Update: This gallery wall has gone through a few more updates. To see the latest look, click {HERE}.
Over the weekend, we finally finished our gallery wall so today I’m sharing with you the BEFORE and AFTER photos of this project!
Many months ago, we sold our TV cabinet and opted to mount the TV to the wall on a large, articulating arm. We wanted to accomplish this project quickly and with minimal cost and so chose not to hide the cords thinking that I might be able to artfully hide them with decor. Nothing like a challenge, right?!
The wall our TV is mounted on is just a small section of wall in the corner of our family room, so there isn’t a lot of space to work with and I knew from the get-go that the TV would dominate the space. Here’s a look at the “Before”.
I know…yikes! And that *blah* wall color isn’t doing anything to help matters, but painting this part of the house isn’t going to happen in the foreseeable future.
Ever since we hung the TV I knew I wanted to surround it with art so that it felt less like it was floating alone on the wall and more like it was part of a grouping. I love having family photos around, as well as images that represent our family, so, over time, I’ve been purchasing framed art, as well as empty frames, that I could include as part of a gallery wall; however, since I like a collected look, I wanted to include a few other elements. Finding these other elements has proven to be a challenge, though! Luckily, I found the last couple of pieces at the antique faire last weekend and so was finally able to put the wall together.
In a previous post, I gave tips for creating a collected gallery wall. With those tips in mind, when I started shopping, my criteria for the elements were as follows:
- All pieces needed to stay in the brown, black, white and creme color scheme in order to maintain a consistent feel among varying pieces.
- There needs to be some uniformity among the frame sizes, so I needed at least 2 of any given size.
- Objects should be included in addition to framed pieces.
- Only things that I really loved could be included.
One of my favorite framed pieces that I found is this schematic of the Eiffel Tower that is in a floating frame. I also really like this image of the moon because it reminds me of my husband’s astrophotography. Now before you think I’ve left his work off of this wall, let me assure you that I’ll be swapping out one of the images for one of his nebula pictures, but we haven’t gotten around to having one printed just yet.
I love, love, love clocks and was excited to find this old clock face from France at the antique faire last weekend. (Okay, between you and me, just by looking at it, there’s really no way to tell it’s from France so I feel like I paid more for the history than for the clock face itself, which is rather nondescript. But it is made out of metal and most new clock faces that are made to look old tend to be made from cardboard or pressboard, so the fact that it’s metal is a plus, right?)
I was also thrilled to find these two street signs! The brown/black one is an original street sign from L.A. in the 1930’s and the other is a vintage porcelain sign. I chose these two because their coloring works well with my scheme and they also add just a bit of the industrial look that my husband loves.
I also purchased an assortment of pieces that were medium- and small-sized to help fill in the wall. I was able to finally frame my grandmother’s leather baby gloves in one of the frames!
When I finally found a layout that I liked, I started hanging everything on the wall. (I have a really easy method for both finding a layout and hanging it on the wall, so I’ll share that with you in a separate post soon.) Now that it’s finished, here’s a look at our updated TV space:
You might notice that the TV is hung a bit higher than normal above the console and that’s because we have a chair that sits in front of it. We also usually angle the TV so that it faces the sofa and kitchen.
I feel like the whole room looks different now and the TV no longer looks so lonely in the corner.
For other ideas on how to disguise your flat screen TV, you can read my previous post here. I should also mention that all of the art and frames are from HomeGoods, as is the media console, which helped to keep the cost of this project low. Never hesitate to shop at discount stores for wall art. They have great pieces and even if you don’t like the art, you can always change it out for something else and still nab a great deal on the frame! (I am in no way affiliated with HomeGoods or sponsored by them, but I always love to share my favorite shopping haunts with you!)
Now that this is done, maybe I’ll finally get around to some of the other projects on my list!
Sharing At: The Dedicated House, Knick of Time Tuesday, Home Stories A to Z, Not Just a Housewife, Hope Studios, Savvy Southern Style, French Country Cottage, Jennifer Rizzo, Tatertots & Jello
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Saw you on dedicated house, love your gallery wall they can tricky, great job!
I pinned!
Thanks for stopping by from The Dedicated House and leaving a comment; I really appreciate it!!
I just saw your feature at The Dedicated House and had to come over for a better look! Every element is fantastic and I just pinned!
