Gallery Wall

There are a few things about our remodel that are dear to my heart and one is the gallery wall. In this first picture you are standing in the kitchen looking out into the family room. You can just make out the fireplace on the left with the TV above the mantle. The gallery wall is behind the sofa.

Our television has always been tucked out of sight in a cabinet, so mounting the TV above the mantle was a big bone of contention between James and me. One of us wanted the couches and recliners surrounding the fireplace ready to kick back and enjoy TV with a big fire burning in the fireplace. The other one was afraid of missing favorite art work, seasonal decorations, and big vases of flowers freshly cut from the garden adorning the mantle.  There were heated debates!

If you were thinking that James wanted the TV over the mantle, you are wrong. It was me! So in our TV placement negotiations, I had to assure James that all our pretty "stuff" would not fall by the wayside, before he acquiesced. 

Putting in this gallery wall will enable us to:
             1. Enjoy paintings somewhere besides above the mantle.
             2. Hang paintings without putting a single nail hole in the wall.
             3. Change out a collection of paintings for new ones in under 5 minutes!! Yes, 5 minutes!
             4. Hang themed collections such as .... colors (orange, turquoise, and brown for Fall)
                                                                            modern art
                                                                            painting found on trips
                                                                            James' favorites
                                                                            Olive's masterpieces

We started the gallery wall by attaching a piece of picture rail molding about ten inches from the top of the wall.

Picture rail molding protrudes from the wall so that a hook can be hung over it. We were careful to screw the molding into the studs across the wall. Then we painted the molding the same color as the wall. I looked for picture rail molding at Lowes and Home Depot, but finally had to order it here www.houseofantiquehardware.com.

I also ordered rods with hooks. These rods are made to hang on the molding.

We also bought hooks. Hooks slide up and down on the rod, and screw tightly into place. The painting hangs on the hook.  Each rod can hold multiple hooks allowing you to hang pictures above and below each other.

Here's a better view of the wall with paintings almost reaching the floor. We are going to have a lot of fun with this!!

Love ya'll,

Shelli

A man paints with his brains and not with his hands.

~Michelangelo

Painting is just another way of keeping a diary.

~Pablo Picasso

Painting is easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do.

~Edgar Degas

Great art picks up where nature ends.

~Marc Chagall

I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way —

things I had no words for.

~Georgia O'Keeffe