Gallery Wall {Client Design}

Gallery walls are one of my specialties these days, as I have now installed over 20 gallery walls of all sizes and shapes.  The first thing I ask my clients is what style of gallery wall would you like?  An ECLECTIC STYLE GALLERY WALL or a UNIFORM GALLERY WALL?  Or, maybe you are looking for something a little IN BETWEEN.

ECLECTIC STYLE GALLERY WALL

UNIFORM STYLE GALLERY WALL

MIX OF BOTH STYLES GALLERY WALL

With the eclectic style gallery wall, there really are no rules!  There is no rhyme or reason of how you hang the collected items together and the fun thing about this style is that anything goes!  You can hang your favorite deer antlers next to your favorite family photo.

A gallery wall with a more uniformed style to it, you should really keep all the frames the same size and shape to create a grid-like space.  You can use any number of frames to create your collection, any style of frame, and black and white or colored pictures.  This style creates a more formal approach to the gallery wall. 

Most of my clients choose a mix of the two, which is also my favorite.  They typically like to hang mirrors, word art, and artifacts with their framed photos and have a mix of frames.  Most people like a little uniformity, like in the last photo.  You can see there is still an overall 'collected look' to the last photo above, but it is installed in a very stylized and planned out way with keeping some of the frames in line with each other.  This really gives you the best of both worlds!

For this client, I decided to do more of an eclectic style gallery wall, where no frames line up with each other and they are all laid out in more of speratic manor (but in a very planned out way, of course), if that all makes sense! 

I started the design of the gallery wall on the floor.  Yes, on the floor! I like to lay out the gallery wall design on the floor, before any holes go on the wall.  

panoramic shot from my phone

I actually determined this layout from one of the options in the DIY Gallery Wall books from Hobby Lobby.  

  

I chose the above Eclectic Gallery Wall layout with some of my own modifications.  This books is full of great gallery wall ideas, as well as over 30 card stock prints to frame in your gallery wall. 

I don't trace all of the frames onto craft paper and then put the craft paper on the wall to figure out where each frame will be hung.  Once I have everything laid out on the floor just how I want it, I take pictures with my phone.  Lots of pictures.  Then use that as reference.  I start in the middle and work my way around the first picture.

I framed some of the pages from the DIY Gallery Wall book until the homeowners can fill all of the frames with their family photos.  I wouldn't typically frame this many 'word art' images together, but wanted some of the frames to be filled until then. 

To keep an eclectic gallery wall stylized and not looking too busy, it is very important to keep a similar style to all of the frames.  I chose four white Pottery Barn frames in two different sizes.  Two brown frames with mats from Home Goods.  I really like frames with mats more than without to make the photographs stand out more.  Three matching rustic, gray frames also from Home Goods.  And a couple of miscellaneous frames that are in coordinating rustic wood tones. 

Sources:

mirror from Hobby Lobby

custom arrow from JlM Moments and Designs (my sister)

'Home Sweet Home' art from For the Love of Letters (Hobby Lobby)

white matted frames from Pottery Barn 

all other frames from Home Goods

wall paint is Sherwin Williams Balanced Beige

**if you would like a gallery wall installed in your home, email me with inquires.  I can shop for all of the materials and install the frames in any style.  jessicastoutdesign@gmail.com**

As Seen On the Fixer Upper {The Raggedy Ranch}

I'm already a week behind on this.........

LAST WEEK on the show.....Chip & Jo "fixed up" this "Raggedy Ranch" into a gorgeous modern ranch for a single mom.  I have noticed Joanna stepping outside her comfort zone more and more and diversifying her style and decor a bit.  I like to see that.  It hasn't all been her typical "overly country, shabby-chic" style.  Which I also LOVE and ADORE!!!  But it is nice to see her create a variety of spaces.  So, anyway, I love this weeks (last week's) transformation because it is a little more modern for them.

The kitchen turned out gorgeous.  It looks like they used some type of quartz for the countertops, which is different than their typical carrara marble or concrete.  I love quartz countertops.  They would definitely be my #1 choice for kitchen countertops, but are also towards the top end of the price spectrum.

You can find similar barstools as Joanna used in the kitchen at Target.  A set of two of these barstools are only $90.  The hole at the top that you always see in these type of seats, are so you can put your hand in there and easily carry the barstool with one hand.  :)  You can also find them on Overstock.com in a variety of colors.

