DIY-Family Picture Gallery

I’m a little obsessed with family pictures- so we have a ton. In our previous home I had an entire wall full of framed family photos. If your picture made it on the wall- that meant you were family. BUT, with our move I was feeling motivated to create a cleaner more organized look. I wish I remember where I saw the idea- but the perfect solution seemed to be to make a picture gallery.

Once again, my husband doubted that this was a great idea. (You will see he is never really on-board with any of my DIY projects- but he is always so impressed when they end up really good!) I purchased the shelves on amazon (link to the exact ones I bought is at the bottom of the blog).

I am skilled at many things. However, measuring and hanging things both do not fall on my list of talents. I’ve left many holes, in many walls, from multiple attempts to get things even, in a stud, or centered. I didn’t want to mess this one up so I played assistant to my husband on this project.

We went back and forth on the placement of the shelves. Parallel lines? 1 straight line? Staggered? I was leaning to parallel lines while hubs liked the staggered idea. He convinced me to try it his way and the measuring began.

The shelves come with pre-drilled holes, but they don’t necessarily line up with your studs. In other words, be prepared to do some extra work. EVERY time we use a stud finder, my husband will scan the room with it and then point to himself and say “Beep! Beep! Beep! I found the stud!” Insert eye roll and head shake by me here. He really does it EVERY time. His Dad joke game is pretty good. You will see as you read more of my posts that he keeps things fun and interesting. One of the many reasons I put up with the fact that he can’t seem to remember to put his damn dishes directly in the dishwasher. Anyway, I’m getting off topic.

We made sure there was enough room between shelves for our taller pictures, and enough space if we put a couch against that wall. Not gonna lie, that room still has no furniture in it- it’s on the project list! We had to use anchors for about half the screws. Once completed they all felt sturdy and not only looked, but were level. This is by no means thanks to me- my husband gets the credit here.

I then organized the frames on the floor to determine where they would go- a mixture of tall and short frames on each shelf. I removed some from the original pile, as I realized we had way too many. A few special pictures I hung solo on other walls, giving them special attention, rather then mixed in with the gallery.

I’ve received a lot of compliments on my gallery wall. The best part is as I want to change pictures and frames, it will require NO extra holes in the wall. I could also change the decor at Christmas time for other pictures or artwork- lot’s of possibilities.

Here is our end product- I love the look. It makes use of our vaulted ceilings and presentation of lot’s of pictures. It took about an hour and a half to hang the shelves (would have taken much longer doing it by myself). It took me another 45 minutes or so to decide where every picture would go. I also changed them a few times after thinking I was done. As far as the placement of the shelves, my husband was right, I love the staggered shelves. Man I hate when he’s right!

Get our look! This is what we ordered on amazon!