really cool.  It is actually printed on canvas and has a handmade quality to it.  Of course the prize of the entire wall is the original artwork by none other than Canon Dupuis.  Yes, it is the only one available.  Yes, it is extremely valuable.  No, it is not for sale.  ;)

Most of these frames do not house what shall forever remain in them.  I am still shopping through my house for the perfect addition to the wall, so I will keep you updated.

Until then, have a great day!!!