Photo Gallery Wall - Up the Stairs

I am finally putting together a family photo gallery wall going up the second floor stairs in my house, something I have wanted to do for a long time! Last week I culled through all of our pictures to decide which ones to use and I need to go through them one more time to make the final cut, but that is a very doable, less daunting task. I also purchased the frames (white Ribba frames from Ikea), I am starting with 12 frames of varying sizes. I will later decide if I want to expand from there with more frames, or just change out the pictures over time.

Here are some inspiration photos, the first to show the white frames, the second to show the gallery wall up the stairs:


This is the plan I am going to follow:
There is a wealth of information about how to hang photo gallery walls on the internet, here are some of the best tips I have found that will be useful for my project:
  • If your pictures don't fit in the mats that come with your frames, just have custom ones made, or cut them yourself.
  • Mimic the staircase lines with the frames (as shown in the plan above).
  • Measure, on every second or third step, the distance from the frame to the stair to make sure it has the same distance consistently (as shown in the plan above).
  • Space frames 1" to 2" apart. It just so happens, the triangle protectors that come with the Ikea Ribba frames are about 1.5" and can be used as spacers.
  • To hang the pictures, use the paint stirrer and nail trick, explained here
  • Use wax paper (several long pieces taped together) to outline your frames and hanging mechanism, then tape the wax paper it to your wall as a guide, explained here
  • If the pictures aren't hanging straight, or the frames did not come with a hanging mechanism, use 3M command adhesive velcro strips.
  • For frames with two hooks on the back (like some Ikea frames), use a piece of painter's tape to mark where they are and thus where the nails should go, then place the tape on the wall and level the tape. 
Have you done a gallery wall in your house? Do you have any tips for us rookies? I will let you know how my project turns out.

xoxo,
Leah

No comments:

Post a Comment