Note: The sun shone very little the three weeks I was home and I won’t be able to get better pictures until I’m home again in February, so the colors here are a little bit off. The wall is a bit more saturated and a bit more green and the colors of the artwork is a little off as well. I will try to share better pictures at some point (maybe when I do the full bedroom reveal).
Wayyy back, I mentioned that I was going to do a bedroom makeover. I painted my room and rearranged it, and then it sat unfinished for about over a year. It’s not done yet, but I finally completed one of the major projects- the gallery wall on the wall of the door. My room has slanted ceilings, so there are only two walls where it is really possible to hang artwork. Because of this, I decided that the wall my bed faces would be a gallery wall. I’m still toying with the idea of making the opposite wall a gallery wall as well, but we’ll see.
This gallery wall has been a very long process. I started with the large map of Madrid, which has been there for awhile, along with the Jazz Festival poster. Then added a couple more pieces. Then some more. Then rearranged much of it. I am happy to say it is now complete! There is one space I’d still like to eventually fill, but it looks fine as is (I think I’m just a little OCD so something that’s not quite balanced looks off to me). I’m pretty happy with it!
Most people recommend gathering all the pieces you want to use, arranging them, then putting them up. That is NOT how I went about this. I simply added as I found the right piece for the right space on the wall. It worked for me, but also meant that I sat with a half-finished gallery wall for many, many months. I really wanted everything on the wall to be meaningful or something I really loved, so I didn’t want to purchase anything new for it. I’ve had the Paris poster (framed), Madrid map, and Jazz Festival poster for a really long time. They are some of my favorite pieces (I got the Paris poster from A.C. Moore probably 8 years ago, I got the Madrid map from a church rummage sale for a couple dollars, and the Jazz Festival poster was a gift from a friend who attends most years- her mom is from Montreal). The yellow flower painting and bird embroidery piece were given to me from my grandma and were created by my great-grandma (and namesake). I made three of the pieces (the dress embroidery piece, the truck etching, and the nude painting). I’m sure a lot of people wouldn’t want a nude on their bedroom wall, but it doesn’t bother me (and it’s not like it’s in the living room). The small wooden cross was a gift from one of the ladies at church who is very dear to my family. The spoons were a Christmas gift this year from my grandma and are family heirlooms. It was really tough to pick the photos. I settled on a photo of my brother and I with three of our close family friends. In the frame with three photos, I chose a photo of my grandma and my mom as a little girl. People always say I look a lot like my mom and I can definitely see the resemblance in this photo (it’s also just one of my favorites). I included a photo of my mom and I at a similar age and a photo of me around the same age that I also love.
Here’s the before (before ANY of the makeover started) with the after (all of my before photos are on my computer at home, so this is the best before shot I could find):
Much better, right? I can’t wait to share the rest of the room (although, to be honest, it will probably be awhile before everything’s finished. I still need to refinish a bed and dresser and figure out the artwork on the wall opposite this)! I’m really happy with how this turned out. By the way, if you noticed things look a little crooked above the dresser, the dresser is actually what is crooked, along with the entire floor (the entire room slopes towards the door). Oh well!
The Oke Den 