gallery wall

Piper’s Playground: Frame Wall

January 16, 2013

Earlier this week, I blogged about one of my clients, Piper’s Plaground. And today, I get to give you a quick glimpse at their progress.

In the toddler area of this indoor playground, the owners wanted to create a frame wall with empty, brightly painted frames in different sizes and shapes.

Here are a few inspiration photo’s…

via

via

Let’s look at a before picture of Piper’s Playground very early on in the process…..

Kim and Katie, the owners, purchased some great play equipment and couches for this particular area. After some furniture placement and painting, the room looked like this….

And here is the frame wall after….

Do you want to create a similar look in your home?

1. start collecting frames of different shapes and sizes

2. remove glass and backs of frames

2. gather spray paint in a variety of colors that coordinate with your room {I selected 5 colors for this room}.

3. start spray painting

{Spray painting can be very tedious and time consuming. Make sure you spray thin layers so the paint doesn’t run or drip. Therefore several coats of paint may be necessary.}

Once you’re spray painting is complete, d-rings or other hardware may need to be attached to the backs of the frames. {Remember you just removed the backs of the frames, and that’s often where the hanging hardware is attached.}

When the frames were ready, I laid them on the floor to create a look that worked best with the wall. Once I was satisfied with the layout, I started hanging them on the wall!

I created a much smaller version of the open frames in another room at Piper’s Playground as well. The owners had a bird painting, but the wall needed a bit more. So I bought eight frames and painted them colors that coordinated with the painting.

It’s a more simple look but equally as fun!

Do you think this is a look that would work in your space?!

* * * For those that live in the greater Olympia area, Piper’s Playground opens up this Friday, January 18th, 2013!!! * * *

jen

By Jen 2 Comments Filed Under: client projects, gallery wall, tutorials

Gallery Wall

May 23, 2012

Today I was able to help a friend hang some pictures in her house. She has a narrow hallway leading to the bedrooms that she wanted to fill with different frames and wall decor.

I always use the floor below the wall as a blank canvas. By laying the frames on the floor, I can move them around as if it’s a puzzle. Trying one layout. Moving a picture here or there until I come up with a display that flows and fits the wall.

For example, today I started with this this arrangement…

{photo disclaimer: I only had my iphone today hence the low quality photo’s.}

The layout wasn’t working for me, so pictures were moved around and a small cross added…

That didn’t work. So after a bit more shuffling, I ended up here…

And we have a winner!

Before I start hanging pictures, I always take a quick picture. This will help you remember the spacing and exact placement of the frames. And you will have something to refer back to if needed once you begin hanging pictures.

I then measured the center point on the floor layout. And I measured the center point on the wall…then started hanging wall decor.

And here is the finished product. {The pictures are taken at an angle due to the narrow nature of the hallway.}

It looks great! No more empty hallway!!

Jen

linking up to:

michele raven designs, savvy southern home, the shady porch, the shabby creek cottage, somewhat simple, house of hepworths, aka design, shabby nest, at the picket fence, stuff and nonsense, my repurposed life, chic on a shoestring decorating, fingerprints on the fridge, here comes the sun, tatertots and jello, funky junk interiors, my 1929 charmer, homemaker on a dime, nifty thrifty things, between naps on the porch, the southern institute, home stories a to z, debbie does creations, todays creative blog, tip jukie

By Jen 6 Comments Filed Under: gallery wall, Home Decor, house

Redecorating for a New Client

April 14, 2012

This week I had the pleasure of heading to Seattle to help Jamie, a new client, with her family room. Jamie and her family live in a fun, older home that has lots of charm. She was overwhelmed with the placement of her furniture and the look of her shelves, so she invited me to help her out. Nothing new was purchased for the transformation. I just rearranged existing furniture and frames and created a shopping list for Jamie for filler items (such as end tables, a throw, and pillows to add some color to the couches…). So the room isn’t complete yet…..but we sure made some progress. Now let’s look at some pictures.

Lots of frames were displayed on the shelves…

And the narrow room made furniture placement a challenge. The couches were facing each other, perpendicular to the fireplace and tv.

Before we started, I had Jamie walk me through her house so I could see if there was any home decor that we could ‘borrow’ from other rooms to decorate her shelves. After I spotted some potential items, I cleared off all of the shelves, creating a blank slate for decorating.

When the shelves were cleared, I was able to easily assess the different sized pictures that I had to work with. I created a gallery wall on the floor by arranging and rearranging the frames until I came up with a display that filled the wall space best.

By selecting which pictures would be hung on the walls, I then knew which ones were left to accessorize the shelves. After raiding the kitchen for a few vases and cutting some fresh flowers from the front yard, I created simple vignette’s of frames, books and vases.

Here are the new shelves…

The couches and lamps were moved too, giving the room better flow. The love seat now faces the fireplace and tv….

And the longer couch is perpendicular to the fireplace, in front of the widows.

By moving the couches away from the shelves, it opened the corner up for another chair and side table. For the time being (until a new chair and table are purchased), I put an extra dining room chair there as a place holder.

Jamie hopes to paint the room soon with a more basic color, like a light gray. And she will add in accent colors with pillows and throws to brighten up the brown leather furniture.

I feel like the walls and shelves clearly display what is important to them….family. The room has a new, refreshing look – without having purchased a single thing! Doesn’t it look great?!

Let’s take one last look at the before and after…