Project Design Gallery Wall: Before photos

 

Hello friends…

Welcome to Week 2 of Project Design Gallery Wall.

Today I’m showing you my dining room because that’s where my gallery wall is going.

This is what it looks like these days.

And this is what it looked like a few months ago when the old owners lived here.

You can probably tell the obvious challenge in here is the lack of natural light. 

With only one window, it might seem counter intuitive to paint a room like this BM’s Kendall Charcoal, but I have to tell you I’m loving it; it’s a clean, deep shade, and it makes the room feel cozy instead of just small.

I just painted the chandelier too.

So the basics are done and I’m ready to get to work on this wall:

From the living room, the gallery wall is on the right side.

And this is the opposite side. I chose to put my  mirror on this side of the room because it reflects the most natural light here and when it comes to light, every little bit helps in this house.

For my gallery wall I decided to do something totally different for me.

Usually I’m a “salon style” kinda gal. Not too much pre-planning, I just keep moving my artwork around until I like it.  I also like the eclectic look of mixing frames and using both vintage and modern art. But for this project I thought it’d be fun to get out of my comfort zone and to measure and plan a wall out.

And use a single art theme.

I found the perfect images too; I’m using an old book of flower prints I found in an antique store and I’ve been saving them. Do you do that too? Buy something and then wait for the right project?

Anyway, I’m putting the prints in six white frames with cream mats from Ikea and I’ll be arranging them in a grid. Three on top and three on bottom in the center of this wall.

Here’s what I did to map out my gallery wall.

 

 

And here it is, the mapped out version. Hoorayyyy…easy-peasy-all-done-right?

Wrong.

I decided I didn’t like the two rows of three after all. When you’re standing in the room it lacks enough weight on the wall. So two more poster board pieces, scissors, and cut-cut… and I’m sooooo much happier.

And honestly, I eyeballed this version.

(I know, I’m hopeless but I promise to use my level when I hang the real ones).

Ok. So now there’s only one more decision. The color of the actual artwork.

But first, here’s a few details of the room.

 

layered rugs…

a vintage mirror

 

this cute bar cart to be styled for under my gallery wall

and this fiddle leaf fig tree to balance the other side of the room.

I always planned on using the colored flower prints because I guess I’m a color person by nature. I just don’t seem to have the restraint necessary for a whole black and white gallery wall.

 

But honestly, I was surprised how pretty the black and white flower prints look en mass against the charcoal wall color.

 

Ok. Here’s a picture of the prints when they’re not inside the mat.

I think I know what I’m doing. But I’d love to hear your thoughts.

A charcoal colored gallery wall using the color prints

or the neutral ones?

In the meantime don’t forget to stop by and check out these incredibly talented bloggers. It’s soooo fun to see what everyone else has planned.

I love me some good old “Before” pictures, don’t you?

Here’s the other participants in the gallery wall project:

 

Design Chic

Design Indulgence

Driven by Décor

5th and State

Lovely Things

Rough Luxe

Talk of the House

Classic • Casual • Home

 

 

And just a reminder, next Monday is the big reveal!

 

xoxo

Leslie

 

 

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