How to Create A Farmhouse Gallery Wall of Your Very Own

Farmhouse Gallery Wall
Have you ever looked at Pinterest and seen those tidy walls of collected items that just look so perfect they're almost too good to be true? Well, they're totally doable! You  just need the right spot. For years, I've wanted a gallery wall. But we lived in an old house that was all windows and doors. There was literally not one wall that was just a plain, flat space. Then, about a year ago, we moved into our lake house.... and it was the same problem. Only it wasn't just windows and doors--but built-in bookshelves--taking up precious wall space. Not that I'm complaining about awesome built-ins, but sometimes a girl just wants a blank canvas.

 

I managed to find one wall in the living room between the bookshelves and a door. It was big and blank and just perfect for a gallery wall! So, I got to work!

When deciding what pieces to include, I knew I wanted to keep it simple and clean. With a little trial and error, I think I managed it! And you can, too!

Here are some things to keep in mind when creating a gallery wall:

1. Space. You need to understand the dimensions of the space you're working with. Try laying out your chosen pieces on the floor next to the wall. It will help you understand how the pieces fit together. Try to keep the top and bottom even to create a "rectangle" shape (see picture). I only included pieces that fit well, using the largest piece (the chalkboard) to define the edge of my rectangle shape.

2. Color. Modern farmhouse calls for a neutral color scheme. If that's the look you're going for, then I recommend pieces that are black, white, and gray with perhaps one other color. I chose brown for mine. It made sense because I had wood pieces in my gallery. Too many colors can make a space look cluttered and messy.

3. Materials. Choose materials in keeping with your theme. Most of the items in this gallery are wood and metal, which add to the farmhouse style. The lantern is BOTH metal and wood and ties in nicely with the other pieces.

4. Function. While a gallery wall's primary function is aesthetic, it can also serve other purposes. Does your room need a clock? A gallery wall is a good place for one! Also, consider a chalkboard. Gallery walls can get stale if they aren't somewhat changeable. I enjoy decorating my chalkboard with seasonal messages. It also gives me a place to display collected, handmade and sentimental pieces. The "Love Grows" wood sign is made of wood from my dad's barn and has our family tree on the back.

You can see more photos of this "Love Grows" sign HERE.

 

5. Balance. Make sure you get a good mix of large and small pieces. Don't put all your heavy, square pieces on one side, spread them out. Likewise, don't put all items of one color on one side. I tried to create balance by putting my heaviest pieces (the chalkboard and Love Grows sign) on opposite sides. Also the "S" and "The Sanders Family" sign both have large letter S's, so I separated them, too. I filled in the gaps with smaller pieces.

Read about how to make your own Family Name Sign HERE.

I'm so excited to finally have a gallery wall! Do YOU have a gallery wall in your house? What pieces did you include?

Share in the comments and follow me on Facebook and Pinterest.

DIY Winter Decorating Ideas

DIY Winter Decorating Ideas

It's that awkward time of year. The Christmas tree is gone, but spring is still miles away. The days are gray. The house feels stark and bare. But before you start dreaming about green grass and sunshine, why not embrace the season of mittens, snowmen and hot cocoa? Celebrate post-Christmas winter with some DIY décor!

DIY Icicle Pinecones | Clean & Scentsible

 

 

 

A Winter Chalkboard | House by Hoff

 

 

 

No-Snow Snowballs | Cottage in the Oaks

 

 

DIY Woodland Sign | Live Laugh Rowe (by Marie from Blooming Homestead)

 

 

 

Wintery Watercolor Forest | Craftsy

 

 

 

 

Birch Branch Arrangement | Made In A Day

 

 

 

Mittens Wreath | My Crazy Quilt Life

 

 

 

Winter Porch Pot | House of Hawthornes

 

 

 

A Winter Hot Cocoa Bar | Cloth & Patina

 

 

Sweater Pillows | What's On My Porch



Get more ideas for the new year! Check out my blogpost....

A Chalkboard (Cork Board) Of My VERY OWN!

I've seen them on Pinterest. I've seen them on blogs. I've envied them from afar, and now, finally, I

decided to make one of MY VERY OWN! Here is the epic saga of how a girl, injured and alone, managed to turn a thrift store cork board into a dazzling, amazing chalkboard!

Let's begin at the beginning. First, my wrist is injured. I've whined about this before, but I'm hoping it might explain later failures, so pity me, reader. PITY. ME.

