If a picture is worth 1,000 words, what is a wall full of them worth? How does an eclectic set of frames affect the situation, each with their own unique origin story embossed in every groove?
I have absolutely no idea. I can say this, however: The visual interest and aesthetic beauty of a gallery wall can spark a conversation lasting hours if you want it to.
That’s what I learned when I finished my very own gallery wall last week. The wall above my desk was originally home to a collage of my loved ones scattered with pictures of celebrities and people I look up to. Considering that the original wall was assembled a little over half a year ago, its level of quirky teenage spirit was surprising, but I loved that about it. The wall was incredibly charming. Sadly, because the wall was primarily printed on paper and sat underneath a vent, the pictures began warping and losing color, making for a dilapidated corpse of a wall rather than trendy décor.
For weeks I left the wall untouched, assuring myself that the wall’s character made up for its sad image. If I could just look past its atrocity and recognize its charm, I thought, I could avoid sacrificing my favorite wall. As time went on, however, the wall drooped more and more, and the intense color faded.
After about a month of my neglect, a single picture unstuck itself from the wall and fluttered to the ground, much like first dead leaf of fall. That’s when I finally recognized the gravity of the situation. The wall had been vying for my attention, desperately begging for an aesthetic upgrade. I immediately plucked each crunchy cut of paper off the wall, leaving the semi-glossed grey paint exposed and vulnerable. Now I just had to figure out how to redress the wall more permanently without sacrificing its eclectic charisma from before.
The solution wasn’t a hard one. Gallery walls have been big for a few years because they can be an inexpensive and gorgeous alternative for filling blank wall space. In a matter of minutes my mind was made up and I was on my way to the local D.I. to scrounge for frames that would replenish my wall.
After a few trips to various thrift and home stores, I was stocked up on frames and Command strips. To keep the wall interesting, I made sure each frame looked different with varying sizes, colors and textures. All I had left to do was decide which pictures I would print and which dimensions I had to print them to. In the end I resolved to keep the photos in the frames personal. I assembled a collection of photos of my friends and family with a few prints of my some of my favorite artworks to keep things interesting. With everything framed and ready to go, it was time to hang.
I started by laying the frames out on the floor and arranging them to look balanced and interesting before committing them to their permanent position. It took some experimentation to get it to a good spot, but once I did I decided to cut out of tissue paper the dimensions of each frame so I could mimic the layout on the wall and make sure it fit into the space and looked decent. Once everything was in place I could finally hang, and in less than an hour my wall was ready.
Gallery walls can be an excellent solution to an empty wall, and when done well they can express your personality in a way other decorations struggle to. Why not try it out yourself?
@additakofficial