Guest Post: Jenny @ Simcoe Street

Here is a very special post for all of you.  I saw it on Simcoe Street and thought it was so helpful.  I wished that I had it when I was doing my mom's gallery wall.  So, I asked Jenny if she would guest post it on my blog.  Here you go!

I'm very excited to be visiting from Simcoe Street to guest post here at The Turquoise Piano.  Thank you Kelli for inviting me!

My name is Jenny and I live in downtown Toronto with my awesome husband and sweet baby boy.  I am passionate about interior design (and am also really into crafting, tablescaping, organizing, and exploring the city). Today, I'm going to be sharing some ideas about gallery walls. Come on by my blog for more decorating ideas & how-to's, mood boards, craft and holiday ideas, and lots more (and if you do drop by, leave a comment so I can come check out your blog too!). 

 Back to gallery walls! I tend to think things look all the better when grouped together. This is especially true with small pieces of art on the walls. Today, we'll talk gallery walls 101.

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In our home, we have a few little clusters of frames, some in traditional gallery wall fashion and some just in groups. I've shown you these two so far (here and here). 

(For tips on choosing photos for this kind of arrangement, see the original post here). 

Another grouping of family pics in the kitchen -- this whole project would cost you about $11 to replicate! (You can see the original post here).

I won't reinvent the wheel by making a guide of templates for you, since I've found some awesome ones out there. Instead, I've gathered up what I consider to be the best pictorial guides for you. 

Here is an assortment of all kinds of photo display ideas from Ann Beck Photography. 

And this guide is my fave, because it gives you a sense of how to pair galleries with furnishings. So handy! This can be found at Lil' Luna.

Lastly, I like this one because it has little round frames, too, which I always see at thrift stores. From HP.com.

Now, when you settle on an arrangement, I highly recommend doing something like this (from Cottage Instincts) to avoid tons of holes in your wall. Make paper templates of all your frames and tape those up. Make sure you love it before nailing. Then, just nail right through the paper!

Here are some gallery wall ideas I find particularly inspiring. There's lots more in my pinterest "art, etc." board. 

Colourful mats make this so special, from Martha Stewart of course. I love how the solid blocks of colours are repeated in the throw pillows.

This image, from Small Posh Studios, features all black-and-white photos. Isn't this whole room insanely gorgeous?

Can't commit to certain prints? Picture ledges - and the ability to rotate your display easily - are for you. Here's a lovely example from Holly Mathis.

If I had a great big walk-in-closet and a bigger shopping budget, I think this is such a fun idea. Framed shopping bags make very quirky, cute art. From Haute Indoor Couture.

Here, different frames and styles of art are unified by the colour palette. Plus, those chairs are amazing, but that is kind of unrelated... (Image from Lila Moonlight). Anyway, colour is a great way to make eclectic pieces work together.

Eclectic art can also be unified with matching frames, like the all-white display from YHL.

I love the solid line down the centre in this grouping of black and white pics. (From Houzz.com).

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And for more food for thought, here are some other gallery-wall-with-a-twist displays that I love!

Use empty frames fashioned with clips to have a rotating display of kids' artwork (you could also use rotating photos, recipe ideas in a kitchen, or some other creative thing). This comes from Less Than Perfect Life of Bliss.

In a very tiny space, create a gallery within a frame like this one - with regular photos or, for extra points, with cool old-looking polaroids:

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You could take a cue from the Garden View Cottage and use mirrors on picture ledges, like this:

Why use frames at all? Use plates!

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Or even vintage pie tins -- I am crazy in love with this! From Cozy Cottage Cute.

Do you have any gallery-type displays in your home? Come on over (you can find me here), tell me about it, and leave a link so I can come check it out!

Thanks again Kelli for having me as a guest poster at your awesome blog! 

Jenny

xo

(Kelli again)

Didn't you LOVE that post?  I did.  I pinned it (from her blog) so I could go back and have the tips next time I do a gallery wall.  Go visit her and say thank you at Simcoe Street.