Isn’t it funny how you can begin a project with so much momentum and then leave the other half unfinished for a month? That’s what happened with our plan to “wallpaper” the hallway with a gallery of frames. We were thrilled with the first half of the project, but then life — and a handful of other small projects — distracted us for weeks. Still, after staring at taped-up newspaper templates and a stack of frames on the floor for a month, we finally finished hanging the rest. It feels great to have the big hallway gallery complete.
We started with about ten frames we already owned — clearance finds from Ikea and Target — and then picked up fourteen new ones from Ikea, thanks to a birthday gift card. The frames aren’t all the exact same shade of white, but that subtle variation creates a layered, soft look that we like. We mixed styles intentionally: some frames are modern, others a bit more decorative, which gives the arrangement personality and depth.
We’ve already shared our template-making process elsewhere, but one simple tip John highlighted was how to mark the nail spot on the template so the frame hangs precisely where you want it. Measure the distance from the top of the frame down to where the hanging hardware sits, then transfer that measurement to the center of the corresponding newspaper template. Mark it with an X, hammer through the X and the paper, remove the template, and slip the frame onto the nail. It’s a small trick, but it saves time and keeps things accurate.
Another useful approach is to start with a large frame in the middle of the layout. That frame grounds the arrangement, helping the rest of the gallery radiate outward more evenly. Beginning in the center prevents the entire display from drifting left, right, up, or down as you add pieces.
At first we hung the frames without putting art inside them — just to see the layout. After everything was up, we filled the frames with a mix of sentimental items, photos, and unconventional keepsakes. A few of the pieces were things we already had: birthday prints, a book dust jacket repurposed as art, and small mementos that mean a lot to us.
On the left side of the gallery we included a variety of items: craft paper with two taped fortune cookies, a black-and-white wedding photo, and a beautiful close-up shot of a water droplet taken by a friend. Lower down you’ll find an old peacock feather visible against the natural-colored frame backing, a small birthday print from John, and a book cover whose paper jacket I turned into framed art.
I especially love a small vintage handkerchief embroidered with our daughter Clara’s name. A friend spotted it and knew it was too perfect to pass up; “Clara” is an uncommon name to find on everyday items, so that tiny piece felt like a special coincidence and now sits framed where we can always see it.
On the right side of the gallery we framed a variety of textures and memories: a cardstock placeholder key that used to hang on the other wall, an old fabric swatch, a handwritten quote, more black-and-white family photos, and a silhouette of our daughter’s head. One detail I enjoy is a soft handwritten quote by Tad Carpenter that I copied in my own handwriting and displayed behind glass. It invites you to lean in and read, like someone whispering a thoughtful line in your ear.
We enjoyed finding creative ways to reuse things that were lying around. For example, the back of a book jacket became a framed quote by Arthur Rubenstein: “I have found that if you love life, life will love you right back.” We also took a calendar page, drew a thin red border and circled our wedding date as a small, personal piece of art.
One small practical note: because some lower frames are within reach of Clara as she learns to move around, we plan to add heavy-duty Command velcro to those pieces for babyproofing. Clara is gentle most of the time, but we’ll take precautions and remove anything that becomes a safety concern or too high-maintenance for our lifestyle.
This hallway gallery is visible from the corridor that leads to Clara’s room, the hall bath, the playroom, and the guest room, so it brightens a lot of little daily moments. Even carrying a load of laundry or nursing a stubbed toe, I find myself smiling when I pass the wall. It’s a small project that adds a lot of daily joy.
So that’s one project checked off the list — at least for now. I expect we’ll swap pieces out over time and continue to add new memories as Clara creates scribbles and keepsakes of her own. Have you framed anything unusual lately or pulled treasures out of a drawer to display? If so, you probably know how satisfying it is to put meaningful objects behind glass and give them a place of honor.