Have you ever tried to create a stairway gallery wall? All those wonderful pictures on Pinterest make it look so easy, but it really takes a lot of planning. I’ve been killing myself trying to get my stairway gallery wall done because I made the mistake of thinking that the entire wall needed to be done in one day. Well, I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t! It’s o.k. to take your time with it. Don’t believe me? Check out this post on Stone Gable where she explains How to Hang an “As You Go” Gallery Wall Art.
While a gallery wall can definitely be done in a day, I wanted to use things I already owned that had meaning to our family. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough items to fill my wall, which means I’ll need to add new items or make things to fill it in, which is going to take time. Soooooo, I’ve decided to go ahead and show my stairway gallery wall “as is”, even though it’s not completely done.
This is where I got my inspiration from…
Stairway Gallery Wall {Mixing It Up} @The Inspired Room
I love the casual feel of the wall and the mix of items. Don’t you?
To create my gallery wall, I scoured my home and gathered up items I could use on the wall. Everything that I placed on the way has a special meaning for our family.
Although I had a bunch of different items for the wall, I did try to keep the wall mainly black, white, and neutral with pops of blue that reminded me of the ocean in Hawaii.
Stairway Gallery Wall:
- Ikea frame that has a print out of the Hawaiian Islands, where I’m from, and the date we got married there
- The flag flown on the Arizona Memorial and given to my husband when he retired from the Marines
- Mirror/hook that I’ve been storing for years and LOVE
- Picture of our family
- Shadow box given to my husband at retirement. Can you tell what he did?
- The letter “A” for our last name – there is a letter “A” for each of us
- Picture frame writing board that I use to write notes to my kids – This wood frame was painted black
- Interchangeable wreath that I change for each season/occasion
- Metal candle holder that I purchased years and years ago
- Painted “HOME” word – this is a newly made item and painted white
- DIY wooden arrow with a phrase I love – “follow your arrow wherever it points”
- Heart Keepsake made from my MIL’s old jewelry
- Husband’s old military picture
- Some of my husband’s military medals/awards – painted this frame black
- White key with twine and fabric – new itempainted white with burlap and twine accents
Not too bad for a not quite finished wall that holds a lot of meaning for our family. I plan on adding a few more heart shapes to the wall before it’s done. What do you think so far?
If you’re planning on creating a gallery wall of your own, here are some tips to make happen.
Stairway Gallery Wall Tips:
- Get inspired. If you’re not sure what you want, get ideas from Pinterest, magazines, or elsewhere. Find out if you like an eclectic look or a more uniform and matching look. The main thing is to create a look that YOU like. You can find a ton of gallery walls on my Pinterest Picture and Art Hanging Idea Board. Follow My Pinterventures’s board Home Decor: Picture & Art Hanging Ideas on Pinterest.
- Gather your items. Find pieces that you love and will enjoy looking at on a daily basis.
- Plan a layout. This is really important and you should take your time here to avoid unnecessary holes in your wall. Here is a great posts from fellow blogger that I found really useful for planning a stairway layout, especially if you’re a visual person – The Most Efficient Way to Create a Gallery Wall @The Bless’er House. If you’re really indecisive, try using 3M products to temporarily place smaller items on the wall.
- Stand back and evaluate. Decided if you will need to paint some of your items to create a more cohesive look or if you like the mixed look. Remember, you can always change the look of a piece by painting – paint is your friend!
- Hang it up. Make sure you are using the correct hangers for your wall type and weight of your frame. You don’t want to spend all this time planning out your wall, only to have your pieces end up on the floor. For example, if you have walls made of drywall, make sure you place anchors in the wall before hanging extra large pictures. For smaller pieces, my favorite type of drywall picture hangers are these little hooks that can be found at most hardware stores.
I really want to do a great gallery wall, but I feel like I don’t have enough unique items. I love all the little “A’s” in your collection! Seeing pictures like yours helps me come up with ideas for items I can gather to hopefully create a good wall in our home. Your list of tips helps as well! Thanks!
Ahhhh love this post! I always need a lot of guidance on gallery walls! Mine just never look…quite right…!
You know it’s actually not as easy as it looks to make a gallery wall. It took me a few months of putting up traced out shapes on the wall and rearranging them to really get an arrangement that I liked using items I already owned. It would probably be super easy to buy an entire coordinated art collection from Hobby Lobby, but I really wanted our wall to reflect our family.
This is perfect timing! We just moved and the wall along the staircase is empty and sad. I know I have plenty of stuff to hang there, but the idea of getting started intimidates me. I pinned this because I’ll definitely be referencing it soon. Thanks for sharing!
