Master Bedroom Reveal… Finally.

I have been talking about this dang gallery wall for… what? Four months now? Six? I’m not even sure any more. Matthew and I have been working on our master bedroom since we moved in two and a half years ago, and by working on it I mean I was stalling and “brainstorming” and collecting frames and then collecting things to go in the frames and then finding reasons why I should put off putting the things in the frames because, honestly, this project was a smidgen overwhelming at times. BUT, I could not be more happy with our completed room. We wanted to go for an awesome, Hogwarts-esque feel to the gallery wall (Harry Potter nerds, unite!) and I am reminded of my favorite novels every time I enter the room. Cool.

Matthew seriously amazed me with his work on this space. He hung all the items on the wall (with my superivision, of course—except for the ram head—he waited ‘til I was out and then “surprised” me with it when I got home), and he single handedly wainscoted the walls and bead-boarded the ceiling. Blood, sweat, and tears were poured over this bedroom, I assure you. (Blood and sweat were Matthew’s, tears were mine.)  Hope you enjoy it! I’ve included more specifics and tips at the end of this post—hope they answer any questions you might have. :)

Tips on building your own gallery wall:

+ Accept that it will likely be a process. If you want to stay within a reasonable budget, it will take a while to find all of the items for your wall. I collected frames and pictures from antique stores, garage sales, and sales at stores like Wal-Mart, the Pottery Barn outlet, and Aaron Brothers. A good chunk of the frames we wound up with were from a “buy one, get one for a penny” sale at Aaron Brothers.  Other frames and pictures were things Matthew and I already had when we got married.

+ Keep all your pictures inside the frames in a similar color scheme. I tried to avoid really bold colored pictures, and went with mostly white or cream colored or black and whites to keep things cohesive and not too overwhelming.

+ I found some cool prints (like the Expecto Patronum one) in Etsy shops, but buying lots of prints can get pricey. I printed some of my own photos and also framed antique book pages and pages I tore out of a couple old botanical print books and even a book of piano music I found at an antique store. This saved LOADS of money. I also found that Wal-mart was one of the cheapest places to finds mats for the frames.

+ Hang bunches of dried flowers or wheat in large, empty frames. You can find these types of frames at antique stores or yard sales for great prices sometimes, and things like wheat can be picked and bundled together for free. Matthew and I picked our wheat in a field last week!

+ When it comes time to put together all your frames, start in the middle and work your way out. You can set up a general grid of the pictures on the floor before you start, and then take a picture of them so you don’t forget how they were arranged when you start to put everything up. And remember, you don’t have to have all the frames and pictures together before you start hanging them! We started with what we had on hand, and at that point it was only a handful of pictures right above our bed. The collection grew and grew over time, until finally it was complete.

Room Specs:
+ Paint color: Brown Buzz by Valspar (from Lowe’s). Ironic, because it’s not at all brown!
+ Antlers from the family ranch
+ Duvet and throw blanket from Pottery Barn
+ I bought my “Love” twiggy letters from a shop here in town a couple years ago, but I did a quick search online and also found them here and similar here. I’m sure you could find more with a little bit of digging.

Thanks for stopping by our home! :)