My Basement Wall Gallery Reveal

I am so excited to post that I finally finished my basement wall gallery!!!

I've been trying to finish this project for months...but to be honest I was a little intimidated by the whole I want everything to be hung/spaced perfectly. So I was always afraid to commit.

But this weekend, while it was pouring out, Ryan and I got to work. It was actually a whole lot easier than I had anticipated...and I'm obsessed with how it looks!

PS--you'll notice there are no pictures in the frames yet :) It's hard to narrow down all of your favorite pictures to just 10-15...but I'm having them printed this week! 

Here are my tips on how to hang a gallery:

STEP 1: Lay out the frames on the floor exactly how you'll want them to appear. Try different arrangements until it looks even--but not overly perfect. I think the best thing about a wall gallery is the variety and randomness of it. Make sure you space them how you'd like on the wall too.

STEP 2: Cut out  templates for each frame. I cut mine from craft paper. This will allow you to figure out spacing.

STEP 3: On each template--trace & mark exactly where the hook is for the nail. Believe me, this will save you so much time and unnecessary holes in the wall later on!

STEP 4: Then I measured the entire width of the wall (A) and the wall gallery on the floor, from end to end (B). Then I calculated A - B / 2 to determine how much space I should leave empty on either side of the gallery. I hung painters tape (and made sure it was level) based on the calculation above to make sure there was enough space on either side. I didn't want the gallery going the entire length of the wall--since I wanted enough white space to make it still feel simple and airy.

STEP 5: Then I started hanging my templates with tape. I started with the first row (after determining how high I wanted the photos to hang...and hung the left side first--making sure to line up with my blue tape.

 

I actually removed this second template...and hung the far right side template next. That way I could hang both templates against the outside lines an then determine the perfect spacing for the two inside templates.

STEP 6: And so on...and so on...

 STEP 7: Once you have all of the templates hung exactly the way you want...you can start nailing. And since you have already marked exactly where the nail should go on each template it's as easy as pie!

STEP 8: Hammer nail on mark

STEP 9: And then tear away craft paper from nail (seriously I think I'm hanging things like this from now on)

I think it turned out fantastic! I made sure to get an eclectic assortment of frames. The top left gold gilded mirror & all the gold and white frames are from thrift stores (I might paint the white frames' mats a charcoal color), the black frames are from Michaels--including the fun oval frame...the silver frame in the top right is my own...and I threw in a shadow box on the bottom row for some intrigue.

I was a hanging fool...(seriously wait until you see more pics this week) so I decided to hang these great gold frames that were Ryan's grandparents.

They are so beautiful and I think they look perfect on either side of our thrift store mirror!

Ahhhh, love a productive weekend!