Photo gallery walls are a great way to add personal touches to your home and decor! Today I’m sharing our new upstairs hallway photo gallery wall along with some inspiration and ideas for photos to use in your own space!
I’m guessing if there’s one thing we can all agree on over the last few months, it’s that our homes are more important than ever! I’m constantly looking to find ways to bring joy and happy memories to our home. Today I’m finally sharing our upstairs hallway photo gallery wall that I started working on a few months ago. I’m also sharing ideas for photos to use around your own home, as well as some of my favorite gallery wall frame options.
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Our Upstairs Hallway Photo Gallery Wall
Since we moved into our home over seven years ago, our upstairs hallway walls have been bare. When Kurtis was home for six weeks after his hip surgery last December, I finally hung these frames to fill the void. And then they sat empty until last week. Ha! It only took seven+ years, but the gallery wall is finally complete. And I couldn’t be happier with how it looks! Aside from the buckling carpet that runs down our hallway 😉
HALLWAY & MASTER BEDROOM SOURCES: Gallery Wall Frames | Similar Orb Chandeliers | Striped Curtains | Gold Curtain Rod | Jute Rug | Light Wood Dresser | Similar Ceramic Vase | Faux Lemon Stems
I used the same frames we have in several other places around our home (this is the gray finish). They are an investment (they go on sale frequently), but I haven’t been able to find anything that comes close in terms of scale or mat space or finish options. Each frame holds an 8×10″ image and the mats can easily be swapped horizontally or vertically (so you don’t have to add new holes to your walls with new photos). Not only that, each frame is over 2 feet by 2 feet in size. So, if you have a large will to fill, you need far fewer frames. As you can see below, my gallery spans more than six feet wide by more than four feet tall.
I filled the frames with family photos taken over the years. Since they were all taken over a decade or so and were all edited differently I chose to print them in black and white. This helps them feel a lot more cohesive, whereas in color, it all looked a bit chaotic! Now when we wake up and walk down the hallway each morning, we see the faces of the people we love most in this world!
HALLWAY & STAIRWELL SOURCES: Gallery Wall Frames | Similar Orb Chandeliers | ‘It Is Well’ Canvas | Sconce Lights
It’s a great way to get photos off your phone or out of albums and actually display them around your home.
Photo Ideas for Gallery Walls
There are a number of things you can obviously use in gallery walls around your home. I have even more ideas in my post on simple and affordable artwork ideas that include options other than photos. But, if you’re purely interested in adding photos, following are some ideas.
- Family photos
- Vacation photos
- Photos of your child’s artwork
- Photos of your pets
- Wedding photos
- Ancestor photos
- A series of photos of similar images. For example, beaches, various plants around your yard, animal photography, sunsets, etc. Really, just anything that makes you happy and you want to see each day!
Photo Gallery Wall Inspiration Around Our Home
We have several other photo gallery walls around our home. Here’s a sneak peek of part of our summer home tour I’ll be sharing next week. In our master bedroom I used the same frames (but in white) to display some of our favorite photos from various vacations we’ve been on together. The prints here are in color.
MASTER BEDROOM SOURCES: White Gallery Wall Frames | Bead Chandelier | Bench | Jute Rug | Cane Nightstand | Similar Bed | Blue Bedding | Paisley Lumbar Pillow
In our mudroom, I have two frames propped up on the ledge (also in gray). These have vacation photos, as well, but this time printed in black & white. You’ll see these photos are oriented horizontally versus vertically like they are in our master bedroom.
MUDROOM SOURCES: Lantern Chandelier | Striped Pillow | Similar Paisley Pillow | Gallery Frames | Faux Viburnum Stems (similar here)
In our living room, we have an older version of the frames shared above. I found this alternative that is the closest in terms of size and shape. These are also 8×10 prints, but the frames are slightly smaller (since they aren’t square). Here I’ve used black and white travel photos in the fall and winter months.
FALL LIVING ROOM SOURCES: Linen Sofa | Spindle Chairs | Coffee Table | Linen Pillows | Striped Pillows | Lamps | Dough Bowl | Faux Olive Stems | Similar Black Cabinet | Similar Vase | Similar Wood Chain
And then in the summer months, I tend to swap out the black and white photos for color. It’s amazing how much that simple swap can really change the overall vibe in the space! And the great thing is that once you have the frames, the additional photos can all be printed very inexpensively. I believe the 8×10″ size is only $1.29 or so at Target.
SUMMER LIVING ROOM SOURCES: Linen Sofa | Spindle Chairs | Coffee Table | Lemon Pillows | Blue Dyed Pillows | Similar Black Cabinet Lamps | Faux Greenery
Gallery Wall Photo Frames
If you’re wanting to create a photo gallery wall in your own home, I’ve searched around to find some additional gallery wall photo frame options.
- These frames are a great budget alternative to the frames in our living room.
- If you like a less structured & symmetrical look, this wood gallery in a box set is an easy way to have most of the work done for you! And if you already have frames you want to use, there are some good arrangement ideas in their product photos.
- If you love gold finishes, I know these frames are popular and come in a variety of sizes.
Following are even more photo gallery wall frames I’ve found from various stores. Click any of the images below to learn more about each of the items.
The great thing about photo gallery walls with your own images is they add such a personal touch to your home that you won’t be able to find anywhere else!
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Love this!! I have all these gallery frames and they are still in boxes because I’m afraid to hang them. Do you have pointers on hanging them to keep them all straight, etc?? 🙂
Haha! You need to get them hung up! So, I have a few tips in this post (https://lifeonvirginiastreet.com/how-to-paint-baseboards-trim before I get into the paint tutorial). But with these, I actually just started with the top center one and got that marked. I’ve found that this are very consistent with bracket placement (unlike some of the cheaper options). So once one is up, I then measure the distance to the bracket on the next frame over and make sure it’s level. I’m probably not explaining it well but if you use a pencil and ballpark where the next one should be, you can then measure exactly and level them all out and it’s pretty easy from there. I hope that helps!
Thank you! I have 9 frames for a large wall – so I just need to tackle it!!
I measure the width and length of the frames and spacing in between. Take a 4′ level and draw pencil line. As Sarah said, start with the middle frame and work your way out. If you don’t want to use pencil, you can use painter’s tape.
Thank you Jayne! You were able to articulate it much better than me 🙂 I love the painter’s tape trick too.
Hi Sara, Love you style and thank you for all the great ideas. Can you share more about the white bedding in the master bedroom photo? Is it another duvet cover under the blue one? I like the look of white bedding with color in the duvet cover at the end of the bed. However, I have two mini golden doodles so the white bedding must be very durable and washable! Thank you.
I absolutely love how clean your photo walls look! I especially appreciate that your frames match your carpet—don’t know if that was intentional, but it looks great. Thanks for the blog post 🙂
Hi Sara, I love your design style. We are about to paint many of our walls white. I would love to get the look of your white walls. Can you share with me what paint you used. Thanks for all the great posts.
Thanks Shannon! Ours are Benjamin Moore Simply White. I have an entire post dedicated to interior white paint colors that you may find helpful 🙂 https://lifeonvirginiastreet.com/the-best-white-paint-colors-for-interiors/
Thank you for your post! Your gallery walls are beautiful and I’m inspired now …I’m going the PB frames.