Creating a Gallery Wall

I love gallery walls. I always have and I always will. Especially when they're filled with fun pieces that offer a variety of texture and color and are specific to the home in which they live. Those were my criteria when creating this small gallery wall in our living room, and I'm pleased with how it turned out.

I incorporated old and new frames in varying colors and finishes as well as mirrors and sconces and began layering them in. I played around with a few layouts on the floor before putting any holes into the wall and decided on a general oval shape for the gallery.

Once I had my layout perfect on the floor, I started placing items on the wall from the center out to ensure an even arrangement. (I could have sworn I documented this step, but the pictures are nowhere to be found, sorry!) I'm not someone who measures things out, but I seem to have a pretty good eye for spacing. If you're not good at eyeing it, then you'll want to measure your frames and pre-mark where your nails or screws should go or else you'll end up spending far more time than necessary and tearing up your wall.

Here's a sneak peek of how our living room is shaping up. Don't mind those crazy-hanging curtains, I'm trying to decide if I can work with fabric I already have or if I need to make a trip to the fabric store. All of the pieces I used in the gallery wall were things I had lying around my house, mostly thrift store finds throughout the years. That chair is also a thrift store goodie I scored in North Carolina for $5, and it folds up.

I plan on changing of few of the colors of the frames with paint, replacing most of the pictures with photos of John and me -- except for the high school picture of my dad in the bottom right green frame; it's one of my all-time favorites. In addition to the changes on the wall, I need to decide on curtains and possibly recover and paint the chair. Stay tuned next week and I'll share with you guys the finishing touches.

Tuesday Ten: Bold Rugs

It seems everyone these days is drawn to natural fiber rugs for their neutral hues and low maintenance. I love them for this reason too, but lately I've really been looking to branch out from the traditional beige and gray into something a bit more fun.

Rugs are great for making a space feel warmer, so let's talk practicality here. I'm not saying go crazy and purchase something with an extremely bold pattern when you already have pattern in your drapery, patterned pillows and loud art on the walls, but why not have a little fun in more neutral rooms? When paired with an otherwise neutral palette, a bold rug is an extremely fun addition. Here are a few of my favorites.

*All of these images were pulled from Pinterest and original sourcing is unknown. If you have questions about where to purchase a specific rug, email me at trimmedandtailored@gmail.com and I will do my best to find it or something very similar for you.

Mirror Mirror

I absolutely love decorating with mirrors. They open up a space like none other and are fantastic for spreading natural light throughout a room when placed opposite a window. Mirrors, however, are generally quite pricey, especially when you're searching for a large mirror.

Thrift stores, flea markets and yard sales are my favorite place to buy mirrors, you just have to keep an open mind and remember that anything can be changed with paint.

I found this beauty at a thrift store in Atlanta for a mere $10 and instantly had visions of reflective light in my head. She wasn't in the best shape of her life when I brought her home, but after a little cleaning up and a few coats of metallic gold spray paint, she was looking mighty fine.

I tend to get attached to my transformed thrift pieces, and I lovingly refer to them as "he" or "she" and sometimes even name them. I tried to name our guest room "Jesse" because it's a pretty gender neutral name, but my boyfriend just wasn't feeling the Jesse love like I was, so we now just call it the "Guest Room/Craft Room/Office." How original.

But back to the mirror. Here she is now with her pretty new coat on. I love it. And I really love the price. After the makeover, this mirror ran me a whopping $15. Can't beat that.

The images are showing the color a bit splotchy-looking, but that's just the metallic sheen reflecting off of my camera. The coverage is nice and even in person.