I love this stairway gallery. Great tips and tutorial. Thank you very much for joining in the celebration of #purebloglove, we enjoy having you each week. I hope to see you on Thursday at 8PM, EST through Sunday night. ~Cydnee
This gallery wall thing is a true process! I love the Inspired room lady and have been reading her blog, too! When I saw the photo I new immediately who it was from before seeing the link. Anyway, I have been creating a 5 piece gallery wall for the last month and still can’t finish the thing! It is totally driving me nuts. I mean, all I have is three mirrors and two frames and I just can’t seem to finish the thing. Just yesterday, I decided to leave the “little” of lined up photo the way it is. And then later that day I read another post by someone who has the same struggles and then here you are..LOL! I like your memory lane wall, though!! You’ll eventually get to the finish with more pieces.
Hi Erlene! you are so brave to do your stairway! I was too scared I would screw it up, lol! What a great post to stop that fear! Pinning your infographic on my gallery Board!
Thanks so much for pinning to the P3Party Board! You are being featured this Friday on the blog, so look for some social media love from me!
Kim
Your wall looks fabulous! It makes me wish I had stairs! Thanks so much for linking up to Two Uses Tuesday.
Thank you. You can do a gallery wall anywhere 🙂
I love yours and how everything has meaning! Pinned for later. I could use the tips I have trouble with the planning it all ahead and I spontaneously buy things that don’t go together haha.
Believe it or not a lot of the things on the wall are things that I’ve collected over a long period of time. I think for me, the main things is to place things that you love and have meaning to you on your wall. If you love it, it will work 🙂
This is so creative. I wish I had a staircase. 🙂
Thanks KC.
This is a really inspiring and useful post! Thanks for the ideas you offer. Love the thought of painting items of sentimental value to form a cohesive , meaningful wall gallery.
We would love you to post at #Purebloglove link party. the party is open Thurs through the week end.
Thanks for coming over Diane. I hopped over and linked up.
I love how you organized the walls Erlene. Each item has meaning to your family and that makes it extra special. I didn’t know you hubby was a retired marine. Semper Fi. My husband retired a few years ago. I know that we have a few similar items that would be great up on our walls too.
Semper Fi! Yes, my husband retired quite some time ago. My hubby was so happy to see his things up on the wall and it would be a great surprise for your hubby too.
Love this! Have been wanting to do this with my daughter’s pictures for years, but I love the added additional accents.
Thanks Tara. A family friend has a wall full of her children’s photos and it’s like a timeline of images. So neat to see how they changed over the years.
It looks like you are the queen of gallery walls. You’ve done a beautiful job and personalized it to suit your family. I also really love the instructions. I’ve been putting off doing a gallery wall in our hallway. I’m pinning this so that it will be close to remind me!
Awww. Thanks Marjie. I don’t know if I’m the queen…lol, but I do really love looking at all the pieces on the wall. Everything has meaning to our family, which does make it special.
This looks amazing. I love it. thanks for the tips on how to do it.
Thanks Christina and glad you found some tips.
I love your gallery wall. I’ve been working on one for several months. I’m having the hardest time just making decisions. Thanks for sharing your tips.
I can totally relate Bonnie! I’ve been working on this wall FOREVER. Just take your time and you’re sure to create a wall that you love. To help me with the layout, I traced each frame shape and taped it to the wall and kept moving things around till I got the general layout I liked (start with the large pieces). Then I just found things to fill in the open spaces.
i like the idea of create as you go. The items can be so much more meaningful I like it
I like the idea of a “create as you go” wall too. I tend to like gallery walls that tell a story.
It looks amazing! I wish I had a stairway…but I have a wall that I could do something similar with!
You could definitely do a gallery wall almost anywhere. I have one at the top of the stairs too.
It’s beautiful and I’m so glad you included your husband’s military awards! Tell him thanks for his service! We lived in a house with stairs for years but our current house is one level. I do have a gallery wall above a buffet. You did an awesome job!!
Thanks Alli, I definitely will let him know. Is your gallery wall on your blog? I love looking at other people’s gallery wall for inspiration.
Erlene, I love your gallery wall. We don’t have a staircase but I’ve been considering putting one of these together. Of course in our house, my hubby does all the hanging which I don’t mind at all. I get to decide what he hangs, LoL.
I especially like the wipe off board for family messages. The location is perfect to know that it will be seen.
Thanks Shirley. You’re so lucky to have such a helpful hubby. My hubby leaves all the house stuff to me…lol. Oh, and I love the wipe board too because I can leave the kids notes and I know they will see it there.