This is stunning!! Absolutely LOVE it!
Thank you!! :)
You’ve done an amazing job! It’s perfect! Thank you for sharing. You will be one of the features tomorrow at the Make it Pretty Monday party at The Dedicated House. Pop on in and grab a feature button for your blog. Hope to see your prettiness again tomorrow at the bash! Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse
Thank you so much, Kathryn!!!!! So excited!
Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous :) If you have a minute, stop by and share at my new link party, Everyday Vintage. Your style is the perfect fit. Would love to see you there!
http://heleneslegacy.blogspot.com/2013/11/everyday-vintage-link-party.html
Lisa @ Helene’s Legacy
Thank you, Lisa! I love vintage so I’ll definitely visit your site.
I love it! I have been wanting to do the wall behind my TV and you just gave me the inspiration! Just found your site from the Top This Top That post.
Hi Linda – Thank you so much for visiting from Top This Top That and good luck with your wall gallery!
this looks great, the tv almost disappears!
Thank you! I do really feel that the TV sort-of blends into the wall…
your wall turned out amazing! featuring in my weekly wow’s on friday.
Thank you SO much Laura! (Doing the dance of joy!) :)
Kim, I LOVE this gallery wall. Those are hard to do you you did a grand one. Love the mix of items you used. Also love that leather chair.
Thank you so much! I just linked up to your party!
This is really beautiful..Are you going to cover the wires also? Lov this idea!
Thank you, Reina! Someday we’ll probably get around to poking the cords through the wall – probably when we paint – but that will be quite a while from now… So many projects, so little time!
I absolutely love it. Great combination of frames and other items. I want to do this in our master bedroom but my husband thinks the frames will distract him from actually watching to TV.
Hi Andrea – Thank you so much! To be honest, one of the reasons that I went with the black/neutral color palette was so that it wouldn’t be distracting, as that was a concern of mind, too. Now that it’s been up for a couple of days and we’ve been watching TV, we haven’t found the frames to be distracting when the TV is on, but they sure help with the overall look when the TV is off! :)
Hello! Stopping by from Show Me What Ya got and I just love your gallery wall! So unique and interesting!
Thank you for visiting and for your kind comments!
That looks great, Kim! What a difference! Everything works together so well, too. Love the street signs.
Thank you, Kathy!
That looks fantastic! You did such a nice job with the gallery wall. It looks very Pottery Barnish. ;)
Thanks, Stacey! :)
This looks fabulous!!! I’ve been thinking about doing something similar in our living room… I love the way you arranged all the pictures, everything is put together beautifully!!! Great job!
Thank you, Maria! I’ll be doing a post soon that shows an easy way to arrange and hang everything that worked well for me on this project. Stay tuned…!
Hi there – that looks so great!!! I love every thing you hung! WOW. :) Julia
Thank you so much, Julia!
I saw your link at The Dedicated House and I am so going to do this! I have the same kind of wall and I can’t stand it’s blah with the antennas sticking up. You’ve inspired me! Thanks for sharing.
Mary
Mary – Thank you so much for stopping by from The Dedicated House and taking the time to leave a comment. Decorating around a TV can definitely be tricky but a blank wall can really make the TV look lonely, can’t it?! Please keep me posted how your wall turns out! :)
Wow! It looks wonderful. You have a great eye for mixing different items!
Thank you, Tasha!!
Kim it all works really well!
So much more interesting than the blank wall with TV. If you’re after real French items, you may be interested in my FRENCH MARKET FINDS shop on Etsy…I regularly visit the brocante markets and just love it! I love too, the creative styling you do with these lovely finds – so inspiring and beautiful!
Just click on my post name – Jill to take a look… Thank you!
Thanks, Jill! I like it better than the blank wall, too. :) Love your Etsy shop (cute zinc stencils you have!) and am so jealous that you get to travel and shop at such amazing places! I’ll keep an eye on the items you have as I’m always on the hunt for “new” vintage treasures.
Thanks so much Kim…looking forward to seeing how your guest bedroom turns out.
We now live in Provence, having moved from England just over a year ago and have a new blog about our life here, which you may wish to follow. http://www.ourfrenchappetite.blogspot.com Best wishes.
LOVE this! Also Im your newest follower! Everything just owns its place and lends such wonderful character to your space! Great job.
Thank you, Deidre, and thanks for following!