Another take on the gallery wall

The entryway to my little apartment is very long and skinny. I wanted to do something nice to the entry, since it's the introduction to my home... but the space is incredibly awkward for receiving guests (and there is also no way to get a good picture of it, as you will see).

I decided a nice, large-ish photo gallery would be a good way to pull people's attention away from the tunnel feeling and cover a lot of space on the long wall. There are a million ways to get a frame collage onto the wall, but here is how I did mine:

1. Lay out all the frames on the ground and decide where you want to place them

 

I wanted my grouping to have a little bit of visual movement, so it is purposely not symmetrical.

2. Flip the frames over to show their hangers

  

3. Trace the outline and hanger of each frame onto long pieces of wax paper

I wanted to get an idea of exactly how my grouping would look on the wall. I've seen a lot of tutorials that use newsprint cut to the size of each frame, but this was much less labor-intensive, reflected exactly how I laid my frames out on the floor, and I could nail right into my markings. I used a sharpie to draw on three pieces of wax paper taped together in the middle.

4. Tape the wax paper to the wall

I used both a measuring tape and a level to make sure I had it up there correctly.

5. Nail directly onto the markings for each frame's hanger

This was the best part about using the translucent paper. I marked exactly where each frame needed a nail, and it was completely accurate. I just nailed straight through the paper, then tore it down.

6. Hang the frames!

Except when you do it, hang them straight.

I had two frames that didn't have hanging mechanisms on the back... which I didn't realize until I had already laid everything out. So I hung them with ribbon, and I actually like the variety.

I think my little gallery wall turned out pretty well. Next project: an entry bench!
And pictures for those empty frames :)