Stairwell Gallery Wall- the reveal and process

I have been struggling and debating over what to do in our stairwell.  The big blank walls were killing me.  They needed something, anything to fill up some of the space.

Yep, pretty dull and uninspiring.

Initially, I was hesitant on installing pictures in the space.  Personally, I am not a big family photo display sort of person.  I wanted to keep all our family photos on the 2nd floor, the personal space floor.  But after some thinking and brain storming, I finally caved and decided to go ahead and install a family photo gallery wall in the stairwell.

***Getting pictures of this space was a tad challenging.***

In tackling this project, I first had to decided what I sort of frames and photos I wanted.  I knew I wanted a ton of frames spaced closely together, but I needed to figure out if I wanted all white frames, all black frames, black and white photos or colored photos.  I had already had 2 smaller gallery walls started, one with black frames with B&W photos and another with white frames with colored photos.  I decided to go with the flow and combine what I already had started.

Although, I had already had some frames, I did not have nearly enough.  So, off I went to Ikea I went to purchase another 30+ frames.

Which I added to what I already had.  In total I ended up having 60 frames.

I then just needed to figure out how I was going to place them on the wall.

I wish I could say I had some magic formula on how I figured out placement, but in the end it was more like playing around with a puzzle.  I will try and show you what I did...

I first figured out where eye level was on the wall.  I ended up at 64" above the floor.  I marked that measurement at various places going down the stairs.  I then ran some painters tape to connect that measurement, giving me the center of where I wanted the frames to go.

I measured the length of the wall and marked off an similar space on my living room floor.  I then started placing the frames in the space, trying to vary size and color.

This layout was not how the photos ended up on the wall, but it gave me a starting point.  I then made a template of each frame, assigning it a number and locating exactly where I needed to put the nail, I also wrote a brief description of the photo.

I then just started at the bottom and worked my way up the stairs, placing and adjusting the templates as I went.

You can also see I added a second tape line, this line is to give me the lowest point I wanted to place the frames.

And all the way up I went...

Next came placing the nails and frames.  I highly suggest starting at one end and working your way  from that point, actually installing the frames as you go.  I soon found my templates were not level and when leveling them it crowded the next photo over. If I had just started putting in the nails and not installing the frames, I would have ended up with a lot of readjusting and many unnecessary holes.

The installation process goes a bit like this...

1. Pound in nail
2. Find correct frame
3. Add putty to corners of frames

4. Hang on wall
5. Level and press into place (The putty helps keep the frame level)

6. Go to next frame.

Really pretty easy, jut time consuming.  I did have one big oops, as a frame fell off the wall.

I was a bit heart-broken over this one.  It was my only true shadow box, and the replacement frame was not deep enough for the rock.  I soon learned that when you run out of putty, it is time to stop, or else the frames will fall off the wall when you pound in the next frame.


So, what do you think? 

I am loving it, and I still have room to fill in.  I would love to bring the photos up, filling it in closer to the ceiling.

-Laurie