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I love a good gallery wall. Especially ones chock full of gorgeous art, sentimental pieces, and frames that add a dash of personality to a space. Ever since we moved in, I’ve been craving a gallery wall and never really had a great spot for one. Until now…

With our new fauxdenza installed (more about that in yesterday’s post), I was eager to add some art directly above it on the dark navy wall. My go-to for great art? Minted! Especially after seeing the fantastic frames Bridget chose for her bedroom.

After spending lots of hours perusing Minted, I found some gorgeous art pieces to use in this space. But let me tell ya, finalizing my picks was so difficult because there are 1,000’s of options on Minted. Seriously….so many stunning selections. Plus, the decisions continue with their plethora of sizing & framing options! My word of advice? Favorite pieces as you go along and then narrow it down from there.

I wanted to have a good mix of sizes, horizontal frames, and vertical frames. Plus, each piece needed to “speak to me.” Basically it had to remind me of something special in our life. Here are my selections…Love this gold Chicago skyline (no longer available) in the sleek gold frame. Obviously we heart Chicago…so this was an easy choice! This piece reminded me of a snowy scene and took me back to all of the years my family spent skiing together in Colorado. 

Then there’s this beachy photo. Or at least to me it looks beachy. It reminds me of the ocean, which brings me back to our honeymoon in Mexico. 

As for this colorful blueprint (no longer sold)….I don’t have much of a story behind it. Instead I was just drawn to the colors and thought it would be a nice addition to the wall!

This black & white typewriter picture also spoke to me. We had a “love letter” theme for our wedding, and debuted an old typewriter on our card table. This reminded me of our wedding day!

Then, right in the middle we have an “F” in cursive. I think it’s fitting for our last name (Finn), but it also works for “Family” & “Friends”, both of whom will be staying in our guest room. 

I also added a couple framed pictures to the wall from our wedding day & 1st year anniversary photo session. When it came to figuring out a layout for the gallery, here’s the method to my madness. I measured the length of the fauxdenza, the height of the available wall space, and also made note of the sconces’ placement.

Then I used painter’s tape and drew it out on the floor to get a visual. This is where our dining table will eventually be. Yes, we still do not have a dining room table and we’ve been living here for 9 months (that’s next on the list…).

Anyways, with my faux wall all drawn up on the ground I had fun placing the art pieces all around. I just put some music on, moved frames here and there, and played with the layout until it looked good to me.

Once they were set, I used old craft & wrapping paper (and eventually plastic wrapping gift paper…) to mark out the frames. It was a good way to get through some old paper and definitely came in handy as I transferred it to the wall.

I do have one more fun piece that I’m adding to the wall, but it hasn’t come in just yet. I’ll be sure to update you guys once it arrives. I’m planning to put it where the tall marbled vase is……to the right of the water photo. But for now the vase is filling the spot pretty darn well. 

The gallery wall is just what this space needed and I’m so happy to be able to showcase a bit of our personality in this room. I also think it complements the wood wall on the other side of the room well. 

Here’s a sneak peek of that side. It’s looking might cozy if I do say so myself.

Next time, we’ll chat about our new furniture pieces for this space. And then I can officially mark this room as complete!