Carlisle Metal Barstool

The wall clock collage was a fun little twist on wall decor.  It's nice to create interesting artwork out of something besides pictures and posters all the time.  The KEY to making this work, is that all of the clocks are of similar style -- retro, modern.  This way, they coordinate and go together, yet each is unique to one another. 

You can find similar wall clocks to these at places like West Elm, IKEA, and Target.  

Modern Wall Clock Red - West Elm

IKEA Pugg Walk Clock

Geneva Plastic Wall Clock - Target

Moving on to the Family Room......

Gray and yellow is such a classic color combo these days!  It's definitely going to be here to stay.  Yellow can go a looooong way, so just a couple pops of yellow in a space can easily brighten a neutral room.

All 4 yellow pillows shown above in the family room are from West Elm.  

Crewel Circlet Pillow Cover in Horseradish

Scalloped Crewel Pillow in Horseradish

Fake plants are my #1 decor item that I buy all the time and use in every single decorating project I do.  I think each room in your home deserves either a real plants or a fake plant.  Thinking about it now.....every room of my house has a plant -- even the bathrooms!  You can never have too many.

However, with that said, I also find them to be very hard to find for a reasonable price.  I will always have my beloved IKEA plants!! :)  I just picked up 10 last week on a random trip to IKEA. But IKEA is 2 hours away for me.  I can't run there every time I need a plant for a client project.

So, I have found a few alternatives that I am enjoying as close runner-ups.

Artificial Grass Wood Planter Box

You may have seen this one on my Instagram page this week!  I really like the rustic feel with the wood planter box.  And if you have never seen this site, beware, I got sucked in and was looking at everything!!!

Hobby Lobby has a good selection of fake potted plants, but this is my favorite that I use a lot!

Plastic Boxwood in White Ceramic Pot

Fun fact of the day:  Are you familiar with the designer Holly Mathis?  You may know her blog or follow her on Instagram like I do.   Well, I found out her brother is Jimmy Don (I love that name) that makes all of the iron work on The Fixer Upper!  What a creative family!   I thought that was an interesting tid-bit!!! :)

You can see all of the photos and more products used in the Raggedy Ranch from the Magnolia shop on Joanna's blog.    Did you watch THIS week's episode yet?!?  I haven't watched it yet, so no spoiler's!  But I plan to blog about it later this week!!

Book of DIY Gallery Wall Prints

I am pretty excited about the newest items I found at Hobby Lobby this week!!!  Prints for a gallery wall can be hard to find and can get pricey.  I love the look of a gallery wall filled with pictures, prints of quotes and art images, mixed in with found objects.  It can be challenging and time consuming, not to mention pricey to find those perfect prints on Etsy or other online sites.  There are lots of prints out there on Pinterest that can even be printed from home.  But lets face it, they just don't look the same as a professional print on Etsy or one that you would buy from a store.  Well, I have found the answer!!!

Hobby Lobby now sells these books of prints!

You get 30-35 prints of all different sizes ranging from 11x14 to 4x6 all in one book. You can hang them together for a cohesive look or use one or two prints in a gallery wall to add a little character to your collage.  You get the entire book for only $14.99!!!  :)

The book even gives you over 30 ideas and arrangements on how to hang your gallery wall.

There are 7 different books in the collection all together -- Quotes Collection to Chalkboard Collection.  I couldn't decide which one to get, so I bought all 7!!! :)  (and I don't regret it for a minute!!)

And I am even more excited that these first 2 books feature multiple gold foil prints!

Surprisingly, the quality of the prints were better than expected.  Each print is on a very thick cardboard, card stock paper.  And the smaller prints are perforated for easy removable from the book.

and some of the gold foil.......which are my favorite.......

Now I just have to decide which to add to my gallery wall....

I decided to go with this simple ampersand that looks like it has been painted on a book page.

I couldn't stop at just one......I added this yellow 4x6 print too.  I looks perfect with the yellow accents I have in my house and the yellow dresses of my bridesmaids in our wedding photos!

(I finally found a permanent spot for my deer head I bought as Christmas decor!)

And since it is March and St. Patrick's Day will be here in a couple of weeks, I thought I would frame this "lucky" print from the book as well. 

I've always loved the idea of framing scrapbook paper for easy, affordable art, but this just takes it to a whole new level! I will definitely be using these in client designs in the future.