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A Gallery Wall Update + Our Go-To Framing Guide

fauxdenza | ottoman | navy rug | sectional | C-table | plaid throw

Any time we post a photo of one of our home’s gallery walls (either in an Instagram square or through a Story), our inbox immediately fills with requests for a link to the (old) post(s), questions on where we bought XY or Z frame, or most recently, I had no idea you had a frame wall there! Details, please! 

We have three gallery walls throughout our home, with one in the living room and two in the studio. The living room is by far the oldest (we completed it more than 3 years ago), and we realized that some of our newer readers may have never seen us debate versions one or two! So much has changed since we hung that first round – a new table, chairs, rug and wall color! – but to give you an idea of where I’m talking about, our home’s original gallery wall fills an expanse of wall between the living and dining rooms:

The gallery is filled with prints from our own shop, gifts from friends and vintage finds. As a fun, heart-burst inducing update, we swapped two of the pictures with shots from our newborn photoshoot with little Lucy (a sweet gift from our close friend Renee), there on the bottom left and top right. See them? We have a feeling this won’t be the last time either! After printing one of our favorites in a 16″ x 20″ size (and wondering if I was already going off the deep end – ha!), Scott realized that the large photo was, funnily enough, life-sized. We shared this video in an Instagram story – 2 weeks versus 9 weeks! – and it still cracks us up. Every. Time. Note: We actually took the old photo to hang in Tree House, frame and all, and we purchased the exact same brass frame to replace the gap that was left behind.

And here are the two gallery walls we have upstairs, below! The one above the fauxdenza is intentionally layered behind the television, inspired by Cup of Jo’s living room. We shared the making of that wall here (including our tips and tricks for getting everything just so), and that perfect grid – a collection of vintage photographs – can be found right here.

You’ll notice that in the two larger gallery walls in our home, we’ve enjoyed mixing up the frame colors and styles, opting for a collection of old and new – whether that’s the frames themselves or the artwork that fills them. On the other hand, the grid of vintage photographs has always been one of our favorite displays, especially when paired with the more organic cluster of work on the adjacent wall. Below, we’re sharing some of our favorite framing resources that we’ve used time and time again in our home.

1| Retail

If you’re looking for an alternative to everyone’s favorite IKEA RIBBA, these are the frames we’re always reaching for (plus the ones we have our eyes on!).

2| Custom

We’ve worked with Framebridge more times than we can count, both for ourselves and for family and friends! They take the pain out of custom framing, and whether we’ve digitally uploaded a photo for them to print or we mail in a print, we’ve always been thrilled with the results. Their print quality is top notch, and their packaging is always beautifully done – great for gifts! (And hands down, my favorite is when they donated the pretty entryway print for our redesign of the One Tail at a Time Adoption Center.) Here’s a handful of our favorite styles that we have around our home or we’ve given to others:

3| Vintage

While we have our favorite go-to retailers, sometimes you can’t beat a beautifully patina-ed vintage frame! Every time we go to a flea market, we have photo frames and mirrors on our list. You can see how we mixed in vintage frames in this very old gallery wall (memories!), a tutorial on how we salvage frames (especially when we’re missing parts), and of course the most recent, the antique mirrors in our nursery!

Also…

  • We like to put these rubber bumpers on the bottom two corners of our frames, which prevents them from slipping around or going crooked. There’s always a stack of these in our workshop, at the ready.
  • Drywall screws are our best friends! We like that they’re more secure than a tack nail, and the head of the screw is more substantial, too.
  • Plus, here’s a trick using a paint stick we’ve been using for years.

We’re lovers of all styles of gallery walls, and although some have questioned whether they’re on their way out, we say, do what you love! They make us smile every day.

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  • Paige Flamm4.10.18 - 8:48 AM

    I love your gallery wall! We noticed the other day that our new home has so many windows in the main living ares that we don’t really have any good wall space to put artwork or family photos, which makes me a little sad!

    Paige
    http://thehappyflammily.comReplyCancel

    • Kim4.10.18 - 9:02 AM

      Oh, no! Tabletop picture frames will have to be your best friend!ReplyCancel

  • Jane4.10.18 - 9:50 AM

    Have you guys thought about putting pictures in the walls in the stairways?ReplyCancel

    • Kim4.10.18 - 11:09 AM

      We have talked about that! I think family photos in stairways are always so cute. We’ve even talked about adding paneling to the stairway/hall as well, and the photos could go above that. Eventually!ReplyCancel

      • Jane4.10.18 - 11:18 PM

        Please post a blog if you decide to put hang pictures on the stairway!ReplyCancel

  • Zoe4.11.18 - 5:55 PM

    I read this post yesterday and went home and used the paint stick method to successfully hang a piece of art! It even passed my super handy bf’s test, he works in construction and thought it was a really smart trick. Heads up that Aaron Brothers are going out of business and EVERYTHING is on sale. I bought some really nice frames last weekend! My fav is the Sydney.ReplyCancel

    • Kim4.12.18 - 10:13 AM

      Oh I’m so happy to hear this! We’ve been using the paint stick for years. It’s such a simple little hack!ReplyCancel

  • Mjbythebay4.14.18 - 8:44 AM

    That paint stick trick is genius!ReplyCancel

  • Picture Frames UK6.19.20 - 4:35 AM

    That’s exactly what I am searching for. Your custom frame collection is really amazing. Thanks for sharing this post.ReplyCancel

  • Zoe3.3.23 - 3:30 PM

    Oh no! The link to the picture hanging trick is broken! Can you fix? ReplyCancel

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We’re Kim + Scott, Chicago based content creators behind the Home + Lifestyle brand Yellow Brick Home.

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