After just a quick walk through the Almeida house, there’s one thing you’ll know about me: I love gallery walls! In fact, it’s possible that I’ve overdone the gallery wall thing in over here. But I just can’t help myself! Maybe it has something to do with how much I love little collections of treasures. They’re all over our shelves, tables, dressers… so why not display collections on the walls too?!

In case you aren’t feeling me yet, allow me state my case for a good gallery wall: 1.) Buying a large piece of art to fill the wall behind a couch or bed can be pricey. And with a gallery, you can fill the same size wall (and more!) for much cheaper. 2.) A gallery made up of carefully collected pieces is fun and personal. It can tell anyone who walks into your home what you’re all about. 3.) And it will warm your heart and make you smile as you walk past a wall full of some of your favorite things! You with me now? Good!

The producer of a local entertainment show here in Jax (River City Live – the one I’m on every month or so) recently sent me an HGTV article about a gallery wall made up of DIY artwork and challenged me to create something similar.

Challenge accepted!

Here’s the HGTV gallery wall.

I liked the HGTV gallery but knew I wanted to make my version more personal. That’s the element that was missing for me in the original wall. It could’ve been in anyone’s house. So when I started brainstorming I knew I wanted my version to be personal, to incorporate colors that already flow through my home (no problem there!) and to use some materials that I already had on hand.

I also decided to stick with the original version’s use of a unifying color for the frames, mats, and backgrounds. And because I knew my pieces would be bright and colorful, white felt like the perfect compliment. I cleaned out my craft closet and found some frames. Most were already white, and I spray painted the rest. Then I gathered my supplies. White card stock paper, paint samples, yarn, paint, and washi (or craft) tape.

And here’s the Casa Almeida wall. 🙂

It’s technically not a wall. I had to lay the display out on the floor, because we don’t have a blank wall to display it. Ha! Maybe I need a staging area….
I’ll work on that! But in the meantime, read on for more information and instructions for each piece.

Paint Sample Lines – Collect paint samples in some of your favorite colors from any home improvement store (they’re free!) and cut them into strips with varying lengths. Glue each strip at different angles to a piece of card stock paper. Make sure the strips overlap each other.

Write With Yarn – Using a pencil, write your family name (or another special word) on a piece of card stock then choose yarn in a color that coordinates with the other art in your gallery. Using clear Elmer’s glue, trace over the pencil one letter at a time and carefully place the yarn on top of the glue, spelling out your name.

Ombre Paint Sample Triangles – More FREE paint samples! This idea came from I Spy DIY. The instructions are here.

Masterpiece – Ask a preschooler to draw or paint a special picture. 🙂 Kids love seeing their artwork displayed!

Paint Splatter – Take a large piece of cardboard outside. Choose some paint colors that coordinate with your wall and splatter them onto the cardboard with paint brushes. After it dries, cut the cardboard to fit your frame. Kingston and I had fun with this one!

Yarn Wrapped Canvas – Choose 3-5 shades of yarn and wrap them, one at a time, around a canvas. Be sure to weave the yarn in and out as you go, so the pieces aren’t just laying on top of each other. Tape or glue to the back of the canvas.

Washi Tape Canvas – Make horizontal lines on a small canvas using washi (craft) tape. I’m the queen of “eyeballing it,” but if you aren’t comfortable with that you can measure and draw lines with a pencil first. Then embellish with the first letter of your last name or a big pom pom.

How easy is that?! I think these pieces would be adorable in a kids’ play room or a living room. Do you feel like you can create a personalized gallery wall? Because I totally think you can! Remember, you can use colors that you love. And maybe switch things up completely – I can see a set of brightly colored frames filled with black, white, and grey art. So many possibilities!

And here’s a little more gallery wall inspiration from my house. The first one is in the living room and the second is in the dining room:

If you have any questions about the pieces in these last 2 pictures, just leave a comment below, and I’ll get the info to you! And you can watch me chat about this on River City Live right here!

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