Gallery walls

Gallery walls are my favorite, most impactful way to energize my home. In our bedroom, there is a collection of large framed pictures from some of our favorite travel destinations. There are several intentions behind creating this display. It's visually appealing wall art. It tugs at our heart when we take the time to remember the details of each trip and savor our happy memories. It also serves as a vision board, triggering that familiar longing sensation for more travel experiences. Since it is displayed on the wall that is across from our bed, it is the last thing we see each night and the first thing we see every morning. It regularly prompts us to talk about our future plans and welcome in new opportunities for adventure.

Alongside the staircase is a large collection of family pictures that capture our history. A small section of this gallery can be seen from the living room and frequently, our grandkids are standing on the steps, looking at childhood pictures of their dad and aunt and younger versions of all of us. It gives us so much joy and serves as a great reminder to slow down and appreciate our history.

​In the family room, there's two gallery walls. One is framed pictures of fun, playful times with family and friends. This collection changes more than any others because I refresh the frames with newer, happy moments on a regular basis. The second gallery wall is intended to make a color impact of blue. We chose several favorite travel pictures we took of lakes and beaches on the sunniest of days and had them printed on canvas wrapped frames. It's a bright, bold splash of blue that works perfectly against white walls in the sunniest room of our house.

The living room contains a gallery that takes up two small walls that meet in one corner. This is a collection of various art pieces; some are mine and some are Larry's. When I started putting these items together, on the floor, I was amazed at how they visually complement each other. They work well together and visually fill up the corner without adding furniture.

Last but not least is more of a mood board and it's located in my home office. About a year ago, I started noticing that I was being drawn to the color pink for the first time in my life. It's not a color I've ever used. I am very drawn to European travel pictures and pink or white roses and ranunculus. There are many of these images on InstaGram so I copied them, printed them, and taped them to my wall. This grouping makes me so happy that I even created a smaller, portable version to keep with me. I just can't stop looking at it. Yesterday, I removed all of the pictures from my wall to create a new version. Seeing the blank wall literally made me feel empty inside and it was immediate. I was sad and deeply missing these beautiful images. I'm working quickly to get it back up in a more permanent format with foam core.

I wasn't kidding when I said how much I love creating gallery walls. Each one has a different theme and meaning and each one of them is deeply meaningful. The pictures are the start of so many of our conversations; whether we're talking about a great memory or plans for the future. The pictures make us pause and appreciate; lifting us up every day.