Hallway Gallery Update

I feel like I've been working on this project forEVER!  It's still not finished, but last week, I added a few more pictures and a giant T that I am currently in love with, so I thought I'd share.  

Here was my original inspiration...

via

I loved that she used all black and white pictures.  I loved the large white mats.  And I loved the intentional, haphazard way that she put everything up.  That's me...intentionally haphazard.  :)

Here's the progress on my stairway wall...

It was agonizing to put up those first two giant pictures.  I was so worried that they would be "wrong" and I would be stuck looking at them in the wrong place for the rest of my life in this house.  (I know, sometimes I'm a little dramatic.)  We put them up anyway even though it was scary.  And then we put up a few more.  And then I found that cute "FAMILY" thing in the middle, and added it.

And last week, I found this awesome T for next to nothing at Hobby Lobby.

This one was actually gold, which I didn't love.  And if you look closely you can tell what a giant short-cut-taker I am.  I didn't want to spray paint it because I didn't want it to be flat or shiny black.  I wanted a little of the rustic goldish look to still be there.  So, I pulled out my handy, fat, black Sharpie marker (which has become my new best friend lately) and colored the gold parts.  Tada!  Black, but not shiny.  Rustic, but not gold.  Intentionally haphazard.  

And here's my new favorite frame that I added last week...

This frame used to be white.  It used to hang vertically.  And it used to have four pictures of Savannah at a lighthouse in North Carolina in 1997.  I repurposed the frame, spray painted it black (and used my favorite Sharpie to color in the parts I missed.)  I printed black and white prints of each of the kids at four years old.  (I'm not entirely happy with that picture of Savannah because all the others were taken outside, so I might have to change hers when I find a better one.)  I hung it at the bottom of all those vertical pictures.  And I LOVE it!

My intentionally haphazard wall is coming along pretty nicely, I think.  There's more to do, but I can never wait for the finished product before I report about things.  And now I keep looking at all the other blank white walls in my house thinking that I might need to cover all of them with black and white photo collages of my family.  I love looking at all these memories, and I love hearing the kids tell their friends about all the pictures.