Gallery Wall

Clinton and I moved into our house in April 2009.  It was built in 1934 and we are the third owner.  The last family that lived in our house was here for 65 years.  The husband was a beloved basketball coach for the high school and everyone in town knows of them and our house. I love that our house has such a history, however, a long time owner, also means a long time since its been renovated.

Our house needs a lot of work and since I've been either pregnant or caring for a newborn, a lot of projects have been put on hold. Now that Evelyn just had her first birthday, I finally feel like I have a little time to start working on our house renovations. Evelyn's first birthday party was a catalyst to get a few easy projects out of the way over the last few weeks.  It was fun to hear everyone's reactions to the few things we have done and has motivated me to start planning my next project.

The room that sold me on our house was the kitchen. I love to cook and bake and I have a lot of stuff to go with that obsession.  My kitchen is the first house I've lived in that actually has enough storage cabinets for all of my pots, pans, bowls, etc. And I have room to spare!  This being said, our kitchen is right out of the 1950's. Teal painted trim, teal back splash and a teal counter top. Also, we have a large blank wall in our kitchen that has a small hole in it. My husband's solution to the hole, was to hang a Chinese calendar we received from a local take-out restaurant last January.  Every time I have entered my kitchen in the last year, I have looked at that calendar with much animosity. However, being sleep deprived from having a very fussy newborn hindered me from doing anything about it.

Now I'm ready! To bring the paint job up to date, I painted the trim chocolate brown. The Chinese calendar was drop-kicked to the curb and I'm creating an art gallery for Elsie and Evie's artwork.

To begin, I combed the local Good Will stores and bought 5 big picture frames. I purchased brown spray paint, teal and chocolate fabric, magnetic clips and a few accent pieces from a home decor store.

To transform the picture frames, I took out the glass and spray painted the frame with 3 coats of paint. Then I went over it with a spray acrylic sealer to help seal the paint job.

I cut the fabric to fit in the frames by laying the cardboard on the fabric and cutting 2 inches from the edge of the cardboard. Then, I took my glue gun and glued the fabric to the cardboard, pulling tight as I glued.

When putting the glass and backs into the frames, there were a few that couldn't be put back as they originally were because they had either been taped or nailed in.  With these, I duct taped the back of the frame.

Once all the frames were put together, I took some automotive adhesive (this was all my husband had and I didn't want to use a hot glue gun on glass) and glued the clips to the glass. On the bigger frames, I glued two clips so the artwork would lay flat.

Then, I arranged them on the wall with the other decor pieces I purchased. With the brown trim, at least one wall of my kitchen looks great...and Elsie was very proud to hang up her first picture on the wall. I think this is a great way to incorporate my children's artwork into my kitchen without papering my fridge.