DIY colorful gallery wall!

One of my favorites parts of the home to decorate is the mantle. I was so happy when we found out our apartment had a fireplace. Since we moved in right before Christmas I threw something together and was pretty happy with our little Christmas set up. But then when it was time to actually decorate it for the long run, I was stuck. I found a couple things I liked on pinterest, but knew that I wanted some serious color. As you saw from the pillows I made, I'm not afraid of using color, and just love how happy your home is when its bright and colorful! I finally decided on a gallery wall with frames of all shapes, sizes, and colors with the fingerprint tree (the place I ordered from was AMAZING and I would absolutely recommend them!) from our wedding as the focal point. My parents got the tree framed for us, and it is one of my favorite things we own. Sometimes I'll just look at all the fingerprints and remember everyone who was there for our special day!

I knew I didn't want to spend a lot on this project, so we went to the thrift store and got a pile of frames all for under $25. We didn't worry about the color of them, I just wanted a variety of shapes, textures, and sizes and knew I could paint anything if I didn't like the color. We even got an awesome mirror that turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the wall for $3.

After we had all the frames we taped off a rectangle on the ground so we knew how much room we were working with and then laid them all out. And then we moved them all around. And then I changed my mind and we moved them around again. And then I finally decided that I was happy with how it was laid out. (I actually rearranged it a couple more times before it made its way to the wall).

We picked our paint colors and decided which colors would go where. And then we got a puppy and the project was put on hold, because when you have a dog who things the world is his chew toy, you don't want your DIY pride and joy on the ground.

It took a little longer than expected, but I finally finished painting the frames and was ready to get them on the wall. This part was the trickiest-we used a combination of nails and command strips to hang all of the pictures which worked great. For this part I recommend a level, a step stool, and a very patient husband who won't mind when you want to move a frame a half of a centimeter to the left. I know I'm new to this marriage thing, but I strongly believe that few things test the strength of a marriage more than hanging things on the wall. But I'm so glad I did move that frame to the left because the end result is seriously perfect. Every time I walk through the door its the first thing I see and I just smile. Some of the frames are from our engagement pictures. Some are from our wedding. Some cost $.25 at a thrift store. But I love all of them and am SO happy with how it turned out! Maybe eventually I would think about adding a couple small things, but for now, I wouldn't change a thing!