I can't tell you how many ideas I considered for the wall behind the television.
(in case you don't believe me, here's proof....)
This is one of several considerations. (Those are cutouts of wrapping paper of various things I was considering). I't could have turned out really well, but I wasn't completely sold. So I went back to the drawing board
(once again).
I don't know why it took so long to make up my mind. Maybe it's that I wanted to do something
different. Maybe it's the fact that I hate putting holes in the wall (and we're not talking one little hole here.... we're talking about a lot of 'em) makes me anxious. Maybe it's because whatever ends up hanging on this wall could potentially crash on top of our vintage dresser and tv - ruling out some of my wilder ideas (which I will spare you). But for whatever reason, that bare wall just kept calling out
"C'mon, Erin... Please... Do
something..." So I decided to keep it fairly simple with a grouping of seven frames: five above the television, and one on each side.
Here's how the process went, and some details about resources that might be helpful if you're planning one yourself.
The frames. I decided large (14x18) frames would do the trick, but after shopping around I realized seven frames that size could get crazy expensive, fast. If I was
certain that I would be in love with this wall for years, I would be willing to invest in some nicer pieces. But I
ain't real certain, Paw, so I wanted to tackle this as inexpensively as possible in case I change my mind down the road (for whatever reason). On top of that, I couldn't find 14x18 frames in the big box stores.
Thank goodness my little fingers can walk all over the inter-web to find some deals. I finally found simple gold frames
here for $14.44 (plus shipping, about $17) a pop!
The art. Believe it or not, I bought the frames before I even knew what I wanted to go inside them. I was at a point where I was determined to move forward, and reasoned that even if I used the free art sources I posted about awhile back (
here and
here), we would be moving in the right direction, and that empty wall wouldn't be driving me bananas.
Shortly afterward (and completely by luck), I stumbled upon
Dreamery Studio and kne
w I found the answer. Such a charming idea: "Vintage illustration is printed on a page from a tattered antique book. The page has beautiful golden patina of old age and nostalgic charm to it."
Talk about incredible selection and great prices. They're around $8.50 a print, and I snagged a buy three, get one free deal) to make the deal even sweeter. I chose a combination of black and white and color images for some extra interest and moved on the next step.
Matting + Art, Part II. Next, I set out to find equally good deal on the matting. You pretty much need to go custom for 14x18 mats to 8x10 size, so I was seeing dollar signs all over again. Eventually
I bought custom mats for the prints online here. I ordered eight (the minimum) at $3.13/piece! The shipping was $10, so it was all done at around $35. Super-cheap for this large custom mats!
I measured another 8x10 mat that I already had hanging for the inside dimensions and waited for everything to come together. But sadly, when the prints were delivered they were too small! SAD! NO! I was almost done! Apparently the matting I measured wasn't a standard size. (What are the odds?) So I contacted Jo at Dreamery Studio to see what we should do. You guys - I can't
tell you how helpful she was. Not only did she insist on replacing them without charging me again, but she also hand-selected books with larger pages so they would be large enough for the mats I ordered and let me choose the format (two column v. three column, etc.).
As if that wasn't enough, she emailed m
e the sweetest idea (even though it meant more work for her!): "I was thinking since we are most likely be using the dictionary pages, you could perhaps choose a dozen or so of desired words, like happy, love, passion, etc..."
After weeding through the pages that were too heavy on illustrations to work with the prints, we were done. I had art that is not only full of character and interest - but also full of meaning for our home. *smiles*
Hanging It Up! I was planning on doing a step-by-step of the process of hanging and arranging these, but my process didn't go too smoothly. I was originally planning on using Command strips, which I tested on one frame. The frame ended up falling off the wall and I ended up changing game plans. So I'll just give you a couple of tips that worked for me.
1. Paper cut-outs. I cut out some wrapping paper and hung it on the wall to get the spacing and leveling just right.
2. A new toy! This
Hang & Level picture hanging tool really helped me out, too.
This video does a great job explaining how to use it.
And finally, here she is.
Remember the lonely blank wall from ages ago?:
 |
Gallery Wall Behind TV -- After |
Here's a close-up of the one of the pages.
What do you have on the wall behind your television? Any experience working with gallery walls or good resources for frames, art, matting?