diy picture hanging & living room reveal
The big project I wanted to complete before Noah’s first birthday party was a redesign of the living room walls which included new frames and new family pictures (you can see part one of our living room transformation HERE). Traditionally hanging anything on the wall is a huge ordeal at our house. Nothing ever comes out exactly the way we want it and we normally end up with a few too many holes. With Mike in school and working as much as he does, I knew I couldn’t expect him to give up an entire Saturday holding frames against the wall while I tried to eyeball it.
Besides, this was a project I wanted to tackle on my own :).
Awhile back I came across THIS post at Craftaholics Anonymous demonstrating how to hang glass plates. I snagged Linda’s pattern idea for my living room redesign and using pieces of wax paper taped together, traced out and cut patterns for all the frames I wanted on the wall. After arranging all the pieces on the wall I gave myself a few days to really settle on their placement.
To hang lighter frames I used a good old hammer and nail. To find the correct placement of each nail, I measured the distance from the top of the frame to the hanger (on the back of the frame) and from the side of the frame to the hanger (again on the back of the frame – each frame was different). I used those measurements to make a mark on the wax paper on the wall. The nail was tapped into the wall right on the mark through the wax paper.
It worked perfectly! For the entire wall, I only made one mistake and that was because I second guessed my first measurement (which happened to be the right one).
To hang the heavier frames I used a hand drill, anchors and screws (the anchor package will tell you what size drill bit to use). I held a damp cloth under the spot where I drilled into the wall to catch debris. Once the hole was made, I tapped the anchor in flush with the wall, and then used the drill to put the screw in.
I hung frames at a slow pace with Elijah’s help during the course of several of Noah’s morning naps. Once I started getting frames on the wall I selected pictures and used post-its to arrange them while I was waiting for mpix to deliver my prints.
But the gallery wall was not my only project :). I used the same pattern idea for a wall sconce, picture ledge, and large picture frame on another wall in the living room as well . . .
— And now for the big reveal —
WALL SCONCE
Wall sconce from Khol’s circa 2006.
GALLERY WALL
Large multi-picture frames made by my Uncle Rich as a wedding present.
2-8X10’s & 4-multi 4X6 inch frames purchased at Menards for $20 total.
Remaining frames were purchased at Walmart or Michaels.
Photo courtesy of Mindy from a {day} with lil mama stuart.
PHOTO LEDGE WALL
Photo ledge pieced together from 4 spray-painted inPlace Stafford Shelves from Menards.
Large “T” and “Family” piece from Hobby Lobby circa 2007.
Live*Laugh*Love frame from Khol’s circa 2009.
Brown frame made by my Uncle Rich as a baby gift (to be spray painted soon).
Remaining frames were purchased at Walmart or Michaels.
While I have learned the fine art of hanging frames, I’m not so good at shelving . . . so I enlisted Michael’s help. He appreciated the patterns. The shelves went up with no hassle.
Photo courtesy of Mindy from a {day} with lil mama stuart.
We have been LOVING our living room and it looked exactly the way we wanted it to for Noah’s first birthday party. Mission accomplished :).