So the walls remain naked, or frames remain propped up on top of shelves. The kitchen is the easiest place for me to commit to hanging things, likely due to the permanence of arrangements in there.
All of this makes Jeremy crazy. He thinks a home doesn't look like home 'til there's things up on the walls. So this week I tackled a gallery wall in the staircase.
Here's the before.
First I selected all of my pictures and got them into frames, most of which I had already collected. Most of the frames were either black or white, and the photos were either vintage family photos in faded tones, or recent photos in black and white. I then cut a piece of paper the same size as the frame and labeled it with who the picture was of, and what direction was up, and the color of the frame. And then I went to arranging them on the wall using scotch tape. I didn't have a system or plan for this. I just sort of eyeballed it, trying to keep the bottom frame eye level to whatever step I was standing on.
I put mirrors at the bottom by the front door, 'cause y'know, you've got to check yourself before you head out to greet the world.
Have you ever seen stairs wrapped in carpet this way? It looks like moss growth or something. It's awful. Wishing I could rip it all up and put risers like Centsational Girl did with her stairs.
I then just hung the frames over the taped up paper, pulling the paper off once I was satisfied with the placement.
A few of the frames were not originally intended for wall hanging, as they only had the stand on the back for sitting on furniture (or wherever you choose to place your frames), so they required self-leveling hooks or these handy dandy 3M command strips velcro thingys. I am in love with these. I kinda wish now I'd found these before I started the whole project, they were SO easy! (and no they're not paying me to say this)
Like this one stubborn ikea frame that WOULD NOT hang straight. I just cut one of these velcro things in half longwise, or hotdog style if that makes sense to you in a middleschooler kind of way, and viola!
That is a a picture of my folks the day they eloped. They called their friends and said they were going to be at the riverhouse (a family vacation home on the San Bernard River) at 10 AM the following morning, and everyone was welcome to join. My mom's dress was $13 and my dad's boutonniere is made out of artificial flowers. Their cake came from Safeway. And they're still married today 30 years and counting. I love that photo and I love that it's one of the first things you see when you walk in the house. And I love that I have a place for a lot of our family photos for everyone to see. I think it adds so much character and warmth to the stairway. Don't you?
The color on the walls is Wood Smoke Gray by Glidden, and I think it is the perfect gray. I'm absolutely dying to paint the front door. What color should I go for? Glossy black? Or something more adventurous?
