Up Against the Wall

It's no secret. 

I love gallery walls. 

I love the idea of having a collection of all your favorite things all in one place. 

And, as OCD and detail oriented as I am, I actually prefer the mismatched frames and the random placement vs. the all the same frame, all the same size all in perfect placement.

In my room I more-so have a collection of colors that I love. As you can see with my use of embroidery hoops and fabric. I guess I'm kind of scared to commit to anything in my bedroom because I tend to change the decor often. 

(Beamer usually approves though. Haha)

I tend to gather little things I like from place to place. A few months back I ordered two custom canvas prints from Easy Canvas Prints of my dogs. Unfortunately they arrived after I lost my little Lexie but it made the print that much more special. I was so in love with them that I just threw them up on the wall haphazardly on just some random nails I had hanging and this was the result.

 As you can see the spacing is off and things are crooked and I kept telling myself I'd get around to it but never did, until last night, I finally did!

Looking back I really should have taken photos during the process but, like a kid, I was just so excited to get everything up on the wall that I, of course didn't.

Using a similar technique as was used here I chose all of my favorite pieces and traced them onto newspaper. (Side note: I wouldn't recommend newspaper because it's messy, it was just what I had so it worked.) Cut out the traced newspaper. Marked where the nails should be placed. Figured out how I wanted everything by taping it up on the wall. SO much easier than hanging and then deciding you don't like it. The three pieces that I really wanted as the focal pieces were my OSHEAGA poster and my two prints of my dogs. So they were the first to be placed. The OSHEAGA poster was placed in the middle of the wall and then I worked from the inside out to figure out the placement of everything else. Once I was happy, in went the nails and up went the prints! And voila!

I couldn't be happier with the results! I literally sat on the couch just staring at the wall for like 20 minutes after we finished because I loved it so much. And I love the incorporation of my two angels, my Lexie and my grandma. My big fear now is finding more artwork that I like! Haha. I guess that's why there are so many walls in a house!

(1. Avocado painting by my friend Heather Kent. // 2. Dachshund silhouette that I bought at the OC fair. I believe Leslie Stone was the artist. // 3. Mirror in a gold frame that I picked up from Goodwill for $5.99 (I actually bought two of them but only ended up using one). Originally it was meant to be hung vertically but we took the hook off and replaced it so that it could be hung horizontally. // 4. "S", not actually sure where I bought it but I'm sure from Marshall's or something like that. // 5. "Love Is What It's All About" print from Home Goods. // 6. Canvas print of Beamer from Easy Canvas Prints. // 7. A hand painted nature scene painted by my grandmother that I found while putting things together for her memorial. She was an incredible artist with a very special gift. // 8. Sprinkles cupcakes. My roommate is obsessed with Sprinkles cupcakes. Her friend painted this for her for her birthday one year. // 9. "The Long and Short of it" dachshund print, I believe from Target. // 10. My Lexie canvas print from Easy Canvas Prints. 11. My limited edition (only 400 printed) Osheaga poster, numbered and signed by artist Pat Hamou.)

I'm SO happy with the way it turned out. It makes the room feel warmer and more put together. I also really like how it does a great job camouflaging my thermostat. It even looks almost like it's part of the collage!

Next time maybe I'll actually remember to document what I'm doing because that would definitely make for a better blog post! Haha.