Owning a house has its ups and downs. There is no calling a landlord when something is not working and needs to be fixed. Just this week, we had a frozen hot water pipe. Thankfully, my husband took care of it with a hairdryer. Auer house is old, so anytime we do a home improvement project there are surprises. However, I believe that the pros of home ownership outweigh the cons, at least for the current stage of our lives. One of the pros is being able to decorate and put as many holes in the walls as you'd like. Which leads me to the theme of today's post...Gallery Walls.
I may have gone a bit overboard with gallery walls in my house. I had lots of photos and signs that I wanted to hang. So, I sought some "pinspiration" from Pinterest, and away I went. Displaying things that make you happy help make a house a home. I want each room to celebrate a piece of me and/or my family. Welcome into Auer House:
This gallery wall is behind the couch in my living room. My mom bought me the sign that reads, "My Goal in Life is to Become the Person My Dog Thinks I Am" from Kirkland's. Many of the frames and metal decor are from Hobby Lobby. All of the other stuff, I've had for so long, I can't recall where I got them from. I personalized the big red square frames with a stencil and stickers. I hardly had any pictures of my mini American Eskimo dog, so I met a photographer at the dog park for a photo session. (Keep in mind, these dogs are my "kids".) I laid out all the frames and decor out on my dining room table before lifting a hammer to help me visualize the final product. The couch was pulled away for this project, which leads to what I would change about this display...I would center the photos above the couch and not center them on the wall. However, looking at the photos of my fur babies makes me happy, which is the goal.
Another wall in my living room-I found the sign at Hobby Lobby. It reads, "If I had my life to do over again...I'd find you sooner so I could love you longer". This inspired me to hang photos of my husband and me when we were in high school (not at the same time-he's 10 years older than me), a couple of us taken before we were married, and a wedding photo. I plan on adding a couple more photos to the shelf as the years go on, hence some empty space.
Yet another wall in my living room-I found the sign at Hobby Lobby with the quote, "To the world you may be just one person, but to one person, you may be the world". Such a great daily reminder! I centered it and placed photos on either side of it. The bad thing about gallery walls, is that you can often tell when something is crooked. :)
My mother-in-law moved into assisted living in June, so we acquired a few items from her house. Several of those items, were photos. This wall celebrates my husband. It includes photos of his parents, children, and photos of him as a kid.
Here's a family portrait that we had taken about ten years ago and photos of my step-children when they were little. Some of these photos used to be behind my couch.
A couple of months ago, I hired a painter to paint over the outdated 1970's paneling that was in my stairway. Once I had it painted, it seemed so bare. I went on a mission to decorate it for very little money. I searched clearance and sales at World Market, Hobby Lobby, Bed, Bath, & Beyond, Target, Gordman's, Michael's and Home Good's. Here's how it turned out:
Still not sure about the A in the open frame so close to the R in Auer. I think of a pirate saying "Arrrrrrrrrrr" when I see it. I had the frame empty, but I didn't like it. I may need to search for something different.
In the rustic looking frames, I typed up song lyrics from songs that are special to me and my husband. I printed them onto scrapbook paper. Here's a few of them up close:
Can you identify the songs? I hope that you enjoyed today's post and its photos. Go ahead and decorate your house to make it a home where you celebrate you and your family!
Very nice Amy!
ReplyDeleteLooks great!
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