Meaningful Gallery Wall

For as long as I can remember I’ve struggled with decorating our home. Not because I don’t know what looks nice, but more because my purchases in the past, while pretty, were lacking in a big way. I had absolutely no personal connection to what I was buying. I was simply purchasing “things” to fill vacant spaces. I’ve finally come to a place where I’m comfortable with the undoneness of our house. It’s a work in progress and totally imperfect and I’m ok with that.

I’m taking baby steps to make our home OURS. I want people to walk in and feel cozy and welcome. I want to be reminded of my childhood and feel inspired to be better for my kids. I want to infuse our home with the loveliness that I was surrounded with as a child and decorate with things that are personal and meaningful and that will strike up a conversation.

Again, this is a baby step, but a tiny step in the right direction is better than a step in no direction at all.

Here’s the gallery wall I’ve been working on. At first glance, it may not look like much, but everything on this wall is intentional and has some significance or meaning.

Coffee beans!? Yup, I love coffee in the AM and I look forward to a cup at night, but that’s not why these particular beans are important and hung in our entry. When my husband and I started dating 15 years ago, we loved Starbucks. We’d drive into New Brunswick, grab a cuppa joe, and sit on “our” stoop and talk for hours. During one of our visits, I happened to grab a bean and handed it to him. I said, “if we ever get married, I want you to give me this bean”. He gave me one in return after he fashioned me a ring out of a straw. He held onto that bean and when he proposed, inside one of the boxes he gave me was the bean. It sounds silly, but that stoop was where I fell in love with my husband. It’s where I remember feeling, for the first time in my life, that I could see into someone else’s soul and they could see into mine. What better place than our most travelled space to be reminded of those special feelings and such wonderful memories?

I bought the frame at Homegood’a on clearance for $8. I opened the back, took out the broken seashell that had been inside the frame and replaced it with our beans which I hot glued onto scrap book paper.

This actually just a piece of scrap book paper. It’s by Maggie Holmes and reads…

“There are many moments in my life…Little moments that happen each and every single day that make me gloriously happy…moments that take my breath away…not because they are big moments or ground-breaking moments or life-changing moments…and yet they really are life-changing because they all add up to make my life full and complete…yes, they are indeed life-changing moments because the make my life happy and memorable and worth celebrating…these little moments are truly remarkable…they are tiny and big all at the same time.”

See why I love it so much?

I got the scrap book paper from Michael’s and the clip was from a barn sale. I just attached hardware to the back to be able to hang it. Michael’s sells giant clothes pins in the dollar bins! If you haven’t looked in them, run, don’t walk!

This was a photo of my Nanny and Poppy. The bling on the side was her barrette. They were two of my most favorite people in the whole entire world.

The frame was another Michael’s find. It was a clearance frame that I painted white. I spray painted the removable interior gold. It had a nice matte, but I really wanted to used this scrap book paper, so I cut a piece of cardboard to the size of the matte, sprayed it with 77 spray adhesive and attached the paper. I trimmed the excess, hot glued the photo and barrette and called this project done!

This to me is such a treasure…one to display not keep stuffed away in shoebox. My grandparents were both from Poland and came here with little more than the clothes on their backs, some photos and their travel documents. When I look at this, I’m filled with emotion as I am reminded of my grandmother and her incredible story.

Deets for this were pretty much the same as above except I spray painted the entire frame.

Lastly, is a small collage that I have hung near our front door. It’s just a compilation of pretty black and white photos that I love.

This was another Homegood’s clearance frame. I popped out the original picture and replaced with this which is LOADS better than what was inside previously.

That’s all for now. I hope I’ve inspired you to get a little more personal with decorating your space. Even if it’s one special thing, I encourage you to take it out and put it on display to enjoy. You can love on treasures a whole lot easier when they’re in plain view and not stuffed away in a box.