Gallery Wall

We have officially lived in our home for a year and a half and I am finally getting stuff on the walls! It has taken me a while to decide what I wanted to do, because I decided early on that I wanted my decor to be meaningful. After looking at tons of pictures to get ideas, I decided I wanted to do a gallery wall in my dining room. I identified some key pieces that I wanted to use and drew out layout ideas on graph paper (to scale). Once I had figured out what I wanted for the most part, I traced each object on butcher paper and taped it to the wall so I could see how the finished wall would look before I started hanging everything. After a little tweaking, I decided I was satisfied and went to work! I LOVE the finished product. I couldn't be happier with how it all turned out. Here's a little detail of the objects on my wall (in addition to family pictures!).

1.  Idaho Pallet Map. I love Idaho. It is where I grew up, where Matt and I met, and where we have chosen to raise our family. BJ picked up a free pallet for me, Matt pulled the boards off the pallet, then BJ trimmed them down for me. After a light sanding, I stained the pallets with some stain I had on hand and mod podged on a map of Idaho that Matt's dad printed for me. I am in love with this.

2.  Hudson Street Sign. My friend and former boss Kris sent me this picture. I thought it was a perfect addition :-) 

3. Family Theme. I had read online of people having an annual family theme - something for the family to focus on for the year. I loved the idea, and as decided our theme for the year would be "Let us oft speak kind words to each other." We thought this theme was especially appropriate with Kylee starting school and knowing how kids can say unkind things sometimes. The plan is to incorporate the theme into Family Home Evening each week and work into conversations at other times throughout the week. 

4. The Family: A Proclamation to the World. Because family is so important. 

 5.  Wooden decor from Honduras.  Matt served his mission in Honduras and brought this home.

6.  Artwork Display. I wanted somewhere to display Kylee's artwork/schoolwork. I knew I wanted something that would be easy to swap out the pictures, so I came up with this idea - I bought a cute frame from Hobby Lobby, added some vinyl lettering to the bottom, and hot glued a clip to the top of the frame. Voila!

 7.  Ship Wheel from the Bahamas. A little momento from our honeymoon cruise to the Bahamas.

8. Monogram Picture Collage. I knew I wanted an "H" on the wall for our last name, but wasn't exactly sure how I planned to decorate it. I showed Kylee several ideas from the internet, and this is the one she picked! My mom's friend cut the H out of MDF for me, and then I just printed out pictures on the computer and mod podged them on. Another thing that I am in love with!

9. Landscape Canvas. Matt and his dad go on a backpacking trip every year. They love it, and it is a fun way for them to spend quality time together. Matt snapped this picture on his backpacking trip this summer, and we both loved it. I just mod podged it on to an extra canvas I had sitting around.