Decorating idea for a big blank wall: gallery walls

Decor, DIY, Living Room

When you have a big blank wall to decorate but don’t have a large painting or work of art to fill in the space, it can be pretty daunting, especially if you’re on a budget. Putting together a gallery walls is a great way to fill in a large blank wall without having to spend lots of money, which is what I did in my LA apartment living room.

Having zero budget, I looked for things to use that I already had on hand, selecting items from my travels and that had special meaning to me. I used the largest item as the focal point and then hung the smaller items around it.  To make it easier to visualize how everything would look on the wall, I placed all my items on the floor first and played around with them until I found a pattern that I liked.

With that many frames and items grouped together, it’s easy for something to get out of alignment over time. There’s a quick fix for that using a Glue Dots® Respositionable Dispenser : just add a few dots on the back of the things that you’re hanging! The dots will stick to the wall to keep everything straight but they come off cleanly without leaving any residue.

There’s really no right or wrong way to put together a gallery wall – here’s another example of a gallery wall that I did in my NYC apartment, using a different combination of things to fit the narrow wall. The only rule to follow is to use items that you love, so give it a try, have some fun and experiment!

* This post is sponsored by Glue Dots. All opinions are my own

6 Comments

  1. Jeanine

    Cute!

    Reply
    • Isabelle

      Thanks!

      Reply
  2. merry rodgers

    Isabell,
    i was going to paint a mural on my wall of three arches and a view of the mediterranean ( easier than it sounds- look under wall murals – arches – mediterranean – if you are interested . Anyway , after seeing the amazing, wonderful lighted panels – and i really love ambient light when i work at night on writing– i am going to paint the mural ,not one the 13X 9 foot wall ,but rather on an 8 X 4 foot of some kind of wood ( suggestions for the right wood to paint that will also be alight panel???)

    By the way , i use the 59 cent paint at Michaels – acrylic . I spray it with a clear finish . Im basically a fok artist but i can paint arches and a blue line with blue above it and under it for sky and water. I can probably do some palm trees with a marker or pencil then go over them with a brush. I will do the whole thing on a poster board for a first draft.

    So i am ging to do the light panel thing behind the small “mural”. That will also give me room to ut up some things i love using the two and a half feet on each side . i want to put up some box little shelves and put on each a photo of something i love that God made. I am going to do a print first of a colorful DNA . I am writing for teachers abouthow the bai prefers to learn easiest and best according to its engineering ( neuroscience articles and books ). I will also frame a colorful rendition of the places in the brain and what they do. Yeah, Im nuts about my favorite thing. My goal is to helpkids who are thiking they hate learning to learn to love to learn.

    Anyway , my therem is the ingenuity of God.I am proud of him. Who am i to be proud of God? i just am. So, who am I to be proud of God? I just am . And , i have to have something of humor in each room. So of course there will have to be a picture of my dog – and the square polka doted giraff and the stripped horse – zebra. Speaking of creative and funny – theres a picture of my family allwearing Grouch Marx eye glasses, noses and the mustach. Such a family resemblance 🙂

    i am going to the dollar store to get their rectangular mirrors ( about 10 x 12 inches . i plan to get a glass cutter and create smaller squares and set them up in a diamond ( im not sure of how – possibly on blocks of wood bigger than the mirrors and painted one of the key colors in my studio apartment. These will go across from the windows or on the wall between the windows.

    in the kitchen i will get rid of the brown cabinets by making an art gallery from “all posters. com” and put up my favorite Monets within the raised frame that is around the edge of the cabinets. . I dont know if they will fit just right . Im not sure how to get them or smaller pictures done by great artists of just by Monet ( not sure ) printed up so they are the measurements of my cabinets. Do youknow how that would be done?

