New Gallery Wall + Tips and Tricks to Hang Your Own

I hope you all had a good weekend after a short work week.  I think every week should only be three days, I am so much more productive! :)

My big project over Christmas vacation was to hang a gallery wall in our master bedroom.  Good timing too since my fiance took notice that our guest bedroom was more decorated than our bedroom.  That statement sounded like permission to pound all sorts of holes in our walls so I went for it!

Here is what the space looked like before I hung the wall.

Yep, definitely some un-used wall space but I wanted to put some thought into what I wanted to do with it before pounding holes. As much as I like to change things and move them around, I am learning that I need to leave things alone for a little awhile.

I had some great pictures from our summer vacation that I turned black and white and recently bought a few printables for $5.00 each as a fundraiser and here is what I came up with!

Oh yeah... I did a little water color painting too and re-purposed the large "LOVE" print from our dining room. (Yes, that means I hung up something new there too. I'll save that for another post...)  I love the outcome, it is so fresh, clean and personal! :)  I bought most of the frames from Target and a few Canopy brand frames from Walmart.

Believe it or not, I didn't pound any extra holes in the wall!  I really took time to think out my game-plan before I started swinging the hammer.  Here are the tools you need and a few tips and tricks to make it easy on yourself.

Levels - small and large

Pencil

Hammer

Tape measure

Nails

Magic eraser

(tape, tweezer, staplegun for frame repairs)

Here are a few tips that will help to make hanging a gallery wall a little easier for you.

1. Create your layout on the floor first and then snap a picture of it with your phone so you remember what you want it to look like.

2. Hang your largest picture at eye level first since it is more than likely your focal point.  You can more easily hang the rest of your pictures from there. 

3. It's easier to hang your gallery wall pictures randomly (not in a straight or level line) It will leave a lot less room for errors (and extra holes in your walls), I promise.

4. Magic erasers work great for cleaning up extra marks and scuffs. :)