{frame wall. finally}

Many of my friends and coworkers have commented that I have a chic sense of style.  Specifically, they're referring home decor (while I love to browse fashion mags and daydream about what I'd wear if I had the dollars to do so, I stick to pretty mainstream stores and have a typical twenty-something wardrobe).  Anywho, back to the matter at hand.  Sure, I may be above average in the home furnishing department, but in reality, I usually just copy what I see others do.  And if imitation truly is the sincerest form of flattery, Sherry and John from younghouselove should be on top of the world (read: pretty darn vain).  They're the chicest couple I've never met, and they transformed not one, but almost two now, older homes into modern/adorable ones on the cheap.  Reading their blog is one of the best parts of my day, and each time I fall in love with a DIY project they've done that I can actually see myself completing without injury or catastrophe, I do my best to re-create it in my own abode.  The most recent example?  A frame wall.

A few weeks back, I ordered a new duvet for my bed from West Elm.  Before those fabulous and crisp stripes entered my world, I had a really bold purple comforter from Tar-jay, so when I made the switch, the look and feel of my room really did, well, switch.  First came the bed, then came the accessories.  I got rid of the purple accents and swapped them out for more neutral ones.  Still though, something was missing.  I had a lot of white wall space, and nothing to fill it with.  The design gods must have been on my side, because it was the same day that I first read about Sherry and John's frame wall project.  Could I do it (on a much smaller scale of course)?  Yes, in the immortal words of The Little Engine That Could, "I think I can. I think I can!"

Of the fourteen frames that ended up making the cut, only eight were born white.  A quick trip the hardware store, five dollars, and a can of satin spray paint later, all was well white in the world.  I used Sherry's tip and sprayed three thin layers to avoid dripping, although because I'm still an amateur when it comes to spray painting (yep, no vandalism in my teenage past), there was a run or two.  Thankfully, said runs were on the side/insides of the frames and thus nothing to fret over.

Next up? What to fill the frames with.  I used a combo of childhood pictures, recent photos, sketched drawings I found on the interwebs, and inspiring typography quotes from Pinterest.  I printed each of the quotes/pictures on cardstock (it's tougher and easier to work with), trimmed them to fit the frames, and voilà.

The arrangement of the frames was semi tough.  I followed Sherry and John's rules and started with the biggest frames in the middle.  I surrounded those with smaller ones and worked my way out.  This part was a lot of trial and error.  I'd set things, take a picture, switch something, take another picture, etc.  Rinse, wash, repeat.  I took the pics so I could always go back (in case I changed something, didn't like it, and wanted to return to a previous placement).

Once I picked a place for each frame, it was time to transfer everything from the winnnndow to the waaaallll (okay, no, actually from the floor to the wall, but I like that song.  Well, I did in high school I think).  Here's where John's expert advice came in handy.  I matched magazine pages to the size of each frame, marked an "X" on a piece of tape where the nail would need to be on each, and taped the pages to the wall so each was an inch apart from all adjacent ones.  Sounds complicated, but it's mostly just time-consuming.  Believe me though, it's worth the hour not to put tons of extra holes in the wall tweaking things post-hang.

Once the faux frames were up, I just hammered a nail through each "X," ripped off the stand-in, and hung up the real deals, one by one.  It was a slow process, but worth every second.  The only setback?  One frame toppled to the floor and got a little bent outta shape (literally) while I was nailing it's friend up next to it.  No worries, it was nothing a little tacky glue couldn't fix.

The final result was awesome, and I'm digging it.  I think I nailed it, if I do say so myself.  Hah.

Here's the journey, in picture form:

{the idea is born}

{all white = all good}

{faux frames, almost ready for their close-up}

{getting there...}

{before}

{nailed it}