    Another idea i have for the same cabinets is to do a set of wavy , loose stripes ( i saw David Bromstadt and others do this , and you know it is a beach but it is just different widths of stripes a sunny yellow stripe for how i see the sky over the ocean. Then the deep blue , medium blue and blue green of the water . ( mediterranean blue is the best color ever in the My Studio , 59 cent acrylic paint I get in a hobby store . To hav my bit of humor i will paint or down load the following pictures : sand pipers , in different ocnfiurations on the “sand” they will be literal though the rest is abstract. They will prety much the same though the bottom corner will have a different touch – sand pipers., or a seashell, or a bucket and shovel and watering can, or a sand castle, or stipped towel and sun glasses . I may break that rule and put a sail boat out there somewhere on the water ( again smallish so it is not what the picture is about. Thse are to be done on poster board , covered with contact for cleaning , and fitted into the “frame” of the cabinet. If the brown drives me crazy i may try white duct tape around the pictures, for a white frame, but likely the brown will be ok. Im just into a lot of white, mirrors and light.

    I do my writing best in the day time. But i have a lot of hours at night when i dont like to work because of the dark – less enthusiasm. I am putting up peach curtains and have christmas white mini lights behind them. I dont know if that will give the right kind of glow , but i am trying to fake a bit of day light. To keep the dark out of all that, i am putting up a peach solid peach shower curtain against the window itself I will pull it back and the little lights back during the day .

    Above my cabinets i am going to use the fabric boxes you get at target for 7.00 that go into their cubbies. They will be plain blue bcause of all that is going on on the cabinet doors.

    There is a bit more Im going to do with a table and chairs. If this works out, I will send you photos once i learn how. I am technologically challenged.

    Oh, one more idea : The doors of the little cabinet over my head when i am at the sink – i keep bumping into the corner of the doors – which are open at times. Those are coming off . I am inserting white poster board within and putting some great blue glass things in front of some lights you put in closets. Any ideas how to set those up so I can turn them on and off ? The ones ive seen you push them directly on the front. But that wont work because they will be behind the glasses ( not on top – so the light shines thru the glass.How can i do this
    What a great program you do !! Even HGTV , with all its money, doesnt hold a candle to your content or your warm yet practical presentation which makes the audience feel they CAN DO .

    With appreciation for your instructions and inspiration- plese continue , your videos are my treat at the en of the day ( better than most movies, and obviously more growth for me- ) Wow you are even better than Hollywood , i ll be telling you next. You are in the right place for them to find out. God bless you Isabell, Keep having fun. PS i am going to be on you tube teaching Moms in home school how to best teach their gifted kids ( that would be all of their kids ) , and I will be teaching their kids too for college prep. May i ask you how does one earn money for ones livlihood since this certainly replaces any other job in terms of work. It seems some web sites give away their talks, their books etc. Do you get adviertisers ? I’m not tring to be personal, just trying to learn the how to of business on the internet for a teacher with a novel idea.
    Would I go to toy companies for Montessori things, and to the reading company i use, and to etc etc things i refer to, or do they find me ? I guess you have to have a certain about of subscribers — about how many? Thank you if you can help with any of these question. Sorry this is so long. Merry Rodgers merryrodgers9@gmail.com

    Reply
    • Isabelle

      Hi Merry,

      Thank you so much for your message, kind words and wonderful ideas!

      Here’s some suggestions I have – for the wood to use for the wall panels, you might want to check out 1/4″ plywood. I find it’s lighter than the hardboard I used for my panels, but it might be pricier. For your cabinet lights, you can find remote controlled LED puck lights like these (http://www.eurostylelighting.com/eu3f960.htm?cm_mmc=GBPB-SH-_-Under%20Cabinet%20Lights-_-Under%20Cabinet%20Lights-_-eu3f960pla&gclid=CPruivHuicQCFc9ffgodTkQAAA) that might be something that would work for your project.

      As for YouTube, there’s really no “one size fits all” formula for success so doing what you love is the best advice I can give.

      All the best with all your projects and thanks for watching!
      Isabelle

      Reply
  3. Nick

    Hi greate idea and cery clever!!
    Please upload another video !!
    Great job!!

    Reply
    • Isabelle

      Thanks Nick, glad you like it! The next episode is almost ready so stay tuned!

      Reply

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