My Rules for a Gallery Wall

>>>>>>This post is in partnership with Crafted Prints.  All words and opinions are 100% my own.

My office is one of the first rooms you see when you walk into our house. It was supposed to be a formal living room, but the president only comes over to visit me like, twice a year, so I claimed it for myself. I’m sure he won’t mind.

Anyway, we’ve only been in our house for a year, and everything is still very beige and also beige. But the office is front and center, so I’m ever so slowly trying to give it a little boost of personality here and there.

You saw my gigantor bookshelf makeover already, and now I’m fiddling around with a gallery wall on the opposite side of the room.

Still a work in progress, but here’s what I’ve got so far:

Just a bunch of colorful fun stuff that I like looking at! That’s the number one rule of gallery walls: start with stuff you like to look at.

 

I have a few homages to Arizona, with this painting I found at the thrift-store and that little cactus print in the white frame. And also some good vibes. And the moon. Why not.

The number two rule of gallery walls is to keep it cohesive. I used a lot of black, white, gold and pink to tie the randomness together.

The number three rule of gallery walls is to have something on your wall that requires an explanation. That way your wall can be a good conversation starter. I am making up these rules as I go, can you tell? But I think they are still good rules.

Anyway, people always ask me to explain that YES print. Well, here’s the story: Allegedly, when John Lennon met Yoko Ono for the first time, it was at an art gallery where she was exhibiting her art. As he went through the gallery, he noticed that everyone’s art was really angry and negative and anti-this and anti-that. Then he came to one of Yoko’s exhibits. It was a ladder with a spy glass at the top that you had to hang backwards on and look through upside down.

He climbed up the ladder and looked upside down through the spy glass, and inside it simply said YES. And he was struck by the positivity and optimism of it, and I always thought that was a cool story. So there is a big hot pink positive affirmation on my wall. Yay optimism!

 

 

The number four rule of gallery walls is to make it personal. You don’t want to be one of those people who hangs up a bunch of frames and then never actually puts their own photos in them.  I know some of those people. Stock photography that came with the frame on their walls for YEARS! I don’t understand it.

Especially when it couldn’t be easier to order your own photos. I ordered all my square prints from Crafted Prints, and I love them so much! Probably the best online printing company I’ve tried, and I’ve tried a LOT.

Super high quality, the colors are so vivid, and it’s easier than easy. The site can pull all the photos from your Instagram and Facebook accounts, then you just check your favorites and next thing you know, they are delivered to your door in a brown paper package tied up with string. No joke. That’s really how they arrive:

 

So cute.

If you could reach through your screen and feel these prints, you would immediately notice the quality. Crafted Prints uses a matte lamination process that protects the photo’s surface while still giving it a soft matte finish.  They make my humble Instagram snaps look and feel professional!

They also offer vintage Polaroid-style prints and these adorable 50-page ‘pocketbooks’ above.

And one more thing … magnets! Crafted Prints doesn’t skimp on the quality here either – they are thick and glossy and backed with metal which makes them extra sturdy.  Nice, because my kids can’t seem to keep their hands off of mine.

So check out Crafted Prints and get your beloved pictures off your devices and into your life! It couldn’t be easier, and I know you’ll be so pleased with this product.

Plus, you can save 10% right now with the code CRAFTED-QSTOV.

The fifth rule of the gallery wall is to have a secret! My wall has a secret. Can you see what it is??? If you look hard enough at the picture above and paid attention to this post, you’ll probably figure it out.  If not, I’ll tell you soon enough!!

 

Happy weekend friends!