Gallery Wall in Progress...

My great aunt and uncle have a fantastic lake house that has been the site of family gatherings for as long as I can remember.  We have celebrated everything from weddings to 100th birthdays there and every event holds special memories for me.  The main hallway of their house is covered in framed pictures of family and friends.  It makes the hallway a destination instead of a pathway.  I love it, and I have wanted to create a gallery in my own home for a while now. 

Then I saw this by YoungHouseLove.com and decided it was time to get a move on.  Using pinterest.com (which is AWESOME, btw), I started collecting inspiration images.  Here's a link to my inspiration board, which looks like this.

I've been collecting frames at the thrift store for a few weeks and this is my haul.  About 12 frames for $2 a piece on average.

And then on Saturday, I did this.  Yes, I made templates of all of them and taped them up.  Call me OCD if you want, but this way I won't have to patch as many holes in the wall.  First, I disassembled and cleaned all of the frames, labeling each piece so that I could put them back together with no less frustration.  Then I traced them onto newspaper and taped them to the wall with frog tape (green painters tape).  I moved them around an this is what I ended up with.

 

I'm going to end up adding some more small objects, but I knew I needed to start with the big stuff.  There are a couple of frames to the right of the doorway on the right, but this is the main area I wanted to cover first.

I'll keep you updated on the progress.   The next step is spray painting all of the frames to match.  Any color suggestions?  Navajo white to match the trim?  Oil rubbed bronze to match the other painted metal in the house?  Brushed nickel to match the unpainted metal in the house?  A fun bright color?  What are your thoughts?