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How to Create a Gallery Wall That is Personal to You

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One of my favorite things in my home right now is my gallery wall above our television.  I was inspired by so many gorgeous gallery walls on Pinterest and decided to give it a try. Read on for examples of how to create a gallery wall that is personal to you!

Gallery wall of personal items from family.

I love creating things for our home. See DIY home decor ideas you’ll love.

I found the key for me was to only use things I love.  These included pictures I found in other areas of my home but needed a new environment (my favorite way to shop!), creating things that I thought were special or had meaning for me and my family, and a few items from Hobby Lobby.

The “8” is the number on my kids’ soccer jerseys. This is also the number my husband tries to select for his number when he plays soccer in a men’s league. I found an unfinished wood #8 at Hobby Lobby. With a little bit of wood stain, it was perfect for our wall and tied in with many of the other items I was gathering.

It is special for our entire family now.

Give your art some thought before you put up your gallery wall.  What are some themes for your family?

Large wood "8" with special walnut and gray wood stain on gallery wall.

For this particular gallery wall, I selected items that flowed well with the colors already in my living space.  I measured the wall space I would be working with and played with different configurations on the floor until I loved the look.

I’m not going to lie, I even tweaked things a bit as I was hanging them on the wall.  Sometimes following a plan can be hard for me;-) Can you relate?

Gallery wall arranged on floor prior to hanging in hopes of avoiding unnecessary holes in wall.

Gallery wall of personal items from the entire family and "favorite things"
Meaningful items selected for gallery wall.

Travel isn’t something our family has a lot of time for.  But, we are typically able to squeeze in at least one trip per year. Looking at inspiration of travel journeys helps us enjoy the anticipation of our next adventure!

We love to keep track of all of the vacations and trips we’ve taken together on our family travel map!

Are you thinking about what your family loves?

Make a list as you are reading through this post! I hope you are feeling inspired for how to create a gallery wall that is personal to you!

Something I didn’t include, but would fit perfectly, is our pressed leaves we framed from trees from our own backyard. It’s pretty special to have leaves from trees that were planted when we moved into our home.

Personal gallery wall in living room on gray painted wall.

I’m thrilled with the result!  I have tried and failed a few other times with creating a gallery wall.  I’m not sure what makes this one “work” for me, but for now, I’ll count it as success.

If you are considering a gallery wall, I encourage you to look through photos of other gallery walls to see what appeals to you.  Even though your pictures and artwork will be different, you can get some fantastic ideas on what types of displays fit you and your space best.

Pinterest is, of course, a great source for beautiful gallery wall ideas.

Have you ever created a gallery wall?  I’d love to hear tips you might have!

You might also love:

Take a moment to go to the Love Our Real Life Pinterest boards to see if you can find more fun DIY/Home Decor projects!

Image of April from Love Our Real Life

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11 Comments

  1. Great post April!! I need to put more thought into how I put together a wall gallery. I am starting over in the new house so this post is spot on!! Love your tips and gotta love Hobby Lobby!

  2. This turned out lovely! I recently painted our living room walls and have been afraid to nail any holes into it yet. After seeing your great results I’m going to map out our gallery wall. Loved that you used items you already had around the house too.

  3. I LOVE your choices! I wanted to make a wall like that forever but I’m so intimidated with all the choices and afraid I’ll make it look too general or not love it enough. But, I really want to try! I think I’ll head to Hobby lobby and just walk around and see which items to speak to me! Your colors are perfect !

    1. Thanks, Eryn! I appreciate the kind words! As I mentioned I have tried it before, but I think the difference for me this time is I only selected things I really liked/loved instead of just filling space. To me, that made all the difference!

  4. I am always impressed by people who can take different objects and make it look cohesive – you have a real eye for beauty, April. I second the vote for the Adventure Awaits board. We need to get a Hobby Lobby in Canada so we can have affordable finds like these.

  5. WoW that looks great. I’m in love with the Adventure Awaits map. That’s awesome.

  6. I’ve been thinking of redoing of our family wall and making it into more of a gallery wall. Your wall looks great and definitely inspires me to get going on my home projects.

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