Hi there,

I just started working on a picture wall of my own, and I had all the same questions.

I used some blue painter's tape to create a rectangle on the wall, inside of which I wished to place my frames. This was my guide, although I chose not to align every frame on each side with the rectangular line. It was only my guide for the limit at which to place the outermost frames. I then traced each frame onto a piece of posterboard and cut each out. I numbered each frame and its corresponding template so I could keep track of them.

Then, I used some painter's tape on the back of each template and tried various arrangements on the wall, within the rectangular painter's tape area. This will help you gauge whether things look properly spaced, etc.

In researching this, I found a lot of different ways gallery walls can be arranged. Some are grid-like, some random, some with mixed frames, some with the same frames, etc. You have lots of choices.

I would recommend a blog I found with some instructions. The creator used wrapping paper, and that worked really well too.

Good luck, and be sure to share pictures when you're done!

Here is a link that might be useful: Gallery Wall Tutorial

Thanks Jan- that is definitely a very useful site. I actually decided I don't like those frames- I went to see how to hang them and i don't like the quality of the hanging materials on them ( I know I would get SUPER frustrated trying to make everything fit perfectly) so i am returning them tomorrow and purchasing the Pottery Barn frames that are the same price.

I need a good frame for an 11x14 photo. Anyone know a site where I can get one similar to Pottery Barn photos?
Thanks again for your help!

I really like the layout as long as it fits between the windows. I also like the frames, so it's ashame they're not going to work, but hopefully you can find some similar.

Can you tell me what your paint color is?

Laurie

Hi Laurie-
Thank you- I have a few of the PB frames already that i really like and with todays' catalog there was a 10% off coupon (not much but something)..so I am going to order them today (plus free shipping on the frames)

The paint color is BM Pismo Dunes- I love it!!1

I found some nice espresso wood frames at Target that you may want to check out (they have a nice solid/thick dark wood frame, some with white matting and some with the clear glass at Target in all different sizes). The middle picture and the ones at the corner of the middle picture are the Target ones. My photo wall has a mix of frames from Target, Pottery Barn (which when I was in there the other day was having a 20% off frame sale), Walmart, and a couple I painted from Home Goods. I actually liked the Target ones better then the Pottery Barn ones because the color was more espresso-looking where the Pottery Barn frames look a little mahoganyish (sp!) even though they were supposed to be espresso. Good luck with your photo wall. They can be challenging. Your layout looks good so far.

As you can see, mine's still a work in progress.

I always forget about Target.. Thanks for reminding me..

Unfortunatley, the PB closest to me left the mall last year (they weren't happy with the future of the mall apparently), so I have to order the frames on-line. But they do have free shipping and I have the 10% coupon. I may end up purchasing the 11x14 frame there since PB does not sell that size.

I LOVE your wall. I hope mine comes out as nice!