With injured wrist, I managed to do the easiest part of this whole fiasco, which was to paint the cork board. I painted the actual cork with two coats of chalk board paint. I have never used it before and it is as fantastic as you've dreamed! However, I believe it was meant for FLAT surfaces. But more on that later.

Then I painted the outside frame white. After it all dried, I decided to "season" it, based on one blog's recommendation. This is where you color with the flat side of the chalk over the entire board, then erase it. This makes it so your mistakes aren't as glaringly obvious, which is a good thing because it was at this point that I began to get CREATIVE--AKA the part where things started going a bit wonky.

A lot of chalkboard how-to's tell us to freehand it. I don't know if they are the descendents of Rembrandt and DaVinci or what, but we mere mortals cannot freehand! So (clever, clever me) I

decided to print out a template and trace it onto the chalkboard using my trusty old willow charcoal technique (in which our heroine colors on the back of her print-out with willow charcoal and then traces the design onto the desired surface, in this case, a cork/chalk board).

This did not go quite so smoothly. Likely because charcoal is black much like, oh I don't know, a chalkboard, perhaps? Still, in the right light I managed to see about two-thirds of my design and decided to take advice from the experts and "freehand" the parts I couldn't see.

This is the part where I was VERY thankful for my ultra-skinny chalk PENCIL. I picked this baby up in the fabric section of a craft store. It's perfect for eentsy beentsy lines. So, I traced over the dark design with a light white. Then I filled it all in. This required much smudging.

The "experts" often said to wet the chalk to make the design stick better and look brighter. I tried this, but only ended up with goopy chunks of chalk stuck to my board. Then my chalk broke. ALOT. So, plan B was to just fill it in with good, old dry chalk and smudge. But my big clumsy fingers were not suitable to the thin lines of my font, so for that part I used a pencil eraser. Smudge-a-rific!

When it was nearly done, I decided to blow away the crumbly chalk pieces and accidentally spit on the board. Yes, spittle. From my mouth. Thankfully, it didn't do too much damage and I was able to keep going, careful to make all my future work spittle-free.

At the end, my design looked like something a really artistic 12 year-old might do. I decided it needed something more... so I added thin highlight lines to the words (again thankful for my ultra-thin chalk pencil).

I guess it wasn't too bad for the first attempt, but I'm still envious of those fancy-schmancy artists out

there who make words into ART. Maybe I'll try again, but probably on a flatter surface (AKA no cork bumpies). In the meanwhile, I'm proud of what I accomplished with my (sob story) injured wrist and broken chalk pieces!  

Vintage Image Stockings

 

We've had the same stockings for years. And while they have some charm and nostalgia for us, I would never pick them out in a store today and say, "Oh, these are beautiful!" Nope. I would say, "What a ratty, nasty old thing. Does Santa really put edibles in THAT!"

They don't match. My husband's is about eight feel long and super skinny. And green. With a pompom. My daughters' stockings were both made by their aunt. And while I love the home-sewn style, they are red and green, which sounds like it would match all things Christmas, but really doesn't because I very rarely do up the house in traditional colors. My stocking is red. I think. And made of satin. Or did I switch to white last year? In any case, it's obviously not memorable.

Plus, my style has changed. It is always changing. Right now I'm in a vintage/shabby/French country mode. I like all things chippy, shabby, burlap and grain sack and decided my stockings should reflect that style. 

So, I got to work making these awesome vintage image stockings. They have cute little vintage graphics on them, ranging from a pic of Santa, to sheet music for Silent Night, to old Christmas ads and even part of "A Visit From Saint Nicholas" by Clement Moore (often called "Twas the Night Before Christmas"). I wish I could tell you where I found them, but I often collect images as I come across them, then use them later. But any similar images would do. I transferred the images to the stockings using Citra Solv. You can read about how to transfer printed images here.

The how-to was pretty simple. I downloaded an oversized stocking pattern from online and traced it onto some excellent grain sack-style fabric. Then I just sewed around the edges. Twice for durability, leaving the top open. My brood can get pretty rough on Christmas mornings. And sometimes poor, old Santa is a bit frantic while filling those things in the dead of night, too.

Once sewn, I frayed the edges by hand. This was very time consuming. I also added burlap, lace and other frills to the top along with a handmade chalkboard tag for the names. I think they turned out pretty sweet. Merry Christmas!

 

 

 

Want MORE Christmas ideas? Check out my blog post for a Woodland Christmas Mantel.